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Boston gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger killed in prison

By Bill Trott and Sarah N. Lynch

 

FILE PHOTO: Former mob boss and fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger is seen in a combination of booking mug photos released to Reuters on August 1, 2011. REUTERS/U.S. Marshals Service/U.S. Department of Justice/Handout/Files

 

(Reuters) - James "Whitey" Bulger, who lived a double life as one of Boston's most notorious mobsters and as a secret FBI informant before going on the run for 16 years, was killed at a federal prison in West Virginia, sources said on Tuesday.

 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into Bulger's death and a prison employee briefed on the matter said it was being investigated as a homicide. A U.S. Bureau of Prisons statement had earlier confirmed Bulger had died and said the FBI was investigating.

 

Bulger, who was 89, had been transferred a day earlier to the high-security prison in a wheelchair, the prison employee said.

 

Two men were seen on surveillance footage entering his cell, the prison employee said.

 

Bulger's body was discovered wrapped in a sheet, the employee said, and the notorious gangster had been beaten so badly that blood had come out of his ears.

 

Federal officials did not give a cause of death, but the Bureau of Prisons said no other inmates or staff were injured.

 

The prisons bureau had said in its statement that Bulger's body was found on Tuesday. The prison employee said it was discovered when he did not appear for breakfast, indicating he was killed early morning or overnight.

 

Henry Brennan, a defence lawyer for Bulger, said in an email he could not confirm or deny the reports.

 

Bulger was convicted in August 2013 of 11 murders, among other charges and sentenced to two consecutive life terms plus five years.

 

Prison had been something Bulger had gone to great lengths to avoid - killing potential witnesses, cultivating corrupt lawmen and living as a fugitive for 16 years. It all ended when a tip from a former Icelandic beauty queen led to his capture in June 2011 in Santa Monica, California, where he was living with a long-time girlfriend.

 

Bulger and his Winter Hill gang had operated for more than two decades in the insular Irish-dominated South Boston neighbourhood, engaging in loan sharking, gambling, extortion, drug dealing and murder. They did so with the tacit approval of an FBI agent who looked the other way when it came to Bulger's crimes so that he would supply information on other gangsters.

 

Bulger, portrayed by Johnny Depp in the 2015 film "Black Mass," was feared for his short temper and brutality. Prosecutors said he strangled two women with his hands and tortured a man for hours before shooting him in the head with a machine gun.

 

"We took what we wanted," Kevin Weeks, a former Bulger lieutenant who would eventually testify against him, wrote in "Brutal," his memoir. "We made millions through extortion and loansharking and protection. And if someone ratted us out, we killed him. We were not nice guys."

 

Bulger was born Sept. 3, 1929, and grew up in South Boston. He was called "Whitey" because of his light blond hair but was said to detest the nickname and preferred being called Jimmy. As a teenager he joined a gang known as The Shamrocks, compiled an arrest record for assault and armed robbery and ended up in a juvenile reformatory.

 

Bulger was a bank robber early in his criminal career, which landed him in prisons such as the infamous Alcatraz, located on an island in San Francisco Bay.

 

Upon his release in 1965, he eventually fell in with the Irish mob in South Boston and worked his way through the ranks as a bookie and loanshark. He survived a gang war between two Irish mobs and was a leading figure in Boston's underworld by the early 1970s.

 

His career was boosted by his relationship with rogue FBI agent John J. Connolly, who Bulger had known since they were boys. Connolly was supposed to be in charge of getting information out of him and Bulger did provide information that helped the FBI go after his main rival, New England's Italian Mafia, as well as local criminals.

 

In return, Connolly let Bulger know about working investigations while Bulger and close associate Steve "The Rifleman" Flemmi carried on with impunity. After he retired from the FBI, Connolly tipped off Bulger about a coming indictment, sending the mobster on the run in 1995.

 

Connolly was convicted in 2008 of racketeering, taking bribes and second-degree murder for his role in the slaying of an accountant who Bulger and Flemmi feared would testify against them.

