BOSTON (AP) - Lawyers for reputed gangster James "Whitey" Bulger have kicked off his defense by calling a former FBI supervisor who testified that Bulger told him he was not an FBI informant.
Robert Fitzpatrick of the FBI's Boston office says he was given the task of assessing Bulger to see if he was providing the FBI with useful information on the Mafia.
Fitzpatrick said Monday that when he met with Bulger in 1981, he repeatedly changed the subject, "played the tough guy," and at one point, denied being an informant.
After that meeting, Fitzpatrick said, he recommended that Bulger be terminated as an FBI informant. But he said that did not happen.
The 83-year-old Bulger is charged with playing a role in 19 killings while he allegedly led the Winter Hill Gang.
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