No charges, just questions, in Bulger death
Suspects haven’t been publicly identified in the Boston crime boss’ 2018 killing in prison.
BOSTON — He was one of the most infamous criminals ever killed behind bars. And investigators zeroed in on suspects immediately after his shocking slaying in a West Virginia prison.
Yet three years later, no one has been charged in the beating death of murderous Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger. Questions — such as why the wellknown FBI informant was put in the lockup’s general population alongside other New England gangsters, instead of in protective housing — remain unanswered.
Federal officials say only that Bulger’s death remains under investigation. Meanwhile, the lack of answers has fueled rumors and spurred claims by Bulger’s family that the frail 89-yearold was “deliberately sent to his death” at the penitentiary nicknamed “Misery Mountain.”
“This was really a dereliction of duty,” said Joe Rojas, a union representative for the correctional staff at the Florida prison where Bulger was held before being transferred to U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, W.Va. “There’s no way he should have been put in that institution.”
Bulger was found dead Oct. 30, 2018, hours after arriving at Hazelton from the Coleman prison in Florida, where he was serving a life sentence for participating in 11 killings. The ruthless gangster who spent 16 years on the lam before being captured in Santa Monica in 2011 was assaulted and died of blunt force injuries to the head, according to his death certificate.
Federal officials have never publicly identified any suspects and have said only that they are investigating the death as a homicide.
But shortly after the killing, a former federal investigator and a law enforcement official who insisted on anonymity because of the ongoing probe identified as suspects two figures associated with Massachusetts organized crime: Fotios “Freddy” Geas and Paul J. DeCologero.
Geas, a Mafia hit man serving life behind bars for his role in the killing of a Genovese crime family boss and other violent crimes, has been in a restricted unit at the West Virginia prison since Bulger’s killing, even though no charges have been filed, according to his lawyer, Daniel Kelly.
Kelly said Geas hasn’t been given regular reviews to see if he can be released from the unit but has petitioned to be returned to the general prison population, where he’d enjoy more freedoms, including the ability to call his family more often.
“He’s remaining positive and upbeat, but it’s a punitive measure,” Kelly said. “It’s a prison within a prison.”
DeCologero, meanwhile, was moved earlier this year to a high-security penitentiary in Virginia. A member of a Massachusetts gang led by his uncle, DeCologero was convicted in 2006 of racketeering and witness tampering for a number of crimes and is scheduled to be released in 2026.
Brian Kelly, one of the federal prosecutors in Bulger’s 2013 murder trial in Boston, said the delays may indicate that prison officials don’t have witnesses or video evidence to support charges.
“In a prison environment, they are going to have a tough time finding any witnesses to testify as to who did it,” said Kelly, who is now a defense attorney.
A spokesperson for the federal prosecutors’ office in West Virginia that’s investigating Bulger’s killing along with the FBI confirmed this month that the investigation remains open. The spokesperson refused to answer additional questions, saying doing so could jeopardize the probe.
Bulger’s transfer to Hazelton — where workers had been sounding the alarm about violence and understaffing — and placement within the general population despite his notoriety was widely criticized after his killing.
A federal law enforcement official told the Associated Press in 2018 that Bulger had been transferred to Hazelton because of disciplinary issues. Months before he was moved, Bulger threatened an assistant supervisor at Coleman, telling her, “Your day of reckoning is coming.” He received 30 days in disciplinary detention.
Some answers may come in a federal lawsuit filed in West Virginia by Bulger’s family on the second anniversary of his killing. A trial has been set for February in the case, in which officials of the prison system are accused of failing to protect Bulger from other inmates.
The lawsuit — filed against the former director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the former Hazelton warden and others — says prison officials were aware that Bulger had been labeled a “snitch” and that his life was at heightened risk behind bars.
Bulger strongly denied ever being an informant.
“USP Hazelton by all accounts was not an appropriate placement of James Bulger and was, in fact, recognized as so inappropriate, the appearance is that he was deliberately sent to his death,” the lawsuit says.
The family is seeking damages for Bulger’s physical and emotional pain and suffering, as well as for wrongful death. Lawyers representing the family declined to comment; calls to William Bulger, a former Massachusetts Senate president who administers his late brother’s estate, were not returned last week.
Justice Department lawyers urged the judge in court documents filed this month to dismiss the claim, saying Bulger’s family “cannot allege that [the Bureau of Prisons] skipped some mandatory, procedural directive” in transferring him to Hazelton or putting him among the general population.
Attorneys for the individual defendants said in another legal filing that the lawsuit “makes no mention of Bulger objecting to his transfer” or “ever requesting protective custody or expressing concern for his safety” upon arriving at Hazelton.
Justice Department lawyers pointed to a declaration from an executive assistant at Hazelton that says staffers interviewed Bulger the night of his arrival and reviewed other records to determine if there were nonmedical reasons for keeping him out of the general population.
An intake screening form signed by Bulger, filed in court, says he was asked such questions as: “Do you know of any reason that you should not be placed in general population?” and “Have you assisted law enforcement agents in any way?” Both questions were marked “NO.”