Yea we’re saying the same thing. When I say ‘the CI is U’ I don’t mean literally on the is case. I mean in general he is likely one of theirs. But buddy 69 committing murderthey was probably ok with literally everything else
And a common misnomer folk have is ‘pApErWorK’. Depending on what info he gives, and if it doesn’t lead directly to trial, they never have to officially him as a snitch. Part of why The Departed isBc it’s factual. You don’t get that high without quid pro quo. U = Jack Nicholson/Whitey Bulger
But that was an illegal arrangement, I want to say John Connolley got life in prison for that. (edit: he got 20 years) He had a private thing with Bulger, that helped his career. Something like that. Maybe he did have an arrangement. Sometimes it's like that, but the feds, US Attorneys, gang detectives aren't cool with guys like that running little mini empires.
What OG's do, is just pass on a little info every now and then. Like you said, without formal requirement, but those are temporary, uneasy alliances. They also change US Attorneys every 4 years. Line agents and prosecutors get transferred or go to the private sector.
My guess is that murder just exposed the operation enough to give the task force the green light to go at him. Those operations are expensive and time consuming. And they need to have a pay off, like this, a splashy, media grabbing for at least 24 hours event.