Mob graveyard yields body of gangster's girl

0 Comments | Sunday Mirror, Oct 22, 2000 | by JAMES HARPER

INVESTIGATORS digging in a reputed mob graveyard uncovered the remains of a woman believed to have been the girlfriend of Irish gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger.

The search in Massachusetts followed a tip-off from a Mafia mob insider who agreed to co-operate in a plea bargain.

The body is believed to be that of 27-year-old Debra Davis, who disappeared in 1981.

Her mother told investigators at the time that she blamed Davis' boyfriend, Stephen 'The Rifleman' Flemmi, a top associate of Bulger.

Last month, the remains of Thomas King were found at the same site.

King disappeared in 1975 shortly after beating Bulger in a South Boston bar brawl.

In the past 10 months, authorities have found the bodies of five other suspected victims of Bulger's Winter Hill gang who were killed as long ago as the 1970s.

Earlier this month, Bulger was charged in his absence with the murders of 18 people.

The 71-year-old has been on the run since 1995 and the FBI believe he may be in Ireland.

Federal agents have put a 250,000 dollar bounty on his head to be tracked down and arrested.

The 18 murders, including Debra Davis and another woman, happened while he was a high-ranking FBI informant working for them inside the Mafia.