James J. Bulger
Encyclopedia
James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. (born September 3, 1929) is a former organized crime
figure from Boston, Massachusetts
.
Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood
-style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents. Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket
targeting drug kingpins and those running illegal gambling operations. Based upon the testimony of former associates, Federal prosecutors have indicted Bulger for nineteen murders.
Beginning in 1975, Bulger served as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI). As a result, the Bureau largely ignored his organization in exchange for information about the inner workings of the Italian American
Patriarca crime family
. Beginning in 1997, the New England media exposed criminal actions by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials tied to Bulger. For the FBI especially, this has caused great embarrassment.
On December 23, 1994, after being tipped off by his former FBI handler about a pending indictment under the RICO Act, Bulger fled Boston
and went into hiding. For sixteen years, he remained at large. For twelve of those years, Bulger was prominently listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
list.
On June 22, 2011, Bulger was arrested outside an apartment in Santa Monica, California
. Arrested with him was his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger was 81 years old at the time of his arrest. Soon after, Bulger and Greig were extradited to Massachusetts
and brought under heavy guard to the waterfront federal courthouse. This necessitated the closing of part of Boston Harbor
. Greig was arraigned in the Federal District Court of the First Circuit in Boston on charges of harboring a fugitive and is currently seeking release on bail. Bulger has not sought bail and remains in custody at the Plymouth County House of Correction in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
. His father married Jane Veronica McCarthy, a first generation Irish-American, after settling in the North End, Boston. Their first child, James Jr., was born in 1929.
The elder Bulger worked as a union laborer and occasional longshoreman. However, he lost his arm in an industrial accident, and the family was reduced to poverty. In May 1938, the Old Harbor Village
public housing project (formerly known as the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Project) was opened in South Boston. The Bulger family moved into it and the children grew up there. Young James preferred the streets, but his younger brothers (William
and John) excelled at school.
Jimmy Bulger was arrested in 1943, at the age of 14 and charged with larceny
. By then, Bulger had joined a street gang known as the "Shamrocks" and would eventually be arrested for assault
, battery
and armed robbery. He was eventually sentenced to a juvenile reformatory
. Shortly after his release in April 1948, he joined the United States Air Force
. After his basic training
, he was stationed first at the Smoky Hill Air Force Base
in Salina, Kansas
, and later in Idaho
. Hardly a model airman, he was sentenced to the stockade
for several assaults. He was also arrested in 1950, for going absent without leave. Nevertheless, he received an honorable discharge in 1952, and returned home to Massachusetts.
(1956–1959) for armed robbery and hijacking. There, according to mobster Kevin Weeks
, he was involved in the MK-ULTRA program, the goal of which was to research mind-control drugs for the Central Intelligence Agency
, headed by CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb
. For eighteen months, Bulger and eighteen other inmates who had volunteered to lessen their sentences were given LSD
and other drugs. Bulger later complained that he and the other inmates had been "recruited by deception," and that they were told that they were helping to find "a cure for schizophrenia
".
He was then transferred from Atlanta to Alcatraz Island
, arriving on November 2, 1959, as prisoner #AZ1428. He became a close friend of fellow inmate Clarence Carnes
, alias "The Choctaw Kid". In November 1962, he was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary (1962–1963), and in the following year to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
(1963–1965). He was released after serving nine years in prison.
, the leader of the dominant Irish mob
in South Boston. In 1971, Killeen's younger brother allegedly bit off the nose of Michael Dwyer, a member of the rival Mullen Gang
. A gangland war soon resulted, leading to a string of killings throughout Boston and the surrounding suburbs. The Killeens quickly found themselves outgunned and outmaneuvered by the younger Mullens.
According to Kevin Weeks
:
According to former Mullen boss Patrick Nee
, Paul McGonagle was enraged by the murder of his twin brother. Certain that William O'Sullivan was responsible, McGonagle ambushed and murdered Bulger's mentor. The end of the war has usually been related as follows. Bulger, realizing that he was on the losing side, secretly approached Howie Winter
, the leader of the Winter Hill Gang
. He allegedly told Winter that he could end the fighting in South Boston by murdering the leaders of the Killeen gang. Shortly thereafter, Donald Killeen was gunned down outside his home in the suburb of Framingham
. Former Mullen Gang boss Patrick Nee
disputes this claim. According to Nee, the slaying of Donald Killeen on May 13, 1972, was carried out not by Bulger but by Mullen Gang enforcers James Mantville and Tommy King.
Also according to Nee, Bulger and the Killeens fled the city in the aftermath of their boss's murder, fearing that they would be next. Instead of murdering Bulger, however, Patrick Nee arranged for the dispute to be mediated by Howie Winter and Patriarca crime family
captain
Joseph Russo. After a sit-down at Chandler's restaurant in the South End, Boston, the two gangs joined forces, with Winter as overall boss.
Nee stated,
According to Nee,
Eventually Bulger would become the lover of Catherine Greig, the ex-wife of Robert McGonagle, the brother of twins Donald and Paul McGonagle.
s. During the years that followed, Bulger began to remove opposition by persuading Howie Winter to sanction the killings of those who "stepped out of line". These included Mullen Gang veterans Spike O'Toole, Paulie McGonagle and Tommy King. It is also alleged that he had direct involvement in the slayings of Eddie Connors and Buddy Leonard in November 1975. In a 2004 interview, Winter recalled that the highly intelligent Bulger, "could teach the devil tricks."
In 1979, Howie Winter was arrested, along with many members of his inner circle, on charges of fixing horse races. Bulger and his then partner Stephen Flemmi
were left out of the indictments. They stepped into the vacuum and took over the leadership of the gang. They transferred its headquarters to the Lancaster Street Garage in Boston near the Boston Garden
in the North End.
, approached Bulger and attempted to recruit him as an informant
. FBI Special Agent Dennis Condon was assigned to make the pitch. However, Condon reported that Bulger was too concerned about his own safety to start working with the FBI.
In 1974, Bulger became partners with Stephen Flemmi
, an Italian American
mobster and FBI informant since 1965. Although it is a documented fact that Bulger soon followed Flemmi's example, exactly how and why continues to be debated. Special Agent John Connolly
frequently boasted to his fellow agents about how he had recruited Bulger at a late night meeting at Wollaston Beach inside an FBI issue car. Connolly allegedly said that the Bureau could help in Bulger's feud with Mafia
underboss
Gennaro Angiulo
. After listening to the pitch, Bulger is said to have responded, "Alright, if they want to play checkers, we'll play chess
. Fuck 'em."
Author Howie Carr
alleges that Bulger had been an off-the-books informant since the 1940s
. Carr dubiously claims that a teenaged Bulger worked as a male prostitute in Boston's gay bar
s. Carr also claims that, Bulger was blackmailed into informing after Special Agent H. Paul Rico
tailed him into a gay bar. This has never been confirmed, however.
Kevin Weeks
dismisses all of these allegations. According to Weeks, the charismatic Bulger, "had more women than Hugh Hefner
." As for Bulger's informant status, Weeks considers it more likely that Bulger's partner Stephen Flemmi had betrayed him to the FBI. He writes of his belief that Bulger was caught between a rock and a hard place: supply information to the FBI or return to Federal prison.
In 1997, shortly after The Boston Globe
disclosed that Bulger and Flemmi had been informants, Weeks met with retired FBI Agent John Connolly, who showed him a photocopy of Bulger's FBI informant file. In order to explain Bulger and Flemmi's status as informants, Connolly said, "The Mafia was going against Jimmy and Stevie, so Jimmy and Stevie went against them."
According to Weeks,
A federal judge
ruled on September 5, 2006, that the mishandling of Bulger and Flemmi caused the 1984 murder of informant John McIntyre. As a result, the McIntyre family was ordered to receive more than $3 million from the U.S. Federal Government. The judge stated the FBI failed to properly supervise their own agent John Connolly (convicted and jailed in 2002) and also failed to investigate numerous allegations that Bulger and Flemmi were involved in drug trafficking, murder, and other crimes over decades.
In a 2011 interview, Stephen Flemmi recalled, "Me and Whitey gave [the Feds] shit, and they gave us gold."
and used their status as informant
s to eliminate competition. The information they supplied to the FBI in subsequent years was responsible for the imprisonment of several Bulger associates whom Bulger viewed as threats; however, the main victim of their relationship with the federal government was the Italian-American Patriarca crime family
, which was based in Boston's North End, and in Federal Hill, Providence
. After the 1986 RICO indictment of underboss
Gennaro Angiulo
and his associates, the Patriarca family's Boston operations were in shambles. Bulger and Flemmi stepped into the ensuing vacuum to take control of organized crime
in the Boston area.
, a neighborhood bookmaker
. Kevin Weeks
, who was then a bouncer
at Triple O's, witnessed the discussion that followed. He has recalled,
According to Weeks, Litif had been stealing from his partners in the bookmaking operation and using the money to traffic cocaine
. What is more, Litif had not only refused to pay a cut of his drug profits, but had also committed two murders without Bulger's permission.
As Weeks listened, Litif told an outraged Bulger that he was also going to kill his partner, "Joe the Barber," whom he accused of stealing money from the bookmaking operation. Bulger refused to sanction this, but Litif vowed to kill him anyway. Seething with hatred, Bulger informed Litif that he had, "stepped over the line," and was, "no longer just a bookmaker."
At the time Kevin Weeks was about to get married to his longtime girlfriend. A short time before the wedding, Weeks informed Bulger that he was having difficulty seating Louis Litif. "Don't worry about it," Bulger responded. "He probably won't show."
