David E. Pouliot, deceased, of Springfield, Mass., has been linked to the crime scene

An unsolved 1993 homicide case involving a 10-year-old Grafton girl was the subject of a press conference last week hosted by Hampden County District Attorney Mark G. Mastroianni. The conference was held to update the public on a case involving Holly Piirainen, who was abducted and murdered.

In the spring of 2011, Mastroianni informed State Police and other detective bureaus that evidence in unsolved homicide cases would be reviewed to see if a new forensic or scientific examination would be helpful. Holly Piirainen’s case was one of them. New testing revealed that an item found at the time when Holly’s remains were discovered bore an “indisputable identification” to a person who had a connection with the crime scene area.

According to Mastroianni, David E. Pouliot of Springfield, Mass., was linked to the item at the crime scene. Pouliot died on Aug. 16, 2003 and is not a suspect, officials said. While he’s not a suspect, police are still interested in hearing from the public in case anyone had interacted with Pouliot from 1993 to 2003. Photographs of Pouliot were released.

“Developing as much information as possible about David Pouliot, with the assistance of the public, is vital to fully follow up on this new lead,” said Mastroianni. “The nature and character of the item tested, as well as its condition and location upon discovery, suggests Pouliot and/or persons associated with him were in the immediate crime scene area at a time relevant to Holly’s disappearance and the location of her remains. All evidence and leads previously developed in this case are now being evaluated with consideration given to this new forensic development. Review of all items for further forensic analysis continues to be part of this ongoing investigation.”

The victim, 10-year-old Holly Piirainen

On Aug. 5, 1993, Holly’s father, Richard Piirainen, reported Holly missing around 12:50 p.m. The girl was on vacation with him and other family members in a Sturbridge cottage, and was last seen around 11:45 a.m. by her father. She was off to play with puppies at a home on South Shore Road. Richard Piirainen began searching for his daughter when she did not return, and he then discovered her left sneaker on South Shore Road. An extensive search by local and state police and sheriff’s departments, with help from Connecticut and Rhode Island units, did not bear results. On Oct. 23, hunters discovered Holly’s skeletal remains in a wooded area off Five Bridge Road in Brimfield. State Police photographed and investigated the scene. Any items found at and near the scene were confiscated by the State Police. Police have continued to investigate Holly’s death and disappearance, and to review evidence necessary for forensic analysis and testing.

State Sen. Stephen Brewer and State Rep. Todd Smola are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Information can be called in to the Massachusetts State Police Detective Unit at 413-505-5933, or people can text-a-tip to 274637, beginning with the word “Solve.”

The bodies of Paula Rudolph, her daughter, Caylin Rudolph, and Paula Rudolph’s boyfriend, Frederick Medina, were discovered in their home in Weymouth on Thursday. Paula Rudolph’s son, Donald Rudolph, has been charged with murder for the grisly triple homicide.

Former New England Patriot Ronnie Lippett, who had been sharing his home with 18-year old Donald Rudolph for about a year until July of 2010, said “He was just a disturbed kid who had a lot of issues,” he told The Boston Globe. Rudolph had, apparently, been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Rudolph was discovered climbing out of the house’s basement window after neighbors called the police on account of a “suspicious person” being in the home. Further searching led to the discovery of the victims.

Richard Grimes, Police Chief of Weymouth, described the scene as “gruesome”. Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey said there was “evidence of massive trauma”, but cause of death is still unknown.

Law enforcement websites and Internet services, including those used by the Boston Police Department came under attack yesterday by members of a hacker group called Anonymous.

In a statement released by the group taking credit for the hack, the group claims “solidarity with occupation movement and anti-police brutality protesters.”

“In solidarity with the Occupation Movement and the International Day of Action Against Police Brutality, [we] aim at the corrupt bootboys of the 1 pecent: the police,” the statement read.

The group claimed that it “hacked, defaced, and destroyed several law enforcement targets, leaking over 600MB of private information including internal documents, membership rosters, addresses, passwords, social security numbers, and other confidential data.” It also claimed to take down at least 40 police-related websites.

The group attacked multiple Boston police websites. Most notable, Anonymous hacked the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association website and its web-based email portal, posting the names, email addresses, and email passwords of nearly 1,000 Boston police officers on the Internet for all to see.

In the statement, Anonymous said it attacked BPD sites in response to “the unprovoked mass arrests and brutality experienced by those at Occupy Boston.”

“Let this be a warning to BPD and police everywhere: future acts of aggression against our movements will be met with a vengeance so epic and relentless that your children’s children will puke at the sight of swine,” the statement read.

The International Association of Chief of Police website, IACP.org was targeted. The website was down and unreachable early this morning.

Anonymous also took aim at MatrixGroup.net, the website of Matrix Group International, which Internet services for government agencies. The Matrix website would also not load at press time.

In perhaps the most serious security breach, Anonymous hacked Birmingham / Jefferson County, Ala. police websites, releasing the names, addresses, and social security numbers of nearly 1,000 police officers.

Mercy Medical Center in Springfield was locked down this morning after two bank robbery suspects were seen fleeing toward the hospital’s emergency room, police said.

The TD Bank on Chestnut Street was robbed at 10:30 a.m. Two suspects described as black man about 6-feet tall, one wearing a green had and one wearing a blue fitted ball cap ran toward the ER and seen in the hospital area.

The lockdown was lifted by 12:30 p.m.

Ironically, the hospital was conducting a drill today, involving dozens police officers simulating a shooter on the loose in the hospital, said police Sergeant John Delaney.

No one was hurt in the robbery, and the robbers did not display a weapon. An unknown amount of cash was taken.

A former corrections officer working in MCI-Norfolk was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in federal prison for trying to smuggle heroin into the prison for inmates.

