Article

2018-10-31 -Obits-

Mobster 'Whitey' Bulger killed in prison at 89 years old: reports

[Al Jazeera] 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 found dead at a federal prison in West Virginia, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.

The FBI was looking into Bulger's death, the Bureau of Prisons said in its statement on Tuesday.

Bulger's death at age 89 came a day after he was transferred to the high-security prison. Federal officials did not give a cause of death but the Bureau of Prisons said no other inmates or staff were injured.

CNN and the Boston Globe reported that Bulger was killed without giving further details.

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 including racketeering, 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.

And courtesy of Neville Dark Lord of the Wee Folk7365:

Whitey Bulger Was About to Dish On The FBI Informant Program

[DailyMail] Law enforcement sources tell DailyMail.com that Whitey had been talking about outing people in the top echelon of the controversial FBI informant program.

It may not be a coincidence that US Rep. Stephen Lynch is from Southie, Bulger's old turf.

The Massachusetts Democrat last year introduced the Confidential Informant Accountability Act - which calls for congressional oversight into the selection and use of confidential informants. It's possible that Bulger was set to open up to someone on Lynch's team with claims of abuses in the program.

Posted by Fred 2018-10-31 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 There seems to be two explanations about Bulger's death - a mob hit by a connected prisoner or negligence / deliberate malfeasance by certain former Boston area US Attorneys. Both explanations are plausible.

Without further research, I tend to discount the alleged (direct) connection between Lynch & Bulger - their age difference alone explains that.

Posted by Raj 2018-10-31 00:41|| 2018-10-31 00:41|| Front Page Top

#2 I should expand on that a bit - the unusual movement of a 89 year-old wheelchair bound inmate with a well-known heart problem from a Florida prison to an Oklahoma prison and then to a West Virginia prison (where three prisoners just happened to have been murdered in recent months) in a matter of weeks makes it plausible to think the FBI moved him there on purpose to avoid Bulger revealing certain embarrassing information about that organization.

Posted by Raj 2018-10-31 00:52|| 2018-10-31 00:52|| Front Page Top

#3 It's looking like Whitey was wacked with a padlock in a sock from a Genovese connected hit man. The connection may be tenuous and the hitter was operating freelance.

Posted by regular joe 2018-10-31 10:54|| 2018-10-31 10:54|| Front Page Top

#4 One could believe this was a hit to silence Whitey. Or is it the settling of an old score?

Posted by JohnQC 2018-10-31 12:15|| 2018-10-31 12:15|| Front Page Top

#5 Whitey was awfully familiar with the corruptness of the FBI. Now that you mention it, why did it take 16 years for them to find him in CA?

Posted by regular joe 2018-10-31 15:09|| 2018-10-31 15:09|| Front Page Top

#6 One could believe this was a hit to silence Whitey. Or is it the settling of an old score?

Two birds, one stone. Given the whole Whitey saga, it's not hard to imagine someone's FBI handler saying "Do this for us and we'd be... grateful"

Posted by SteveS 2018-10-31 15:26|| 2018-10-31 15:26|| Front Page Top

#7 A rhyme of feds, Eyeties, and Celts;
Of Seals, locks and laces and belts;
Of pelts tied up tidy
And wrapping up Whitey...
They'd never fight anyone else!

Posted by Ebbusosing the Full Bosomed7594 2018-10-31 16:56|| 2018-10-31 16:56|| Front Page Top

#8 FBI moved him there on purpose to avoid Bulger revealing certain embarrassing information about that organization

Spot on! Mueller must have borrowed some hit men from the Clintons. Snark off.

Mueller-Connected Boston Mobster Whitey Bulger Killed in Prison... As He Was About to Out FBI Officials

Posted by Woodrow 2018-10-31 18:52|| 2018-10-31 18:52|| Front Page Top

08:38 Gleng Whaick2262
08:35 Gleng Whaick2262
08:35 Gleng Whaick2262
08:33 Gleng Whaick2262
08:32 Gleng Whaick2262
08:31 Gleng Whaick2262
08:28 Gleng Whaick2262
08:24 Matt
08:20 SteveS
07:43 Procopius2k
07:42 BrerRabbit
07:42 Procopius2k
07:39 Procopius2k
07:36 Procopius2k
07:35 Procopius2k
07:34 trailing wife
07:31 Procopius2k
07:30 NN2N1
07:22 NN2N1
07:18 trailing wife
07:14 Richard Aubrey
07:10 NN2N1
07:09 Besoeker
07:03 NN2N1