Edward G. Connors
Encyclopedia
Edward G. Connors also known as "The Bulldog" and "Eddie", was an associate of the Winter Hill Gang
and successful bar owner in Revere, Massachusetts
.
where they gave birth to his younger brother James Connors (December 24, 1936 - November 9, 2006). Like Edward, James pursued a career as a professional featherweight
boxer like his brother Edward and later a career in the U.S. Air Force. Edward was a sparring partner of Anthony Veranis
and Joe DeNucci. Edward had a close physical resemblance to heavyweight boxer Rocky Marciano
. As a youth he was a regular at the L Street Curley Gym and Bathhouse located at 1663 Columbia Road in South Boston where Stephen Flemmi
, James J. Bulger
, Frank Salemme
and William Bulger all hung out. In high school he was in the Old Colony basketball team as number "4" in 1955 and successfully brought the team to the state championships that year.
After graduating high school he enrolled in the U.S. Marines. His brother James followed Edward into the military and joined the U.S. Air Force and became a fighter pilot stationed at McGuire Air Force Base
. Edward was trained at Fort Devens, Massachusetts
where he was later placed in the 1st Battalion 25th Marines
. While in the U.S. Marines he started boxing and excelled at it. After his honorable discharge he took up professional boxing. During his professional boxing career he received sponsorship by the boxing equipment and sportswear company Ben Lee
, which would also sponsor his younger brother, James. As a professional boxer he worked with professional welterweight boxer and trainer Andy Escobar, Connors was his only client. He later opened up several barrooms in Revere and Dorchester, Massachusetts including "The Bulldog Tavern" in Savin Hill
which began a hangout for known mob associates, loansharking and bookmaking. He is a close friend of Winter Hill Gang associate Alan Fidler. He was involved in bookmaking, loan sharking and drug trafficking with Alan Fidler. Edward was a close friend of future Massachusetts State Senator
William R. Keating
and Boston Mayor Ray Flynn who were introduced to each other for the first time at his saloon, The Bulldog. He was known as a vicious bar room brawler and worked as a bouncer
and a bartender
at The Bulldog which he used as his criminal headquarters for illegal gambling, drug dealing, loansharking and planned armed robberies with his associates.
boxer who fought with an orthodox stance. He was known for his agility and quickness to fight and earned a reputation as a "hard hitter". During his professional boxing career he weighed between 158 and 161 pounds. His first professional fight was against Billy Wilcox on August 3, 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts. On April 20, 1959 Connors was knocked out by Tony DeMarco in the sixth round and lost. His last professional boxing match was against Willie Green on December 21, 1960 in Providence, Rhode Island
. On April 14, 1959 he boxed against future Massachusetts State Auditor Joe DeNucci and lost. On November 21, 1960 he fought against Willie Green for the New England
Middleweight
title championship and lost. During his overall professional boxing career he successfully won twenty-two fights and had eighteen fights end in knock outs. He would later use his boxing training to handle drunk and disorderly customers in his Bulldog Tavern where he acted as a bartender and bouncer.
Both Edward Connors and Jimmy Connors were managed by Maury Fisher.
. He tipped off his friend Howie Winter
about O'Toole's drinking habits, and Winter told Connors to inform him the next time O'Toole was drinking at his saloon. O'Toole was later machine gunned by John Martorano as he walked out of his saloon on December 1, 1973.
to a pay telephone outside a gas station on William T. Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. Winter then arranged to call Connors at that telephone at a pre-determined time. One hundred yards away, 150 officers from the Boston Police Department
were enjoying a banquet. All later reported to their superiors that they did not hear any of the gunfire. The only problem for the murder, was a Metropolitan District Commission police traffic detail was situated almost directly across the boulevard from the phone booth.
James J. Bulger quickly found another phone booth and called in a false accident report to the MDC police. The traffic detail immediately left to answer the alarm, and moments later Connors pulled up in his Cadillac to await the call. On June 12, 1975, John Martorano drove to the gas station with James J. Bulger and Stephen Flemmi in a stolen sedan. The two men walked to the phone booth where Connors was talking to Howie Winter. Bulger and Flemmi, armed with a shotgun and automatic carbine rifle riddled the telephone booth with bullets, hitting Connors numerous times almost cutting him in two. He died instantly.