Ronald P. McGinn, 40, of Bridgewater, also faces two years of supervised release. He was arrested in April for possession of 29 grams of heroin, which he was bringing to MCI-Norfolk for money, federal officails said.

“In a consensually recorded meeting with an undercover agent, as well as in several text messages between the two, McGinn outlined the amounts he would smuggle into the prison as well as the fee he would charge to do so,” federal officials said in a statement. “During the meeting, McGinn also discussed his prior success in smuggling items into the prison.”

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. The FBI investigated the case in cooperation with the Massachusetts Department Correction.

Two Boston-area men were arrested Monday after police responded to a reported robbery at a 7-Eleven on State Street.

Police arrived around 2:30 a.m. and spoke to a clerk who said the two men went into the store, looked around, and then walked up to the register. They threatened to punch the clerk out, and one of the men grabbed several items and ran off, smashing the store’s door window in the process.

A description of the suspects was broadcast over the radio, and patrol officers quickly found both men.

Searching the suspects, police found several packages of Rice Crispy Treats.

Jose Guzman, 20, of Everett and Edgar Santos, 19, of Boston were arrested and charged both with larceny and destruction of property.

For the second time in less than a year, a police officer has been shot in the suburb of Worburn during a jewelry heist.

Around 11 a.m. Tuesday, a jewelry store was robbed on Cambridge Road in a shopping center. A responding police officer was shot and taken to Lahey Clinic, where his condition was not immediate known.

A massive manhunt is now underway.

There were at least two suspects. One was shot by police, and police are looking for a second man who fled in a vehicle.

Set north of Boston on I-93, Woburn is the town where Officer John “Jack Maguire” was fatally shot by a convict on parole who was robbing a Kohl’s department store of Jewelry in late December.

Two suspected gang members were sentenced on Wednesday on firearms charges from a trip to a shooting range in December 2010.

Jeffrey Medina, 20, and Sherwin Garcia, 21, rented three high-powered firearms at a shooting range in Salisbury and shot almost 500 rounds of ammunition at targets while on probation from previous firearms convictions.

Medina was sentenced to 18 months in prison and Garcia was sentenced to 12 months, each followed by three years of supervised release and a restriction from certain areas of Jamaica Plains and from being with certain people.

At the hearing, the government claimed that Medina and Garcia were part of Jamaica Plains’ Mozart Street Gang

The suspects pleaded guilty to possession of firearms while on parole on December 22, 2010. The sentences will not begin until the men have completed their previous parole sentences.

Julaine Jules

A Dorchester man was charged with the 2004 murder of Julaine Jules on Friday by a Suffolk County Grand Jury.

Shabazz Augustine, 32, was charged with first-degree murder for the asphyxiation death of Jules, 26, of Malden.

Jules’ body surfaced in the Charles River, wrapped in plastic bags, on September 19, 2004. The victim left her work place on August 14 and was not seen again.

Officials with the Middlesex and Suffolk District Attorney offices, State Police, and local police launched a long-term investigation and eventually produced a warrant for Augustine’s arrest in late June.

Authorities say that Augustine had “a significant romantic interest” in the victim. It is believed that she was murdered after Augustine learned that Jules had spent the weekend with another man.

The suspect is expected to be arraigned on August 29 in Suffolk Superior Court.

The former owners of a temporary employment agency in Stoughton were convicted on Wednesday of paying more than $25 million in unreported cash to their employees in order to avoid paying $7 million in taxes and more in workers compensation insurance premiums.

Michael Powers and John Mahan were charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and their workers compensation insurers, one count of mail fraud and two counts of false tax return.

The men owned and operated Commonwealth Temporary Services, Inc. from 2000 to 2004 and paid many of their employees in cash to evade employment taxes and insurance premiums associated with having people on pay roll.

The amount employers have to pay is largely dependant on how big the pay roll is, so Powers and Mahan lied about their number of employees and paid them in cash so they would be undetected.

Both men face up to 20 years in prison, followed by three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the mail fraud charge; a maximum of five years in prison with three years supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge; and up to three years in prison with one year of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the tax fraud charges.

Powers is expected to be sentenced on October 26 and Mahan on November 3

Nine New Bedford men were arrested today on federal and state gun and drug charges according to the United States District Attorney, Carmen M. Ortiz.

The arrests sprang from a joint federal and state investigation into gun and drug distribution in New Bedford, which began more than a year ago.

Four individuals were indicted on federal charges and five were charged by the Bristol County District Attorney’s Office.

The harshest sentence may be life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

“Today’s arrests demonstrate our commitment to investigating and prosecuting those who terrorize our communities by illegally possessing and distributing guns and drugs,” said Ortiz. “We will not allow criminals to endanger the people of New Bedford or their neighborhoods without consequence.”

A Cambridge man was charged today with computer intrusion, fraud and data theft after he allegedly hacked into the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s network to access protected JSTOR files.

Aaron Swartz, 24, was a fellow at Harvard University’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, according to the Boston Globe, and could have accessed JSTOR legally for legitimate research.

Swartz allegedly broke into a restricted computer wiring closet in a basement at MIT and to access MIT’s network from a computer switch in the closet between September 24, 2010, and January 6, 2011.

He used this access to get files from JSTOR, a non-profit organization that compiles academic articles for research purposes, and download them to his computer. Swartz is charged with distributing these articles on various file sharing websites.

“Stealing is stealing whether you use a computer command or a crowbar, and whether you take documents, data or dollars,” said United States District Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. “It is equally harmful to the victim whether you sell what you have stolen or give it away.”

Swartz faces up to 35 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million under the charges brought against him.

The indictment claims that Swartz stole over four million articles from JSTOR. The quantity of downloads affected JSTOR’s computers, crashed some of its servers and blocked some of MIT’s computers from accessing the site.

