Grandpa Charlie: The Untold Story of Whitey Bulger
www.whiteybulgeruntoldstory.com
WAS JUSTICE DONE IN THE CASE OF THE UNITED STATES V. JAMES J. BULGER?
Justice has always been an important issue in my life. In the more than forty years, I have spent in the Middle East and Asia, Justice, and its many related subjects have been the driving force for everything I have done.
Human rights, equality before the law, religious freedom, the rights of women and children, etc. have consumed my passion from the time I left America at the age of twenty-three. It has remained so in all of the more than one hundred countries I have visited over the years.
But what has this to do with Whitey Bulger? He is, after all, a criminal — a murderer no less who robbed others of their human rights — even of life itself.
There are many reasons to write a book. The most prevalent is “money”. The second is “message”. Those who deny any interest in the first are usually lying — to themselves, others or more likely both. I will begin by saying I do hope this book does well. I can use the cash — for bills, taxes, Obama Care, my accountant who tells me how much I owe all of the above and who charges a fee for doing so. Not to mention it is not cheap to publish a book.
Financial gain, however, was not the genesis of this book. If it were the sole motivation, it would have been written in 2011 when Whitey Bulger was captured in the apartment where my daughter Annelise lived at same time Whitey and his ever-present companion Catherine Grieg were hiding. She knew them only as the retired Mr. and Mrs. Gasko, affectionately called Carol and Grandpa Charlie. (see the “open letter” below written in 2011 one month after Whitey was captured by Annelise. It was never sent…until now.)
After news of who he really was, both her husband and I did all we could to discourage her from getting involved in the story and for many years that was the case.
One might rightly ask, “why now”?
Simple, the movie Black Mass with Johnny Depp just came out, and it is a great time to release a book. We are not dumb.
But more importantly it is an ideal moment to speak to an important message that burns in our hearts — Justice.
We believe that James J. Bulger did not receive a fair trial and that Justice was not done in his case.
Do we think he is not guilty? We believe absolutely that he is guilty!
However, there are a whole lot of other people just as guilty who walked away scot free or with minor punishment compared to the crime. Some are gangsters like Whitey. Others are or were members of the US Government.
We believe there is another overriding reason Whitey was not allowed to present a case of “immunity” at his trial besides the reason given by Judge Casper i.e. it was unprovable. To that we say, “So what?” Let him make a fool of himself and the jury can decide.
However, in so doing, he will reveal the identity of many others that share his guilt. He will also debunk the idea that he was an informer for the FBI–a claim that does not withstand the light of fact.
His attorneys have filed a petition to have all verdicts against him set aside and a new trial convened. We fully support this and hope the Appellate Court that has heard the case will reach a favorable decision this fall.
If granted a new trial, Whitey will no doubt receive the same sentence he got the first time — perhaps worse. But we fully believe there will be others accompanying him to prison this time around. At the very least it will illuminate the corrosive corruption that not only existed in Boston during Whitey’s reign of terror but remains today.
In the days ahead I will be talking more about those who walked away and, of course, my book goes into great detail on the subject. I think you will be shocked to know how many should have joined Whitey in prison and did not. Confessed mass murderers are walking around free, government officials who were as evil as Whitey were never so much as reprimanded and some were even promoted.
In the meantime — here is an interesting letter written by my daughter one month after the capture of Whitey (or Charlie as she knew him) and a video filmed this month. Note the last scene — a photo that was taken of her two children playing in the precise spot where Whitey was captured and which is portrayed in the film Black Mass. The difference between the one in the movie and this one… the one with her children is for real. In fact, Mr. Bulger used to watch and play with her children near this very location.
Douglas Layton
FOLLOWING IS AN OPEN LETTER DRAFTED ONE MONTH AFTER WHITEY BULGER’S CAPTURE BUT NEVER SENT… UNTIL NOW.
Annelise’s Letter
From: Annelise Fratella
Sent: Friday, July 08, 2011 10:56 AM
Subject: My story of James and Catherine
From May 2006 until January 2009, I lived in apartment 108 (1012 3rd Street #108 Santa Monica, CA 90403) at the Princess Eugenia Apartments in Santa Monica. During this time at Princess Eugenia, I befriended Charlie and Carol Gasko, who lived on the 3rd floor of my complex.
