BOSTON — James “Whitey” Bulger, the feared Boston mob boss who became one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives, was convicted Monday in a string of 11 killings and dozens of other gangland crimes, many of them committed while he was said to be an FBI informant.
Bulger, 83, stood silently and showed no reaction upon hearing the verdict, which brought to a close a case that not only transfixed the city with its grisly violence but exposed corruption inside the Boston FBI and an overly cozy relationship with its underworld snitches.
Bulger was charged primarily with racketeering, which listed 33 criminal acts — among them, 19 murders that he allegedly helped orchestrate or carried out himself during the 1970s and ’80s while he led the Winter Hill Gang, Boston’s ruthless Irish mob. The racketeering charge also included acts of extortion, conspiracy, money-laundering and drug dealing.
After 4½ days of deliberations, the jury decided he took part in 11 of those murders, along with nearly all the other crimes on the racketeering list. He was also found guilty separately of 30 other offenses, including possession of machine guns.
Bulger could get life in prison at sentencing Nov. 13. But given his age, even a modest term could amount to a life sentence for the slightly stooped, white-bearded Bulger.
As court broke up, Bulger turned to his relatives and gave them a thumbs-up.
Outside the courtroom, relatives of the victims hugged each other, the prosecutors and even defense attorneys.
Patricia Donahue wept as the verdict was read, saying it was a relief to see Bulger convicted in the murder of her husband, Michael Donahue, who authorities say was an innocent victim who died in a hail of gunfire while giving a ride to an FBI informant marked for death by Bulger.
“He’s guilty of murdering my husband. There’s nobody that said that,” his widow said. “It brings out a lot of emotion, and when it finally happens, it’s kind of hard.”
Bulger attorney J.W. Carney Jr. said Bulger intends to appeal because the judge didn’t let him argue that he had been granted immunity for his crimes by a now-dead federal prosecutor.
However, Carney said Bulger was pleased with the trial and its outcome, because “it was important to him that the government corruption be exposed, and important to him to see the deals the government was able to make with certain people.”
During the two-month trial, federal prosecutors portrayed him as a cold-blooded, hands-on boss who killed anyone he saw as a threat, along with innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place.
Bulger skipped town in 1994 after being tipped off — by a retired FBI agent — that he was about to be indicted.
During 16 years on the run, Bulger was on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list. He was captured in 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif., where he had been living in an apartment near the beach with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig. She was sentenced to eight years in prison for helping Bulger evade the law.
Murder victims
The jury concluded that prosecutors proved that James “Whitey” Bulger, left, was involved in 11 murders, didn’t prove his involvement in seven murders and couldn’t agree on one killing. The 11 proven murders:
Paul McGonagle, 1974, rival gangster
Edward Connors, 1975, witnessed a killing
Thomas King, 1975, rival gangster
Richard Castucci, 1976, Bulger believed he was an informant
Roger Wheeler,1981, owner of World Jai Alai, suspected Bulger’s group of skimming money from the business
Brian Halloran, 1982, an FBI informantMichael Donahue, 1982, a neighbor of Halloran’s
John Callahan, 1982, former president of World Jai Alai
Arthur “Bucky” Barrett, 1983, alleged jewel thief and bank robber
John McIntyre, 1984, Quincy fisherman
Deborah Hussey, 1985, daughter of Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi’s longtime live-in girlfriend, Marion Hussey