Despite efforts from both the university and JSTOR to block Swartz’s computers, he apparently prevailed and found new ways into the systems.

“The New England Electronic Crimes Task Force has taken an aggressive stance in the investigation of computer intrusions and other cybercrimes,” said Steven D. Ricciardi, Special Agent in Charge of the United States Secret Service in New England. “Through this task force, the Secret Service and our partners on the Cambridge and MIT Police Departments demonstrate the importance of cooperation among law enforcement to focus resources and respond effectively to investigate and prevent this type of fraud.”

Swartz has previously advocated the elimination of barriers to distribution of information online, and for public distribution of information in libraries. He is a co-founder of reddit.com and the founder of Demand Progress, a non-profit political action group that opposes the “corrupting influence on big institutions.”

So far, the government is not aware of any personal information being stolen from JSTOR.

A teen was murdered in Springfield in what police believe to be a gang-related incident.

Tyrel Wheeler, 16, of Springfield fell from a moving vehicle at the intersection of Meredith and Washington Streets after being shot several times at a different location.

The vehicle continued down the street with no driver, and Wheeler tried to chase the car down the street, according to witnesses. He was unable to get in the car and collapsed.

When police arrived at the scene, they found a large amount of blood in the victim’s car.

Wheeler died yesterday at Baystate Medical Center.

This death brings the murder count in Springfield to 11 for this year.

Investigators combed the marsh in Wayland where the body of 18-year-old Lauren Astley was found on the Fourth of July, Boston.com reported.

A spokeswoman for Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr. did not say what police were looking for.

Astley graduated from Wayland High School only a few weeks ago. Her ex-boyfriend, Nathaniel Fujita, has been charged with killing her, possible in his family’s garage, by cutting her throat and wrapping a bungee cord around her neck.

Fujita, also 18, pleaded not guilty earlier this week to first degree murder.

Casey Anthony did not walk free Thursday morning, as many had speculated.

Found not guilty on Tuesday of murdering her daughter, Caylee, Anthony has avoided a possible death penalty. But the 25-year-old was found guilty of four counts of providing false information to law-enforcement officers investigating Caylee’s 2008 disappearance and death.

The judge sentenced Anthony to the maximum possible one year in prison for each of the four counts, to be served consecutively. Anthony has already served three years since her murder arrest, and she may be free as early as later this month for good behavior.

Afterward, it is widely reported that Anthony may sell her story and make millions from television, movie, and media deals.

Prosecutors accused a Wayland teen today of cutting the throat of his former girlfriend, Lauren Astley, 18, after a search of his family’s home yielded blood stained clothing and blood stains in the garage.

Nathaniel Fujita, 18, pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder in court today. The former Wayland High School football player was ordered held without bail.

According to Middlesex District Attorney Gerard T. Leone Jr., Astley recently ended her and Fujita’s three year relationship on seemingly friendly terms.

“We do believe this to be a case of teen dating violence,’’ Leone said. “Lauren broke off the relationship…It’s a classic fatal paradigm that we see around teen dating relationships.’’

Astley’s body was found in a marsh off Route 27 on Monday morning by a bicyclist.

The victim had a “gaping incision to the neck,” and with at least one bungee cord around her neck, Middlesex Assistant District McGovern said in court.

“There was a strong case of premeditated murder … and attempts to cover up with what he had done,’’ McGovern said in court about Fujita.

The suspect was questioned by the police three times, most recently at 7 a.m. on Monday, right before Astley’s body was found.

Fujita admitted to meeting Astley at his home, but said she was alive when she left.

Police searched the Fujita family home after Astley was reported missing on Sunday night and found bloody evidence, including sneakers and clothing hidden in a crawlspace in Fujita’s bedroom, according to McGovern.

William Sullivan, Fujita’s attorney, said the suspect knew police were investigating him since Sunday and made no attempt to flee.

Fujita is supposed to attend Trinity College in Connecticut this fall. Astley was set to attend Elon University in North Carolina to study business.

Astley’s father, Malcolm Astley, said she went missing around 8 p.m. on Sunday after working a closing shift at Shop344 in the Natick Collection. She reportedly went to the Wayland town beach after work, but never called home to check in.

“The more time went on, the more worried I became,” Mr. Astley said.

The victim’s father declined to speculate about what might have happened to his daughter in a Boston Globe article.

After a spree of violence over the holiday weekend, Mayor Thomas M. Menino said he would hold an emergency meeting with the city’s police commanders this afternoon to decide whether police should act differently to avoid more violence.

Four were killed and nine wounded yesterday throughout five different neighborhoods in just five hours.

“It’s so frustrating,” Menino told Boston Globe reporters. “You think you’ve touched every base. You think you’ve done everything right.”

Commissioner Edward F. Davis said the violence may have been spurred by “alcohol-fueled parties,” typical of holiday weekends.

He said many of the shootings appear to be gang-related.

The identities of the victims were not released, however police did release a list of when and where the violent acts took place. The following happened in chronological order:

-7:16 p.m. 60 Hollander Street Roxbury. One person shot to death.

-9:55 p.m. 36 Norton Street Dorchester. Three shot, one fatally.

-11:26 p.m. 120 Huntington Ave., South End. Two people stabbed. One victim is in critical condition and one victim is stable. One person is under arrest.

-11:33 pm. 52 Thomas Park, South Boston. Two people stabbed and neither suffered life-threatening injuries.

-11:34 p.m. Talbot Avenue and Washington Street, Dorchester. One person was shot, and he went to Carney Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

-11:36 p.m. Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street, Mattapan. One person was found in this location but believed to have shot elsewhere. He was taken to the Carney, where he was in stable condition. The Area B-3 police station is at this intersection.