According to Weeks,
dealer named Edward Brian Halloran, known on the streets as "Balloonhead," approached the FBI and stated that he had witnessed Bulger and Flemmi murdering Louis Litif. Meanwhile, FBI agent John Connolly kept Bulger and Flemmi closely briefed on what Halloran was saying to the Bureau. According to Kevin Weeks, Bulger and Flemmi were most enraged that Halloran was falsely claiming involvement in their assassination of Tulsa, Oklahoma
businessman Roger Wheeler. Ultimately, the FBI discovered Halloran's falsehoods and refused him and his family a place in the Witness Protection Program. Soon after, on May 11, 1982, Bulger, Flemmi and Weeks were tipped off that Halloran had returned to South Boston.
After arriving at the scene, Kevin Weeks staked out Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant, where Halloran was dining. Michael Donahue of Dorchester, a construction worker, neighbor, and friend of Halloran, incidentally ran into him at the restaurant. In a decision that would prove costly, Donahue offered Halloran a ride home.
As Donahue and Halloran drove out of the parking lot, Weeks signaled Bulger by stating, "The balloon is in the air", over a hand held radio. Bulger drove up with a masked man armed with a silenced Mac 10; Bulger himself carried a .30 caliber carbine. Bulger, wearing a floppy hat and a long haired wig, and the other shooter opened fire and sprayed Halloran and Donahue's car with bullets. Donahue was shot in the head and killed instantly. Halloran lived long enough to identify his attacker as James Flynn, a Winter Hill associate, who was later tried and acquitted. Flynn remained the prime suspect until 1999, when Weeks agreed to cooperate with investigators and identified Bulger as one of the shooters. Stephen Flemmi has identified the second shooter as Mullen Gang leader Patrick Nee
. Nee denies the allegation and no charges have yet been filed.
Michael Donahue was survived by his wife and three sons. The Donahue and Halloran families eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the United States Federal Government after learning that FBI Agent John Connolly
had informed Bulger of Halloran's informant status. Both families were awarded several million dollars in damages. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal, due to the late filing of the claims. Thomas Donahue, who was eight years old when his father was murdered, has become a spokesman for the families of those allegedly murdered by the Winter Hill Gang
.
, loansharking, bookmaking, truck hijackings and arms trafficking. State and federal agencies were repeatedly stymied in their attempts to build cases against Bulger and his inner circle. This was caused by several factors. Among them was the trio's paranoid fear of wiretaps, South Boston's code of silence, and also corruption within the Boston Police Department
, the Massachusetts State Police
, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
. Although disgraced FBI agent John Connolly
has long been Bulger's most infamous friend in law enforcement, Kevin Weeks
has insisted that Lieutenant Richard J. Schneiderhan
was valued far more highly. According to Weeks, this was because Schneiderhan was the Winter Hill Gang
's only source inside the Massachusetts State Police.
and Stephen Flemmi, Bulger would inform each dealer that he had been offered a substantial sum to assassinate them. He would then demand a large cash payment not to do so. Eventually, however, the massive profits of drugs proved irresistible. According to Weeks,
In South Boston, most of the neighborhood's cocaine and marijuana trade was managed by John Shea
. According to Weeks, Bulger briefly considered murdering Shea, but eventually decided to just shake him down.
According to Weeks, Bulger enforced strict rules over the dealers who were paying him protection.
and selling to children, and that those dealers who refused to play by his rules were violently driven out of the neighborhood.
In 1990, "Red" Shea and his associates were arrested as part of a joint investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration
(DEA), the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. All refused to testify against Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks. According to Weeks,
ticket, which had been bought at a store he owned. The four men shared a prize of around $14 million.
of the DEA
, the Massachusetts State Police
, and the Boston Police Department
launched a probe of Bulger's gambling operations. The FBI, by this time considered compromised, was not informed. After a number of bookmakers agreed to testify to having paid protection money to Bulger, a Federal case was built against him under the RICO Act.
According to Kevin Weeks,
He had also set up safe deposit box
es, containing cash, jewelry, and passports, in locations across North America and Europe including Florida
, Oklahoma
, Montreal
, Dublin, London
, Birmingham
(UK) and Venice
. In December 1994, Bulger was informed by retired FBI Agent John Connolly
that sealed indictments had come from the Department of Justice
and that the FBI were due to make arrests during the Christmas season. In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common law wife
, Theresa Stanley.
, before spending New Year's Day in a hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter
. On January 5, 1995, Bulger prepared to return to Boston, believing that it had been a false alarm. That night, however, Stephen Flemmi was arrested outside a Boston restaurant by the DEA. Boston police Detective Michael Flemmi, Stephen's brother, informed Weeks of the arrest. Weeks immediately passed the information on to Bulger, who altered his plans.
Bulger and Stanley then spent the next three weeks traveling between New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco before Stanley decided that she wanted to return to her children. They then traveled to Clearwater, Florida
, where Bulger retrieved his "Tom Baxter" identification from a safe deposit box. Bulger then drove to Boston and dropped off Theresa Stanley in a parking lot. He then met with Weeks at Malibu Beach in Dorchester
, who had brought with him Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Greig. Bulger and Greig then went on the run together.
In his memoirs, Weeks describes a clandestine meeting with Bulger and Greig in Chicago, Illinois. Bulger reminisced fondly about his time hiding out with a family in Louisiana. He told Weeks, who had replaced him as head of the Winter Hill Gang, "If anything comes down, put it on me." As they adjourned to a nearby Japanese restaurant, Bulger finally revealed how exhausted he was with life on the run. He told Weeks, "Every day out there is another day I beat them. Every good meal is a meal they can't take away from me."
In mid-November 1995, Weeks and Bulger met for the last time, at the lion statues at the front of the New York Public Library
, and adjourned for dinner at a nearby restaurant. According to Weeks,
On November 17, 1999, Weeks was arrested by a combined force of the DEA and the Massachusetts State Police. Although by this time he was aware of Bulger's FBI deal, Weeks was determined to remain faithful to the neighborhood code of silence. However, while awaiting trial in Rhode Island
's Wyatt Federal prison, Weeks was approached by a fellow inmate, a "made man
" in the Patriarca crime family
. The wiseguy told him, "Kid, what are you doing? Are you going to take it up the ass
for these guys? Remember, you can't rat on a rat. Those guys have been giving up everyone for thirty years."
In the aftermath, Weeks decided to cut a deal with federal prosecutors, and revealed where almost every penny and body was buried. Writing in 2006, Weeks recalled,
to investigate a lead. FBI agents were also sent to stake out the 60th memorial of the Battle of Normandy
celebrations, as Bulger is reportedly an enthusiastic fan of military history. Later reports of a sighting in Italy in April 2007, proved false. Two persons on video footage shot in Taormina
, Sicily, formerly thought to be Bulger and his lover, Catherine Greig, walking in the streets of the city center, were finally identified as a tourist couple from Germany. Evidence was provided by viewers of the German television programme Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst, which had aired an episode containing a film about Bulger.
In 2010, the FBI turned its focus to Victoria, British Columbia
, on Vancouver Island
. In pursuit of Bulger, a known book lover, the FBI visited bookstores in the area, questioned employees, and distributed wanted posters. Following his arrest, Bulger revealed that he had in fact travelled frequently. Also following his arrest, it was clear that he had not been reclusive, witnesses coming forward to say they had seen him on the Santa Monica Pier and elsewhere in southern California. A confirmed report by an off-duty Boston police officer after a San Diego screening of The Departed
also led to a search in Southern California that lasted "a few weeks".
list, Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, California
, on June 22, 2011.
Bulger was captured as a result of the work of the Bulger Fugitive Task Force which consisted of FBI Agents and a Deputy US Marshal. According to retired FBI agent Scott Bakken,
A reward of US$2 million had been offered for information leading to his capture. This amount was second only to Osama Bin Laden
's capture reward on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Bulger has been featured on the television show America's Most Wanted
16 times, first in 1995, and last on October 2, 2010. According to the authorities, the arrests were a "direct result" of the media campaign launched by the FBI in 14 markets across the country where Bulger and Greig reportedly had ties. The campaign focused on Greig, describing her as an animal lover who frequently goes to beauty salons.
Authorities received a tip from a woman in Iceland that he was living in a Santa Monica, California, apartment near a beach. A day later, ". . . using a ruse, agents and other task force members lured Mr. Bulger out of his apartment", "arrested him 'without incident,' then went in the house and arrested Greig". Bulger was charged with murder, "conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics distribution and money-laundering". Agents found "more than $800,000 in cash, 30 firearms and fake IDs" at the apartment. Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, stated that "she believes the death penalty is not an option in the federal charges Bulger faces in her district, but that she believes he could face the death penalty for two cases outside the district." In Oklahoma, where Bulger is alleged to have ordered the killing of businessman Roger Wheeler, Sr. in 1981, Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris stated: "It is our intention to bring Bulger to justice and to be held accountable for the murder of Mr. Wheeler." In Florida, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said: "After a 16-year delay, I will be working to ensure that a Miami jury has the opportunity to look (Bulger) in the eyes and determine his fate."
Immediately after being brought back to Boston, Bulger began talking to authorities. He informed them that during his days as a fugitive he was able to go back and forth frequently across the border to Mexico to buy medicine that he needed for his cardiac problems. It is anticipated by many, and feared by some, that Bulger will have a lot to say to authorities about the corruption on the local, state and federal level which enabled him to operate his criminal enterprise for so long, and that such disclosures may earn Bulger some special treatment in sentencing.
Bulger was arraigned in Federal court on July 6, 2011. He pleaded not guilty to 48 charges, including 19 counts of murder, extortion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, perjury, narcotics distribution and weapons violations.
The tipster was identified by The Boston Globe
as Anna Bjornsdottir
, a former model, actress and Miss Iceland 1974, who lived in Bulger's neighborhood.
