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Mountain State Mysteries contains adult content that may not be suitable for all audiences.

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Listener discretion is advised.

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I'm your host Mark.

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And I'm Courtney.

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And this is Mountain State Mysteries.

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The case we have for you today is about a man whose name became synonymous with organized

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crime in Boston.

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This is the case of James Whitey Bulger.

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James Whitey Bulger Jr. was born on September 3, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts to Jane Veronica

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Jean McCarthy and James Bulger Sr. Whitey grew up in the rough streets of South Boston.

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Whitey's father worked as a union laborer, an occasional longshoreman.

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He ended up losing his arm in an industrial accident.

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After that, his family was reduced to poverty.

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In May of 1938, the Mary Ellen McCormick Housing Project was open in the neighborhood of South

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Boston.

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The Bulger family moved in and the children grew up there.

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While his younger siblings William and John excelled in school, James was drawn to the

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streets.

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This early criminal career police nicknamed him Whitey, which he actually hated.

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He preferred to be called Jim, Jimmy, or Boots.

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The nickname Boots actually came from his habit of wearing cowboy boots, which is where

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he used to hide a switchblade.

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Whitey gained the reputation as a thief and a street fighter.

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This led him to meet more experienced criminals and find more lucrative opportunities.

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In 1943, 14-year-old Whitey was arrested and charged with larceny.

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He joined a street gang known as the Shamrocks.

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This would lead him to be arrested for assault, forgery, and armed robbery.

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Whitey was sentenced to a juvenile for all of these offenses.

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Not too long after his release in April of 1948, Whitey joined the United States Air

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Force, where he earned his high school diploma and he trained as a mechanic.

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Despite his reimagined military life, he was not reformed at all.

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He would actually spend some time in military prison for several assaults and was later

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arrested by Air Force police in 1950 for going absent without leave.

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In 1952, he received an honorable discharge and returned to Massachusetts.

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In 1956, Whitey served his first term in federal prison at the Atlanta Penitentiary for armed

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robbery and truck hijacking.

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While in there, he told mobster Kevin Weeks that he was used as a human subject in the

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CIA-sponsored MKUltra program.

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Whitey later complained that the inmates had been recruited by a deception and were told

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they were helping to find a cure for schizophrenia.

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And in fact, they were being used to research mind control.

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The evidence was later confirmed when the CIA documentation emerged.

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Whitey and 18 other inmates who all volunteered in exchange for reduced sentences were given

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LSD and other drugs over an 18-month period.

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He described the experience as nightmarish and said it took him to the depths of insanity,

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writing in his notebook that he heard voices and feared being committed for life if he told

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anyone this.

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In 1959, Whitey was briefly transferred to maximum security at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary

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in California.

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During his time at Alcatraz, he kept in shape by weightlifting and took advantage of educational

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opportunities afforded to inmates.

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Whitey completed curious correspondence courses, including typing, bookkeeping, and business

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law.

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Whitey also became a vicarious reader, devouring numerous books on poetry, politics, and military

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history.

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Later in his sentence, he was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary and in

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1963 to Louisburg Federal Prison in Pennsylvania.

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Whitey's third petition for parole in 1965 was granted after he served nine years in

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prison.

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After his release, Whitey worked as a janitor and construction worker before becoming a

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bookmaker and a loan shark under mobster Donald Killian, whose gang, the Killians, had dominated

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South Boston for over 20 years.

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The Killians were led by three brothers, Donnie, Kenny, and Eddie, along with Billy O'Sullivan

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and Jack Curran.

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Their base was the Transit Cafe in South Boston, which later became Whitey's Triplos.

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In 1971, the younger Killian brother, Kenny, allegedly shot Mald Michael Mickey Dyer, who

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was a member of the rival Mullen Gang.

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Ingebrow at the Transit Cafe, which resulted in a gang war, leading to stinging killings

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throughout Boston and the surrounding suburbs.

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The Killians quickly found themselves outgunned by the younger Mullen's.

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During the war, Whitey set out to commit what Weeks describes as Volger's first murder,

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a Mullen member, Paul McGonigal.

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Instead, executed McGonigal's lullabiding brother, Donald, in a case of mistaken identity.

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According to the former Mullen boss, Patrick Pat Knee, McGonigal ambushed and murdered

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O'Sullivan on that assumption he was the one responsible for his brother's killing.