-11:54 p.m. 975 Blue Hill Ave., Dorchester. One person was stabbed and was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

JULY 5

-12:15 a.m. 245 Columbia Road, Dorchester. Police said a person walked up to the vehicle and opened fire at the two men inside. The car lurched forward and smashed into a building. Two people were shot, and both later died from their wounds.

After a 23 year search, a man was indicted in the murder of his girlfriend in the West Roxbury area known as the Grove, according to Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis and Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Michael Coker, 48, was arrested today for the murder of 20 year-old Janet Phinney in 1988. Phinney was found strangled in a wooded area behind her home.

“Homicide detectives, Suffolk County prosecutors and the Phinney family have been seeking justice for Janet for more than 20 years,” Davis said. “The dogged efforts of the Cold Case Squad, the painstaking re-examination of the evidence by the BPD Crime Lab and the relentless dedication of prosecutors made this indictment possible. My hope is that this significant development provides Janet’s family with some sense of peace.”

Phinney was working as a hairstylist and a waitress at the time of her murder. She lived with her parents and was discovered dead by a neighbor after her parents had filed a missing persons report.

Officials suspected the victim’s ex-boyfriend, Coker, but did not have enough evidence until recently to charge him.

“Today, after more than 20 years of uncertainty, Janet Phinney’s family members received the news that their loved one’s murderer has been indicted and arrested,” Conley said. “Whether it’s days, weeks, months or years, the message here is that we will never quit in our pursuit of justice.”

Boston Police Department’s Cold Case Squad reopened the Phinney case in 2010, enhanced by new forensic technology involving DNA samples.

SPRINGFIELD– State Police and Deputy United States Marshals collaborated on Friday to arrest one of Massachusetts’ most wanted criminals.

Marshals arrested Marcus Parks, 25, as he left a relative’s home in Bernice, La. where he had been staying.

Marshals set up surveillance at 137 Plum Ave. after Massachusetts State Police received a tip that one of Parks’ relatives had moved there from Springfield.

Parks allegedly fired several rounds into a large crown outside a Springfield restaurant on June 28, 2008. Two were shot and seriously wounded.

The suspect also has multiple outstanding warrants in Massachusetts, including armed robbery, receiving a stolen motor vehicle, and other motor vehicle violations. He also has a warrant for his arrest in South Carolina, charging him with possession of a stolen gun and unlawful carrying of a pistol.

Parks is being held at the Union Parish Sheriff’s Department in Farmerville, La. He is expected to appear in court in Louisiana today.

Massachusetts and Louisiana authorities will work together to send Parks back to Massachusetts, where he will be charged with two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and other firearms charges related to the 2008 shooting.

Former Massachusetts State Senate president and University of Massachusetts president William M. Bulger gave a brief statement through a publicity firm:

“I wish to express my sympathy to all the families hurt by the calamitous circumstances of this case. As the judicial process takes its course, I shall make no further comment at this time. Along with everyone else involved, I look forward to a resolution of this matter,” Bulger said in the statement. “I do hope, in the meantime, that my family may be accorded a measure of privacy.”

Bulger is the younger brother of James J. “Whitey” Bulger, the former head of the Irish mob in Boston who was captured in Santa Monica, Calif. after 16 years on the run dodging racketeering charges and 19 murders.

Whitey Bulger appeared in federal court in Boston on Friday, where his brother — as well as the families of some of his alleged victims — watched a bearded 81-year-old face a judge. The two brothers exchanged smiles, and Whitey mouthed the word “hello.”

William “Billy” Bulger exited the courthouse through the front door, where a cadre of reporters were waiting for him.

He said he recognized his brother, but did not say much beyond that.

“It’s an unusual experience,” he told reporters.

The FBI said Saturday that the tip that led to the arrest of James J. “Whitey” Bulger was taken seriously from the start, disputing news reports that the tip was given low priority when it came in.

“Those reports are false,” the FBI said in a statement. “The FBI Supervisory Special Agent responsible for the Bulger Task Force was the first to review the tip. He then consulted with other members of the task force. Together, they recognized that certain information appeared to be credible and promising. Immediately thereafter, the Boston FBI office requested the Los Angeles FBI office to initiate surveillance at the targeted location. Hours later, less than 24 hours after the supervisory agent first reviewed the tip, Mr. Bulger and Ms. Greig were arrested.”

In the statement, the FBI said that the task force looking for Bulger included members of the US Marshals, the Massachusetts Department of Correction, Massachusetts State Police, and FBI agents.

The FBI has released few details about the soon-to-be rich tipster who keyed federal agents in on the location of James J. “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

Some reports Friday indicated the tip came from Iceland. The FBI said Saturday that the tipster was female.

Officials have insisted that the tip came in because of the uptick in PSA ads targeting Greig on daytime television, most watched by women. The commercials focused on Greig’s plastic surgeries and her frequenting of beauty salons.

Bulger, 81, faces 19 murder charges.

A Lowell police officer was charged with raping prostitutes and soliciting prostitution while on duty.

Officer Aravanh Lakmany was indicted on Thursday, according to the Middlesex District Attorney’s office.

Lakmany allegedly solicited several prostitutes beginning in 2009 during his night shifts for the Lowell Police Department. Prosecuters say he asked the women to get into his cruiser or personal car and drove them to a secluded area to engage in sexual acts.

The officer told one prostitute he would not arrest her if she had sex with him, according to prosecutors.

According to the Associated Press, a woman answered Lakmany’s home phone and said “no comment,” and hung up.

LOS ANGELES — Former Winter Hill Gang boss James J “Whitey” Bulger was remanded back to Massachusetts to face a litany of charges against him.

Appearing in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, Bulger had a full white beard, wire-rimmed glasses, and was visibly banding. He waved his right to a rendition hearing.

