John Mulligan

Birth Name:

John James Mulligan

Birth Date:

October 11, 1940

Birth Place:

Boston, Massachusetts

Death Date:

September 26, 1993

Place of Death:

972 American Legion Highway, Boston, Massachusetts

Age:

Cause of Death:

Multiple gunshot wounds to the head and face

Cemetery Name:

Evergreen Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Crime and their Victims

Detective John Mulligan was a 20+ veteran of the Boston Police Department who people, both inside and outside law enforcement, have called "the crookedest cop in Boston". Allegedly Mulligan was gaming the overtime system, stole drugs and money from drug dealers and plied those drugs to coerce prostitutes for sexual favors when he was shot five times in the head execution style. Sean Ellis in 1995 was convicted in the murder during an armed robbery, but that decision was overturned in 2015 amid revelations of police misconduct and corruption. To date nobody has been properly charged with Mulligan's murder.

And here’s the rest of the story …

A few years after Mulligan’s murder, his colleagues were accused of being corrupt cops who falsified search warrants to gain entry to apartments of known drug dealers and undocumented immigrants. According to the official police report, “Once in, they demanded money and drugs and, in exchange, either did not arrest the dealers or got their charges reduced. By not showing up for their scheduled court appearances, the officers extorted additional payments when the charges were dismissed.”

The three officers were Kenneth Acerra, Walter Robinson and John Brazil.

Further investigation revealed that before and after the murder of Mulligan, the corrupt scheme had netted the corrupt cops hundreds of thousands of dollars. In fact Mulligan was heavy in debt due to the 8 high-end waterfront condos and expensive sports cars he loved to collect (all on a cops salary, of course). In March 1997, Assistant US Attorney Ted Merritt indicted Acerra and Robinson on over 40 counts of perjury and armed robbery while Brazil was granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for informing on his colleagues.

Eventually Acerra and Robinson pleaded guilty in return for reduced sentences and evidence came out that Mulligan was partners with Acerra and Robinson and their criminal activity. A few weeks before he was murdered, the slain detective reportedly committed an armed robbery of Boston drug dealer Robert Martin’s two Commonwealth Avenue apartments with Acerra and Robinson.

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Evergreen Cemetery

2060 Commonwealth Avenue

Boston, Massachusetts, 02135

USA

North America

Map:

Cemetery map of Evergreen Cemetery in Boston, Massachusetts

Grave Location:

Beech Grove Section, Plot 1918, Grave 3

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery from Commonwealth Avenue, turn right just after the office and turn a slight right again and drive until the road curves to the left (and turns into College Avenue). Park your car and in the corner on your left you will find John Mulligan’s grave in the first row, five spaces from the other road.