At about age 20, Greig married Robert "Bobby" McGonagle of South Boston, a Boston firefighter. He was from a family that led the Mullen Gang
, and was injured during a mob gunfight in 1969. Before his 1987 drug overdose death, Bobby McGonagle reportedly held Bulger responsible for the murders of his brothers. Twins Donald McGonagle and Paul McGonagle
were killed during fighting between the Mullen and Killeen Gangs. The body of Paul McGonagle
lay hidden and buried for twenty five years on Tenean Beach in Dorchester. Greig's twin sister Margaret is the widow of Paul McGonagle
. She remarried and is now Margaret McCusker. McCusker is a licensed practical nurse. Greig's younger brother David Greig was a close associate of Bulger. David was found shot dead on Cape Cod, a death which was characterized as a suicide.
Greig met Bulger in her late 20s, after she divorced Bobby McGonagle. She worked as a dental hygienist. Greig has been described as intelligent, hardworking and educated, although very subservient to, and dominated by, Bulger. She and Bulger lived together for a time at her home in Squantum, a section of Quincy, Massachusetts
. While on the run, Greig confided to a neighbor that she feared that Bulger was suffering from senile dementia.
Greig had been wanted by the FBI since 1999. The criminal complaint against her alleges that she harbored a fugitive, Whitey Bulger. She will be represented in the current criminal proceedings by the prominent criminal attorney Kevin Reddington of Brockton, Massachusetts
. Attorney Reddington has stated that Greig will be going to trial and will not be accepting a plea bargain, explaining: "I question that the government can prove the case." According to Reddington, Greig's actions did not constitute "harboring" of a fugitive. Greig is currently seeking release on bail and home confinement.
(born 1934) and John Bulger (born 1938).
Senator William "Billy" Bulger is a Korean War
veteran and formerly an influential leader of the Democratic Party
in Massachusetts. In a long political career, Senator Bulger rose to become President of the Massachusetts State Senate. After his retirement he was appointed President of the University of Massachusetts
.
In 2002 testimony before the United States Congress
, Senator Bulger was grilled by legislators from both parties. When asked what he thought his brother did for a living, Senator Bulger responded: "I had the feeling that he was in the business of gaming and . . . or whatever. It was vague to me, illegal but I didn't . . . not all that violent . . . For a long while he had some regular jobs, but ultimately it was clear that he was not, he wasn't doing what I'd like him to do. Let's just say I was naive in retrospect." He added that he loves his brother and hoped the most brutal allegations concerning him will be proven false. In addition, he grudgingly admitted to visiting an isolated pay phone in order to speak to his older brother, who was by then a fugitive. In 2003, as a direct result of these comments, Senator Bulger was forced by then-Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney
to resign from the presidency of the University of Massachusetts.
Judge John "Jackie" Bulger, a retired Massachusetts court clerk magistrate, was convicted in April 2003, of perjury to two grand juries
regarding sworn statements he gave concerning contacts with his fugitive brother.
In 1973, at six years of age, Douglas died from Reye's syndrome
after having a severe allergic reaction to aspirin.
According to Cyr,
Since Bulger's arrest, Cyr has publicly announced her support of him, stating
After his split from Cyr, Bulger began a relationship with Theresa Stanley, a South Boston divorcée with several children. Bulger bought her an expensive house in suburban Quincy, Massachusetts
, and acted as father to her children while commuting to "work" in South Boston. However, he was repeatedly unfaithful to her with a host of other women, and was often absent while overseeing the running of his organization. In a 2004 interview, Stanley stated that she is planning to publish her memoirs.
, Boston Herald
reporter Paul Corsetti began researching an article about the murder and Bulger's suspected involvement in it. After several days of reporting the story, he was approached by a man who told him, 'I'm Jim Bulger and if you continue to write shit about me, I'm going to blow your fucking head off." Corsetti attempted to seek out help from the Patriarca crime family
, but was informed that Bulger was outside their control. According to Kevin Weeks, "The next day, Corsetti reported the meeting to the Boston police. He was issued a pistol permit within twenty-four hours. The cop who gave him the permit told him, 'I'm glad my last name is not Corsetti.' A couple days later, Jimmy told me about the scene with the cop and was glad to hear how uncomfortable he'd made Corsetti."
. Weeks states that Carr was targeted because he was, "writing nasty stories about people, he was an oxygen thief who didn't deserve to breathe."
Weeks states that, although several plans were considered, all were abandoned because there was too much risk of injuring Carr's wife and children. Weeks has stated that, although he is fully aware of the public outcry that would have followed, he regrets not murdering Howie Carr. "His murder would have been an attack on the system, like attacking freedom of the press
, the fabric of the American way of life, and they would have spared no expense to solve the crime. But in the long run, Jimmy and I got sidetracked and the maggot lived. Still, I wish I'd killed him. No question about it."
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
figure from Boston, Massachusetts
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
.
Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
-style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents. Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket
Protection racket
A protection racket is an extortion scheme whereby a criminal group or individual coerces a victim to pay money, supposedly for protection services against violence or property damage. Racketeers coerce reticent potential victims into buying "protection" by demonstrating what will happen if they...
targeting drug kingpins and those running illegal gambling operations. Based upon the testimony of former associates, Federal prosecutors have indicted Bulger for nineteen murders.
Beginning in 1975, Bulger served as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI). As a result, the Bureau largely ignored his organization in exchange for information about the inner workings of the Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
. Beginning in 1997, the New England media exposed criminal actions by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials tied to Bulger. For the FBI especially, this has caused great embarrassment.
On December 23, 1994, after being tipped off by his former FBI handler about a pending indictment under the RICO Act, Bulger fled Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
and went into hiding. For sixteen years, he remained at large. For twelve of those years, Bulger was prominently listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
list.
On June 22, 2011, Bulger was arrested outside an apartment in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
. Arrested with him was his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger was 81 years old at the time of his arrest. Soon after, Bulger and Greig were extradited to Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
and brought under heavy guard to the waterfront federal courthouse. This necessitated the closing of part of Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor
Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeast.-History:...
. Greig was arraigned in the Federal District Court of the First Circuit in Boston on charges of harboring a fugitive and is currently seeking release on bail. Bulger has not sought bail and remains in custody at the Plymouth County House of Correction in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Early life
Bulger's father, James Joseph Bulger, was the son of parents from Harbour Grace, NewfoundlandDominion of Newfoundland
The Dominion of Newfoundland was a British Dominion from 1907 to 1949 . The Dominion of Newfoundland was situated in northeastern North America along the Atlantic coast and comprised the island of Newfoundland and Labrador on the continental mainland...
. His father married Jane Veronica McCarthy, a first generation Irish-American, after settling in the North End, Boston. Their first child, James Jr., was born in 1929.
The elder Bulger worked as a union laborer and occasional longshoreman. However, he lost his arm in an industrial accident, and the family was reduced to poverty. In May 1938, the Old Harbor Village
Old Harbor Housing Project
The Old Harbor Housing Project, formally known as the Mary Ellen McCormack Project, is a housing project opposite Carson Beach in South Boston, Massachusetts.-History:...
public housing project (formerly known as the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Project) was opened in South Boston. The Bulger family moved into it and the children grew up there. Young James preferred the streets, but his younger brothers (William
William M. Bulger
William Michael "Billy" Bulger is a retired American Democratic Party politician, lawyer, and educator from South Boston, Massachusetts, who for many years was President of the Massachusetts Senate and president of the University of Massachusetts...
and John) excelled at school.
Jimmy Bulger was arrested in 1943, at the age of 14 and charged with larceny
Larceny
Larceny is a crime involving the wrongful acquisition of the personal property of another person. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of England into their own law. It has been abolished in England and Wales,...
. By then, Bulger had joined a street gang known as the "Shamrocks" and would eventually be arrested for assault
Assault
In law, assault is a crime causing a victim to fear violence. The term is often confused with battery, which involves physical contact. The specific meaning of assault varies between countries, but can refer to an act that causes another to apprehend immediate and personal violence, or in the more...
, battery
Battery (crime)
Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
and armed robbery. He was eventually sentenced to a juvenile reformatory
Youth detention center
A youth detention center, also known as a juvenile detention center , juvenile hall or, more colloquially as juvie, is a secure residential facility for young people, often termed juvenile delinquents, awaiting court hearings and/or placement in long-term care facilities and programs...
. Shortly after his release in April 1948, he joined the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. After his basic training
Basic Training
Basic Training may refer to:* Basic Training, a 1971 American documentary directed by Frederick Wiseman* Basic Training , an American sex comedy* Recruit training...
, he was stationed first at the Smoky Hill Air Force Base
Schilling Air Force Base
Schilling Air Force Base is a former a United States Air Force Base located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Salina, a city in Saline County, Kansas, United States...
in Salina, Kansas
Salina, Kansas
Salina is a city in and the county seat of Saline County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 47,707. Located in one of the world's largest wheat-producing areas, Salina is a regional trade center for north-central Kansas...
, and later in Idaho
Idaho
Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....
. Hardly a model airman, he was sentenced to the stockade
Military prison
A military prison is a prison operated by the military. Military prisons are used variously to house prisoners of war, enemy combatants, those whose freedom is deemed a national security risk by the military or national authorities, and members of the military found guilty of a serious crime...
for several assaults. He was also arrested in 1950, for going absent without leave. Nevertheless, he received an honorable discharge in 1952, and returned home to Massachusetts.
Prison
In the 1950s, Bulger was first in federal custody at Atlanta PenitentiaryUnited States Penitentiary, Atlanta
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta is a medium-security federal prison for men in Atlanta, Georgia. It also has a detention center for pre-trial and holdover inmates and an adjacent camp for minimum security male inmates...
(1956–1959) for armed robbery and hijacking. There, according to mobster Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
, he was involved in the MK-ULTRA program, the goal of which was to research mind-control drugs for the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
, headed by CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb
Sidney Gottlieb
Sidney Gottlieb was an American chemist probably best known for his involvement with the Central Intelligence Agency's mind control program MKULTRA.-Life:...