Bulger, accused of 19 murders, smiled as federal law enforcement agents led him away. He was also seen smiling next to longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig in an arrest photo.

Just the mere mention of the name “Whitey Bulger” sends chills down any South Boston resident’s spine. The infamous Irish gangster left a torrent of bloodshed and crime in his path as he strolled down the alphabetized streets, out of the grasp of crime enforcement agencies. But after a 16-year hunt, the law has finally clenched its fist and arrested Whitey.

James J. “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig were arrested on Wednesday at their apartment in Santa Monica, Calif., just days after the FBI launched a female-oriented publicity campaign on daytime television to capture the couple. Ads were run on television and billboards featuring pictures of Greig.

“It’s very big deal, its a significant deal,” said Brad Bailey, a noted Boston defense attorney. “Obviously at 81 years old, regardless of whatever sentence could be imposed, it’s clear that he could be spending the rest of his natural life in prison.”

Bulger led a long life of crime not only in Boston, but also throughout the country. He was first arrested at age 14 for theft, and so began his tumble into delinquency. From there he committed various crimes, which landed him in a juvenile detention center for five years. He then joined the Air Force, where he served time in military jail for assault. Bulger returned to Boston and waged a string of bank robberies from Rhode Island to Indiana, which earned him 25 years in federal prison. He only served nine of those years.

After his release in 1965, Bulger joined Boston’s Winter Hill Gang and quickly rose through the ranks. By 1979, Bulger assumed leadership of the gang and became in control of much of Boston’s drug trade and gambling operations. He has been charged with 19 murders.

Bulger instilled fear throughout the whole neighborhood, but also provided a level of security. He would help kids or local businesses as long as they helped him, however if one of the people he helped made one wrong move, he would get revenge, often much worse than the original infraction.

It was this volatility that sparked the fear.

But Bulger threw a wrench into the gang’s operation, as he often liked to do: he was an FBI informant. He told no one of his position, even his right hand men. With this power, he helped take out the Italian Patriarca crime family, decimating the Italian mafia in Boston, and consolidating his empire in their wake.

This relationship with the FBI proved to be very helpful to Whitey. He avoided various murder charges, including one in 1982 when Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, gunned down a former Winter Hill member in broad daylight. Whitey’s FBI handler, John Connolly, filed an FBI report saying that a rival gang member was responsible for the killing.

In 1995, as law enforcement finally closed in, Connolly warned Bulger about his pending arrest. Bulger was able to flee and avoid arrest for the following 16 years. He landed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, second to Osama Bin Laden.

Although Whitey was on the run, he wasn’t all that hidden. The FBI received a slew of tips as to where he was, had multiple sightings, they took recent pictures of him, and knew his favorite hangouts. Nobody is quite sure why it took so long to apprehend the mobster.

“I think that’s anybody’s guess,” Bailey said. “It would appear that for him to be living in Santa Monica he was hiding in plain view. There are all sorts of levels of speculation of why it took so long, but the fact is that now he has been apprehended.”

The FBI has been battling accusations that they were not trying very hard to find Bulger for the past few years. This is partly because of Bulger’s informant status; people suspected that the FBI might have been protecting him.

“Although there are those who have doubted our resolve at times over the years, it has never wavered,” said Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston office, during a news conference.

The arrest has sparked mixed emotions in those who grew up during Whitey’s reign. Some are ecstatic at his arrest, including many of the victims’ families, others are angry.

“Well, I don’t know what the exact emotions are, but I think there are a number of people out there with whom it spark a lot of anger,” Bailey said, referring to the people that Bulger ratted out during his time as an informant.

John Ahearn, 66, a former resident, said he was never too afraid of Whitey.

“Sometimes, back then, I had a lot to go with the gang members when I hung out at the bowling alleys. They were nice guys, but they were wise guys. They were very discreet guys. I think some of them were Winter Hill,” Ahearn said.

“The Winter Hill gang, they were particularly a rough gang. They were a lot of trouble. The other guys were just booking guys,” Ahearn remembered. “In the winter hill area, if you wanted to do business…[Bulger] used to go in and say I will protect you if you pay me. Every week they used to go around and collect the money. If you didn’t pay, they would send their goons to rob the store.”

Although he never felt particularly affected by Bulger, he new many people who were.

“I knew a guy that used to rob one of [Winter Hill's] stores. His friends took him out for a ride and they shot him. He was told not to do anything, but he did it any way,” Ahearn said.

Bulger is expected to appear in court in Los Angeles Thursday, and he will likely be returned to Massachusetts for legal proceedings, according to Bailey. Bulger is up against a laundry list of charges of murder, extortion and money laundering.

“I think under the sentencing guidelines he certainly facing a sentence of up to life,” Bailey said.

Although the case seems fairly clear-cut against Bulger, Bailey thinks that his defense might try to use his status as an informant to his benefit.

“I suppose that one of the defenses their going to look at is whether an alleged top echelon informant, whether he was authorized to do the things he was accused of doing,” Bailey said. “The answer is that no informant would be allowed to engage in crimes such as murder, but that would be one of the things they’re going to try to look at. ”

Bailey didn’t have much faith in this defense however. He said that he”express[es] extreme skepticism,” in the defense.

“I guess the rest of it is going after the various cooperators that have connected him to the crimes. That they made things up to protect themselves and their own interest,” Bailey continued.

He also added that Bulger faces murder charges in Oklahoma and Florida, where they may try to pursue the death penalty against him.

The FBI confirmed Thursday that its recent spike in publicity, including commercials during daytime television shows, helped lead to the successful capture of James J. “Whitey” Bulger.

The arrest caps a 16-year global manhunt after federal authorities began targeting Bulger’s longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig, taking to the airwaves during women’s daytime television shows, including “Ellen,” “The View,” and “Live with Regis & Kelly.”