, a special election was scheduled to replace him. Bulger quickly mobilized his troops behind Representative James Brett
of Dorchester, the husband of his long-time secretary Patricia Brett. Brett made it to the runoff, but in the final couldn't overcome Thomas Menino
, who as the president of the City Council had become acting mayor after Flynn's departure. But the fact that Billy had been able to muscle his lightweight candidate into the final meant he wasn't quite dead yet.
Many younger Democratic politicians were growing concerned about the governship gone and considered the U.S. senators less than attentive to state politics, the face of the Democratic Party
had become William Bulger. It was generally construed that any Democrat candidate who ran for governor was portrayed as a puppet for James J. Bulger
and the organized crime element in the city. The Democrats would remain in control of the legislature, but the state senate presidency would remain out of reach for any hopeful candidates until William Bulger was forced to resign or was defeated by an opposition member.
That task eventually fell to William R. Keating
of Sharon, the same neighborhood that Edward was born and raised in. Senator Keating was not an unlikely candidate and competitor of William Bulger to run for the Senate presidency. William Bulger understood that any legislative leader who wished to survive must preserve at least an illusion of upward mobility for his members. If the rank-and-file legislator saw no future for himself in the status quo, Keating would more likely be willing to participate in any uprising against the leadership.
Everyone knew that for Billy to survive in the senate, he would have to start easing out his more ambitious members, which including Bill Keating. Billy offered Keating a judgeship, which Keating turned down. Following the job refusal, one day in the spring of 1993, in the Senate chamber in front of the podium, he goaded Billy Bulger. He began talking about his old friend, Mayor Ray Flynn. Keating went on, in loud terms, what a great guy Flynn was. Finally Billy handed the gavel to one of his underlings and stalked off the rostrum, steaming.
A few minutes later, a court officer told Keating that Billy wanted to see him. Bulger told Keating, "That Flynn is a not a good person, you know." Keating replied, "I have known Ray for a long time. I knew him since before I was even a state representative. You know where I first met him? I met him at this bar in Savin Hill. Maybe you heard of it - the Bulldog Tavern. Yeah, I'm in the Bulldog, and so's Ray, and this guy I know, he introduces us. You know who that guy was? I was Eddie Connors."
Keating was talking about the same Edward G. Connors that Billy's brothers, James J. Bulger and Stephen Flemmi had machine gunned to death in a telephone booth on Morrissey Boulevard in 1975. Billy Bulger knew Connors very well, his saloon The Bulldog was located in his ward and a suspected victim of his brother, James. It was verboten to mentioned James J. Bulger or his crimes, in Billy's presence, and Keating had done it, in a backhanded way no less, with a smirk on his face. Keating spoke up, "Yeah, Mr. President. It was poor Eddie Connors who introduced me to Ray Flynn. You remember, Eddie Connors, Mr. President?"
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
and successful bar owner in Revere, Massachusetts
Revere, Massachusetts
Revere is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States, and located approximately from downtown Boston. It is named after the American patriot Paul Revere. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 51,755.- History :...
.
Biography
Edward George Connors was born in Sharon but raised in the Old Colony housing development at 265 East Ninth in South Boston, one of the Boston Housing Authority's oldest housing developments. His family suffered from financial problems and moved around frequently, they later moved to New Bedford, MassachusettsNew Bedford, Massachusetts
New Bedford is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States, located south of Boston, southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, and about east of Fall River. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 95,072, making it the sixth-largest city in Massachusetts...
where they gave birth to his younger brother James Connors (December 24, 1936 - November 9, 2006). Like Edward, James pursued a career as a professional featherweight
Featherweight
Featherweight is a weight class division in the sport of boxing. There are similarly named divisions under several Mixed Martial Arts organizations and in Greco-Roman wrestling.-Professional boxing:...
boxer like his brother Edward and later a career in the U.S. Air Force. Edward was a sparring partner of Anthony Veranis
Anthony Veranis
Anthony Veranis, also known as "Mickey White" and "Tony" was an associate of the Winter Hill Gang and a professional welterweight boxer.- Early life :...
and Joe DeNucci. Edward had a close physical resemblance to heavyweight boxer Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano
Rocky Marciano , born Rocco Francis Marchegiano, was an American boxer and the heavyweight champion of the world from September 23, 1952, to April 27, 1956. Marciano is the only champion to hold the heavyweight title and go undefeated throughout his career. Marciano defended his title six times...
