Donahue was survived by his wife and three sons. Sometimes they took girls, sometimes just the two of them went. Bulger's trial began in June 2013. He was one of the most infamous criminals to ever be killed behind bars. And he meant it. Whitey Bulger Death Bulger passed away on 30th October 2018 in the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia. [109] Massachusetts-based mafia hitman Fotios "Freddy" Geas was the primary suspect in orchestrating the killing of Bulger. Whitey Bulger, the notorious and colorful Boston mobster whose life was captured on the big screen, has died in a federal prison and - according to TMZ - the death was gruesome and brutal.. He later told mobster Kevin Weeks[35] that while there, he was used as a human subject in the CIA-sponsored MK-ULTRA program. He told Weeks, "Every day out there is another day I beat them. A Mafia hitman is among three men charged in 'Whitey' Bulger's prison death You're out of business. The gruesome details behind James 'Whitey' Bulger's killing have been He was issued a pistol permit within 24 hours. '"[35]:59, Strangely enough, Jimmy, told me, 'Louie's last words to me were a lie.' 'Whitey' Bulger's 'Surrogate Son' Testifies Against Him And Jimmy said, "I'm never going to hurt like this again."[129]. And he was. In a decision that would prove costly to him, Donahue offered Halloran a ride home. Bulger was in a wheelchair and had been beaten to death by multiple inmates armed with a sock-wrapped padlock and a shiv. [83] Greig grew up in Boston and had an identical twin sister, Margaret, and a younger brother, David. Police officers found the employee hanging from a beef rack, having been severely tortured and held for more than six days. Nowalk said that on the day of the . [45], "As a criminal, he made a point of only preying upon criminals And when things couldn't be worked out to his satisfaction with these people, after all the other options had been explored, he wouldn't hesitate to use violence. Read about that story here. At the end of our dinner, he seemed more aware of everything around him. Although [McGonagle] never did anything, he kept on stirring everything up with his mouth. Boston mob kingpin James "Whitey" Bulger was beaten to death in a West Virginia prison cell just one day after his arrival at U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton, according to his death certificate, obtained Thursday by several news networks. Jimmy drove straight to his mentor Billy O'Sullivan's house on Savin Hill Avenue and told O'Sullivan 'I shot the wrong one. The final cache included "91 rifles, 8 submachine guns, 13 shotguns, 51 handguns, 11 bullet-proof vests, 70,000 rounds of ammunition, plus an array of hand grenades and rocket heads". The 89-year-old Bulger was jailed in 2013 for the murder of 11 different . [43]:6468, Bulger and Flemmi then took over the remnants of the Winter Hill Gang and used their status as informants to eliminate competition. [20] Bulger, who was in a wheelchair, was beaten to death by inmates on October 30, 2018, within hours of his arrival at Hazelton. Their base was the Transit Caf in South Boston, which later became Whitey's Triple O's. "James 'Whitey' Bulger is captured but not in a bookstore". Officials finally confirmed on Thursday the brutal way Whitey was whacked in October 2018. The Killeens were led by three brothersDonnie, Kenny and Eddiealong with Billy O'Sullivan and Jack Curran. In 1982, a South Boston cocaine dealer named Edward Brian Halloran, known on the streets as "Balloonhead", approached the FBI and stated that he had witnessed Bulger and Flemmi murdering Litif. 3 men charged in connection with death of gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger Casper. His actions were covert, hidden even fromor perhaps hidden especially from those who loved and cared about him. Yet at that moment, in that restaurant in New York, I sensed that he had moved to a new place in his mind. Three men indicted in prison beating death of Boston gangster James After Bulger's arrest, Cyr announced her support of him,[131] stating: If he wanted to see me, I'd be happy to. [35]:5759 Litif told an outraged Bulger he was also going to kill his partner, "Joe the Barber", whom he accused of stealing from the bookmaking operation. Gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger killed in prison - BBC News Whitey Bulger - The Mob Museum [42]:123125. After the 1972 truce, Bulger and the Mullens were in control of South Boston's criminal underworld. But in the long run, Jimmy and I got sidetracked and the maggot lived. Bulger drove up with another man armed with a silenced MAC-10; Bulger himself carried a .30 Carbine. [19] In October 2018, he was transferred to the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City,[103] and then a few days later to the Federal Penitentiary in West Virginia. [72][73] Bulger had been featured on the television show America's Most Wanted sixteen times, first in 1995, and finally on October 2, 2010. Whitey Bulger - Death, Family & Crimes - Biography [43]:135138. During the discovery phase, Salemme and DeLuca were listening to a tape from a roving bug, which is normally authorized when the FBI has no advance knowledge of where criminal activity will take place. But it wouldn't have lasted long, since Jimmy had no intention of letting Louie run wild.