“Although there are those who doubted our resolve, it never wavered,” said Boston Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers. “We followed every lead, we explored every possibility, and when those leads ran out we did not sit back and wait for the phone to ring. The result is we have captured one of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, a man notorious in Boston and around the world for the very serious crimes he is alleged to have committed.”

“The FBI has always relied on cooperation from the public to help capture fugitives and solve crimes. The new media campaign regarding Bulger was designed to draw attention to Greig, who fled with Bulger in 1995. A 30-second public service announcement (PSA) produced by the Bureau began airing Tuesday in 10 states where it was believed Bulger had resided or still had contacts. California was one of those states,” the FBI said in a statement.

The two are due in federal court for the Southern District of California Thursday.

Bulger, who once ran South Boston’s violent Winter Hill Gang, is charged with 19 murders and racketeering (RICO) as well as conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit extortion, narcotics distribution, conspiracy to commit money laundering, extortion and money laundering. Greig is accused of harboring him during the couple’s decade and a half long fugitive run.

And it was that focus on Greig that the FBI says led to Bulger’s downfall.

“We were trying to reach a different audience to produce new leads in the case,” said Richard Teahan, a special agent in the Boston office who leads a task force that has searched for Bulger around the world. “We believed that locating Greig would lead us to Bulger. And that’s exactly what happened.”

Police arrested and indicted eighteen alleged drug dealers in a long-term investigation into cocaine and heroin distribution called “Operation Tanglewood,” according to Daniel F. Conley, Suffolk County district attorney, and Edward Davis, Boston police commissioner.

The offenders were all located and suspected to be selling drugs in the area of the Lenox Street Housing Development.

“This should serve as a clear message to any individuals engaging in violent activity in our communities,” Davis said. “We will continue our relentless efforts to hold violent perpetrators accountable. We will not allow these individuals to destroy quality of life for hard-working, law-abiding community members.”

According to Conley, plainclothes officers were able to buy cocaine and heroin repeatedly and with ease.

“The density of drug retailers in this area forced residents to walk a gauntlet every time they left for school, came home from work, or went out to the store. They brought us their concerns, we acted, and the result is safer streets, homes, and parks for families and businesses,” Conley said.

The operation was waged due to many citizen complaints, and to disrupt the local drug trade. It targeted distribution suspects known to the Suffolk DA’s Gang Unit, as well as others who made themselves known in the drug trade throughout the investigation.

A Suffolk County Grand Jury indicted the suspects on multiple charges, as well as “about a dozen” additional people who were charged with drug offenses.

A federal grand jury convicted former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Salvatore F. DiMasi and a Beacon Hill lobbyist today of a scheme to “deprive the Massachusetts citizens of his honest services by accepting bribes,” according to a Department of Justice press release.

After a six-week trial and three days of deliberation, the jury found that DiMasi misused his power to allow a software company to get multi-million dollar goods and services from agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

DiMasi, 65, and Lobbyist Richard W. McDonough, 66, were both convicted of one count of conspiracy, three counts of honest services mail fraud, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of extortion under color of official right.

Joseph P. Lally, 50, also played a part in the scheme and previously pleaded guilty. He is awaiting trial.

“Public service and elected office is not a right or an entitlement – it is a privilege that comes with the public’s expectation of truthfulness and honesty,” United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz said. “Today, justice has been served and the culture of corruption has been dealt another blow.”

Lally was an Area Vice President of Sales for the State and Local Government Division of Cognos ULC, the Canadian software company involved in the scheme. Cognos made business intelligence and performance management software and similar services targeted toward Massachusetts government agencies. Lally left Cognos and started Montvale Solutions, LLC, which resold Cognos software to agencies in Massachusetts.

Lally hired McDonough as a lobbyist.

When DiMasi took office as Speaker of the House in 2004, income from his outside law practice decreased drastically, according to testimony.

In December 2004, McDonough, DiMasi and Lally had money funneled to DiMasi through DiMasi’s law associates. Said associates were paid $5,000 per month and not asked to work for the following two years.

Through this scam, DiMasi made $65,000 over two years in exchange for taking official action that would help Cognos, Lally and McDonough.

DiMasi performed actions such as securing funds for two Cognos contracts with Massachusetts worth $17.5 million.

The former Speaker also lobbied Governor Deval Patrick and his administration to execute Cognos’ contract.

The Boston Globe wrote multiple article in 2008 that raised questions about the Cognos contracts, and sparked DiMasi to urge his law associates to “lose his check register” that contained information about Cognos payments.

This is the third time in the past year that a Massachusetts elected official has been convicted of “graft-related offenses,” according to Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI-Boston Field Division.

DiMasi and McDonough each face up to 20 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release and $250,000 fine on each count of mail and wire fraud; up to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release and $250,000 fine on extortion under color of official right; and up to five years in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy count.

They will be sentenced on August 18.

“The citizens of Massachusetts put extraordinary trust in Mr. DiMasi, and he betrayed that trust when he chose to conspire with his friends to use his office in order to line his pockets, and theirs. Today, Mr. DiMasi and Mr. McDonough paid the price for their decision to abuse their influence for their own personal gain,” Ortiz said..

After an extensive investigation, police arrested three Braintree men for illegal drug sales.

Paul A. Gravelle, 38, and Andrew G. Alexopoulos, 25, both of Braintree, were named the main components in the deal and search warrants were issued for their vehicles and homes.

From these searches, police learned that Gravelle was allegedly en route to Florida to get large amounts of Ocycodone through prescription in his name and used various “runners,” including Alexopoulos, to sell the drugs in the Braintree area.

Gravelle also got Oxycodone from people with legal prescriptions, who then illegally sold him the drugs.