. As a youth he was a regular at the L Street Curley Gym and Bathhouse located at 1663 Columbia Road in South Boston where Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Joseph "The Rifleman" Flemmi is an Italian-American mobster and close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss James J. Bulger. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
, James J. Bulger
James J. Bulger
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. is a former organized crime figure from Boston, Massachusetts.Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood-style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents. Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket targeting drug kingpins...
, Frank Salemme
Frank Salemme
Francis P. Salemme [Salemone], also known as "Cadillac Frank" and "Julian Daniel Selig" , is a Boston, Massachusetts mobster who became a hitman and eventually the boss of the Patriarca crime family of New England before turning government witness.-Early years:In 1957, while in prison, Salemme...
and William Bulger all hung out. In high school he was in the Old Colony basketball team as number "4" in 1955 and successfully brought the team to the state championships that year.
After graduating high school he enrolled in the U.S. Marines. His brother James followed Edward into the military and joined the U.S. Air Force and became a fighter pilot stationed at McGuire Air Force Base
McGuire Air Force Base
JB MDL McGuire is a United States Air Force base located approximately south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. McGuire is under the jurisdiction of the USAF Air Mobility Command...
. Edward was trained at Fort Devens, Massachusetts
Fort Devens, Massachusetts
Devens, Massachusetts is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the towns of Ayer and Shirley, in Middlesex County and Harvard in Worcester County in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is the successor to Fort Devens, a military post that operated from 1917 to 1996. The area...
where he was later placed in the 1st Battalion 25th Marines
1st Battalion 25th Marines
1st Battalion, 25th Marines is a reserve infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps located throughout New England consisting of approximately 750 Marines and Sailors...
. While in the U.S. Marines he started boxing and excelled at it. After his honorable discharge he took up professional boxing. During his professional boxing career he received sponsorship by the boxing equipment and sportswear company Ben Lee
Ben Lee
Benjamin Michael "Ben" Lee is an ARIA Award winning musician and actor. Lee began his career as a musician at the age of 14 with the Sydney band Noise Addict, but focused on his solo career when the band broke up in 1995. He appeared as the protagonist in the Australian film The Rage in Placid Lake...
, which would also sponsor his younger brother, James. As a professional boxer he worked with professional welterweight boxer and trainer Andy Escobar, Connors was his only client. He later opened up several barrooms in Revere and Dorchester, Massachusetts including "The Bulldog Tavern" in Savin Hill
Savin Hill
Savin Hill is the first album by punk band Street Dogs. This is the first new material featuring lead singer Mike McColgan since he quit Dropkick Murphys in 1998...
which began a hangout for known mob associates, loansharking and bookmaking. He is a close friend of Winter Hill Gang associate Alan Fidler. He was involved in bookmaking, loan sharking and drug trafficking with Alan Fidler. Edward was a close friend of future Massachusetts State Senator
Massachusetts Senate
The Massachusetts Senate is the upper house of the Massachusetts General Court, the bicameral state legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Senate comprises 40 elected members from 40 single-member senatorial districts in the state...
William R. Keating
William R. Keating
William Richard "Bill" Keating is the U.S. Representative for . From 1999 to 2011 he was District Attorney of Norfolk County. He is a member of the Democratic Party and a former Massachusetts state representative and state senator....
and Boston Mayor Ray Flynn who were introduced to each other for the first time at his saloon, The Bulldog. He was known as a vicious bar room brawler and worked as a bouncer
Bouncer (doorman)
A bouncer is an informal term for a type of security guard employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs or concerts to provide security, check legal age, and refuse entry to a venue based on criteria such as intoxication, aggressive behavior, or attractiveness...
and a bartender
Bartender
A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...
at The Bulldog which he used as his criminal headquarters for illegal gambling, drug dealing, loansharking and planned armed robberies with his associates.
