The Latest: Bulger’s lawyer blames prison bureau for death
FILE - These 1953 file Boston police booking photos provided by The Boston Globe shows James “Whitey” Bulger after an arrest. Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Bulger died Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, in a West Virginia prison after being sentenced in 2013 in Boston to spend the rest of his life in prison. (Boston Police/The Boston Globe via AP)
BOSTON (AP) — The Latest on the death of Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger (all times local):
5:20 p.m.
A lawyer who represented James “Whitey” Bulger is blaming the notorious Boston gangster’s 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 sentence has been changed to the death penalty.”
Carney said he had no further comment.
The prison bureau declined to comment on Carney’s statement.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons say Bulger was found dead in his Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, prison cell Tuesday morning. He was 89.
A prison union official says Bulger’s death is being investigated as a homicide.
Bulger had been serving two consecutive life sentences after his 2013 conviction of participating in 11 murders.
___
4:30 p.m.
A prison union official says the death of notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger is being investigated as a homicide.
Justin Tarovisky is the executive vice president of The American Federation of Government Employees Local 420. He tells The Associated Press that Bulger would be the prison’s third homicide this year.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons said Bulger was found dead Tuesday morning in his Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, prison cell. He was 89.
Authorities did not immediately release a cause of death. The FBI earlier said they were investigating.
Bulger led a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets in the Boston area. He also served as an FBI informant who ratted on his gang’s main rival.
___
2:10 p.m.
The widow of one of James “Whitey” Bulger’s (BUHL'-jur) victims says she’d like to celebrate the crime boss’ death with champagne.
Patricia Donahue tells WBZ-TV she and her family are “very happy that the man is not here any longer” and they don’t ever have to hear his name again.
Michael Donahue was killed in 1982 when he offered a ride home to a man allegedly targeted for death by Bulger because he was talking to the FBI.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons say Bulger was found dead in his Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, prison cell Tuesday morning. He was 89. He had been serving two consecutive life sentences after his 2013 conviction of participating in 11 murders.
Authorities did not immediately release a cause of death. The FBI said they are investigating.
___
1:25 p.m.
Notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger has died in federal custody nearly five years after being sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons say he died Tuesday in West Virginia. He was 89.
Bulger led a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets in the Boston area. He also served as an FBI informant who ratted on his gang’s main rival.
He became one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in late 1994. After more than 16 years on the run, Bulger was captured at age 81 in Santa Monica, California, where he had been living with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.
In 2013, Bulger was convicted of participating in 11 murders in the 1970s and 1980s and sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.