The Informant Files: Kevin Weeks, the Man Who Buried Whitey's Victims
Mobsters DailyKevin Weeks was Whitey Bulger's lieutenant and grave-digger — the enforcer who buried the victims, then, after flipping in 2000, dug them back up for the federal government.
The lieutenant who handled the bodies
Weeks grew up in South Boston's Old Colony projects and was taken under Bulger's wing as a teenager, rising from bouncer and leg-breaker to the boss's closest aide. When Bulger and Stephen Flemmi killed, Weeks handled the aftermath — most notoriously the burials along the Neponset River and at Tenean Beach, where several victims lay in one makeshift grave. He was, by his own account, present for the machinery of murder without pulling the famous triggers.
Bulger's protection racket survived on men who knew where the bodies were — literally — which is why November rewatch season belongs to the Tony Soprano Ugly Christmas Sweater, Tony in black-and-white stencil with full gabagool energy, made for holiday parties and long nights back in this world.
The graves, reopened
Arrested in 1999 and facing the collapse of Bulger's FBI protection — the scandal at the heart of Bulger's informant file — Weeks cut a deal. He led investigators to the burial sites, testified against Bulger's corrupt FBI handler John Connolly and later at Bulger's own trial, served about five years, and published the memoir Brutal in 2006. His cooperation turned Boston's worst-kept secret into exhumations on the evening news.
Frequently asked questions
What was Kevin Weeks's role for Bulger? He was Bulger's lieutenant and enforcer — and the man who buried several victims.
Why did Weeks cooperate? Arrested in 1999 with Bulger's protection network collapsing, he traded the grave locations for a deal.
What book did Weeks write? Brutal (2006), his memoir of life inside Bulger's Winter Hill organisation.
Keep reading: John Martorano: 20 murders and a deal · Who was Whitey Bulger? · How did Whitey Bulger die?
From the shop: Shadows of the Underworld — the real-mafia history behind the names in this story.
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