. For eighteen months, Bulger and eighteen other inmates who had volunteered to lessen their sentences were given LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
and other drugs. Bulger later complained that he and the other inmates had been "recruited by deception," and that they were told that they were helping to find "a cure for schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
".
He was then transferred from Atlanta to Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island
Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as "The Rock" or simply "Traz", the small island was developed with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal...
, arriving on November 2, 1959, as prisoner #AZ1428. He became a close friend of fellow inmate Clarence Carnes
Clarence Carnes
Clarence Victor Carnes known as The Choctaw Kid was a Choctaw Indian famous as the youngest inmate sentenced to Alcatraz, and for his participation in the bloody escape attempt known as the "Battle of Alcatraz".-Early life:Clarence Carnes was born in Daisy, Oklahoma, the oldest of five children...
, alias "The Choctaw Kid". In November 1962, he was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary (1962–1963), and in the following year to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary
The United States Penitentiary in Lewisburg is a male inmate high security federal penitentiary and satellite minimum security prison camp housing some 1,000 and 500 respectively, just outside Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. The Lewisburg Penitentiary was opened in 1932...
(1963–1965). He was released after serving nine years in prison.
The Killeen Gang
After his release, Bulger worked as a janitor and eventual construction worker before becoming an enforcer for Donald KilleenDonald Killeen
Donald Killeen was an Irish-American mob boss who controlled criminal activity, primarily bookmaking in South Boston, Massachusetts, during the 1960s and 1970s...
, the leader of the dominant Irish mob
Irish Mob
The Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
in South Boston. In 1971, Killeen's younger brother allegedly bit off the nose of Michael Dwyer, a member of the rival Mullen Gang
Mullen Gang
-Gang members:Paulie McGonagle was a Boston mobster and onetime leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street gang involved in burglary, auto theft, and armed robbery. During the war against Donald Killeen and his brothers, McGonagle successfully led the Mullens in a string of shootings which...
. A gangland war soon resulted, leading to a string of killings throughout Boston and the surrounding suburbs. The Killeens quickly found themselves outgunned and outmaneuvered by the younger Mullens.
According to Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
:
"One day while the gang war was still going on, Jimmy was driving down Seventh Street in South Boston when he saw PauliePaul McGonaglePaul McGonagle was an American mobster and leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street crew involved in burglary and armed robbery....
[Paul McGonagle] driving toward him. Jimmy pulled up beside him, window to window, nose to nose, and called his name. As Paulie looked over, Jimmy shot him right between the eyes. Only at that moment, just as he pulled the trigger, Jimmy realized it wasn't Paulie. It was Donald, the most likable of the McGonagle brothers, the only one who wasn't involved in anything. Jimmy drove straight to his mentor Billy O'SullivanWilliam S. O'SullivanWilliam S. O'Sullivan was an Irish-American loanshark and longtime enforcer for Donald Killeen, the head of the Irish mob in South Boston, Massachusetts. O'Sullivan also acted as a mentor to a young James J...
's house on Savin Hill Avenue and told O'Sullivan, who was at the stove cooking, 'I shot the wrong one. I shot Donald.' Billy looked up from the stove and said, 'Don't worry about it. He wasn't healthy anyway. He smoked. He would have gotten lung cancerLung cancerLung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
. How do you want your pork chops?'"
According to former Mullen boss Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee is an Irish-American immigrant, former member of the Mullen Gang, Vietnam vet, and the bestselling author of the memoir A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection.-Early life:Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in the...
, Paul McGonagle was enraged by the murder of his twin brother. Certain that William O'Sullivan was responsible, McGonagle ambushed and murdered Bulger's mentor. The end of the war has usually been related as follows. Bulger, realizing that he was on the losing side, secretly approached Howie Winter
Howie Winter
Howard Thomas "Howie" Winter is an American mobster. He was the second leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang.-Early life:...
, the leader of the Winter Hill Gang
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
. He allegedly told Winter that he could end the fighting in South Boston by murdering the leaders of the Killeen gang. Shortly thereafter, Donald Killeen was gunned down outside his home in the suburb of Framingham
Framingham, Massachusetts
Framingham is a New England town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 68,318 as of the United States 2010 Census. -History:...
. Former Mullen Gang boss Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee is an Irish-American immigrant, former member of the Mullen Gang, Vietnam vet, and the bestselling author of the memoir A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection.-Early life:Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in the...
disputes this claim. According to Nee, the slaying of Donald Killeen on May 13, 1972, was carried out not by Bulger but by Mullen Gang enforcers James Mantville and Tommy King.
Also according to Nee, Bulger and the Killeens fled the city in the aftermath of their boss's murder, fearing that they would be next. Instead of murdering Bulger, however, Patrick Nee arranged for the dispute to be mediated by Howie Winter and Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
captain
Caporegime
A caporegime or capodecina, usually shortened to just a capo, is a term used in the Mafia for a high ranking made member of a crime family who heads a "crew" of soldiers and has major social status and influence in the organization...
Joseph Russo. After a sit-down at Chandler's restaurant in the South End, Boston, the two gangs joined forces, with Winter as overall boss.
Nee stated,
Nobody talked fault, although at first it was tense while we ran down the 'who killed who' list. Whitey was a defeated warrior looking to keep as much honor as possible. He knew the Mullens had courageous, fierce men willing to die for theirs, and he was perceptive. Deep down, Whitey knew that he couldn't take over for the Killeens without cutting the Mullens in on their bookmaking and loansharking. Tommy [King] and I felt victorious, but we didn't want to gloat. The meeting lasted for six hours. We ate good steaks, chasing them down with nothing stronger than ginger aleGinger aleGinger ale is a carbonated soft drink flavored with ginger. Dr. Thomas Cantrell, an American apothecary and surgeon, claimed to have invented ginger ale and marketed it with beverage manufacturer Grattan and Company. Grattan embossed the slogan "The Original Makers of Ginger Ale" on its bottles...
. It was business, and contrary to media stereotype, we weren't a bunch of lowlifes who sat around drinking beer all day and all night.
According to Nee,
The balance of the meeting was spent forming an alliance, and by far the hardest part was deciding whom to protect. After a war, each side usually gets to protect so many people from harm. Those who aren't protected are fair game for retribution and 'shake-downs.' Everything was split down the middle. All the horses, dogs, bookmaking, and loansharking were now going to be under our mutual control. This was the beginning of our relationship. Whitey and I were now officially partners and nobody at that table could ever have possibly imagined how this treacherous fuck would treat his partners.
Eventually Bulger would become the lover of Catherine Greig, the ex-wife of Robert McGonagle, the brother of twins Donald and Paul McGonagle.
The Winter Hill Gang
After the 1972 truce, Bulger and the Mullens were in control of South Boston's criminal underworld. FBI Special Agent Condon noted in his log in September 1973, that Bulger and Nee had been heavily shaking down the neighborhood's bookmakerBookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
s. During the years that followed, Bulger began to remove opposition by persuading Howie Winter to sanction the killings of those who "stepped out of line". These included Mullen Gang veterans Spike O'Toole, Paulie McGonagle and Tommy King. It is also alleged that he had direct involvement in the slayings of Eddie Connors and Buddy Leonard in November 1975. In a 2004 interview, Winter recalled that the highly intelligent Bulger, "could teach the devil tricks."
In 1979, Howie Winter was arrested, along with many members of his inner circle, on charges of fixing horse races. Bulger and his then partner Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Joseph "The Rifleman" Flemmi is an Italian-American mobster and close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss James J. Bulger. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
were left out of the indictments. They stepped into the vacuum and took over the leadership of the gang. They transferred its headquarters to the Lancaster Street Garage in Boston near the Boston Garden
Boston Garden
The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928 as "Boston Madison Square Garden" and outlived its original namesake by some 30 years...
in the North End.
FBI informant
In 1971, the FBI, searching for reliable information in their battle against the Patriarca crime familyPatriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
, approached Bulger and attempted to recruit him as an informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
. FBI Special Agent Dennis Condon was assigned to make the pitch. However, Condon reported that Bulger was too concerned about his own safety to start working with the FBI.
In 1974, Bulger became partners with Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Flemmi
Stephen Joseph "The Rifleman" Flemmi is an Italian-American mobster and close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss James J. Bulger. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
, an Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
mobster and FBI informant since 1965. Although it is a documented fact that Bulger soon followed Flemmi's example, exactly how and why continues to be debated. Special Agent John Connolly
John Connolly (FBI)
John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
frequently boasted to his fellow agents about how he had recruited Bulger at a late night meeting at Wollaston Beach inside an FBI issue car. Connolly allegedly said that the Bureau could help in Bulger's feud with Mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
underboss
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
Gennaro Angiulo
Gennaro Angiulo
Gennaro "Jerry" Angiulo was a New England mob boss who rose through the Mafia under Raymond L. S. Patriarca. He was convicted of racketeering in 1986 and was in jail until being released in 2007. One of the Angiulo Brothers, Angiulo was "probably the last very significant Mafia boss in Boston’s...
. After listening to the pitch, Bulger is said to have responded, "Alright, if they want to play checkers, we'll play chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...
. Fuck 'em."
Author Howie Carr
Howie Carr
Howard Louis "Howie" Carr, Jr. is an American journalist, author, and conservative radio talk-show host based in Boston with a listening audience rooted in New England.-Radio:...
alleges that Bulger had been an off-the-books informant since the 1940s
1940s
File:1940s decade montage.png|Above title bar: events which happened during World War II : From left to right: Troops in an LCVP landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day"; Adolf Hitler visits Paris, soon after the Battle of France; The Holocaust occurred during the war as Nazi Germany...