Boxing career
Edward's was a welterweightWelterweight
Welterweight is a weight class division in combat sports. Originally the term "welterweight" was used only in boxing, but other combat sports like kickboxing, taekwondo and mixed martial arts also began to use it for their own weight division system...
boxer who fought with an orthodox stance. He was known for his agility and quickness to fight and earned a reputation as a "hard hitter". During his professional boxing career he weighed between 158 and 161 pounds. His first professional fight was against Billy Wilcox on August 3, 1954 in Boston, Massachusetts. On April 20, 1959 Connors was knocked out by Tony DeMarco in the sixth round and lost. His last professional boxing match was against Willie Green on December 21, 1960 in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. On April 14, 1959 he boxed against future Massachusetts State Auditor Joe DeNucci and lost. On November 21, 1960 he fought against Willie Green for the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
Middleweight
Middleweight
Middleweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Early boxing history is less than exact, but the middleweight designation seems to have begun in the 1840s. In the bare-knuckle era, the first middleweight championship fight was between Tom Chandler and Dooney Harris in 1897...
title championship and lost. During his overall professional boxing career he successfully won twenty-two fights and had eighteen fights end in knock outs. He would later use his boxing training to handle drunk and disorderly customers in his Bulldog Tavern where he acted as a bartender and bouncer.
Both Edward Connors and Jimmy Connors were managed by Maury Fisher.
Spike O'Toole slaying
Winter Hill Gang associate James "Spike" O'Toole was a troubled alcoholic and a habituate of Connor's saloon, the Bulldog Tavern in Savin HillSavin Hill
Savin Hill is the first album by punk band Street Dogs. This is the first new material featuring lead singer Mike McColgan since he quit Dropkick Murphys in 1998...
. He tipped off his friend Howie Winter
Howie Winter
Howard Thomas "Howie" Winter is an American mobster. He was the second leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang.-Early life:...
about O'Toole's drinking habits, and Winter told Connors to inform him the next time O'Toole was drinking at his saloon. O'Toole was later machine gunned by John Martorano as he walked out of his saloon on December 1, 1973.
Gangland slaying
After "Spike" O'Toole's gangland murder, Connors openly discussed his role in orchestrating the O'Toole murder with associates and patrons of his saloons in 1975. He also had been arrested in the commission of a botched armed robbery. Howie Winter soon learned that Connors was talking and that Connors was implicating the Winter Hill Gang in the O'Toole murder. Winter sent a message to Connors to give Winter the number for a "safe" telephone (one that was not tapped by the authorities), at which Winter could call Connors and discuss the matter. Connors was to appear at the station at 9:00 p.m. to receive the call from Howie Winter. Howie obtained the number and James J. Bulger, John Martorano and Stephen Flemmi tracked the number through contacts at Boston EdisonBoston Edison
Boston Edison can refer to:*Boston-Edison, a neighborhood in Detroit, Michigan.*Boston Edison Company, an operating unit of NSTAR...
to a pay telephone outside a gas station on William T. Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. Winter then arranged to call Connors at that telephone at a pre-determined time. One hundred yards away, 150 officers from the Boston Police Department
Boston Police Department
The Boston Police Department , created in 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States...
were enjoying a banquet. All later reported to their superiors that they did not hear any of the gunfire. The only problem for the murder, was a Metropolitan District Commission police traffic detail was situated almost directly across the boulevard from the phone booth.
James J. Bulger quickly found another phone booth and called in a false accident report to the MDC police. The traffic detail immediately left to answer the alarm, and moments later Connors pulled up in his Cadillac to await the call. On June 12, 1975, John Martorano drove to the gas station with James J. Bulger and Stephen Flemmi in a stolen sedan. The two men walked to the phone booth where Connors was talking to Howie Winter. Bulger and Flemmi, armed with a shotgun and automatic carbine rifle riddled the telephone booth with bullets, hitting Connors numerous times almost cutting him in two. He died instantly.
