Emotional Testimony From Alleged Bulger Victims Who Survived

(NECN: Alysha Palumbo, Boston) – There was emotional testimony Thursday in the trial of reputed Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger.

“This is Louie since the accident,” said Diane Sussman as she held photos of her former boyfriend.

Louie Lapiana is one of James “Whitey” Bulger’s alleged victims who survived, if you can call it that.

Lapiana lived for 28 years as a quadriplegic after he, his girlfriend Sussman and his friend Michael Milano were ambushed in Milano’s new Mercedes Benz in a case of mistaken identity in 1973.

Milano was killed; Sussman was shot but lived to testify in Bulger’s trial Thursday.
Sussman said, “There were dozens and dozens of bullets shot at a fast rate all the way around, there is no way when you look at the pictures that I was to be alive.”

Sussman said when she testified that Bulger looked over at her but she didn’t – as she put it – give him the satisfaction of looking him in the eyes.

“He’s a no good son of a b*tch and honestly I wish I could just shoot him,” said Sussman angrily outside court.

Another alleged Bulger victim who lived to tell the tale was Ralph DeMasi – who was riding with victim William O’Brien when he was killed in his car in 1973.

DeMasi said, “Car pulled up alongside opened up, when it was over there was over a hundred bullet holes in the car, Billy O’Brien had 17 bullets in him, I had eight in me, he died instantly.”

But DeMasi had to be compelled to testify, and fresh off a 21.5-year prison sentence for an armored car robbery, he was less than thrilled with the deal given to cooperating witness and admitted murderer John Martorano.

To the defense’s delight, he let the jury know that on cross examination.

DeMasi said, “It’s so outrageous, the government allows serial killers, right, admitted serial killers to go back out on the street again, right, just because they give testimony to one person.”