I am writing this to let others see Charlie in a different light from the eyes of a friend to James “Whitey” ‘Bulger, a man I only knew as Mr. Charlie Gasko. I understand the views of most given the horrible things that Bulger is accused of and even says he did to many people (it breaks my heart and I believe he should suffer for this if found guilty), However, I want to shed a little light on the Charlie I knew and will remember him by.
I guess you can say I never met Bulger — I only knew Charlie.
Here is my story — as shocking to me as it may be to those who read it:
As a single mother of two little girls at the Princess Eugenia Apartments and new to California, I was alone and quite scared. I had just moved from Nashville, TN and was in such a foreign world compared to the South.
I was separated from my daughter’s father. I was frustrated that I was stuck in Santa Monica and not able to move home to Nashville. It was an extremely painful time for me; the darkest place I could imagine at the time. I had few friends, if any, and stayed in the apartment with my girls most of the time.
I remember when I first met Charlie and Carol Gasko for the first time. I don’t remember the exact day or time, but I remember the period of my life… a dark time when a little light seemed to be given to me. Charlie and Carol introduced themselves as my neighbors and immediately became a part of our life. I had not had one person or neighbor in Santa Monica reach out to me before Charlie and Carol.
Santa Monica is beautiful, but it can be tough if you are not a native.
The smiles of Charlie and Carol and their kindness pushed me forward and allowed me to try to make Santa Monica my home. I remember their heavy East Coast accents and remember thinking about how funny it was that it was East Coasters that went out of their way to make me at home and not an actual west coast native.
I have to say, I have never met a pair like Charlie and Carol.
I often told my “now” husband that they were the couple that I one day hoped to be. Charlie always had Carol’s hand in his and they were never separated. I always assumed they had little money and spent every penny of their retirement to move here and settle in a simple place by the beach. They didn’t have a car and walked everywhere and always told me that they didn’t have a phone so if I needed them, I needed to buzz up to their door or knock. I honestly didn’t think anything of it. They just seemed “simple”.
Charlie walked around with the same old school hat and glasses and Carol often wore a white hat that shaded her from the sun. She also loved walking with her cart to the farmer’s market She would bring back some delicious goodies.
I don’t know why these two were drawn to me, but I am assuming it was from my little girls. They are two little ones that can touch the heart of pretty much anybody. My eight-year-old has a heart of gold and a connection with older people. She started having a conversation with Charlie the first day we met. He adored her. He stared at her like he longed for grandchildren.
That day, he also picked my youngest one up and twirled her in the air. He had an immediate bond with both of them. I started to ask him questions about life and where he came from and if he had children, etc. He always told me that he and Carol never got to have kids but always wanted them. I told him that he can take my kids as “fill-ins”. He smiled at Carol and they both looked grateful that I would even mention such a thing.
As the months went along, we had many more short conversations of life and living in Santa Monica. They always adored those kids of mine! My kids loved them! They were always bringing small treats or goodies for them and spoiling them with their words.
Every time I came home from a shopping trip and Charlie saw me struggling with the kids and bags, he would either take the kids for me and distract them with games and stories or would take all my bags for me and wouldn’t let me lift a finger.
Carol always seemed happy when Charlie was playing with the kids — she had this ‘look’ on her face. I always felt sorry for them. I guess I felt a void in their life. It was something I couldn’t figure out and didn’t understand. They always seemed like the happiest pair on earth but at the same time where empty and lonely with no family or friends.
They rarely said a word to anyone. I was the only one they seemed to talk to. I saw them daily walking down 3rd street, hand in hand, but they walked with their heads down and looked so sad. It was always such a mystery to me and I couldn’t figure it out.
I remember one day, Charlie and Carol insisted that they play with my girls for me while I did laundry downstairs. I had nobody to help at the time and was so thankful they were around to be “grandparent-like” figures to my children.
I looked at them as sweet grandparents and never thought for one moment that it was not OK for them to play with the kids while I did laundry. I trusted them. Charlie never raised his voice to me, the kids, or Carol at any time. The only thing that came from his mouth were encouraging words and comfort to me in time of need.
I remember he used to knock on my door and check on me when we had power outages or anything major with the apartment was wrong. During one outage, he came by and left a nice flashlight with me. I tried to give it back after the outage, but he refused. He told me to keep it because you never know when something could happen and I should not be alone with the kids without extra light.