Police were able to cinch the investigation when they observed Gravelle allegedly selling drugs to David C. Anderson, 41, on Monday.

Police followed both suspects and stopped them short distances from their respective homes.

Thirty-three 30mg Oxycodone pills were found in Gravelle’s car, along with $401 believed to have been from the drug sale. Investigators believe that Anderson swallowed his pills, however they found one pill under the seat of his car.

Officers then searched the homes of Gravelle and Alexopoulos and found more Oxycodone and $3400 in a safe in Gravelle’s home. They also encountered more evidence that suggests Gravelle was buying pills in Florida. Sixteen pills and $230 in cash were found in Alexopoulos’ home

Gravelle was charged with possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute, distribution of a Class B substance, conspiracy to violate the Controlled Substances Act and a drug free school zone violation. Alexopoulos was charged with possession of a Class B substance with intent to distribute and Anderson was charged with possession of a Class B substance and conspiracy.

Two strippers were arrested in Brookline on Monday after allegedly robbing three men.

The men reported to police that they had requested two female escorts to perform a strip show for them from ero-guide.com.

The men realized that the strippers, Catriona Kaye, 29, of Mattapan, and Sheila Estrada, 29, of Dorchester, were not who they had requested when the women arrived at the Freeman Street apartment early Monday morning. They argued with the strippers because of the discrepancy, according to police.

Kaye then allegedly hit one of the men in the face and took $800 from his hand. She put the money in her bra, and when one of the men tried to retrieve it, Estrada pushed him away.

Police arrived at the scene at 4:23 a.m. and found the women at a convenience store on Park Drive, along with a man, Dana Roberts, 35, who was driving them in a Mercedes.

The women were arrested on charges of robbery and Roberts was arrested on a warrant for a traffic violation and operating a vehicle with a revoked license.

A birthday party turned deadly in September 2009 and ended in the shooting of a young woman, Paula Castillo. The case was brought to life again this morning at the trial of her alleged killers.

Castillo’s friends threw a party for her 18th birthday at 28 Hillis Road, which Ruben Sanchez,21, Miguel Vasquez,20, and Andres Brea, 21, attended. These three suspects engaged in a verbal argument with the party’s hostess and were asked to leave.

The suspects complied and left the party, but upon reaching Brea’s car, Sanchez pulled out a revolver and began firing shots at the house, with the other two suspects’ encouragement, according to Jennifer Hickman, assistant district attorney.

The shots hit Castillo, who was leaning out a window at 28 Hillis Road, who was found by police “lying on the ground in a pool of blood,” according to Hickman.

“It wasn’t supposed to end with the death of a young woman,” a Suffolk County prosecutor told the Superior Court this morning about the party.

An off duty police officer witnessed the incident from his nearby home and reported it to the District E-18 police station.

He recalled that “the shooter – Mr. Sanchez – get into that vehicle, observed the vehicle drive a short distance, make a U-turn, and stop in front of 28 Hillis Road for one final round let off from the front seat passenger,” according to prosecutors.

The officer did not see Castillo get shot.

Police were able to get accounts from witnesses at the party, which led to the arrests of the three suspects.

Officers found a revolver in the trunk of Brea’s car, and Sanchez tested positive for gunshot residue.

Sanchez is charged with second-degree murder, Vasquez is charged with assault by means of a dangerous weapon and Brea is charged with being an accessory after the fact to assault by means of a dangerous weapon.

All three defendants are also being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a loaded firearm

A 16-year old Braintree teen was arrested on Saturday after he allegedly fired a gun in the air and then pointed it at 15-year old teen after the victim was talking to the suspect’s girlfriend.

Police responded to a call about underage drinking in the woods behind Flaherty School on Saturday evening. Officers questioned many teens and confiscated a quantity of alcohol.

One boy was charged with being a minor in possession of alcohol and resisting arrest. The remaining teens were transported to the police station to be picked up by their parents.

While driving to the police station, one of the teens revealed that while he was talking to a girl he did not know, a youth he knew pulled out a chrome revolver and shot a round into the air. He then pointed the gun at the reporting youth’s face and threatened him.

The youths dispersed after the incident.

Braintree Police and officers from surrounding towns searched for the suspect in the woods and at his home. The teen, who will remain unidentified due to his age, was charged with illegal possession of a firearm, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, assault with a dangerous weapon and threats to commit a crime.

The teen lived with his grandfather, who owns a number of firearms, and searched for the chrome revolver, according to Police. They were unable to locate the revolver the teen used.

Various people who live around Flaherty School reported hearing a gunshot.

BRAINREE — A New Haven woman was arrested Friday night after she allegedly stole $400 worth of jeans from Abercrombie and Fitch at the South Shore Plaza.

Loss prevention at the store watched Candice M. Couvertier, 27, and two men conceal several pairs of jeans in a bag and leave the store. When the agents apprehended her, she allegedly bit one of them in the hand and ran off.

She was captured at a naerby restaurant and faces charges of larceny over $250 and assault and battery.

The men she was with fled and were not found.

Police are investigating the second bank robbery in a week in Braintree. A teller at the Citizens Bank on Washington Street in South Braintree Square called the police a few minutes after 5 p. m. on Friday, May 27, to report a robbery by a tall white male, presumably in his 20s, according to the Braintree Police.

The suspect passed a note demanding money to the teller. The teller handed over a sum of money and the suspect fled the bank and ran toward Taylor Street.

This robbery follows the Rockland Trust Bank robbery on Washington Street in North Braintree Square on May 24.

A teller there reported that a white male with a similar description passed her a note demanding money.

No weapons were visible and no one was injured in either robbery.

