BRUCETON MILLS, W. Va. — James "Whitey" Bulger, the murderous Boston gangster who benefited from a corrupt relationship with the FBI before spending 16 years as one of America’s most wanted men, died in federal prison. He was 89.
- James 'Whitey' Bulger became one of nation's most-wanted fugitives
- His death being investigated as homicide
- He was an FBI informant who ratted on New England mob
A prison official said Tuesday afternoon his death is being investigated as a homicide.
Justin Tarovisky, the executive vice president of The American Federation of Government Employees Local 420, told the Associated Press that Bulger would be the prison's third homicide this year.
A lawyer who represented Bulger is blaming his death on decisions made by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said in a statement Tuesday that Bulger "was sentenced to life in prison, but as a result of decisions by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, that sentenced has been changed to the death penalty."
Bulger became one of the nation's most-wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in late 1994. He was captured at age 81 in Santa Monica, California.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons say he died Tuesday in West Virginia. Authorities did not immediately release a cause of death but said the FBI was notified and is investigating.
Bulger, the model for Jack Nicholson’s ruthless crime boss in the 2006 Martin Scorsese movie, “The Departed,” led a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets. He also was an FBI informant who ratted on the New England mob, his gang’s main rival, in an era when bringing down the Mafia was a top national priority for the FBI.
Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 after his FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., warned him he was about to be indicted. With a $2 million reward on his head, Bulger became one of the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” criminals, with a place just below Osama bin Laden.
When the extent of his crimes and the FBI’s role in overlooking them became public in the late 1990s, Bulger became a source of embarrassment for the FBI. During the years he was a fugitive, the FBI battled a public perception that it had not tried very hard to find him.
In 2013, he was convicted of several charges including extortion and money-laundering after a sensational racketeering trial that included graphic testimony from three former Bulger cohorts: a hit man, a protege and a partner. He was sentenced nearly five years ago to two consecutive life sentences plus five years.
Bulger had just been moved to USP Hazelton, a high-security prison with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. He had been in a prison in Florida before a stopover at a transfer facility in Oklahoma City. Federal Bureau of Prisons officials and his attorney had declined to comment on why he was being moved.