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A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 31 OctOber 2018

Whitey Bulger, Boston gangster, found dead in prison at 89

By DENISE LAVOIE and AL- Bulger had just been man" Flemmi, and Deborah
ANNA DURKIN RICHER moved to USP Hazelton, a Hussey, also 26, the daugh-
Associated Press high-security prison with an ter of Flemmi's common-
BOSTON (AP) — James adjacent minimum security law wife. In both cases,
"Whitey" Bulger, the mur- satellite camp in Bruceton Bulger insisted on pulling
derous Boston gangster Mills, West Virginia. He had out the women's teeth so
who benefited from a cor- been in a prison in Florida they would be difficult to
rupt relationship with the FBI before a stopover at a identify, Flemmi testified.
before spending 16 years transfer facility in Oklaho- During a search of his Santa
as one of America's most ma City. Federal Bureau Monica apartment, agents
wanted men, died in fed- of Prisons officials and his found over $800,000 in cash
eral prison. He was 89. attorney had declined to and more than 30 guns,
Bulger was found unre- comment on why he was many hidden in holes in the
sponsive Tuesday morning being moved. walls. A property manager
at the U.S. penitentiary in Bulger, nicknamed "Whit- at the building said Bulger
West Virginia where he'd ey" for his bright platinum and Greig, who used the
just been transferred, and hair, grew up in a gritty names Charles and Carol
a medical examiner de- South Boston housing proj- Gasko, had lived there for
clared him dead shortly af- ect and became known 15 years and always paid
terward, according to the as one of the most ruth- the rent-controlled rate of
Federal Bureau of Prisons. less gangsters in Boston. His $1,145 a month in cash.
Authorities did not imme- younger brother, William They were caught days
diately release a cause of Bulger, became one of the after the FBI began a new
death but said the FBI was most powerful politicians in publicity campaign fo-
notified and is investigat- Massachusetts, leading the cusing on Greig. The day-
ing. This June 23, 2011, file booking photo provided by the U.S. Mar- state Senate for 17 years. time TV announcements
Bulger, the model for Jack shals Service shows James "Whitey" Bulger. In working-class "Southie," showed photos of Greig
Nicholson's ruthless crime Associated Press Bulger was known for help- and noted that she was
boss in the 2006 Martin ing old ladies across the known to frequent beauty
Scorsese movie, "The De- Patricia Donahue's hus- fugitive, the FBI battled a street and giving turkey salons and have her teeth
parted," led a largely Irish band, Michael, was killed public perception that it dinners to his neighbors at cleaned once a month.
mob that ran loan-shark- in 1982 when he offered a had not tried very hard to Thanksgiving. He had a kind A woman from Iceland who
ing, gambling and drug ride home to a man alleg- find him. of Robin Hood-like image knew Bulger and Greig in
rackets. He also was an FBI edly targeted for death After more than 16 years among some locals, but Santa Monica saw a report
informant who ratted on by Bulger because he was on the run, Bulger was cap- authorities said he would on CNN about the latest
the New England mob, his talking to the FBI. "I'd like tured at age 81 in Santa put a bullet in the brain of publicity campaign and
gang's main rival, in an era to open up a champagne Monica, California, where anyone who he even sus- called in the tip that led
when bringing down the bottle and celebrate," she he had been living in a rent- pected of double-crossing agents to them. The Boston
Mafia was a top national told WBZ-TV on Tuesday. controlled apartment near him. Globe identified the tipster
priority for the FBI. Tom Duffy, a retired state the beach with his longtime "You could go back in the as a former Miss Iceland, a
Bulger fled Boston in late police detective who girlfriend, Catherine Greig. annals of criminal history former actress who starred
1994 after his FBI handler, searched for Bulger and In 2013, he was convicted and you'd be hard-pressed in Noxzema shaving cream
John Connolly Jr., warned was a consultant on "The in the slayings, as well as to find anyone as diaboli- commercials in the 1970s.
him he was about to be Departed," called word of extortion, and money-laun- cal as Bulger," said Duffy. Greig is still serving her sen-
indicted. With a $2 million Bulger's death "celebratory dering after a sensational "Killing people was his first tence at a federal prison in
reward on his head, Bulger news." racketeering trial that in- option. They don't get any Minnesota.
became one of the FBI's When the extent of his cluded graphic testimony colder than him," Duffy said Bulger, a physical fitness
"Ten Most Wanted" crimi- crimes and the FBI's role in from three former Bulger after Bulger was finally cap- buff, had been taken to a
nals, with a place just be- overlooking them became cohorts: a hit man, a prote- tured in June 2011. Boston hospital from his jail
low Osama bin Laden. public in the late 1990s, ge and a partner. He was Bulger was accused of cell at least three times,
There was no love lost for Bulger became a source of sentenced nearly five years strangling Debra Davis, the complaining of chest pains,
Bulger on the Boston streets embarrassment for the FBI. ago to two consecutive life 26-year-old girlfriend of his since being brought back
he once ruled. During the years he was a sentences plus five years. partner, Stephen "The Rifle- to Boston to stand trial.q