Famed mobster killed in prison
Inmates linked to mafia beat Whitey Bulger to death, sources say
James (Whitey) Bulger, the South Boston mobster who was captured after years on the run, was killed in a West Virginia federal prison by at least two inmates, according to two Federal Bureau of Prisons employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the information was not yet public.
Bulger, 89, had been transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton in Bruceton Mills, W.Va., on Monday and was beaten to death shortly after his arrival, two prison workers say.
One worker said the inmates were thought to be “affiliated with the mob,” but did not know the specifics of the association.
Asenior law enforcement official who oversees organized crime cases but was not involved in the investigation into Bulger’s death said he was told by a federal law enforcement official that an organized crime figure was believed to be responsible for the killing.
A prison worker said Bulger, serving a life sentence for 11 murders, had been transferred to the Hazelton prison after he had threatened a staff member at the Coleman prison complex in Sumterville, Fla.
In December 1994, after decades of extortion, bookmaking, loan-sharking, gambling, truck-hijacking and drug dealing — much of it carried out as the authorities looked the other way — Bulger vanished just as federal officials were about to unseal an indictment and arrest him on racketeering charges. It was later learned that he had been tipped off by the agent who had been his undercover handler for years.
Bulger and his companion, Catherine Greig, who joined him after he fled, proved extraordinarily elusive despite intensive international hunts. Sightings were reported in Europe, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere in the U..S., but no traces were found. Years passed. For a decade, Bulger was on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. A $2-million (U.S.) reward was offered for his capture, the largest ever for a domestic fugitive.
Acting on a tip, FBI agents closed in and arrested the couple in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 22, 2011. Bulger was charged with complicity in 19 murders, racketeering, extortion, money laundering and other crimes.
Bulger’s death was announced by the Federal Bureau of Prisons on Tuesday, but a cause was not provided.
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified and an investigation has been initiated,” the news release said. “No staff or other inmates were injured, and at no time was the public in danger.”
Bulger had just been moved to the West Virginia penitentiary. It was the latest in a series of prison transfers for him. He had been incarcerated in Arizona, Oklahoma and Florida, prison officials have said, without giving reasons for the moves.
Ashortage of correctional officers has become chronic under U.S. President Donald Trump, leaving some prison workers feeling ill-equipped and unsafe on the job, according to a New York Times investigation published this year.