Amazingly, although it had both Bulger cars in hand, the bureau never attempted to fingerprint either until the state police requested the car and got it five years later. Having been assured that there was nothing to find, the state police found a Band-Aid with Bulger’s fingerprint, his DNA (which had never been obtained before), and a handbill for an Irish festival in Texas that had long since passed.
By the way, the Globe’s Shelley Murphy has previously reported on the earlier parts of the above story, and last year, I reported the bureau’s many investigative errors. While it’s true that TV-news stories may be here today, then gone to Venus, Howie shouldn’t have missed the news clips.
Reporters realize that columnists have latitude that they don’t. What comes to mind here is Chester A. Riley in The Life of Riley: “Don’t confuse me with the facts. My head’s already made up.”
___
Email the author
David Boeri: dboeri@hearst.com
Related:
We found Whitey Bulger . . . and he’s still missing, Brass balls and cold steel, The odd couple, More 
- We found Whitey Bulger . . . and he’s still missing
I get a lot of calls about Bulger, but this one was different.
- Brass balls and cold steel
John “Red” Shea’s close-cut hair — the hair that gave him that standard-issue Irish nickname — isn’t quite as fiery as it was when he was a young fighter coming up hard from G Street in South Boston.
- The odd couple
Four days after being released from prison, the Whitey Bulger’s protégé was singing like a canary to a grandmother from Newton.
- Torture-tapes template
Did the Bush-administration lawyers, and the CIA operatives they advised, commit obstruction of justice by destroying the now-infamous CIA-interrogation videotapes?
- Whodunit?
Myles Connor: Mayflower descendant, Mensa member, master of disguise, black belt in karate, self-styled "President of Rock 'n' Roll." And probably the most notorious art thief in the history of the United States.
- Republican radio
If you’re a political liberal — or just someone who has a sense of fair play — listening to two straight days of talk on WRKO-AM isn’t easy.
- Battle of the Bulger
Earlier this fall, with almost no fanfare, Beverly-based Commonwealth Editions published a new biography of Boston's archetypal politician — James Michael Curley: A Short Biography with Personal Reminiscences — written by former Massachusetts Senate president William Bulger.
- Home grown terror
Cathy Wilkerson, 62-year-old math teacher and mother of one, was famous long ago, as a member of the radical political collective Weatherman.
- Borges-gate revisited
Forget two months without Ron Borges.
- Fateful Departed
No wonder the cops and the feds can’t catch Whitey Bulger: they’re too busy beating the shit out of each other. Watch the trailer for The Departed (QuickTime) Whitey wash: Scorsese, Damon, and DiCaprio honor The Departed. By Brett Michel
- Stage blogging
The main characters of the play Speech and Debate, three Oregon high school misfits, do a lot of their living among the modern technologies of chat rooms, Google, and personal video blogs.
- Less
Topics:
News Features
, Amtrak, Howie, Organized Crime, More
, Amtrak, Howie, Organized Crime, James Frey, James "Whitey" Bulger, Howie Carr, Billy Bulger, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Shelley Murphy, Massachusetts State Police, Less
