Testimony from a brand new witness earlier this yr offered the break investigators say they wanted to arrest the alleged shooter in a 38-year-old cold-case homicide tied to Southie crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger.
In a courtroom crammed with family and friends of the sufferer, Suffolk Assistant District Attorney John Verner laid out a sordid story of an alleged cold-blooded homicide that stemmed from the sufferer’s acquaintance with a drug supplier who had ratted out one other angel mud supplier to Bulger, who in flip demanded a minimize of the hallucinogenic drug’s income.
The suspect, Michael Lewis, 61, was arrested final Friday and charged with the July 1984 homicide of Brian Watson, 23, whose decomposed physique was discovered two months in a while the aspect of a New Hampshire freeway.
Lewis, who was arraigned out of public view, pleaded not responsible and was held with out bail throughout a clerk Justice of the Peace’s listening to held in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday.
“We had a glimpse in the courtroom today of a very different Boston — a Boston that we can never allow to happen again,” mentioned Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden. “After practically 40 years, we’re reminded of the mayhem and homicide inflicted by cold-hearted and corrupt, merciless males.
“This was gang violence and systematic extortion at an evil high,” the DA added. “This was a young father cut down by an environment of fear — fear created by a gang influenced by James ‘Whitey’ Bulger.”
Angered by the drug supplier who snitched on him, the person, an angel mud supplier referred to by Verner as Witness One, allegedly enlisted Lewis, 24 on the time, to threaten the opposite supplier and persuade him to go away Boston, Verner mentioned.
Bulger had demanded that Witness One pay $5,000 instantly and $1,000 per week “as the cost of doing business in South Boston,” Verner mentioned.
While driving round South Boston on July 16 or 17 of 1984 searching for the drug supplier, Witness One and Lewis bumped into one other angel mud supplier — Watson — who instructed the pair he knew the place the supplier was and jumped into the again seat of the automotive to assist search for him, Verner mentioned.
“During that ride, Michael Lewis, who had a semi-automatic firearm with him, turned around and shot Brian Watson multiple times, killing him,” mentioned Verner.
The pair drove to New Hampshire to dump the physique behind some bushes on the aspect of I-93 south. Watson’s decomposed physique was found by a married couple two months later; the sufferer, who had been reported lacking by his mom, was recognized by way of dental data, Verner mentioned.
From 1984 on, New Hampshire, Manchester and Boston Police labored the case, nevertheless it wasn’t till this previous yr that investigators acquired their huge break when one other witness got here ahead with new info.
The witness instructed Boston and Suffolk DA investigators that he knew Lewis and through the years had heard him discuss “his involvement in the shooting and killing of Brian Watson,” Verner mentioned.
“This case hearkens back to a very different era in the city of Boston and I think it’s a stark reminder that while Hollywood and others may tend to glorify that era, the criminal actors of that era were not Robin Hoods, they were not heroes,” mentioned New Hampshire Attorney General John Formella.
“The human suffering and the toll that was taken from the criminal acts committed during that era are still being felt today.”
Lewis’ lawyer, Jamie Sultan, questioned why the DA’s workplace had not talked about any fees that the primary witness could also be dealing with within the murder.
Lewis returns to courtroom on July 7.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”