TV’s classic, “The Untouchables” about Chicago gangsters and Federal cops in the Capone days, was rewritten in Boston in the 1970s and 80s.
The untouchables this time were not the incorruptible Feds. The guys that couldn’t be reached were the Bulger gang of licensed killers, loan sharks, extortionists and drug racketeers who were above the law because the Federal cops put them there. The notorious Whitey Bulger has been free, on the run, since 1995 because his FBI handler tipped him off in time to escape.
It’s the FBI man, John Connally, who’s under indictment now for a career of aiding and abetting the Bulger rackets. He did it, Connally says, in the cause of getting information from Bulger about the Italian Mafia that used to run crime around town.
Writers Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neil call it a “devil’s deal” that made the FBI’s worst scandal and made a monster of Whitey Bulger.
(Hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neil