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Whitey realizing he was on the losing side is alleged to have secretly approached Howie

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Winner, the leader Winter Hill gang, and claimed he could end the war by murdering the Killian

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leadership.

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On May 13, 1972, Donald Killian was gunned down outside of his home in the suburb of

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Framingham, Massachusetts.

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Although the killing was attributed to Whitey, Knee disputed this, saying that Killian was

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murdered by Mullen enforcers James Mantfield and Tommy King, not Whitey.

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Whitey and the Killians fled Boston.

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They feared that they would be killed next.

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After 1972, Whitey and the Mullen's were in control of South Boston's criminal underworld.

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FBI agent Dennis Condon noted in his September 1973 log that Whitey and Knee had been heavily

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shaking down the neighborhood's bookmarks and loan sharks.

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Over the years that followed, Bulgar began to remove opposition by persuading Winter

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to sanction the kills of those who, quote, stepped out of line, end quote.

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Winner recalled that the highly intelligent Bulgar, quote, could teach the devil's tricks,

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end quote.

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During this error, Whitey's victims included Mullen veterans McGonagall, King, and James

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Spike O'Toole.

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In 1979, Winter was arrested, along with many members of his inner circle.

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On charges of fixing horse races, Whitey and Fleamy were left out of the indictments.

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They stepped into the power vacuum and took over the leadership of the winner, Hill gang,

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transferring his headquarters to the Lancaster Strait Garage in Boston's West End, near

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the Boston Garden.

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In late August or early September 1974, Whitey and an accomplice reportedly set fire to an

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elementary school in Walesley, Massachusetts to intimidate U.S. District Court Judge Wendell

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Arthur Gourrydy Jr. over his mandated plan to desegregate schools in the city of Boston

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by means of busing.

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One year later, on September 8, 1975, Bulgar and an unidentified person tossed a Molotov

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cocktail into the John F. Kennedy birthplace in Brookline in retaliation for Senator Ted

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Kennedy's vocal support for Boston's schools desegregation.

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Bulgar used black spray paint to paint bus teddy on the sidewalk in front of the National

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Historic Site.

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In 1971, the FBI approached Whitey and attempted to recruit him as an informant in an ongoing

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effort to gain any information they could on the Patricia Crime family.

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John Connolly, an FBI agent that grew up in Whitey's neighborhood and knew him as a

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child.

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He was assigned to make the pitch, however, John failed to gain Whitey's trust.

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Three years later, Whitey partnered with Fleamy, unaware that he had been an informant for

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the FBI since the beginning of his career in 1965.

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Even though it's a documented fact that Whitey followed Fleamy's example, why he did this

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is still debated to this day.

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John boasted to his fellow agents about how he had recruited Whitey at a late night meeting

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at Walliston Beach while the two sat in his car.

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John allegedly said that the FBI could help in Whitey's feud with the Patricia under

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boss, Gennaro Angulo.

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After his pitch, Whitey said, quote, all right, if they want to play checkers, we'll

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place chess.

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Well, in quote, FBI supervisor John Morris was put in charge of the organized crime squad

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at the FBI's Boston Field Office in December of 1977.

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Morris not only proved himself unable to rein in John's protection of Whitey, but even began

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assisting him.

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By 1982, Morris was thoroughly compromised to the point of having Whitey purchase plane

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tickets for his then girlfriend Debbie Noseworthy to visit him in Georgia while he was being

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trained for drug investigation.

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In 1983, when Morris was transferred to head up Boston's FBI anti-drug task force, he

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remained an accomplice to John and Whitey.

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During the summer of 1983, tensions between the Winter Hill gang and the Patricia family

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escalated to an all-time high. An employee for Coinimatic, a coin laundering vending machine

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company owned by the Patricia's, was kidnapped on the job.

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The Boston Police Department operated on a tip, raided a butcher shop in South Boston

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co-owned by Whitey and two other Winter Hill members.

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Police found the victim hanging from a beef rack, having been tortured and held for more

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than six days.

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The victim would never testify.

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Over the next few months, three low-level Winter Hill gang soldiers were executed, mostly

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believed to be retribution for kidnapping.

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The conflict shined a huge spotlight on Morris's incompetent management and caused an internal

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investigation within the FBI.

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In 1988, Whitey as an FBI informant was revealed publicly when the Gleb spotlight team, which

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was led by journalist Gerard O'Neill, published a story detailing the numerous crimes committed

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and attributed to him while nominally under the protection of the FBI.

