Mobster 'Rifleman' Flemmi takes stand

BOSTON (AP) - New England mobster Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi has taken the witness stand in wrongful death lawsuits filed by three families who say the FBI failed to control Flemmi and
fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger.

The families of Deborah Hussey, Debra Davis and Louis Litif say the FBI is responsible for their deaths because it protected Flemmi and Bulger, who were FBI informants against the Mafia.

Flemmi has admitted killing Hussey, who was his girlfriend, and Davis, the daughter of his common-law wife. No one has been charged with killing Litif, a bookmaker who was also an FBI informant.

The Justice Department claims the FBI did not know Bulger and Flemmi planned the killings and cannot be held liable in their deaths.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)