[50]. [31] Nee disputes this, claiming that Killeen was murdered by Mullen enforcers James Mantville and Tommy King, not Bulger. However, at that point, there was something different going on with him. For example, one murder was of Whitey's partner's exgirlfriend. According to Weeks, Bulger briefly considered killing Shea, but eventually decided to extort a weekly cut of his profits. Bulger and Flemmi stepped into the ensuing vacuum to take control of organized crime in the Boston area. Donahue was shot in the head and killed instantly. Whitey Bulger's Cause of Death Revealed | Law & Crime [68][69][70], Bulger was captured as a result of the work of the Bulger Fugitive Task Force, which consisted of FBI agents and a Deputy U.S. He had been stabbed with an ice pick and shot. Two people on video footage shot in Taormina, Sicily, formerly thought to be Bulger and Greig walking in the streets of the city center, were later identified as a tourist couple from Germany. Cape accident victim's life a tale of alcoholism, homelessness, family He wouldn't hesitate. After his release, Bulger worked as a janitor and construction worker before becoming a bookmaker and loan shark under mobster Donald Killeen, whose gang, The Killeens, had dominated South Boston for over twenty years. Bulger was captured in California in 2011 after a 16-year manhunt. ', According to former Mullen boss Patrick "Pat" Nee, McGonagle ambushed and murdered O'Sullivan on the assumption he was the one responsible for his brother's killing. KYW (CBS) : TV NEWS : Search Captions. Borrow Broadcasts : TV Archive "Whitey loved being associated with the IRA and the cause of Irish freedom. Connolly allegedly said that the FBI could help in Bulger's feud with Patriarca underboss Gennaro Angiulo. [88] The criminal complaint against her alleges that she harbored a fugitive, Whitey Bulger. FBI Agent John Morris was put in charge of the Organized Crime Squad at the FBI's Boston field office in December 1977. Bulger then used black spray paint to scrawl "Bus Teddy" on the sidewalk outside of the national historic site.[46][47]. [104] According to prison documents obtained by The New York Times, Bulger gained a reputation for disconcerting behavior during his time in prison: "At the Coleman prison complex in Florida in September 2014, he was disciplined multiple times, including once for masturbating in front of a male staff member and once, in February, for threatening a female medical staff member". He was serving two life sentences for. But, Connolly told me, he had to put Jimmy's name on the files to keep his file active. This amount was second only to Osama Bin Laden's capture reward on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. [101] Prosecutors in Florida and Oklahoma announced after Bulger's conviction that they would wait until after sentencing concluded before deciding whether or not to prosecute Bulger in their states. [43]:54 Morris not only proved himself unable to rein in Connolly's protection of Bulger, but even began assisting him. [49], In February 1979, federal prosecutors indicted numerous members of the Winter Hill Gang, including boss Howie Winter, for fixing horse races. And investigators narrowed in on suspects immediately after his shocking slaying in a . Whitey Bulger's face was completely 'unrecognisable' after prison [52] 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. [114] According to ABC News, Bulger's medical status had been lowered on October 8, 2018, shortly before he was transferred. That night, as always, he was talking in his obnoxious loud voice. 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. [66] 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". Gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger killed in prison - BBC News Nearly four years after James "Whitey" Bulger's killing, 55-year-old Fotios "Freddy" Geas, 48-year-old Paul "Pauly" DeCologero, and 36-year-old Sean McKinnon were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Although Bulger adamantly denied it, the FBI revealed that he had served as an informant for several years starting in 1975. Flemmi has identified the second shooter as Patrick Nee, who has denied the allegation and has yet to be charged. Hailing from South Boston, Whitey entered a lifetime of crime at a young age and had become a prominent figure in Boston's organized crime scene by the late 1970s. [127] Bulger and Cyr began living together in 1966, when Cyr was 21 and a waitress at a North Quincy caf. In the next few months, three low-level Winter Hill Gang members were executed, mostly believed to be in retribution for the kidnapping. 