The teller further described the Citizens Bank robber as a thin white male, about 5’9″ tall, with a clean-shaven face and some acne. He was wearing a bright white t-shirt with an image on the front, dark navy blue jeans and a bright red baseball cap. He had clear tape on his fingertips, and large band-aids on his left arm and the right side of his neck.

SPRINGFIELD — Mayoral Candidate Antonette Pepe promised today to take immediate action against crime if elected after she learned that Springfield is the 12th most dangerous city in America, according to recent FBI statistics.

The city rose in every category except for larceny from 2009, and has surpassed the crime rates of much larger cities, including Boston, Miami and New York.

“We must look at new ways to stop crime in our city,” Pepe said in a statement. “This is not acceptable.”

Pepe proposed to have police substations and community policing to reduce crime rates. This plan would not raise taxes, according to Pepe’s press release. She also feels that if the community interacts with police officers positively, it will gain trust with both parties, and result in more cooperation from Springfield residents.

Current Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has gun shot warning devices and cameras in place to help combat violent crime.

The candidate denounced Sarno’s crime prevention systems, reasoning that they only help after crime has occurred, rather than being proactive.

“We need a mayor that is a leader that is not going to settle for excuses, and this is inexcusable,” Pepe said.

A Massachusetts State Police trooper was hit by a vehicle and seriously hurt Tuesday morning in a suspected hit-and-run in South Boston, State Police siad.

The trooper, whose name was not released, was struck at Frontage Road and the on-ramp for the eastbound Massachusetts Turnpike.

He was taken to a Boston hospital for treatment. Police are looking for the driver, but no additional details have been released.

SPRINGFIELD — Police responded to an alleyway in Springfield on Saturday where they found a man fatally stabbed in the chest.

Carlos Gonzalez Beslanga, 32, of Newington, Conn., suffered the fatal stab wound that pierced his heart and a lung in the alleyway between 62 and 66 Cumberland Street at 4:30 p.m. after he angered a man on the street by urinating in the alley, according to Police Sergeant John Delaney.

Beslanga and the man argued until the suspect pulled out a large knife and stabbed Beslanga.

The victim was taken to Baystate Medical Center where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

Captain Peter Dillon and Lieutenant Trent Duda of the Springfield Police Department are looking to arrest Luis Cintron, 37, and Noemy Ramos, 33, both of 66 Cumberland Street, for the murder. Both suspects are considered armed and dangerous, according to Sgt. John Delaney.

Investigators determined that the victim was visiting his mother on Cumberland Street when the homicide occurred. This is the eighth homicide in Springfield this year.

Massachusetts State Police took a Texas woman into custody on Wednesday at a highway rest stop in Chelmsford in connection with the death of her son.

Julianne McCrery of Irving, Texas was detained on Interstate 495 southbound and questioned by investigators from Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

She has since been charged with second degree murder.

Her young son, Camden Pierce Hughes, was found dead on a secluded road in South Berwick, Maine, on Saturday.

According to police, McCrery killed her son in New Hampshire and dumped the body in Maine.

The cause of the young boy’s death was preliminarily determined to be asphyxiation, according to police.

David Procopio, a Massachusetts State Police spokesman, said McCrery was transported to a local hospital for “medical evaluation” late Wednesday afternoon, and that “a development” in the case had placed it under the jurisdiction of the New Hampshire attorney general’s office.

McCrery was picked up after State Police received a tip from a citizen that at 10:20 a.m. a pickup truck was parked at the Chelmsford rest stop that looked like the vehicle seen near the location where Hughes’ body was dumped, according to Procopio.

The vehicle is being examined at a State Police facility in Danvers.

Spurred by a naval insignia near the license plate of the vehicle, Maine authorities had asked the military to help with the case. International law enforcement agents were also called in, as authorities could not identify the boy for several days.

Arlington Police arrested a Maine man on Tuesday after he allegedly threatened police officers and a dispatcher.

Christopher Loder, 40, of Palermo, Maine allegedly phoned in a threat on Saturday, saying he was going to beat up two Arlington police officers, bring a group of military friends and “spray” the officers with an AK-47 and AR-15, and said he was going to injure the dispatcher as well.

Police charged Loder with three counts of threatening to commit a crime, according to Captain Robert Bongiorno.

Loder is a former Arlington resident and had an extensive criminal history with the Arlington Police.

After “intensive investigation,” detectives confirmed Loder was staying in Arlington, but his residence was in Maine. Police took him into custody at his friend’s house at 26 Grove Street.

Loder was arraigned in Cambridge District Court on Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty.

A Roxbury gang member confessed his involvement in the 2007 shooting death of thirteen-year-old Luis Gerena, Jr., according to District Attorney Daniel F. Conley.

Darrell Rodrigues, 20, pleaded guilty Monday to voluntary manslaughter, unlawful possession of a firearm, assault and battery on a witness in the case and intimidation of a witness.

Although he did not pull the trigger, Superior Court Judge Judith Fabricant sentenced Rodrigues to serve 14-15 years in state prison with a subsequent five years of probation.

“It was very painful,” Wendy Jiminian, Gerena’s mother, said. “He didn’t deserve to die. I miss him so much. Words cannot express how I feel…. At least I can go home and tell my other kids justice was served.”

Jiminian delivered both oral and written statements in court today, in which she described the emotional hardships her family faced in the wake of Gerena’s death.

“The hardest thing I had to do was tell my other children that their brother was gone and not coming back,” Jiminian wrote.

Luis Gerena, Sr., the boy’s father, also provided a written statement to the court.

Rodrigues and Nurudeen Alabi, who allegedly fired the shot that killed Gerena, were members of a gang associated with the Academy Homes housing development. The teens went to the Heath Street development with intentions of robbing and shooting a rival gang member on January 12, 2007, and instead killed Gerena, who had no gang affiliations.

Alabi will be tried separately at a later date.