He and Carol were the most thoughtful people and really made me feel more comfortable at the apartment. I always knew that they were there and somehow it made me feel safe. I can’t explain it.
Then the day came where I reconciled with my husband and we decided to get another place together elsewhere for a new start. I went to Charlie and Carol and told them that I had reconciled with my husband and we would be moving out in a month.
I told them that I wanted them to know that I would be really heartbroken if I lost them in my life and the girls would really appreciate our relationship staying the same.
Charlie stared ahead blankly and seemed sad. He said that he was happy that I was moving on and back with the girl’s dad but would really miss us. He looked as if it was goodbye forever.
My husband also adored Charlie and Carol. He told me that we must have them for dinner at the new place when we moved. I told Charlie that we would still be the same and I asked him if he would come for dinner the week we moved in.
He looked at me and said, “Carol and I do not have a car and do not drive. That will not work.”
I told him that I knew that and I would pick them up and take them to our new home and take them back. I insisted. Charlie said,” I don’t think this is going to work.” He quickly said he had to go after that encounter and went upstairs to his apartment.
I was kind of hurt by his unwillingness to assure me that we would still be in each others’ life. I didn’t understand it. He seemed so sad and the whole conversation left me depressed.
A few days passed and I got a knock on my door. It was Charlie. He said that he had been shopping with Carol for the girls at Barnes and Noble (on 3rd and Wilshire) and had picked out a bunch of books on sale for them. I quickly noticed that they were all Christmas books with sale tags (20–30 extremely nice books). Christmas had just passed and we had already exchanged our Christmas cards so I asked them to just keep the books for the girls for Christmas 2009.
I told them that this would assure me that we would still see each other!
Charlie said that he wanted the girl’s to take the books and to just ‘take them’. He then said he had to go. I wanted to grab him and give him a huge hug at that time in the middle of my living room, but Charlie was not a man that you just grab and hug. He was as friendly as can be but very “East Coast”… not to insult! Carol, on the other hand, was a little warmer.
The next day, I went and bought Charlie and Carol a Starbucks gift basket and a Thank You card. I went that night to leave it at their door. I knocked, but there was no answer. The following night, I received a Thank You card back from them. It was sitting right in front of my door. That was the last time I ever heard from them.
I had moved out soon after and after a few attempts to get in touch, had no success. One day I saw Charlie walking alone on 3rd street. It was extremely rare to see him without Carol. Sometimes, late at night he would be walking alone but rarely. My husband is the one who spotted him. He said, “Annelise, there is Charlie!” I immediately pulled over at California and 3rd and got really excited!
“Charlie, I yelled!! It’s Annelise Fratella! How are you!? We miss you!” Charlie acted extremely startled as if he had seen a ghost. He didn’t act as if he knew us. It was very strange. My husband knew how sad I was that night. I never saw Charlie or Carol again. We had moved to a different part of town and time passed.
I guess the point of writing this is to make some sense of this strange encounter. I understand the horrible things he did and I am always one that stands for justice.
However, I truly believe that James has a heart left. I believe that for some reason my children and I touched him in a way that I can’t explain and that he touched my life as well. I have been crying for days over Charlie and Carol (I just found out about what happened) and it has been a complete shock for me. I feel like I am mourning a death. I can’t explain it and it may seem horrible to everyone, but I could frankly care less.
I know that I was deceived and others around me question my judgment of character but I know what my relationship with this couple was and I will walk away knowing that it was good. Their kindness took me out of a dark time and I was thankful for it and still am to this day.
Thank you, Mr. Bulger, for being a light shining in my dark life — even if only for a brief time.
I want you to know that you impacted me and did some good in your life in spite of your past. My kids are tough critics and if they cared about you — that is a huge deal. I hope that one day I get the chance to write Charlie and tell him of my gratitude. We all have our past and flaws (his happens to be a little more shocking than most) but I will not focus on his past but what he gave to me instead.
It is true that even the worst parents can be kind to other children and some that lack in something long to make up for it in other ways.
I believe that perhaps I was his other way? I do not know the answer to my questions but will walk away knowing that they touched my life and they will be missed.
Thank you, Charlie and Carol.
Annelise
Filed Under: Justice AmericaTagged With: Annelise, Grandpa Charlie: The Untold Story of Whitey Bulger, James “Whitey” Bulger, United States V. James J. Bulger, whitey bulger
