Tagged: Crime

At the time of his capture in 2011, James “Whitey” Bulger  was wanted for 19 murders, extortion and loan sharking committed during his reign over Boston’s Irish mob between the 1970s and 1995. During 16 years on the lam, Whitey became the subject of myth; characterized alternately as a “good bad guy”, and, in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film, The Departed, a venal sociopath.

Shelley Murphy and Kevin Cullen, a pair of Boston Globe journalists have drawn on 25 years of reporting to create a more complete and nuanced portrait of the restless boy from the Boston projects who became the most wanted fugitive of his generation. Tonight, Murphy and Cullen will be at the Red River Theatre for a screening of The Departed and at a pre-screening reception and talk.

“Taking a new step, uttering a new word, is what people fear most.”

-Fyodor Dostoyevsky  from Crime and Punishment

In this fearless edition of Word of Mouth, we take new steps and utter new words about crime, punishment and everything in between.

Prosecutors say they now have a clearer picture of what happened to University of New Hampshire student Elizabeth Marriott, who has been missing and presumed dead last October.

Police arrested a man from Dover, Seth Mazzaglia, shortly after Marriott went missing, but it wasn’t until the last few days that a grand jury formally indicted Mazzaglia on a series of charges, including first and second degree murder.

In February, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Maryland v. King  -- concerning the warrantless collection of DNA from people arrested for, but not convicted of a crime; Maryland is one of 28 states that collect DNA upon arrest. The case against the state questions whether DNA collected from people still presumed innocent violates the Fourth Amendment. The decision could have far-reaching implications in the real world, where DNA solves far fewer cases than on TV. Jason Silverstein is a PhD student in anthropology at Harvard and a contributor to The Nation. He looked into the racial implications of the case that Justice Samuel Alito called, “Perhaps the most important criminal procedure case that this court has heard in decades.”

Jurors have convicted a New Hampshire woman of lying about her involvement in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda to enter the United States and to gain citizenship.

Following today’s verdict, Beatrice Munyenyezi of Manchester was stripped of her citizenship and ordered held until her sentencing in June. Defense lawyers say they will appeal the verdict.