 

"A BAD, BAD, BAD GUY"

Bulger's former associates turned on him while he was at large and their information led to a 2000 indictment that originally charged him with 19 murders.

 

"The guy is a sociopathic killer," Tom Foley, who worked on Bulger cases for the Massachusetts State Police, told CNN. "He loved that type of life. He's one of the hardest and cruellest individuals that operated in the Boston area. He's a bad, bad, bad guy."

 

When Bulger fled, he first took Teresa Stanley, his girlfriend of 30 years, with him. After a few weeks at large, however, Stanley wanted to go home so Bulger dropped her off in the Boston area. He picked up another of his girlfriends, Catherine Greig, and disappeared again.

 

Bulger spent his final years of freedom in No. 303 of the Princess Eugenia apartment complex in Santa Monica with Greig.

 

One of their neighbours, Anna Bjornsdottir, a former U.S. television actress and Miss Iceland of 1974, earned a $2 million reward for turning in Bulger. She was watching a television news report about the Bulger manhunt when she recognised the man she knew by the name Charlie Gasko and notified the FBI.

 

At first he denied his identity but eventually told authorities, "You know who I am. I'm Whitey Bulger." More than $800,000 in cash and a cache of weapons was found hidden in the walls of his apartment.

 

Greig was sentenced to eight years in prison and fined $150,000 for helping Bulger evade capture. She is scheduled for release in September 2020.

 

Bulger's two-month trial for murder, extortion and drug dealing in 2013 was sometimes raucous. A parade of former associates testified against him, giving brutal details about how Bulger would kill enemies and then take a nap.

 

Sometimes Bulger sat silently at the defendant's table and at other times he engaged in profane shouting matches with witnesses such as Flemmi.

 

Bulger, who denied ever being an FBI informant, refused to testify on the grounds that the trial was a sham.

 

The U.S. Justice Department paid more than $20 million in damages to families of people killed by Bulger on the grounds that he was operating under government supervision while killing.

 

While Bulger was robbing banks and killing people, his younger brother Billy was acquiring political notoriety and power.

 

Billy served in the Massachusetts legislature for 35 years, including several years as president of the state Senate, after which he was president of the University of Massachusetts. He was forced to resign the latter job in 2003 after it was learned that eight years earlier he had spoken by phone with his brother, who at the time was a federal fugitive, and did not report it to authorities.

 

(Reporting and writing by Bill Trott and Sarah Lynch; additional reporting by Jonathan Allen, Nate Raymond, Bernie Woodall and Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Diane Craft, Bill Tarrant and Grant McCool)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-31

[alfalfa19]

Nice to see a spot of good news once in a while. 

[Tug]

Hope it really hurt like those women you killed you sob

[Mansell]

I lived two blocks from him in Santa Monica but obviously never saw or recognized him, otherwise I would be two million better off. He was basically living in plain sight. The US Marshalls were hunting him for years. Supposedly they were trying to track him through his girlfriend via beauty shops without much success. Like Gaddaffi he probably got the death he deserved, probably from people he ratted out to the FBI guy he worked with for years. It was said he personally strangled two women to death.....a pretty disgusting human being making all the wrong choices.

[newatthis]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Bulger's body was discovered wrapped in a sheet, the employee said, and the notorious gangster had been beaten so badly that blood had come out of his ears.

Seems like he deserved this. Sometimes it's a pity he was not left alive pissing and shitting into a bag while sucking his food through a straw.

[mlmcleod]

Some good news!

[FitnessHealthTravel]

Sounds about right...

[mtls2005]

Portrayed (or based loosely) by Jack Nicholson, Johnny Depp, James Woods, Jason Isaacs, James Spader in films and TV shows.

 

Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi must be a bit relieved?

 

For those of us of a certain age from the Boston area, tales of the Winter Hill Gang, and the local mafia, and their nicknames will always bring back memories, along with his brother Billy, who was a President of the State Senate for eons.

[thaiguzzi]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Federal officials did not give a cause of death,

Let me guess.

I could throw this in there if it is any help......

5 hours ago, webfact said:

the notorious gangster had been beaten so badly that blood had come out of his ears.

