By David Amoruso
What goes around, comes around. Infamous Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger was murdered inside a federal prison in West Virginia on Tuesday. He was serving a life sentence for the many crimes he committed in his long and notorious career, but apparently someone felt he deserved to die right then and there.
89-year-old Bulger was recently transferred to the maximum-security Hazelton prison in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. According to multiple accounts, the crime boss’ health was deteriorating. The Bureau of Prisons issued a statement, saying that for “safety, security and privacy reasons, we can not disclose specifics regarding inmate movement or transfers; nor can we disclose an inmate’s health information.”
Though details surrounding Bulger’s death remain scarce, the Boston Globe notes that Boston Mafia associate Paul Weadick is also housed at Hazelton prison. Weadick is serving a life sentence after being convicted of murdering night club manager Steven DiSarro in 1993. He did so on orders and with help from Mafia boss Francis Salemme.
Salemme and Bulger were close friends and fought alongside each other decades earlier during Boston’s Irish gang wars. Salemme is also serving life behind bars for the DiSarro murder. He is currently held at a lockup in Brooklyn, New York.
Boston has seen a lot of violence in its history. Men like Salemme and Bulger played a very prominent role in much of that bloodshed over a period spanning several decades. Bulger was able to do so with help from the FBI.
He became an FBI informant and used his newfound role to remain out of prison and take out the competition. His information led to the downfall of the New England La Cosa Nostra family and his own rise to the top of the city’s underworld.
While working for the feds he ran a multi-million-dollar criminal empire based on extortion, gambling, weapons and drug trafficking. In the wake of all this he left dozens of dead bodies. Male and female.
At one point, his time ran out. His FBI handler was kind enough to tip him off to his impending doom and Bulger went on the lam. He was placed on top of America’s Most Wanted list, but he remained a fugitive for a total of 16 years.
He was finally caught in sunny Santa Monica, California, in 2011. Two years later, he was convicted of participating in eleven murders. He hardly minded that, it seemed during his trial. What really got to him was that he was outed as an informant. A rat. A snitch. He didn’t like that.
Neither do most of the convicts doing time because a partner in crime testified against them.
- UPDATE: “Freddy hated rats” – Meet the hitman who allegedly murdered mob boss Whitey Bulger behind bars
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