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Rumors came around before then, since it was unheard of a criminal like Whitey to go years

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without a single arrest.

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In 1995, Whitey and Flemy were indicted on racketeering charges, along with Frank Salem

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and Bobby DeLuca.

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During the discovery fumes of the investigation, Salem and DeLuca were listening to a tape

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from a roving bug.

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They overheard two of the agents who were listening in on the bug mentioned off-handedly

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that they should have not told one of their informants to give a list of questions while

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speaking to the mobsters.

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When their lawyer, Trenney Cardnell, learned about this, he realized that the FBI had lied

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about the basis for the big in order to protect one of the informants.

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Suspecting that this was not the first time that this had happened, Cardnell sought to

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force prosecutors to reveal the identities of the informants used in connection to this

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case.

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On June 3, Paul E. Coffey, who was the head of the organized crime and racketeering section

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of the Department of Justice, gave a sworn statement admitting that Whitey had been an

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FBI informant.

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Coffey stated that since Whitey was accused of leasing a criminal enterprise while working

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as an informant, was also now a known fugitive.

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He was forfeited and of reasonable expectation that his identity would be protected.

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On September 5, 2006, federal judge Reginald C. Lindsay ruled that the mishandling of bulgar

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and fleamy callots did 1984 murder a police informant, John McIntyre, awarding his family

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$3.1 million in damages.

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He stated that the FBI failed to properly supervise Conley in Stickett's head in the

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sand regarding numerous allegations that Whitey and Fleamy were involved in drug trafficking,

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murder, and other crimes for decades.

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In later years, there was actually a manhunt for Whitey.

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The first confirmed sighting of Whitey before his capture was in London in 2002.

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It was by a businessman who was actually watching the movie Hannibal when he recognized a photograph

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of Whitey in a scene featuring the website of the FBI's most wanted fugitives.

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There were unconfirmed sightings elsewhere as well.

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At one point, FBI agents were sent to Uruguay to investigate a lead while other agents were

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sent to stake out the 60th anniversary celebrations of the Battle of Normandy.

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As Whitey was said to be an enthusiastic fan of military history, later reports talked

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about a sighting in Italy in April 2007 which was proved to be false.

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Two people on video footage in Torminna, Sicily, Whitey, Greg, walking the streets of the city

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center.

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They were later identified as a tourist couple from Germany.

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In 2010, the FBI geared its focus to Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island.

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In pursuit for Whitey, who was a known book lover, the FBI visited bookstores in the area

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questioned employees and distributive wanted posters following his arrest.

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Whitey revealed that instead of being reclusive, he had in fact traveled frequently with witnesses

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coming forward to say that they had seen him on the Santa Monica Pier and other places

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in Southern California.

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A confirmed report by an off-duty Boston police officer after a San Diego screening also led

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to a search of Southern California.

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After Whitey's 16 years at large and 12 years on the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list,

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Whitey was arrested in Santa Monica, California on June 22, 2011.

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He was 81 years old.

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Whitey was captured as a result of the work of the Bulgari fugitive task force, which

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consisted of FBI agents, a deputy U.S. Marshal, according to retired FBI agent Scott Balkin,

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quote, here you have somebody who's more sophisticated than some 18 year old who killed someone in

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a drive by.

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To be a successful fugitive, you have to cut all contacts from your previous life.

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He had the means and kept a low profile, end quote.

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A $2 million reward had been offered for information leading to his capture.

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This was second to Osama bin Laden's capture reward on the FBI's 10 most wanted lists.

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Whitey was actually featured on the TV show America's Most Wanted 16 times, first in 1995

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and the last on October 2, 2010.

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According to authorities, the arrests were a direct result of the media campaign launched

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by the FBI in 14 television markets across the country where Bulgari and Greg reportedly

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had ties.

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The campaign focused on Greg describing her as an animal lover who frequently went to

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beauty salons.

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Authorities received a tip from a woman in Iceland that Whitey was living in an apartment

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near a beach in Santa Monica.

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Anna Bjorn's daughter, a former model, actress and Miss Iceland of 1974 lived in Whitey's

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neighborhood.

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A day later, using the ruse, agents and other task force members, Lerd Whitey, out of his

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apartment arrested him without incident.

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They went into the home and arrested Greg.

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Bulgari was charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics, distribution

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and money laundering.

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Agents found more than $800,000 in cash, 30 firearms and fake IDs all around the apartment.