'Whitey' Bulger, One Of The Most Feared Men In Boston's History - WBUR 'Whitey' Bulger sidekick recalls murder of girlfriend | Reuters Captured in 2011, he was later found guilty of federal racketeering . According to an interview conducted with Globe reporters Kevin Cullen and Shelley Murphy, Weeks "estimated that Whitey made about thirty million dollars most of it from shaking down drug dealers to let them do business on his turf. And investigators narrowed in on suspects immediately after his shocking slaying in a . Although Connolly was Bulger's most infamous source inside law enforcement, Weeks has stated that Massachusetts State Police Lt. Richard J. Schneiderhan, the crew's only source inside that agency, was valued more highly.[54][55]. [35]:205206 In his 2006 memoir Weeks said that, although he was aware of the public outcry that would have followed, he regretted not murdering Carr. Guards immediately undertook lifesaving measures, officials said, but he was pronounced dead. [98] On August 12, the jury convicted Bulger of 31 out of 32 counts in the indictment. "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. [94] In April 2016, U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV sentenced Greig, then midway through her sentence for harboring Bulger, to 21 months on the contempt charge, pushing her release date to late 2020. [citation needed] After meeting with IRA Chief of Staff Joe Cahill, Bulger and Nee raised $1million (equivalent to $2.61million in 2021) "by shaking down drug dealers in South Boston and Charlestown". 'He was wearing green underwear and was in a green garbage bag. I didn't fully understand all the aspects of his case. [51]:206268, According to Weeks, when Bulger met with McIntyre in a South Boston house, he hoped to avoid murdering the informant and offered to send him to South America with money and the understanding that he was never to contact his family or friends again. Whitey Bulger's Fatal Prison Beating: 'He Was Unrecognizable' In 1988, Bulger's status as an FBI informant was revealed publicly when the Globe's "Spotlight" team, led by journalist Gerard O'Neill, published a story detailing his work with the Bureau while still actively committing crimes. In the hours after Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger was found beaten to death in his prison cell, three inmates were hauled away to solitary confinement. 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. The former organized crime boss was killed after being transferred to Hazelton Federal Prison in West Virginia, according to NBC News. Bulger was beaten to death at USP Hazelton in October 2018 hours after he was transferred from a prison in Florida, where he had been serving a life sentence for 11 murders and other crimes.. However, the nickname "Whitey" stuck. [62] A businessman watching Hannibal recognized a photograph of Bulger in a scene featuring the website of the FBI's most wanted fugitives. BOSTON . That night, however, Flemmi was arrested outside a Boston restaurant by the DEA. BOSTON (AP) A funeral Mass was held in Boston Thursday for notorious gangster James ''Whitey'' Bulger, who was killed last week hours after he arrived at a troubled . I certainly always stand by him. A staggering level of incompetence throughout the federal prison system led to notorious gangster Whitey Bulger's death in 2018 at the age of 89, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday. He had to give it up. The true story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator and the most infamous violent criminal in the history of South Boston, who became an FBI informant to take down a Mafia family invading his turf. 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. [51]:216 Connolly reported that Halloran was shopping this information to the FBI for a chance for him and his family to be placed in the Witness Protection Program. Known as one of the nation's most notorious criminals and fugitives, Bulger - nicknamed "Whitey" for his bright platinum hair - was the head of a violent South Boston crime ring known as . [44] During this era, Bulger's victims included Mullen veterans McGonagle, King, and James "Spike" O'Toole. [87], Greig had been wanted by the FBI since 1999. Remember, you can't rat on a rat. When their lawyer, Tony Cardinale, learned about this, he realized that the FBI had lied about the basis for the bug in order to protect an informant. That call was at 3:30 p.m., five hours before . They also liked to describe me as, 'Whitey's surrogate son', another example of the media putting labels on people they wrote about. It would be another six months before it became clearer. The death certificate of Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger revealed that the notorious criminal died last year from "blunt force injuries of the head." The document obtained by Fox News. And we all made him vulnerable. A notorious mob boss serving a life sentence for his part in 11 slayings, Bulger, 89, was ailing and confined to a wheelchair on October 30, 2018, when he was slain at the U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton, a high-security federal facility referred to by inmates as "Misery Mountain." Who killed Whitey Bulger? Two suspects emerge behind mob - Sky News November 8, 2018. The US mobster James 'Whitey' Bulger, who was convicted of 11 murders after spending 16 years on the run, has been jailed by a Boston court. The FBI, by this time considered compromised, was not informed. On December 23, 1994, Bulger fled the Boston area and went into hiding after his former FBI handler, John Connolly, tipped him off . [84] She and Bulger lived together for a time at her home in Squantum, a section of Quincy. This was caused by several factors. [57], When Valhalla crew member John McIntyre was arrested "for trying to visit his estranged wife", he confessed his role in the weapons smuggling to the Boston Police. 