This undated FBI photo found in Boston during an evidence search and released Dec. 30, 1998, shows James “Whitey” Bulger. Bulger was killed Oct. 30, 2018, in a West Virginia prison after being sentenced in 2013 in Boston to spend the rest of his life in prison. His secret FBI files are now being released. (FBI via AP, File)
A Department of Justice probe into notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger’s death identified “serious deficiencies” in the prison-transfer process, with evidence that various inmates knew the ailing crime boss was en route to a West Virginia lock-up before someone eventually whacked him after he showed up.
DOJ Whitey Bulger murder report
“The fact that the serious deficiencies we identified occurred in connection with a high-profile inmate like Bulger was especially concerning given that the BOP would presumably take particular care in handling such a high-profile inmate’s case,” the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General wrote in a 99-page report about Bulger’s 2018 prison slaying.
“We found that did not occur here, not because of a malicious intent or failure to comply with BOP policy, but rather because of staff and management performance failures; bureaucratic incompetence; and flawed, confusing, and insufficient policies and procedures,” the report adds.
The report goes on at some length about how the famed mob boss and murderer’s life sentence came to end up somewhat shorter than expected. It details emails from inmates joking about Bulger’s presumably under-wraps impending arrival Oct. 29, 2018, to USP Hazelton in West Virginia — where the 89-year-old stayed for just about one day before he was beaten to death.
Inmates, per the report, were speculating about Bulger’s “rat” tendencies, and his block included members of Five Families-connected wiseguys. Bulger now famously worked with the Boston FBI — in particular, the corrupt John “Zip” Connolly — to take down Boston’s installment of the Italian mob, paving the way for the Bulger-led Winter Hill Gang to rule the Boston underworld.
The report said that more than 100 prison staffers knew of Bulger’s transfer to Hazelton, and, according to interviews with inmates, could be heard chit-chatting about it periodically.
This is a developing story …
Originally published at Sean Cotter