Forensic anthropologist Ann Marie Mires, on the witness stand again in the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger, described in non-clinical terms the content of one of the graves dug up along the Neponset River.
“I knew we had pulled out the skull…and I believe the head was here… and the legs and arms were here…and she was on her side”
Mires was identifying the remains of Deborah Davis, who was allegedly killed by Bulger and other members of the Winter Hill Gang.
As the grisly details were being spelled out in graphic terms, Bulger was hunched over taking notes. He was dressed in a crisp blue dress shirt.
In the courtroom Davis’ brother, Steven Davis, glared at the man he believes killed his 26-year-old sister because she wanted to leave him. He said the day was the hardest day in court for him, yet.
Davis was expected to testify Thursday about the murder of his sister, whose long blond hair makes her easily identifiable in crime photographs. Photos taken of the excavation scene showed remaining tresses mixed in with her skeleton remains.
Another witness called to the stand was Elaine Barrett, the widow of Arthur Bucky Barrett. In 1984, he was allegedly tortured and executed by Bulger in the basement of an East Third Street house in South Boston.
His wife testified that just hours before he disappeared he telephoned and asked her to take the kids out of the house. She complied. She put the alarm system on and left . When she returned, the alarm was off. Money was believed to have been stashed in the house; money that Bulger and Flemmi wanted badly.
Prosecutor Fred Wyshak asked Barrett if her husband returned that night.
“No he didn’t,”she responded.
"Did you ever see him again?"
"No," she said.
Also called to the stand was retired FBI agent Tom Daly, formerly with the organized crime unit, or C3. Under heavy cross examination from Bulger's attorney, J.W. Carney, Jr., Daly admitted that the informants program he ran was porous.
The names of Boston area informants were openly discussed at FBI meetings. Despite of warnings on certain documents that the content was not to be discussed or disseminated outside FBI circles, that information was often leaked. This put informants in danger, and Carney said that under Daly’s watch, former Revere night club owner Richard Castucci was killed in 1976.
The defense trying to demonstrate: that many parties had access to Castucci’s informant file, not just Bulger.
Tommy Donahue, the son of Michael Donahue, another man allegedly slain by Bulger, shook his head in disgust when Daly in response to a question jokingly said that his “glory days were past”.
After the court session ended Donahue explained why he did not find this to be funny.
"I think he's dirty. He's a dirty, crooked agent. No wonder why everyone's getting killed here," he said.
On Friday, the jury is expected to hear from Steven Davis about the death of his sister, allegedly at the hands of James Whitey Bulger.
