FBI mugshots of James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen Flemmi from 1983.
Credit: US Attorney’s office
Deflecting away questions about his own sexual relationship with his stepdaughter, Stephen Flemmi suggested that his former crime partner James “Whitey” Bulger was a pedophile who vacationed with a 16-year-old girlfriend in Mexico.
“You want to talk about pedophilia? Right over there at that table,” Flemmi said, motioning toward the defense table where Bulger was seated.
Flemmi, 79, testified for a fourth day on Tuesday. He was cross-examined by Bulger attorney Hank Brennan.
Brennan spent the beginning of Tuesday questioning Flemmi about Debra Hussey, his stepdaughter who he said had a consensual relationship with him. Flemmi testified earlier that Bulger later strangled her to death in 1985.
When Brennan suggested Flemmi was a pedophile, he made the comments against Bulger. While being further questioned about his relationship, Flemmi again shifted the focus to Bulger.
“If you want to come down on me … he had a 16-year-old girl he took down to Mexico,” Flemmi said referring to Bulger.
Brennan shifted the focus back to Flemmi.
“Are you trying to divert attention away from yourself when you know you’ve done something wrong?,” Brennan asked.
Brennan continued to hammer Flemmi on Hussey’s murder and what Flemmi did after Bulger allegedly killed her.
“When your stepdaughter was on the ground, did you put a pair of pliers in her mouth and pull her teeth out,” Brennan asked.
“I pulled a few teeth out, but I couldn’t go through with it,” Flemmi said. “I was in a semi-traumatic state. It was very difficult for me to do.”
Brennan showed Flemmi a picture of Hussey’s skull that was introduced as evidence by the government during testimony by a medical experts.
“Does this remind you how many teeth you pulled out,” Brennan asked.
Flemmi said he didn’t want to look at the picture.
Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.
