Photo Courtesy of THE BLOT MAGAZINE

James ‘‘Whitey’’ Bulger, the notorious Boston gangster who benefited from a corrupt relationship with the FBI before spending 16 years as one of America’s most wanted men, died in federal prison. He was 89 years old.

Bulger was found unresponsive Tuesday morning at the U.S. penitentiary in West Virginia where he’d just been transferred, and a medical examiner declared him dead shortly afterward, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Authorities did not immediately release a cause of death but said the FBI was notified and is investigating.AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Service

Rumors are Bulger was killed by inmate with mafia ties. It’s not surprising he was murder in prison. Whitey Bulger has hurt and ruined so many people lives. He ran a large Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets. He also was an FBI informant who ratted on the New England mob, his gang’s main rival, in an era when bringing down the Mafia was a top national priority for the FBI.

Bulger fled Boston to Los Angeles in late 1994 after his FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., warned him he was about to be indicted. With a $2 million reward on his head, Bulger became one of the FBI’s ‘‘Ten Most Wanted’’ criminals, he held the second spot on the list behind Osama bin Laden.

After, Bin Laden was killed the FBI main focus was on Whitey Bulger. When Whitey Bulger moved to Los Angeles, he allegedly bought someone identity and started to learn their mannerisms.

After more than 16 years on the run, Bulger was captured at age 81 in Santa Monica, California, where he had been living in a rent-controlled apartment near the beach with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

A man who was Bulger and Greig neighbor in Santa Monica saw a report on CNN about the most wanted criminals in America and called in the tip that led agents to them.

In 2013, he was convicted in the slayings, as well as extortion, and money-laundering after a sensational racketeering trial that included graphic testimony from three former Bulger cohorts: a hit man, a protege and a partner. He was sentenced nearly five years ago to two consecutive life sentences plus five years.

He was recently serving prison time in a Federal prison in Oklahoma City until Federal Bureau of Prisons officials decided to have moved to a high maximum security federal prison in West Virginia. They still haven’t told the public why he was moved to that prison. It could be an inside job but it wouldn’t matter because nobody is going to miss him anyway.

A great visual of Whitey Bulger story is the movie Black Mass starring Johnny Depp. It really shows the prime of Whitey Bulger.

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Quincy Thomas

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