H. Paul Rico, 78, retired FBI agent accused of helping his former mob informants arrange murder of Tulsa businessman
Hoodude
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/2004/01/17/ap/Headlines/d804neu00.txt
TULSA, Okla. - A retired FBI agent accused of helping his former mob
informants arrange the murder of a Tulsa businessman died a week after
he was extradited to Oklahoma to face charges, a hospital spokeswoman
said Saturday.
H. Paul Rico, 78, died late Friday, a few hours after a Tulsa County
judge put the murder case on hold pending a psychological evaluation
to determine if Rico was competent to stand trial.
The cause of Rico's death was not immediately released. He had been
hospitalized since Wednesday.
His family said he had congestive heart failure and had lost 53 pounds
since his arrest Oct. 9 in Florida, where he had been living.
Rico was accused of helping arrange the 1981 murder of Tulsa
businessman Roger Wheeler, chairman of Telex Corp. and owner of World
Jai Alai in Florida, where Rico worked as security chief after leaving
the FBI.
Investigators say Wheeler had suspected that Boston gangsters were
skimming money from World Jai Alai. He died after he was shot in the
head at Tulsa's Southern Hills Country Club following a round of golf.
Members of Boston's Winter Hill Gang had been informants for Rico when
he was an FBI agent in Boston.
Murder charges were filed in March 2001 in Tulsa County against Winter
Hill Gang members James "Whitey" Bulger, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi
and John Martorano.
Martorano pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a
15-year prison term for carrying out the hit on Wheeler. Flemmi
pleaded guilty in October to racketeering charges related to 10
murders, including Wheeler's, and awaits sentencing Jan. 27. Bulger
remains at large since being tipped off to his pending indictment in
1995.
During his arraignment Wednesday, conducted by video feed from the
Tulsa County jail, Rico sat in a wheelchair and occasionally moaned
but said nothing. His attorney, Garvin Isaacs, at one point
interrupted the judge, saying: "I am telling you this man is sick,
extremely sick." He requested an emergency medical furlough, saying
his client was ailing and needed help; the judge ordered the
psychological evaluation.
Isaacs said during that hearing that Rico, who had a pacemaker, was
disoriented after being beaten Dec. 5 by an unknown assailant in the
Miami-Dade County Jail, but that he had recovered his mental
competency and "wants a jury trial to clear his name."
Tulsa County prosecutors had questioned the assault allegation, saying
an improper dose of medication may have been responsible for bruising
on Rico's body.
Tulsa Police Sgt. Mike Huff, who had investigated Wheeler's murder
from the beginning, said he knew nothing about the alleged assault but
any findings by the medical examiner of a suspicious death would be
forwarded to Miami-Dade authorities. Rico was under guard at the time
he died, Huff said.
"It's unfortunate for people to not get to hear this story and come to
their own decisions and conclusions about what happened," Huff said.
Bill Schenley
> helping his former mob informants arrange the
> murder of a Tulsa businessman died a week after he
> was extradited to Oklahoma to face charges, a
> hospital spokeswoman said Saturday.
<snipped>
> H. Paul Rico, 78, died late Friday, a few hours after a
> Tulsa County judge put the murder case on hold
> pending a psychological evaluation to determine if
> Rico was competent to stand trial. Members of
> Boston's Winter Hill Gang had been informants for
> Rico when he was an FBI agent in Boston.
> Murder charges were filed in March 2001 in Tulsa
> County against Winter Hill Gang members James
> "Whitey" Bulger, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi
> and John Martorano.
Wow. Just a day after Dennis O'Callaghan died. From
O'Callaghans' obit. posted by DGH:
"In Boston, Mr. O'Callaghan oversaw organized
crime cases while the FBI was using James
"Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman"
Flemmi as informants."