Mob Boss Whitey Bulger Found Dead in Prison

Boston mobster Whitey Bulger has been found dead in prison at age 89. How he died remains unclear, but both the Boston Herald and Boston's WBZ report that he "was killed" shortly after being transferred to a prison in West Virginia. The Boston Globe spoke with three sources who said an inmate with links to the Mafia is being looked at for the murder. The official word is this: "The US Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of West Virginia and the FBI will be conducting an investigation into the death of James Bulger. No other information will be released at this time." Bulger had previously been imprisoned in Florida, and it was unclear why he'd been moved.

Bulger, who was serving a life sentence, spent 16 years on the lam as a fugitive before his capture in 2011; the AP notes he appeared on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" criminals list just below Osama bin Laden. "My memory of him is anybody, good or bad, who had anything to do with him got hurt," a widow whose husband was murdered by Bulger's gang tells the Herald. "But he's a legend. Like Al Capone and Billy the Kid. He will always be remembered but in a bad way." Bulger gained notoriety leading the Winter Hill Gang, and his life of crime inspired movies including The Departed, an Oscar winner in 2006. (Bulger's girlfriend remains locked up.)