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Give us attorney Carmen Ortiz for the district of Massachusetts said, quote, she believes

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in the death penalty.

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It's not an option in the federal charges Whitey faces in her district, but that he

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could face the death penalty for two cases outside of the district, end quote.

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They were in Oklahoma where Whitey is alleged to have ordered the killing of businessman

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Roger Wheeler Singer.

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In 1981 Tulsa County District Attorney, Tim Harris said, quote, it is our intention to

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bring Whitey to justice and to be held accountable for the murder of Mr. Wheeler, end quote.

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In Florida Miami Dade State Attorney, Catherine Fernandez, Randall said, quote, after a 16

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year delay, I would be working to ensure that the Miami in Florida Miami Dade State

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Attorney Catherine Fernandez Randall said, quote, after a 16 year delay, I will be working

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to ensure that a Miami jury has the opportunity to look Whitey in the eyes and determine his

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fate.

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Right after Whitey was brought back to Boston, he began talking to authorities.

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He said that during his day as a fugitive, he often went back and forth across the border

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to Mexico to buy medication for his heart disease.

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Many anticipated and some feared that Whitey in exchange for his favorable treatment in

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sentencing would have much more to tell authorities about corruption at the local, state and federal

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levels, which allowed him to operate his criminal enterprise for so long.

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Whitey was arraigned in federal court on July 6, 2011.

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He pleaded not guilty to 49 charges, including 19 counts of murder, extortion, money laundering,

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obstruction of justice, perjury, narcotics distribution and weapons violations.

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In 2011, Kevin Weeks expressed surprise at Buggers decision to cooperate after his arrest.

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Weeks said, quote, I don't understand because he's not the same as I remember him.

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I can't believe he's so chatty right now.

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So I don't know what he's doing.

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End quote.

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Weeks also added that he is not afraid of Whitey and that the residents of Boston shouldn't

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be either.

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I don't think he's Pablo Escobar, where he can just walk out of his prison cell and

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come to the South Boston or anywhere.

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No.

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No one's worried about him.

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End quote.

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According to an expert of the book on Whitey published by Boston magazine, Whitey not only

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made a friend during his post sentencing detention, Clement Chip Janus, a young convict who was

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trusted to run art classes for other convicts.

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When Whitey arrived at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson, Arizona, there were other famous

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inmates including Brian David Mitchell, who is known as the man who kidnapped Elizabeth

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Smart, Stephen Dale Green, who is known for war crimes, Montoya Sanchez, who is known

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as a Colombian former crime boss and leader.

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According to Janus, Whitey was attacked by fellow inmate, nickname Retro, whose knife

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pierced Whitey's neck and skull, which sent him to the prison's infirmary for a month.

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Rather Whitey was targeted randomly or not is not known.

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Apparently the inmate was not motivated by any personal issues with Whitey, but committed

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the near fatal assault so that he would be sent to solitary confinement because he wanted

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to avoid paying for drugs that he acquired from other prisoners.

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At Coleman, Whitey started experiencing night terrors, which he said came from experiments

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he had taken part in while incarcerated in the 1950s, where he had been given LSD.

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Whitey who started his imprisonment with rigorous exercise regimens was in a wheelchair at

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this point.

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On June 12, 2013, Whitey went on trial in South Boston's John Joseph Moallie United

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State Courthouse before Judge Dennis J. Casper on 32 counts of racketeering and firearms possession.

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The racketeering counts included allegations that Whitey was complicit in 19 murders.

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The trial lasted two months and included the testimony of 72 witnesses.

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The jury began deliberations on August 6.

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On August 12, the jury convicted Whitey of 31 out of 32 counts in the indictment.

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As part of the racketeering charges, the jury convicted Whitey of the murders of 11 victims.

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Paul McDonnell, Edward Connors, Thomas King, Richard Cattucey, Roger Wheeler, Brian Halloran,

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Michael Donahue, John Callahan, author Bucky Barrett, John McIntyre, and Deborah Hussie.

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The jury acquitted Whitey of killing Michael Milano, Al Plummer, William O'Brien, James

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O'Toole, Al Notoangeli, James Sosa, and Francis Leonard.

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They reported themselves unable to agree about the murder of Deborah Davis, though Whitey

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had already been found liable for her death in a civil suit.

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Following this verdict, Whitey's attorney, J.W.

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Carney, Jr. and Hank Brennan vowed to appeal, citing Casper's ruling which prevented Whitey

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from claiming he had been given immunity.

