Whitey’s FBI handler Connolly seeks parole on murder rap

Former Boston FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly has already had one interview in support of his improbable bid for parole from a 40-year state prison sentence for murder, the Florida Commission on Offender Review confirms.

Commission spokeswoman Kelly Corder said the recent preliminary talk will now be followed by the scheduling of a hearing to establish a “presumptive parole release date” and a follow-up interview for Connolly, 76.

But he would still have many obstacles to clear before the commission voted either to grant parole, extend his presumptive release date or put him on indefinite suspension status, including a separate “Request for Review” hearing at which opponents of his release could voice their concerns.

Inmates in Florida who committed felony murder prior to May 25, 1994, are eligible for parole, according to the FCOR, which states parole “is considered an act of grace, not a right, and shall not be done as reward for current behavior.”

Attorneys for Connolly, including Craig Trocino, director of the Innocence Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, have meanwhile filed a motion in 11th Judicial Circuit Court in Miami to vacate his sentence. A hearing is scheduled for April 21 before Judge Yvonne Colodny.

Connolly was the storied handler of mob informants James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi. He was convicted in Miami in 2008 of tipping off the South Boston serial killers in 1982 that John Callahan, an accountant and close friend of hitman John Martorano, could implicate their crew for the 1981 execution of World Jai Alai President Roger Wheeler in Oklahoma. Wheeler was killed while investigating Callahan for theft.

Martorano would later testify he lured Callahan to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., under the pretense of a visit, picked him up at the airport in a van lined with plastic sheets, and shot him in the head. Callahan’s body was found in the trunk of a Cadillac parked at Miami International Airport.

The Herald reported yesterday that Callahan’s 77-year-old widow Mary believes Connolly “hasn’t done enough time” to be considered for early release.

Connolly, formerly of Lynnfield, has navigated the normal appellate channels without success. Last year, the Florida Supreme Court refused to take up his most recent petition.