Bulger Trial Defense Witness Called Liar by US D.A.

A key witness for the defense in the 2013 Whitey Bugler trial has been called a fabulist by the U.S. District Attorney.

Retired FBI agent Robert Fitzpatrick, 75, faces charges of six perjuries and six counts of obstruction of justice. The Associated Press reports he has turned himself in, and his arraignment is slated for Thursday afternoon.

While on the stand in 2013, Fitzpatrick said he repeatedly asked his agency to terminate their quid pro quo dealings with Bulger, the notorious gangster. The U.S. D.A. says he was offering “false material declarations to enhance his own credibility as a former FBI official.”

Fitzpatrick also told the court that he was the one who found the rifle used to kill Martin Luther King Jr. In addition, he said that in the early ‘80s, Bulger had told him that he was not working as an informant, and that the FBI had sent him to Boston specifically to combat corruption. He also claimed complaining about Bugler to his superiors got him in trouble.

The government is saying he made all that stuff up.

Prosecutors at the trial strongly implied that Fitzpatrick was painting a heroic image of himself to help promote his book, “Betrayal: Whitey Bulger, and the FBI Agent Who Fought To Bring Him Down.”

Bugler is currently serving two life sentences for racketeering and connections with 11 murders.