. Carr dubiously claims that a teenaged Bulger worked as a male prostitute in Boston's gay bar
Gay bar
A gay bar is a drinking establishment that caters to an exclusively or predominantly gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender clientele; the term gay is used as a broadly inclusive concept for LGBT and queer communities...
s. Carr also claims that, Bulger was blackmailed into informing after Special Agent H. Paul Rico
H. Paul Rico
Harold Paul Rico was an FBI agent. Indicted for murder in 2003, he played a significant role in the 1968 framing of four men for murder, unjustly imprisoning them for decades....
tailed him into a gay bar. This has never been confirmed, however.
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
dismisses all of these allegations. According to Weeks, the charismatic Bulger, "had more women than Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
." As for Bulger's informant status, Weeks considers it more likely that Bulger's partner Stephen Flemmi had betrayed him to the FBI. He writes of his belief that Bulger was caught between a rock and a hard place: supply information to the FBI or return to Federal prison.
In 1997, shortly after The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
disclosed that Bulger and Flemmi had been informants, Weeks met with retired FBI Agent John Connolly, who showed him a photocopy of Bulger's FBI informant file. In order to explain Bulger and Flemmi's status as informants, Connolly said, "The Mafia was going against Jimmy and Stevie, so Jimmy and Stevie went against them."
According to Weeks,
As I read over the files at the Top of the Hub [restaurant] that night, Connolly kept telling me that 90 percent of the information in the files came from Stevie. Certainly Jimmy hadn't been around the MafiaMafiaThe Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
the way Stevie had. But, Connolly told me, he had to put Jimmy's name on the files to keep his file active. As long as Jimmy was an active informant, Connolly said, he could justify meeting with Jimmy and giving him valuable information. Even after he retired, Connolly still had friends in the FBI, and he and Jimmy kept meeting to let each other know what was going on. I listened to all that, but now I understood that even though he was retired, Connolly was still getting information, as well as money, from Jimmy. As I continued to read, I could see that a lot of the reports were not just against the Italians. There were more and more names of Polish and Irish guys, of people we had done business with, of friends of mine. Whenever I came across the name of someone I knew, I would read exactly what it said about that person. I would see, over and over again, that some of these people had been arrested for crimes that were mentioned in these reports. It didn't take long for me to realize that it had been bullshit when Connolly told me that the files hadn't been disseminated, that they had been for his own personal use. He had been an employee of the FBI. He hadn't worked for himself. If there was some investigation going on and his supervisor said, 'Let me take a look at that,' what was Connolly going to do? He had to give it up. And he obviously had. I thought about what Jimmy had always said, 'You can lie to your wife and to your girlfriends, but not to your friends. Not to anyone we're in business with.' Maybe Jimmy and Stevie hadn't lied to me. But they sure hadn't been telling me everything.
A federal judge
United States federal judge
In the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution....
ruled on September 5, 2006, that the mishandling of Bulger and Flemmi caused the 1984 murder of informant John McIntyre. As a result, the McIntyre family was ordered to receive more than $3 million from the U.S. Federal Government. The judge stated the FBI failed to properly supervise their own agent John Connolly (convicted and jailed in 2002) and also failed to investigate numerous allegations that Bulger and Flemmi were involved in drug trafficking, murder, and other crimes over decades.
In a 2011 interview, Stephen Flemmi recalled, "Me and Whitey gave [the Feds] shit, and they gave us gold."
Consolidating power
Winter and most of his organization's leadership were sentenced for fixing horse races in 1979, but the FBI persuaded federal prosecutors to drop all charges against Bulger and Flemmi. Bulger and Flemmi then took over the remnants of the Winter Hill GangWinter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
and used their status as informant
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
s to eliminate competition. The information they supplied to the FBI in subsequent years was responsible for the imprisonment of several Bulger associates whom Bulger viewed as threats; however, the main victim of their relationship with the federal government was the Italian-American Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
, which was based in Boston's North End, and in Federal Hill, Providence
Federal Hill, Providence
The Federal Hill neighborhood has a salient role in the history of Providence due to its central location within the city. This part of Providence is best known for its Italian American community and abundance of restaurants.- Geography :...
. After the 1986 RICO indictment of underboss
Underboss
Underboss is a position within the leadership structure of Sicilian and American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss...
Gennaro Angiulo
Gennaro Angiulo
Gennaro "Jerry" Angiulo was a New England mob boss who rose through the Mafia under Raymond L. S. Patriarca. He was convicted of racketeering in 1986 and was in jail until being released in 2007. One of the Angiulo Brothers, Angiulo was "probably the last very significant Mafia boss in Boston’s...
and his associates, the Patriarca family's Boston operations were in shambles. Bulger and Flemmi stepped into the ensuing vacuum to take control of organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
in the Boston area.
Litif murder
In 1980, Bulger was approached in South Boston's Triple O's saloon by Louis LitifLouis Litif
Louis R. Litif , also known as Nicholas Noonan and Louis Woodward, was a Lebanese-American bookmaker from South Boston, Massachusetts. After running afoul of neighborhood Irish mob boss James J. Bulger, Litif was murdered in 1982. His body was left in a car trunk in the South End, Boston...
, a neighborhood bookmaker
Bookmaker
A bookmaker, or bookie, is an organization or a person that takes bets on sporting and other events at agreed upon odds.- Range of events :...
. Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
, who was then a bouncer
Bouncer
Bouncer or The Bouncer may refer to:* Bouncer , a person who provides security at a public venue* Bouncer or BNC, a piece of software used to relay traffic and connections in computer networksIn sport:...
at Triple O's, witnessed the discussion that followed. He has recalled,
"He wasn't a big guy, maybe five seven and 185 pounds. Of Arab descent, he had a mustache like Saddam HusseinSaddam HusseinSaddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
. He had a wife and a couple of kids, and a three decker townhouse on East Broadway and G. I was friendly with his daughter Louanne, who was a few years younger than me. That night, as always, he was talking in his obnoxious loud voice. Even when there were 400 people in the bar, you always knew Louie was there.
According to Weeks, Litif had been stealing from his partners in the bookmaking operation and using the money to traffic cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. What is more, Litif had not only refused to pay a cut of his drug profits, but had also committed two murders without Bulger's permission.
As Weeks listened, Litif told an outraged Bulger that he was also going to kill his partner, "Joe the Barber," whom he accused of stealing money from the bookmaking operation. Bulger refused to sanction this, but Litif vowed to kill him anyway. Seething with hatred, Bulger informed Litif that he had, "stepped over the line," and was, "no longer just a bookmaker."
At the time Kevin Weeks was about to get married to his longtime girlfriend. A short time before the wedding, Weeks informed Bulger that he was having difficulty seating Louis Litif. "Don't worry about it," Bulger responded. "He probably won't show."
According to Weeks,
"Personally, I liked Louie. Every Sunday night, he'd come down to Triple O's and we'd play cards or pinball, twenty bucks a game. He was loud but funny, and he'd always been a major moneymaker for Jimmy. He should have just stayed a bookie and not tried to jump from the minor leagues to the majors. And now he wanted to kill a friend of Jimmy. There was no way that would be allowed. Shortly after that, a week or so before my wedding, Louie was found stuffed into a garbage bag in the trunk of his car, which had been dumped in the South End. He'd been stabbed with an ice pick and shot. 'He was color coordinated,' Jimmy told me. 'He was wearing green under wear and was in a green garbage bag.' At the wedding, when I went around to greet his table, Jimmy pointed to the empty chair beside him and said, 'Say hi to Louie.' Stevie picked up a napkin and made a show of wiping his face. 'He keeps on drinking and it keeps on leaking out of him,' he said, reminding us that Louie had been shot in the head and any drink he might have put in his mouth would pour right out of his face. And they all broke out laughing."
Halloran and Donahue murders
In 1982, a South Boston cocaineCocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
dealer named Edward Brian Halloran, known on the streets as "Balloonhead," approached the FBI and stated that he had witnessed Bulger and Flemmi murdering Louis Litif. Meanwhile, FBI agent John Connolly kept Bulger and Flemmi closely briefed on what Halloran was saying to the Bureau. According to Kevin Weeks, Bulger and Flemmi were most enraged that Halloran was falsely claiming involvement in their assassination of Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
businessman Roger Wheeler. Ultimately, the FBI discovered Halloran's falsehoods and refused him and his family a place in the Witness Protection Program. Soon after, on May 11, 1982, Bulger, Flemmi and Weeks were tipped off that Halloran had returned to South Boston.
After arriving at the scene, Kevin Weeks staked out Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant, where Halloran was dining. Michael Donahue of Dorchester, a construction worker, neighbor, and friend of Halloran, incidentally ran into him at the restaurant. In a decision that would prove costly, Donahue offered Halloran a ride home.
As Donahue and Halloran drove out of the parking lot, Weeks signaled Bulger by stating, "The balloon is in the air", over a hand held radio. Bulger drove up with a masked man armed with a silenced Mac 10; Bulger himself carried a .30 caliber carbine. Bulger, wearing a floppy hat and a long haired wig, and the other shooter opened fire and sprayed Halloran and Donahue's car with bullets. Donahue was shot in the head and killed instantly. Halloran lived long enough to identify his attacker as James Flynn, a Winter Hill associate, who was later tried and acquitted. Flynn remained the prime suspect until 1999, when Weeks agreed to cooperate with investigators and identified Bulger as one of the shooters. Stephen Flemmi has identified the second shooter as Mullen Gang leader Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee
Patrick Nee is an Irish-American immigrant, former member of the Mullen Gang, Vietnam vet, and the bestselling author of the memoir A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection.-Early life:Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in the...
. Nee denies the allegation and no charges have yet been filed.
