‘Whitey’ Bulger found guilty of gangland crimes, including 11 slayings
BOSTON — James “Whitey” Bulger, the feared Boston mob boss who became one of the most-wanted fugitives in the U.S., was convicted Monday in a string of 11 killings and other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.
Bulger, 83, stood silently and showed no reaction upon hearing the verdict, which brought to a close a case that exposed corruption inside the Boston FBI and an overly cosy relationship with its underworld snitches.
Bulger was charged primarily with racketeering, which listed 33 criminal acts — among them, 19 murders he allegedly helped orchestrate or carried out himself during the 1970s and ’80s while he led the Winter Hill Gang, Boston’s ruthless Irish mob. The racketeering charge also included acts of extortion, conspiracy, moneylaundering and drug dealing.
After 4-1/2 days of deliberations, the jury decided he took part in 11 of those murders, along with nearly all the other crimes, as well as a laundry list of other counts, including possession of machine-guns.
Bulger could get life in prison at sentencing Nov. 13. But given his age, even a modest term could amount to a life sentence for the slightly stooped, whitebearded Bulger. His attorney said Bulger would appeal.
One woman in the gallery taunted Bulger as he was being led away, apparently imitating machine-gun fire as she yelled: “Rat-a-tat-tat, Whitey!”
Outside the courtroom, relatives of victims hugged each other, the prosecutors and even defence attorneys.
Patricia Donahue wept as the verdict was read, saying it was a relief to see Bulger convicted in the murder of her husband, Michael, an innocent victim who died in a hail of gunfire while giving a ride to an FBI informant marked for death by Bulger.
Meanwhile, a news report states Bulger wants his Stanley Cup ring back. The CBS affiliate in Boston, WBZ-TV, reported Monday that Bulger wants to keep the ring, which is believed to have once belonged to Chris Nilan, the Canadiens tough guy who spent 10 seasons in Montreal and won the ring in 1986. The report said Nilan was once married to the daughter of Bulger’s ex-girlfriend, Teresa Stanley, and Bulger may have got the ring sometime after Nilan gave it to his own father.
The ring was among hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, weapons and personal possessions seized when Bulger was arrested in 2011. It was not clear if he will get his wish.
During the two-month trial, prosecutors portrayed Bulger as a cold-blooded, hands-on boss who killed anyone he saw as a threat, along with innocent people who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Then, according to testimony, he’d take a nap while his underlings handled the cleanup.
Bulger was seen for years as a benevolent tough guy who kept hard drugs out of workingclass South Boston. That image was shattered when police started digging up bodies.
He skipped town in 1994 after a tipoff about an indictment and was finally captured in 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif.