What happened to Whitey Bulger? Justice department report says “bureaucratic incompetence” led to mobster’s murder

On December 7, 2022, Wednesday, the US Department of Justice released a report concerning the 2018 murder of Whitey Bulger. Bulger was a former Boston mob boss who was bludgeoned to death by inmates while incarcerated in USP Hazelton, West Virginia.

In the report, the US Department of Justice criticized officials from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, describing 'bureacratic incompetence' as the primary reason Whitey Bulger was killed.

According to The Guardian, Bulger was a known police informant. Before his transfer to the West Virginia Federal Penetitentiary, he had only served his time in protected units designed for inmates prone to being targeted.

The review questioned the Bureau of Prisons' decision to place the mobster in the prison's general population. The elderly convict was in a wheelchair at the time of the murder.

Trigger warning: This article contains graphic details of murder and mutilation which may be triggering to certain readers. Discretion advised.

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The death of Whitey Bulger

As per The Guardian, Whitey Bulger was known as a major force in the Boston underworld in the 80's and 90's. After his 1994 indictment for racketeering, however, it was revealed that the mobster had risen through his status as a federal informant. Corrupt FBI agents had reportedly allowed the mobster to carry out illegal activities as long as he provided information.

Following the indictment, Bulger was at large for 16 years, living as a fugitive in various regions of the country. In 2011, at the age of 81, he was apprehended while living with a romantic partner in Santa Monica, California. The Boston Globe reported that on August 12, 2013, Bulger was convicted of 31 crimes, including racketeering, extortion and involvement in 11 murders.

On October 29, 2018, after Bulger's transfer from an Oklahoma City prison to the West Virginia Penitentiary, the former crime boss was allegedly killed by multiple convicts with ties to the Boston underworld.

As per the Daily Beast, on October 30, 2018, the elderly convict was found stabbed and bludgeoned to death. The killers were accused of mutilating the victim's eyes and tongue as a sign that he was killed because he was an informant.

Authorities identified the suspects as Fotios Geas, Paul J. DeCologero, and Sean McKinnon. Geas, who was considered the mastermind of the killing, is a reputed Massachusetts contract killer associated with the Genovese crime family.

In an interview with The Guardian, Kevin Cullen, co-author of Bulger's biography, said that they intentionally placed the mobster under dangerous circumstances.

Cullen said:

“It all goes back to an element of corruption, using him as an informant and protecting him so he could commit crimes. Any organized crime or mafia guy would have a beef with Whitey because he was a rat. But there are any number of prisons where there aren’t any Boston-area gangsters. It was like, ‘Whitey’s coming and we’re going to kill him.’”

According to Al Jazeera, the report on Whitey Bulger's death recommended that six Bureau of Prisons workers face disciplinary measures. It stated that malicious intent was not suspected on their part.