Michael Donahue was survived by his wife and three sons. The Donahue and Halloran families eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the United States Federal Government after learning that FBI Agent John Connolly
John Connolly (FBI)
John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
had informed Bulger of Halloran's informant status. Both families were awarded several million dollars in damages. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal, due to the late filing of the claims. Thomas Donahue, who was eight years old when his father was murdered, has become a spokesman for the families of those allegedly murdered by the Winter Hill Gang
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
.
Glory days
Throughout the 1980s, Bulger, Flemmi and Weeks ran shakedowns throughout eastern Massachusetts, e.g., extortionExtortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
, loansharking, bookmaking, truck hijackings and arms trafficking. State and federal agencies were repeatedly stymied in their attempts to build cases against Bulger and his inner circle. This was caused by several factors. Among them was the trio's paranoid fear of wiretaps, South Boston's code of silence, and also corruption within the Boston Police Department
Boston Police Department
The Boston Police Department , created in 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States...
, the Massachusetts State Police
Massachusetts State Police
The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...
, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. Although disgraced FBI agent John Connolly
John Connolly (FBI)
John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
has long been Bulger's most infamous friend in law enforcement, Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
has insisted that Lieutenant Richard J. Schneiderhan
Richard J. Schneiderhan
Richard Joseph Schneiderhan is a former Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant in the Attorney General's Organized Crime Unit. He was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice stemming from his relationship with gangster Stephen Flemmi and the Winter Hill Gang...
was valued far more highly. According to Weeks, this was because Schneiderhan was the Winter Hill Gang
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
's only source inside the Massachusetts State Police.
Drug trafficking
During the middle 1980s, Bulger began to summon drug dealers from in and around Boston to his headquarters. Flanked by Kevin WeeksKevin Weeks
Kevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
and Stephen Flemmi, Bulger would inform each dealer that he had been offered a substantial sum to assassinate them. He would then demand a large cash payment not to do so. Eventually, however, the massive profits of drugs proved irresistible. According to Weeks,
Jimmy, Stevie and I weren't in the import business and weren't bringing in the marijuana or the cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
. We were in the shakedown business. We didn't bring drugs in; we took money off the people who did. We never dealt with the street dealers, but rather with a dozen large-scale drug distributors all over the State who were bringing in the coke and marijuana and paying hundreds of thousands to Jimmy. The dealers on the street corner sold eight-balls, . . . grams, and half grams to customers for their personal use. They were supplied by the mid level drug dealer who was selling them multiple ounces. In other words, the big importers gave it to the major distributors, who sold it to the middlemen, who then sold it to the street dealers. In order to get to Jimmy, Stevie, and me, someone would have had to go through those four layers of insulation.
In South Boston, most of the neighborhood's cocaine and marijuana trade was managed by John Shea
John Shea (mobster)
John "Red" Shea was an Irish-American mobster from Boston involved in narcotics and an associate of crime kingpin Whitey Bulger and the Winter Hill Gang during the 1980s and '90s...
. According to Weeks, Bulger briefly considered murdering Shea, but eventually decided to just shake him down.
According to Weeks, Bulger enforced strict rules over the dealers who were paying him protection.
The only people we ever put out of business were heroin dealers. Jimmy didn't allow heroin in South Boston. It was a dirty drug that users stuck in their arms, making problems with needles, and later on, AIDSWeeks also alleges that Bulger strictly forbade PCPAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. While people can do cocaineCocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
socially and still function, once they do heroin, they're zombies.
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
and selling to children, and that those dealers who refused to play by his rules were violently driven out of the neighborhood.
In 1990, "Red" Shea and his associates were arrested as part of a joint investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
(DEA), the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. All refused to testify against Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks. According to Weeks,
Of course, Jimmy lost money once the drug dealers were removed from the streets in the summer raid, but he always had other business going on. Knowing I had to build something on the side, I had concentrated on my shylocking and gambling businesses. The drug business had been good while it lasted. But our major involvement in it was over."It would not be until the 1999 cooperation of Weeks that Bulger, by then a fugitive, was conclusively linked to the drug trade by investigators.
Won Massachusetts state lottery
One week in the summer of 1991, Bulger and three friends came into possession of the winning Massachusetts LotteryMassachusetts Lottery
The Massachusetts Lottery was established in 1971, following the legalization of gambling by the Massachusetts General Court, the legislature of the Commonwealth...
ticket, which had been bought at a store he owned. The four men shared a prize of around $14 million.
Downfall
In April 1994, a joint task forceTask force
A task force is a unit or formation established to work on a single defined task or activity. Originally introduced by the United States Navy, the term has now caught on for general usage and is a standard part of NATO terminology...
of the DEA
DEA
DEA is the commonly used acronym for the Drug Enforcement Administration, a United States law enforcement agency.DEA or Dea may also refer to:- Organizations :* DEA , UK development education charity...
, the Massachusetts State Police
Massachusetts State Police
The Massachusetts State Police is an agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' Executive Office of Public Safety and Security responsible for criminal law enforcement and traffic vehicle regulation across the state...
, and the Boston Police Department
Boston Police Department
The Boston Police Department , created in 1838, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the oldest police departments in the United States...
launched a probe of Bulger's gambling operations. The FBI, by this time considered compromised, was not informed. After a number of bookmakers agreed to testify to having paid protection money to Bulger, a Federal case was built against him under the RICO Act.
According to Kevin Weeks,
In 1993, and 1994, before the pinches came down, Jimmy and Stevie were traveling on the FrenchFrench RivieraThe Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...
and Italian RivieraItalian RivieraThe Italian Riviera, or Ligurian Riviera is the narrow coastal strip which lies between the Ligurian Sea and the mountain chain formed by the Maritime Alps and the Apennines...
. The two of them traveled all over EuropeEuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, sometimes separating for a while. Sometimes they took girls, sometimes just the two of them went. They would rent cars and travel all through Europe. It was more preparation than anything, getting ready for another life. They didn't ask me to go, not that I would have wanted to. Jimmy had prepared for the run for years. He'd established a whole other person, Thomas Baxter, with a complete ID and credit cards in that name. He'd even joined associations in Baxter's name, building an entire portfolio for the guy. He'd always said you had to be ready to take off on short notice. And he was.
He had also set up safe deposit box
Safe deposit box
A safe deposit box or wrongly referred to as a safety deposit box is an individually-secured container, usually held within a larger safe or bank vault. Safe deposit boxes are generally located in banks, post offices or other institutions...
es, containing cash, jewelry, and passports, in locations across North America and Europe including Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Dublin, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
(UK) and Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
. In December 1994, Bulger was informed by retired FBI Agent John Connolly
John Connolly (FBI)
John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
that sealed indictments had come from the Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
and that the FBI were due to make arrests during the Christmas season. In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common law wife
Common Law Wife
"Common Law Wife" is a song by the funk band Parliament. Recorded in 1972, it was released as a bonus track on the 2003 reissue of the album Chocolate City...
, Theresa Stanley.
Fugitive
After fleeing Boston, Bulger and Stanley initially spent four days over Christmas in Selden, New YorkSelden, New York
Selden is a hamlet in the town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 21,861 at the 2000 census.-Early Settlement:...
, before spending New Year's Day in a hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré as it was known then...
. On January 5, 1995, Bulger prepared to return to Boston, believing that it had been a false alarm. That night, however, Stephen Flemmi was arrested outside a Boston restaurant by the DEA. Boston police Detective Michael Flemmi, Stephen's brother, informed Weeks of the arrest. Weeks immediately passed the information on to Bulger, who altered his plans.
Bulger and Stanley then spent the next three weeks traveling between New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco before Stanley decided that she wanted to return to her children. They then traveled to Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater, Florida
Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, US, nearly due west of Tampa and northwest of St. Petersburg. In the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and in the east lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 108,787. It is the county seat of...
, where Bulger retrieved his "Tom Baxter" identification from a safe deposit box. Bulger then drove to Boston and dropped off Theresa Stanley in a parking lot. He then met with Weeks at Malibu Beach in Dorchester
Dorchester
-England:*Dorchester, Dorset, the county town of Dorset; central to the organisation of the emigration of Puritans to North America during the 17th century*Dorchester, Oxfordshire, also known as Dorchester-on-Thames-Canada:...
, who had brought with him Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Greig. Bulger and Greig then went on the run together.
In his memoirs, Weeks describes a clandestine meeting with Bulger and Greig in Chicago, Illinois. Bulger reminisced fondly about his time hiding out with a family in Louisiana. He told Weeks, who had replaced him as head of the Winter Hill Gang, "If anything comes down, put it on me." As they adjourned to a nearby Japanese restaurant, Bulger finally revealed how exhausted he was with life on the run. He told Weeks, "Every day out there is another day I beat them. Every good meal is a meal they can't take away from me."
In mid-November 1995, Weeks and Bulger met for the last time, at the lion statues at the front of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
, and adjourned for dinner at a nearby restaurant. According to Weeks,
At the end of our dinner, he seemed more aware of everything around him. His tone was a little more serious, and there wasn't as much joking as usual. He repeated the phrase he'd used before that a rolling stone gathers no moss, which told me that he knew he was going to be on the move again. I got the feeling that he was resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't coming back. Up until then, I always believed he thought there was a chance he'd beat the case. However, at that point, there was something different going on with him. I didn't fully understand all the aspects of his case. It would be another six months before it became clearer. Yet at that moment, in that restaurant in New York, I sensed that he had moved to a new place in his mind. It was over. He'd never return to South Boston.
On November 17, 1999, Weeks was arrested by a combined force of the DEA and the Massachusetts State Police. Although by this time he was aware of Bulger's FBI deal, Weeks was determined to remain faithful to the neighborhood code of silence. However, while awaiting trial in Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
's Wyatt Federal prison, Weeks was approached by a fellow inmate, a "made man
Made man
A made man, also known as a Mafioso , made guy, man of honor, or uomo d'onore , is someone who has been officially inducted into the Sicilian or American Mafia . They may also be referred to by some as a goodfella or wiseguy...