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. James 'Whitey' Bulger's IRA links - BBC News Weeks said, "I don't understand because he's not the same as I remember him. Notorious mob boss James 'Whitey' Bulger killed inside prison The victim never testified, and all law enforcement documents were redacted of his full name; law enforcement had hoped he would cooperate fully and then go into witness protection. "[35]:55 "[Louie] had always been a major moneymaker for Jimmy. [123][124][125], John "Jackie" Bulger, a retired Massachusetts court clerk magistrate, was convicted in April 2003 of committing perjury in front of two grand juries regarding sworn statements he gave concerning contacts with his fugitive brother.[126]. On September 13, 1984, Bulger, Weeks and Nee supervised the loading of Valhalla. [31], Weeks stated that, although several plans were considered, all were abandoned because there was too much risk of injuring Carr's wife and children. Whitey Bulger, Boston crime boss and elusive fugitive, dead in prison [115], On November 8, 2018, a funeral Mass was held for Bulger at Saint Monica Saint Augustine Church in South Boston. "[71], A reward of US$2million had been offered for information leading to his capture. [citation needed], In the summer of 1991, Bulger and Weeks, along with associates Patrick and Michael Linskey, came into possession of a winning Massachusetts Lottery ticket which had been bought at a store he owned. "[35]:53, At the time, Weeks was about to get married and, shortly before the wedding, informed Bulger that he was having difficulty finding a seat for Litif at the reception. Both families were awarded several million dollars in damages. I shot Donald.' It was the morning of 30 October 2018 when Bulger - who had arrived at the federal prison just 12 hours earlier - was beaten to death with a heavy padlock inside a sock. As Donahue and Halloran drove out of the parking lot, Weeks signaled Bulger by stating, "The balloon is in the air" over a walkie-talkie. Bulger's life had many women - and not just Lindsay Cyr, whose affair with Bulger produced a son, Douglas Glenn Cyr, in 1967. In 2010, the FBI turned its focus to Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island. Boston police detective Michael Flemmi, Stephen's brother, informed Weeks of the arrest. Writing in 2006, Weeks recalled:[35]:235. And now he wanted to kill a friend of Jimmy. With Johnny Depp, Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson. The station is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation, and is the sister station to CW station WPSG (channel 57). Kevin Weeks, who wrote a memoir, "Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger's Irish Mob" (2006, with Phyllis Karas), said that in 1993 and 1994 Mr. Bulger prepared for life on . [20][106] At 8:20a.m. on October 30, the 89-year-old Bulger[107] was found dead. Weeks immediately passed the information on to Bulger, who altered his plans. On January 5, 1995, Bulger prepared to return to Boston, believing that it had been a false alarm. They didn't ask me to go, not that I would have wanted to. Bulger was able to begin taking part in counseling with a prison psychologist at the Tucson facility. [37], Bulger and eighteen other inmates, all of whom had volunteered in return for reduced sentences, were given LSD and other drugs over an eighteen-month period. [67], After sixteen years at large and twelve years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, California, on June 22, 2011. [56] Valhalla rendezvoused 120 nautical miles (220km; 140mi) off the west coast of Ireland with the Marita Ann, an IRA ship that had sailed from Tralee. It was my good friend John Martorano." Martorano rapidly became one of the Winter Hill Gang's most prolific enforcers under the tenures of Howie Winter and Whitey Bulger. Whitey Bulger was a prominent figure in Boston's organized crime scene from the 1970s until the mid-'90s when he fled the area. BOSTON A former FBI agent convicted of second-degree murder for leaking information to Boston gangster James Whitey Bulger that led to the 1982 shooting death of a gambling executive can be released from prison on medical grounds, officials ruled Wednesday. Still, I wish I'd killed him. It was Donald. [97] Whether Bulger was targeted randomly or deliberately is not known. Crime Boss Whitey Bulger's Family Loses Bid to Sue Feds Over - Newsweek It was over. Flynn remained the prime suspect until 1999, when Weeks agreed to cooperate with investigators and identified Bulger as one of the shooters. Jimmy had prepared for the run for years. She worked as a dental hygienist. If there was some investigation going on and his supervisor said, 'Let me take a look at that,' what was Connolly going to do? The