American criminal James Joseph “Whitey” Bulger Jr was an organized crime boss who was the leader of the Winter Hill Gang in the Winter Hill neighborhood.
The Winter Hill neighborhood is in Somerville, Massachusetts, a city directly northwest of Boston. Bulger came from a family of Irish descent.
His father, James Joseph Bulger Sr, was from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland in Canada, and his parents were Irish. Bulger Sr moved to Everett, Massachusetts, where he met and married Jane Veronica “Jean” McCarthy, a first-generation Irish immigrant.
The family had four children: James Joseph Bulger Jr, William Bulger, John P. Bulger, and James Joseph “Whitey” Bulger.
The children’s childhood was poverty-stricken, especially after their father, who worked as a union laborer and occasional longshoreman, lost his arm in an industrial accident.
Their poverty led to the family moving to the Marry Ellen McCormack Housing project, which had recently opened in South Boston in May 1938.
Despite the family’s poverty, the rest of the Bulger children excelled at school and went on to live successful lives, with William Bulger becoming a politician, lawyer, and educator, his eighteen-year tenure as the president of Massachusetts State, being the longest in history.
Whitey Bulger, though, became drawn to street life and already had a nickname the police called “Whitey” because of his blonde hair. His life would only get more entrenched in crime from there.
Who Are Fotios Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, And Sean McKinnon?
Whitey Bugler was beaten and stabbed to death at 89 by multiple inmates, among whom Fotios Geas, Paul J DeCologero, and Sean Mckinnon were indicted.
From being known as “Whitey” to drug dealing, Arms trafficking, murder, and gang wars throughout his life, Bugler would check off almost every activity that could be on a criminal’s to-do list.
For a solid decade and a half, from 1979 to the mid-90s, Bulger owned Boston, and nothing that happened in the underground happened without his knowledge or say-so.
With power comes enemies, and with as long and as fruitful a criminal career as Bulger had, he’d also made a lot of enemies who were waiting for a way to get even with him. On October 30, 2018, they found a perfect opportunity.
Read more about criminal charges here: Bradley Pen Dragon Wikipedia Bio: Where Is He Now? Criminal Charges Explained
In 2018, Bulger was in the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton, in West Virginia.
He was in poor health, in a wheelchair because his damaged hip made him unable to walk. He was perfectly vulnerable.
His vulnerability put him snugly in the hands of Massachusetts-based mafia hitman Fotios “Freddy” Geas, who orchestrated Bulger’s brutal killing, which left the old mobster’s eyes gouged out and tongue almost cut off.
Was Fotios Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon Arrested Over The Murder Of Whitey Bulger?
Fotios Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon were all in jail before the murder of Whitey Bulger.
Though DeCologero and Mckinnon’s cases are unknown to the public, Geas and his brother were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2011 for their roles in several violent crimes.
The most prominent of these violent crimes was the 2003 killing of Adolfo “Big Al” Bruno, the capo of a Genovese crime family, shot in a Springfield, Massachusetts, parking lot.
According to sources, Geas reportedly killed Bulger because he was a rat. Bulger had been an FBI informant for the bulk of his career.
Read more RICO charges and indictments here: YSL: Is Rapper Gunna Arrested For Rico & Indictment Charges? Jail Sentence & Mugshot
During his highly publicized trial, Bulger’s role as an FBI informant had come out. His role as an informant was common knowledge in prison.
In hindsight, sources have said that Bulger was bound to be attacked when he could be found alone. His family sought $200,000 in damages following his death.
U.S. District Judge John Preston Bailey dismissed the lawsuit.
Jail Sentence And Charges For Fotios Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, And Sean Mckinnon
On April 18, 2022, Fotios Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon were indicted concerning the beating and subsequent death of James “White Bulger.”
The three men were charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder this past Wednesday.
55-year-old Geas and 48-yer-old DeCologero are accused of striking Bulger multiple times in the head and directly causing his death in October 2018.
The two have also been charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder. This charge is alongside the charge for assault resulting in serious bodily injury.
Geas faces a separate murder charge because he is a federal inmate serving a life sentence.
McKinnon also faces a separate charge of making false statements to a federal agent.
Geas is still housed at USP Hazelton, where the crime took place. DeColeogero is currently housed in the federal prison system.
McKinnon had been on federal supervised release at the time of indictment but was arrested in Florida on August 18, 2022.
Though the death was brutal and somewhat tragic, not many besides some of Bulger’s few remaining family members mourned for him. The majority of the public and his victims cheered his passing.