 

[alex8912]

Good I thought for sure he would kill himself in prison, but probably to proud to do that.  The neighborhoods he ran around in are sure on an upswing with all the multi million dollar condos in Southie and million dollar double deckers in Winter Hill selling in days of reaching the market. What a complete loser he was. 

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, newatthis said:

Seems like he deserved this. Sometimes it's a pity he was not left alive pissing and shitting into a bag while sucking his food through a straw.

Would you want to keep him alive as a taxpayer? No way for me. He got and deserved a horrible death. 

[helpisgood]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

Bulger, who was 89, had been transferred a day earlier to the high-security prison in a wheelchair, the prison employee said.

 

Two men were seen on surveillance footage entering his cell, the prison employee said. [Bold added.]

 

So, any two guys can just stroll into a "high-security prison" and into the cell of a high-value inmate?  Then, they can just stroll back out after giving said inmate a severe beating resulting in death?

 

Has anyone in the federal prison system suddenly become wealthier?

 

Oh yeah, and...

 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

... no other inmates or staff were injured.

 

The prisons bureau had said in its statement that Bulger's body was found on Tuesday. The prison employee said it was discovered when he did not appear for breakfast, indicating he was killed early morning or overnight.

 

Very curious.

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by helpisgood
added bold

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

A dirty rat and murderer.
Squealed on many surpised he lasted so long in the "joint".

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[BadBouy]

5 hours ago, helpisgood said:

 

So, any two guys can just stroll into a "high-security prison" and into the cell of a high-value inmate?  Then, they can just stroll back out after giving said inmate a severe beating resulting in death?

 

Has anyone in the federal prison system suddenly become wealthier?

 

Oh yeah, and...

 

 

Very curious.

 

It is "high security " so they do not escape. No one really cares if they kill each other, it's a place for the worst sort of thugs. They are already in prison so unless you execute them there is no worse penalty for their actions.

[helpisgood]

3 hours ago, BadBouy said:

It is "high security " so they do not escape. No one really cares if they kill each other, it's a place for the worst sort of thugs. They are already in prison so unless you execute them there is no worse penalty for their actions.

 

I am a little more alert now.  I accidentally took a late nap.  Aging really sucks!  

 

Anyway, I appreciate your good reply and fully agree with you.  Thanks!

 

However, my point was that the circumstances suggest, at least to me, that someone or some people other than only inmates had something to do with this, even if it was merely turning a blind eye and/or giving info of Bulger's arrival and assigned cell no. (only one day later!).  Yeah, I know his arrival would be big news there, but I would guess that getting to him and knowing the right cell, etc. without any snags would take some time, and maybe some inside help, to plan out.  I imagine that those max security places are a very serious maze to navigate through.  

 

Still, I am definitely not expert or trained in any way on how correctional facilities operate.    

 

So, if you can, please help me out here.  Am I overlooking something or is there just too little info now to tell?  I am truly asking and not trying to bicker with you.  You seem like a decent and smart person, and I would just like to learn more about this.

 

If you are not sure, that's totally cool.  Maybe we need to know more info on what really happened.  You have already contributed well to the discussion.  

 

Thanks a lot and have a great night (or day, depending on where you are)!

 

Oh yeah, and I am sure Bulger had made a lot of enemies over the many years.  

Edited October 31, 2018 by helpisgood
added a phrase

[ChiangMaiLightning2143]

It is "high security " so they do not escape. No one really cares if they kill each other, it's a place for the worst sort of thugs. They are already in prison so unless you execute them there is no worse penalty for their actions.

The worst punishment for murder in the FED is 5 years added. For a lifer it just adds to their status as a bad mofo.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Patriot1066]

On 10/31/2018 at 5:13 AM, alex8912 said:

Would you want to keep him alive as a taxpayer? No way for me. He got and deserved a horrible death. 

Doesn’t seem a great loss to anyone you reap what you sow!

[superal]

Did anyone watch the movie " Black Mass " ?  and was it a true reflection of the Winter Hill gang ?

I am not much of a movie watcher but this one was quite a gripping film