Personal attack on William Bulger
By 1993, it became clear to the junior members of the Massachusetts State Senate that, in his fifteenth year as president, William Bulger had solidified his position. At this time, Bulger was trying to expand his political influence. When Mayor Ray Flynn quit City Hall to become ambassador to the VaticanHoly See
The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Catholic Church in Rome, in which its Bishop is commonly known as the Pope. It is the preeminent episcopal see of the Catholic Church, forming the central government of the Church. As such, diplomatically, and in other spheres the Holy See acts and...
, a special election was scheduled to replace him. Bulger quickly mobilized his troops behind Representative James Brett
James Brett
James T. Brett is a former American politician who is the current president and CEO of The New England Council. He is also the Chairman of the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities....
of Dorchester, the husband of his long-time secretary Patricia Brett. Brett made it to the runoff, but in the final couldn't overcome Thomas Menino
Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...
, who as the president of the City Council had become acting mayor after Flynn's departure. But the fact that Billy had been able to muscle his lightweight candidate into the final meant he wasn't quite dead yet.
Many younger Democratic politicians were growing concerned about the governship gone and considered the U.S. senators less than attentive to state politics, the face of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
had become William Bulger. It was generally construed that any Democrat candidate who ran for governor was portrayed as a puppet for James J. Bulger
James J. Bulger
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. is a former organized crime figure from Boston, Massachusetts.Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood-style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents. Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket targeting drug kingpins...
and the organized crime element in the city. The Democrats would remain in control of the legislature, but the state senate presidency would remain out of reach for any hopeful candidates until William Bulger was forced to resign or was defeated by an opposition member.
That task eventually fell to William R. Keating
William R. Keating
William Richard "Bill" Keating is the U.S. Representative for . From 1999 to 2011 he was District Attorney of Norfolk County. He is a member of the Democratic Party and a former Massachusetts state representative and state senator....
of Sharon, the same neighborhood that Edward was born and raised in. Senator Keating was not an unlikely candidate and competitor of William Bulger to run for the Senate presidency. William Bulger understood that any legislative leader who wished to survive must preserve at least an illusion of upward mobility for his members. If the rank-and-file legislator saw no future for himself in the status quo, Keating would more likely be willing to participate in any uprising against the leadership.
Everyone knew that for Billy to survive in the senate, he would have to start easing out his more ambitious members, which including Bill Keating. Billy offered Keating a judgeship, which Keating turned down. Following the job refusal, one day in the spring of 1993, in the Senate chamber in front of the podium, he goaded Billy Bulger. He began talking about his old friend, Mayor Ray Flynn. Keating went on, in loud terms, what a great guy Flynn was. Finally Billy handed the gavel to one of his underlings and stalked off the rostrum, steaming.
A few minutes later, a court officer told Keating that Billy wanted to see him. Bulger told Keating, "That Flynn is a not a good person, you know." Keating replied, "I have known Ray for a long time. I knew him since before I was even a state representative. You know where I first met him? I met him at this bar in Savin Hill. Maybe you heard of it - the Bulldog Tavern. Yeah, I'm in the Bulldog, and so's Ray, and this guy I know, he introduces us. You know who that guy was? I was Eddie Connors."
Keating was talking about the same Edward G. Connors that Billy's brothers, James J. Bulger and Stephen Flemmi had machine gunned to death in a telephone booth on Morrissey Boulevard in 1975. Billy Bulger knew Connors very well, his saloon The Bulldog was located in his ward and a suspected victim of his brother, James. It was verboten to mentioned James J. Bulger or his crimes, in Billy's presence, and Keating had done it, in a backhanded way no less, with a smirk on his face. Keating spoke up, "Yeah, Mr. President. It was poor Eddie Connors who introduced me to Ray Flynn. You remember, Eddie Connors, Mr. President?"
External links
- http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=47972&cat=boxer
- http://www.boxrec.com/list_bouts.php?human_id=12891&cat=boxer
- http://wrko.com/Whitey-Watch/975375
- http://www.thebrothersbulger.com/Edward%20Connors.htm