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U.S. NEWS Thursday 1 November 2018

Official: Mafia hit man suspected

in Whitey Bulger’s slaying

By ALANNA DURKIN RICH- spond to a request for com- of Prisons officials and his
ER and DENISE LAVOIE ment. An FBI spokeswoman attorney declined to com-
Associated Press in Pittsburgh declined to ment on why he was being
BOSTON (AP) — A Mafia comment on Geas. Fed- moved.
hit man who is said to hate eral officials said only that Bulger’s attorney, J.W. Car-
“rats” is under suspicion in they are investigating ney Jr., blamed his death
the slaying of former Bos- the death as a homicide. on prison officials, saying
ton crime boss and long- “What I don’t understand is Bulger “was sentenced to
time FBI informant James why the Federal Bureau of life in prison, but as a result
“Whitey” Bulger, who was Prisons would transfer a su- of decisions by the Federal
found dead hours after he per high-publicity inmate, Bureau of Prisons, that sen-
was transferred to a West who is a known snitch, to tence has been changed
Virginia prison, an ex-inves- general population of a to the death penalty.”
tigator briefed on the case high-security prison,” said Bureau of Prison officials
said Wednesday. Cameron Lindsay, a former had no comment on Car-
The former official said that federal prison warden who ney’s remarks.
Fotios “Freddy” Geas and now works as a jail security The Geas brothers were
at least one other inmate consultant. “You’ve got to not made members of the
are believed to have been be smarter than that.” Mafia because they were
involved in Bulger’s killing. He added: “If I was the Greek, not Italian. But they In this April 14, 2009 photo, Fotios “Freddy” Geas appears for a
The longtime investigator warden of Hazelton, I were close associates of court proceeding in his defense in the Al Bruno murder case, in
was not authorized to dis- would have never, ever al- the mob and acted as Springfield, Mass.
cuss the matter and spoke lowed him to be put within enforcers.q Associated Press
on condition of anonymity. my general population. It is
Authorities have not dis- just too risky.”
closed the cause of death. Bulger’s death was the
Among the many unan- third killing in the past six
swered questions after months at the prison, where
Bulger was found dead union officials have raised
on Tuesday: Why was he concerns about dozens of
moved to the prison? And vacant jobs. Two inmates
why was a frail 89-year- were killed in fights with
old like Bulger — a known other prisoners in Septem-
“snitch” — placed in the ber and April.
general population in- Five members of Congress
stead of more protective wrote to Attorney General
housing? Attorney Hank Sessions last week about
Brennan said Bulger had what they saw as chronic
a hip injury and was in a understaffing at USP Ha-
wheelchair when he was zelton and other federal
attacked. Brennan repre- prisons. Bulger led South
sented Bulger during his Boston’s Irish mob for de-
2013 trial. Geas, 51, and his cades and became an FBI
brother were sentenced informant who supplied in-
to life in prison in 2011 for formation on the New Eng-
their roles in several violent land Mafia, his gang’s main
crimes, including the 2003 rival, in an era when bring-
killing of Adolfo “Big Al” Bru- ing down the Italian mob
no, a Genovese crime fam- was a top national priority
ily boss who was gunned for the bureau.
down in a Springfield, Mas- Tipped off that he was
sachusetts, parking lot. about to be indicted, Bulg-
Private investigator Ted Mc- er became a fugitive and
Donough, who knew Geas, eluded authorities for 16
told The Boston Globe: years before being cap-
“Freddy hated rats.” tured in 2011. He was con-
“Freddy hated guys who victed in 2013 in 11 under-
abused women. Whitey world slayings and a long
was a rat who killed wom- list of other crimes and was
en. It’s probably that sim- sentenced to spend the
ple,” McDonough told the rest of his life behind bars.
newspaper, which first re- He had just arrived Monday
ported that Geas was un- at USP Hazelton, a high-
der suspicion. security prison in Bruceton
It was not clear whether Mills, West Virginia. He had
Geas has an attorney. Sev- previously been in a prison
eral other lawyers who rep- in Florida, with a stopover
resented him over the years at a transfer facility in Okla-
didn’t immediately re- homa City. Federal Bureau