Whitey on Trial: Secrets, Corruption, and the Search for Truth

Written by Margaret McLean and Jon Leiberman

Narrated by Aaron Lyons

After sixteen years on the lam, infamous Boston gangster Whitey Bulger was finally captured and brought to trial-and what a trial it was: evidence of nineteen gruesome murders, government secrets, FBI corruption, a dead witness, and an unbelievable tale of love. Whitey's machine guns and gangland-style extortions gripped the city of Boston for decades.

Investigative journalist Jon Leiberman travelled the world with the FBI's Whitey Bulger task force. Former Boston area prosecutor and legal analyst Margaret McLean witnessed every day of testimony, heard every word uttered in court. Both authors have developed close relationships with the investigators, the lawyers, and Whitey's friends, his fellow mobsters, his victims and their families.

In Whitey on Trial, the truth is revealed through trial testimony, interviews with cops, FBI agents, prosecutors and defense attorneys, and members of the jury that ultimately found Bulger guilty on thirty-one counts, including eleven murders. An exclusive letter from Whitey to McLean offers insight into his state of mind immediately following the verdict.

Whitey on Trial is the definitive firsthand account of the Whitey Bulger trial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio
• Release date: Mar 25, 2014
• ISBN: 9781427252081

Margaret McLean

Margaret McLean was born and raised in Rome, New York. She graduated magna cum laude from Boston College and earned her law degree from Boston College Law School. McLean practiced law as a criminal prosecutor and is now a legal analyst on numerous national television and radio shows. She has cowritten a dramatic courtroom play based on her second novel, Under Oath, and she also has a nationally syndicated weekly radio show called It's a Crime Radio. In 2010, she was hailed as one of the next faces of Boston crime fiction by The Boston Globe. She lives in Norwell, Massachusetts, with her three children.

Reviews for Whitey on Trial

[starrreina · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

“Whitey on Trial” by Margaret McLean and Jon LeibermanCorrupt men and crooked law enforcement battle in the courtroom. It is fact that James Bulger (Whitey) is a violent, power-hungry, cold and calculated man. And unfortunately, it is fact that representatives of our government aided this man and many other gangsters to get what they wanted. Forget that innocent people were killed in the crossfire, these gangsters and law enforcement personnel—such as John Connolly, FBI agent, who now sits in federal prison, John Morris, FBI agent, and many others—looked out for themselves. Their personal agenda meant more to them than human beings.And it wasn’t just murder—as if that wasn’t bad enough—it was also bribery, blackmail, and a multitude of other crimes that some of us cannot even imagine, that spurred these despicable people to continue on a path of others’ destruction. Anything to gain wealth and power for themselves.“Whitey on Trial” is a non-fiction accounting of what went on at Whitey’s trial. But it also examines our own government’s actions as well. Some say the representatives of our government were just as evil as Whitey’s reign of terror. Witness after witness and bereaving family members, one after the other, spoke of the brutal conduct of Whitey, Stephen Flemmi, and the Winter Hill gang’s accomplices.Judge Casper said during Whitey’s sentencing, “…I wished that we were watching a movie, that what we were hearing was not real…,” but unfortunately, “…we were hearing about the real inhumane things that human beings did to other human beings, seemingly without remorse and without regret.” Yes, it’s sad that what went on was not that of fiction, but real life horror. It turned my stomach to see the abuse of power and the corruption that can occur to those who swore to protect citizens.I commend authors McLean and Leiberman for an unbiased accounting and one that is well-written.Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “The Other Side: Melinda’s Story”