" in the Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
. The wiseguy told him, "Kid, what are you doing? Are you going to take it up the ass
Prison rape
Prison rape commonly refers to the rape of inmates in prison by other inmates or prison staff.In 2001, Human Rights Watch estimated that at least 140,000 inmates had been raped while incarcerated. and there is a significant variation in the rates of prison rape by race...
for these guys? Remember, you can't rat on a rat. Those guys have been giving up everyone for thirty years."
I had known all along, however, that it would not be easy for anyone to capture Jimmy. If he saw them coming, he would take them with him. He wouldn't hesitate. Even before he went on the run, he'd always say, 'Let's all go to hell together.' And he meant it. I also knew that Jimmy wouldn't go to trial. He would rather plead out to a life sentence than put his family through the embarrassment of a trial. If he had a gun on him, he'd go out in a blaze of glory rather than spend the rest of his life in jail. But I don't think they'll ever catch him.
Manhunt
The last confirmed sighting of Bulger before his capture was in London in 2002. However, there were unconfirmed sightings elsewhere. FBI agents were sent to UruguayUruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
to investigate a lead. FBI agents were also sent to stake out the 60th memorial of the Battle of Normandy
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
celebrations, as Bulger is reportedly an enthusiastic fan of military history. Later reports of a sighting in Italy in April 2007, proved false. Two persons on video footage shot in Taormina
Taormina
Taormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...
, Sicily, formerly thought to be Bulger and his lover, Catherine Greig, walking in the streets of the city center, were finally identified as a tourist couple from Germany. Evidence was provided by viewers of the German television programme Aktenzeichen XY … ungelöst, which had aired an episode containing a film about Bulger.
In 2010, the FBI turned its focus to Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria, British Columbia
Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...
, on Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...
. In pursuit of Bulger, a known book lover, the FBI visited bookstores in the area, questioned employees, and distributed wanted posters. Following his arrest, Bulger revealed that he had in fact travelled frequently. Also following his arrest, it was clear that he had not been reclusive, witnesses coming forward to say they had seen him on the Santa Monica Pier and elsewhere in southern California. A confirmed report by an off-duty Boston police officer after a San Diego screening of The Departed
The Departed
The Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
also led to a search in Southern California that lasted "a few weeks".
Capture
After sixteen years at large and twelve years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted FugitivesFBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
The FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list arose from a conversation held in late 1949 between J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and William Kinsey Hutchinson, International News Service Editor-in-Chief, who were discussing ways to promote capture of the...
list, Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, on June 22, 2011.
Bulger was captured as a result of the work of the Bulger Fugitive Task Force which consisted of FBI Agents and a Deputy US Marshal. According to retired FBI agent Scott Bakken,
Here you have somebody who is far more sophisticated than some 18-year-old who killed someone in a drive-by. To be a successful fugitive you have to cut all contacts from your previous life. He had the means and kept a low profile.
A reward of US$2 million had been offered for information leading to his capture. This amount was second only to Osama Bin Laden
Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden was the founder of the militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets...
's capture reward on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Bulger has been featured on the television show America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
16 times, first in 1995, and last on October 2, 2010. According to the authorities, the arrests were a "direct result" of the media campaign launched by the FBI in 14 markets across the country where Bulger and Greig reportedly had ties. The campaign focused on Greig, describing her as an animal lover who frequently goes to beauty salons.
Authorities received a tip from a woman in Iceland that he was living in a Santa Monica, California, apartment near a beach. A day later, ". . . using a ruse, agents and other task force members lured Mr. Bulger out of his apartment", "arrested him 'without incident,' then went in the house and arrested Greig". Bulger was charged with murder, "conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics distribution and money-laundering". Agents found "more than $800,000 in cash, 30 firearms and fake IDs" at the apartment. Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, stated that "she believes the death penalty is not an option in the federal charges Bulger faces in her district, but that she believes he could face the death penalty for two cases outside the district." In Oklahoma, where Bulger is alleged to have ordered the killing of businessman Roger Wheeler, Sr. in 1981, Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris stated: "It is our intention to bring Bulger to justice and to be held accountable for the murder of Mr. Wheeler." In Florida, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said: "After a 16-year delay, I will be working to ensure that a Miami jury has the opportunity to look (Bulger) in the eyes and determine his fate."
Immediately after being brought back to Boston, Bulger began talking to authorities. He informed them that during his days as a fugitive he was able to go back and forth frequently across the border to Mexico to buy medicine that he needed for his cardiac problems. It is anticipated by many, and feared by some, that Bulger will have a lot to say to authorities about the corruption on the local, state and federal level which enabled him to operate his criminal enterprise for so long, and that such disclosures may earn Bulger some special treatment in sentencing.
Bulger was arraigned in Federal court on July 6, 2011. He pleaded not guilty to 48 charges, including 19 counts of murder, extortion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, perjury, narcotics distribution and weapons violations.
The tipster was identified by The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
as Anna Bjornsdottir
Anna Bjorn
Anna Bjorn is an Icelandic model and actress. She was born in 1955, and was Miss Iceland 1974. She has starred in several movies and television shows in the 1980s . She was briefly married to Icelandic actor and musician Jakob Magnússon...
, a former model, actress and Miss Iceland 1974, who lived in Bulger's neighborhood.
Catherine Greig
Bulger's companion during his days as a fugitive was his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig. Greig grew up in Boston, and had an identical twin sister, Margaret, and a younger brother, David. Their father was a machinist from Glasgow, Scotland and their mother was from Canada.At about age 20, Greig married Robert "Bobby" McGonagle of South Boston, a Boston firefighter. He was from a family that led the Mullen Gang
Mullen Gang
-Gang members:Paulie McGonagle was a Boston mobster and onetime leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street gang involved in burglary, auto theft, and armed robbery. During the war against Donald Killeen and his brothers, McGonagle successfully led the Mullens in a string of shootings which...
, and was injured during a mob gunfight in 1969. Before his 1987 drug overdose death, Bobby McGonagle reportedly held Bulger responsible for the murders of his brothers. Twins Donald McGonagle and Paul McGonagle
Paul McGonagle
Paul McGonagle was an American mobster and leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street crew involved in burglary and armed robbery....
were killed during fighting between the Mullen and Killeen Gangs. The body of Paul McGonagle
Paul McGonagle
Paul McGonagle was an American mobster and leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street crew involved in burglary and armed robbery....
lay hidden and buried for twenty five years on Tenean Beach in Dorchester. Greig's twin sister Margaret is the widow of Paul McGonagle
Paul McGonagle
Paul McGonagle was an American mobster and leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street crew involved in burglary and armed robbery....
. She remarried and is now Margaret McCusker. McCusker is a licensed practical nurse. Greig's younger brother David Greig was a close associate of Bulger. David was found shot dead on Cape Cod, a death which was characterized as a suicide.
Greig met Bulger in her late 20s, after she divorced Bobby McGonagle. She worked as a dental hygienist. Greig has been described as intelligent, hardworking and educated, although very subservient to, and dominated by, Bulger. She and Bulger lived together for a time at her home in Squantum, a section of Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
. While on the run, Greig confided to a neighbor that she feared that Bulger was suffering from senile dementia.
Greig had been wanted by the FBI since 1999. The criminal complaint against her alleges that she harbored a fugitive, Whitey Bulger. She will be represented in the current criminal proceedings by the prominent criminal attorney Kevin Reddington of Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 93,810 in the 2010 Census. Brockton, along with Plymouth, are the county seats of Plymouth County...
. Attorney Reddington has stated that Greig will be going to trial and will not be accepting a plea bargain, explaining: "I question that the government can prove the case." According to Reddington, Greig's actions did not constitute "harboring" of a fugitive. Greig is currently seeking release on bail and home confinement.
Family
Bulger has two younger brothers, William M. BulgerWilliam M. Bulger
William Michael "Billy" Bulger is a retired American Democratic Party politician, lawyer, and educator from South Boston, Massachusetts, who for many years was President of the Massachusetts Senate and president of the University of Massachusetts...
(born 1934) and John Bulger (born 1938).
Senator William "Billy" Bulger is a Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
veteran and formerly an influential leader of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in Massachusetts. In a long political career, Senator Bulger rose to become President of the Massachusetts State Senate. After his retirement he was appointed President of the University of Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts
This article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
.
In 2002 testimony before the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
, Senator Bulger was grilled by legislators from both parties. When asked what he thought his brother did for a living, Senator Bulger responded: "I had the feeling that he was in the business of gaming and . . . or whatever. It was vague to me, illegal but I didn't . . . not all that violent . . . For a long while he had some regular jobs, but ultimately it was clear that he was not, he wasn't doing what I'd like him to do. Let's just say I was naive in retrospect." He added that he loves his brother and hoped the most brutal allegations concerning him will be proven false. In addition, he grudgingly admitted to visiting an isolated pay phone in order to speak to his older brother, who was by then a fugitive. In 2003, as a direct result of these comments, Senator Bulger was forced by then-Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney
Mitt Romney
Willard Mitt Romney is an American businessman and politician. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and is a candidate for the 2012 Republican Party presidential nomination.The son of George W...
to resign from the presidency of the University of Massachusetts.
Judge John "Jackie" Bulger, a retired Massachusetts court clerk magistrate, was convicted in April 2003, of perjury to two grand juries
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
regarding sworn statements he gave concerning contacts with his fugitive brother.
Personal life
Bulger fathered one child, Douglas Glenn Cyr (born 1967), during a 12-year relationship with Lindsey Cyr. The two began dating in 1966, when Cyr was 21 and a waitress at a North Quincy cafe. According to Cyr,"He used to say that there were four people he'd turn up on a street corner for: Douglas, me, Billy, or his mother. And we all made him vulnerable."