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On November 4, 2013, Whitey was sentenced to two terms of life imprisonment, plus five

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years.

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Casper told Whitey that such a sentence was necessary, given his quote, unfathomable,

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end quote, crimes, some which inflicted quote, agonizing, end quote, suffering on his victims.

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He was also ordered to forfeit $25.2 million and pay $19.5 million in restitution.

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Prosecutors in Florida and Oklahoma announced after Whitey's convictions that they would

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wait until after sentencing concluded before deciding whether or not to prosecute Bugga

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in their states.

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Whitey was indicted in Florida for the murder of Callaghan and in Oklahoma for the murder

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of Roger Wheeler and could have received the death penalty in those states.

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In September of 2014, Whitey entered the Coleman, Whitey entered the Coleman II United States

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Penitentiary in Sumnerville, Florida.

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In October of 2018, he was transferred to the Federal Center in Oklahoma City.

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And just a few days later, he was sent to the Federal Penitentiary in West Virginia.

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According to prison documents obtained by the New York Times, Butler gained a reputation.

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According to the prison documents obtained by the New York Times, Bugga gained a reputation

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for his disconcerting behavior during his time in prison.

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Whitey was also in very poor health as he was unable to walk and had a damaged hip, often

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falling out of bed.

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Whitey was transferred from the Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City to the United States

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Penitentiary Hazelton in West Virginia on October 29, 2018.

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At 8.20 am on October 30, 89-year-old Whitey was found dead.

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He was found in a wheelchair and had been beaten to death by multiple inmates, armed

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with sock-wrapped padlocks and a shiv.

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His eyes were nearly gouged out and his tongue was almost cut off.

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A law enforcement official described Whitey as unrecognizable.

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This was the third homicide in the prison in a 40-day span.

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Massachusetts-based mafia hitsman, Photos Freddy Geese, was the primary suspect in orchestrating

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the killing of Whitey.

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Geese 51 and his brother were sentenced to life in prison in 2011 for the roles in several

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violent crimes, including the 2003 killing of Aldolfo Big Al Bruno.

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A Genevieve crime family, Capo, who was shot in a Springfield, Massachusetts parking lot,

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according to the ABC News, Whitey's medical status had been lowered in October 2018 before

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he was transferred.

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On November 8, 2018, a funeral mass was held for Whitey at Santa Monica St. Eugeston Church

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in South Boston.

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Family members, including his brother, former Massachusetts State Senate President William

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M. Bolger, and the twin sister of Catherine Gregg attended Whitey's death.

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Whitey's death came as a relief to many Boston locals, especially for family members of his

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victims.

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Stephen Davis, whose sister, Deborah, was reportedly killed by Whitey in 1981, stated

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that he died the way I hoped he always was going to die.

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Bolger is buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery in the Boston neighborhood of West Roxbury.

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His headstone is blank, except for the inscription, Bolger.

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In 2019, the Bolger family filed a rungful death lawsuit against the Justice Department

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alleging that by lowering Whitey's medical status and transferring him to Hazelton, he

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was deliberately placed in harm's way.

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There is simply no other explanation for the transfer of someone in his condition and inmate

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status to be placed in general population of one of the country's most violent federal

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penitentiaries.

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The Bolger family sought out $200,000 in damages in January of 2022.

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U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that federal law did not

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allow his family the right to sue the Bureau of Prison officials because the Congress expressively

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puts custody of inmates in the hands of the BOP.

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And quote, had repetitively limited judicial authority to review BOP housing decisions

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and to entertain claims brought by the prisoners in quote.

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On August 18, 2022, three men were charged in connection with the beating death of Whitey.

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Fotius Gies, Paul J. Desiogero, and Sean McKinnon.

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On May 14, 2024, the Department of Justice announced plea agreements with the three have

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been accepted on September 6 of 2024.

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Fotius Gies was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the murder of Whitey.

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We will be back next week with a new episode.

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If you find yourself enjoying Mountain State Mysteries, take a second to follow, download,

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Don't forget to follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook, all at Mountain State Mysteries.

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Send us an email at mountainstatemysteries304 at gmail.com.

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For the show notes, check out our website, mountainstatemysteriespodcast.com.

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Mountain State Mysteries is a mystery media production.

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Mountain State Mysteries is a mystery media production.

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Mountain State Mysteries is a mystery media production.