two stations share studios and. MURDERED CRIME boss James 'Whitey' Bulger was made to suffer prior to his death if the disturbing details that have surfaced online are to be believed. "[35]:261, In the aftermath, Weeks decided to cut a deal with federal prosecutors and revealed where almost every penny was stashed and every body was buried. The South Boston man is considered a critical witness for the government in Bulger's trial on a string of federal crimes including 19 murders.One of the murders was killing of Brian "Balloonhead" Halloran who was allegedly targeted by Bulger because Halloran had gone to the FBI with an offer to cooperate. Although by this time he was aware of Bulger's FBI deal, he was determined to remain faithful to the neighborhood code of silence. There was no way that would be allowed. [74] Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said "she believes the death penalty is not an option in the federal charges Bulger faces in her district, but that he could face the death penalty for two cases outside the district". Casper told Bulger that such a sentence was necessary given his "unfathomable" crimes, some of which inflicted "agonizing" suffering on his victims. He had the means and kept a low profile. The subject that interests so many, the life and the activities of my brother James is painful and difficult for me. After evading the police for 16 years - for twelve of which he was on. "The next day, Corsetti reported the meeting to the Boston police. [43]:288289,291293 Federal judge Mark L. Wolf granted Cardinale's motion on May 22, 1997. The killing, Nowalk said, took all of seven minutes. Bulger reminisced fondly about his time hiding out with a family in Louisiana. You're no longer just a bookmaker. [31], Bulger and Stanley spent the next three weeks traveling to New York City, Los Angeles and San Francisco before Stanley decided that she wanted to return to her children. 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". In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common-law wife Theresa Stanley. Infamous Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger has been found dead in a US federal prison in West Virginia. Most of South Boston's cocaine and marijuana trafficking was under the control of a crew led by mobster John Shea. Every good meal is a meal they can't take away from me. Inmates knew mob "snitch" James "Whitey" Bulger was coming to the West Virginia prison where he was murdered, a Florida court was told Monday. Nevertheless, he received an honorable discharge in 1952 and returned to Massachusetts. Bulger was murdered by three of his fellow inmates following his transfer to the Hazelton penitentiary in West Virginia. [35][36] Evidence of the experiments were later confirmed as CIA documentation emerged. Whitey Bulger is the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish-American crime family based in Boston, Massachusetts. [99] Following the verdict, Bulger's attorneys J. W. Carney Jr. and Hank Brennan vowed to appeal, citing Casper's ruling which prevented Bulger from claiming he had been given immunity. [97] However, rumors circulated that the psychologist[citation needed] was too sympathetic to Bulger, and may even have allowed him to use her cell phone. BOSTON He was one of the most infamous criminals to ever be killed behind bars. 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. "Don't worry about it", Bulger responded. I also knew that Jimmy wouldn't go to trial. Connolly kept Bulger and Flemmi closely briefed on what Halloran was saying, specifically his claims, false according to Weeks, to having participated in the Tulsa, Oklahoma murder of businessman Roger Wheeler. He then drove to Boston and dropped off Stanley in a parking lot. In a 2004 interview, Stanley stated that she was planning to publish her memoirs;[44] however, she died of lung cancer in 2012 at the age of 71.[133]. 'Whitey' Bulger's cause of death in prison revealed | Fox News [43]:300301, On September 5, 2006, federal judge Reginald C. Lindsay ruled that the mishandling of Bulger and Flemmi caused the 1984 murder of informant John McIntyre, awarding his family $3.1million in damages. The plans climaxed with Weeks' own attempt to shoot Carr with a sniper rifle as he came out of his house. After his retirement he was appointed President of the University of Massachusetts system. [118] In January 2022, U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey dismissed the lawsuit, ruling federal law did not allow his family the right to sue Bureau of Prisons (BOP) officials because Congress expressly puts custody of inmates in the hands of the BOP, and "has repeatedly limited judicial authority to review BOP housing decisions and to entertain claims brought by prisoners. [80] Many anticipated, and some feared,[who?] In January 1968, after Hubert "Smitty" Smith, an . 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. Whitey Bulger's Chilling Death Certificate Confirms How He - HuffPost [42]:127134[42] Soon after, Donald's sole surviving brother, Kenny, was jogging in Boston's City Point neighborhood when Bulger called him over to a car and said, "It's over.