In 1973, at six years of age, Douglas died from Reye's syndrome
Reye's syndrome
Reye's syndrome is a potentially fatal disease that causes numerous detrimental effects to many organs, especially the brain and liver, as well as causing a lower than usual level of blood sugar . The classic features are liver damage, aspirin use and a viral infection...
after having a severe allergic reaction to aspirin.
According to Cyr,
An absolute nightmare, and it was very difficult for Jimmy because, no matter what, there was nothing that could save this. Money didn't matter, his power didn't matter . . . I remember that we were walking out of the hospital the night that he died, and he was holding my hand. And Jimmy said, 'I'm never going to hurt like this again.'"
Since Bulger's arrest, Cyr has publicly announced her support of him, stating
If he wanted to see me, I'd be happy to. If he needs help getting attorneys and what have you, I'd be happy to help him. Part of me does (still love him). I still care for him. I would always help him. I certainly always stand by him. He is the father of my child. He is 12 years of my life. I want to see him well protected . . . And I'm not particularly sympathetic to some of the people involved, some of the victims' families.
After his split from Cyr, Bulger began a relationship with Theresa Stanley, a South Boston divorcée with several children. Bulger bought her an expensive house in suburban Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...
, and acted as father to her children while commuting to "work" in South Boston. However, he was repeatedly unfaithful to her with a host of other women, and was often absent while overseeing the running of his organization. In a 2004 interview, Stanley stated that she is planning to publish her memoirs.
Press relations
According to Weeks,Most of the time, The Boston Globe wasn't as inaccurate as the Herald. They just knocked the people from Southie during busing. They also liked to describe me as, 'Whitey's surrogate son', another example of the media putting labels on people they wrote about. Jimmy and I were friends, not like father and son. Even though he was the boss, he always treated me equally, like an associate, not a son. The reporter who seemed to do the most research and put real effort into getting the true story without having been there was Shelley Murphy, who had been at the Herald for ten years when she went to work for the Globe in 1993. But Jimmy and I usually ended up laughing at most of the news stories, as time and time again the media had it wrong, over and over again holding to their pledge to never let the truth get in the way of a good story.
Paul Corsetti
Bulger did have a breaking point with the press. A week or so after the 1980 slaying of Louis LitifLouis Litif
Louis R. Litif , also known as Nicholas Noonan and Louis Woodward, was a Lebanese-American bookmaker from South Boston, Massachusetts. After running afoul of neighborhood Irish mob boss James J. Bulger, Litif was murdered in 1982. His body was left in a car trunk in the South End, Boston...
, Boston Herald
Boston Herald
The Boston Herald is a daily newspaper that serves Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and its surrounding area. It was started in 1846 and is one of the oldest daily newspapers in the United States...
reporter Paul Corsetti began researching an article about the murder and Bulger's suspected involvement in it. After several days of reporting the story, he was approached by a man who told him, 'I'm Jim Bulger and if you continue to write shit about me, I'm going to blow your fucking head off." Corsetti attempted to seek out help from the Patriarca crime family
Patriarca crime family
The Patriarca crime family, also known as the New England crime family and the Providence crime family, is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate based in New England, specifically Providence, Rhode Island and Boston, Massachusetts, and is part of the Italian-American Mafia or "La Cosa Nostra"...
, but was informed that Bulger was outside their control. According to Kevin Weeks, "The next day, Corsetti reported the meeting to the Boston police. He was issued a pistol permit within twenty-four hours. The cop who gave him the permit told him, 'I'm glad my last name is not Corsetti.' A couple days later, Jimmy told me about the scene with the cop and was glad to hear how uncomfortable he'd made Corsetti."
Howie Carr
In his memoirs, Kevin Weeks relates his participation in an attempt to assassinate reporter Howie Carr at his house in suburban Acton, MassachusettsActon, Massachusetts
Acton is a suburban town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States about twenty-one miles west-northwest of Boston along Route 2 west of Concord and about ten miles southwest of Lowell. The population was 21,924 at the 2010 census...
. Weeks states that Carr was targeted because he was, "writing nasty stories about people, he was an oxygen thief who didn't deserve to breathe."
Weeks states that, although several plans were considered, all were abandoned because there was too much risk of injuring Carr's wife and children. Weeks has stated that, although he is fully aware of the public outcry that would have followed, he regrets not murdering Howie Carr. "His murder would have been an attack on the system, like attacking freedom of the press
Freedom of the press
Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
, the fabric of the American way of life, and they would have spared no expense to solve the crime. But in the long run, Jimmy and I got sidetracked and the maggot lived. Still, I wish I'd killed him. No question about it."
Alleged murder victims
- Louis LitifLouis LitifLouis R. Litif , also known as Nicholas Noonan and Louis Woodward, was a Lebanese-American bookmaker from South Boston, Massachusetts. After running afoul of neighborhood Irish mob boss James J. Bulger, Litif was murdered in 1982. His body was left in a car trunk in the South End, Boston...
- Donald McGonagle
- Paul McGonaglePaul McGonaglePaul McGonagle was an American mobster and leader of the Mullen Gang, a South Boston street crew involved in burglary and armed robbery....
- Roger Wheeler
- Edward Brian Halloran
- John McIntyre
- Deborah Hussey
- Debra Davis
- John Callahan
- Arthur Barrett
- Richard CastucciRichard CastucciRichard J. Castucci was an Italian-American member of the Boston Winter Hill Gang who owned several strip clubs and was involved in illegal gambling...
- James O'Toole
- Eddie ConnorsEdward G. ConnorsEdward G. Connors also known as "The Bulldog" and "Eddie", was an associate of the Winter Hill Gang and successful bar owner in Revere, Massachusetts.-Biography:...
- Buddy Leonard
- Michael Milano
- Al Plummer
- William O'Brian
- Al Notarangeli
- James Sousa
- Thomas King
- Michael Donahue
Alleged associates
- John ConnollyJohn Connolly (FBI)John J. Connolly, Jr. is a former FBI agent, who was convicted of racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James J. "Whitey" Bulger, Steve Flemmi, and the Winter Hill Gang...
- Timothy A. Connolly 3rdTimothy A. Connolly 3rdTimothy A. Connolly 3rd , aka "Timmy Connolly" and "TC" is a former South Boston bar owner and mortgage broker, who wore a wire inside the infamous Winter Hill Gang and helped the federal government indict their two leaders, James "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi...
- Stephen FlemmiStephen FlemmiStephen Joseph "The Rifleman" Flemmi is an Italian-American mobster and close associate of Winter Hill Gang boss James J. Bulger. Beginning in 1965, Flemmi was a top echelon informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation...
- Donald KilleenDonald KilleenDonald Killeen was an Irish-American mob boss who controlled criminal activity, primarily bookmaking in South Boston, Massachusetts, during the 1960s and 1970s...
- Patrick NeePatrick NeePatrick Nee is an Irish-American immigrant, former member of the Mullen Gang, Vietnam vet, and the bestselling author of the memoir A Criminal and an Irishman; The Inside Story of the Boston Mob-IRA Connection.-Early life:Nee was born in Ros Muc, an Irish language speaking village in the...
- William S. O'SullivanWilliam S. O'SullivanWilliam S. O'Sullivan was an Irish-American loanshark and longtime enforcer for Donald Killeen, the head of the Irish mob in South Boston, Massachusetts. O'Sullivan also acted as a mentor to a young James J...
- H. Paul RicoH. Paul RicoHarold Paul Rico was an FBI agent. Indicted for murder in 2003, he played a significant role in the 1968 framing of four men for murder, unjustly imprisoning them for decades....
- Richard J. SchneiderhanRichard J. SchneiderhanRichard Joseph Schneiderhan is a former Massachusetts State Police Lieutenant in the Attorney General's Organized Crime Unit. He was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice stemming from his relationship with gangster Stephen Flemmi and the Winter Hill Gang...
- Kevin WeeksKevin WeeksKevin Weeks is a former mobster of Irish-American descent and a longtime friend and confidant to James J. Bulger, the infamous boss of the Winter Hill Gang, a crime family based out of the Winter Hill neighborhood in Somerville, Massachusetts.After his arrest and imprisonment in 1999, he became a...
See also
- William M. BulgerWilliam M. BulgerWilliam Michael "Billy" Bulger is a retired American Democratic Party politician, lawyer, and educator from South Boston, Massachusetts, who for many years was President of the Massachusetts Senate and president of the University of Massachusetts...
- Irish mobIrish MobThe Irish Mob is one of the oldest organized crime groups in the United States, in existence since the early 19th century. Originating in Irish American street gangs of the 19th century — depicted in Herbert Asbury's 1928 book The Gangs of New York — the Irish Mob has appeared in most...
- The World's 10 Most WantedThe World's 10 Most WantedThe World's Most Wanted Fugitive is a list published by the American publishing and media company Forbes. The list contains ten fugitives that Forbes, with the help of international law enforcement agencies, deems as the world's most wanted. The list was first published in April 2008...
- Brotherhood
- The DepartedThe DepartedThe Departed is a 2006 American crime thriller film, fashioned as a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong film Infernal Affairs. The film was directed by Martin Scorsese and written by William Monahan...
External links
- Bulger Court Case Documents
- Criminal Complaint Against Greig
- Court Ruling Denying Compensation to Victims Families
- http://www.boston.com/news/packages/whitey/The Boston GlobeThe Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
articles and current news] - Bulger's FBI Top 10 Most Wanted Fugitive Alert
- Bulger's profile on America's Most Wanted
- "The Arrest of James 'Whitey' Bulger" The Boston GlobeThe Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
Special Report - Info on FBI connections to mob
- Whitey Bulger on crimelibrary.com
- Howie Carr's Encyclopedia of New England Gangsters
- bloomberg.com