Whitey Bulger

Whitey Bulger - Former Organized Crime Figure, Family and Family

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Whitey Bulger's Personal Details

Whitey Bulger is a notorious American murderer and mobster, convicted in numerous cases of racketeering, extortion, shoplifting and other crimes

InformationDetail
BirthdaySeptember 3, 1929
NationalityAmerican
FamousCriminals, Murderers, Convicted Murderer, Former Organized Crime Figure
City/StateMassachusetts
SpousesLindsey Cyr
SiblingsJohn P. Bulger, William M. Bulger
Known asJames Joseph, James Joseph Bulger Jr.
ChildrensDouglas Glenn Cyr
Birth PlaceDorchester
ReligionCatholicism
Height170
GenderMale
FatherJames Joseph Bulger Sr.
MotherJane Veronica Bulger
Net Worth$25 million as of Sep 20,2013
Sun SignVirgo
Born inDorchester
Famous asAmerican convicted murderer and former organized crime figure

Whitey Bulger's photo

Who is Whitey Bulger?

This violent mob boss, who ruled Boston’s organized crime world during the 70s and 80s, has an exciting criminal life. Whitey Bulger took to troublemaking at an early age, becoming the most terrorized gangster in South Boston during his youth. Even though he was physically not built-up and strong, he became a fear in Boston, which continued even after he disappeared leaving the residents in doubt of his ever being arrested, as the FBI, too, relied on him for information and was supportive of him in carrying out a number of crimes. His instinct with the street life during childhood played a major role in transforming him from a juvenile delinquent to a stone-cold killer to an unchallenged crime boss. He was largely involved in drug trafficking, illegal gambling, federal racketeering, conspiracy, money laundering, and extortion. He was listed on FBI’s ‘Ten Most Wanted Fugitives’ list in 2007 after Osama Bin Laden, after he fled from Boston in 1995. He was arrested in 2011 after dodging and escaping the police and other authorities for nearly 16 years. He was found guilty and is currently serving life imprisonment for a series of gangland crimes, including 11 murders.

Childhood & Early Life

James Joseph Bulger Jr. was born on September 3, 1929 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, as second of the six children, to Roman Catholic Irish parents who immigrated to America.

His father, James Joseph Bulger Sr., was a union laborer and longshoreman. However, tragedy struck the family when his father lost his arm in an industrial accident and the family shifted to a public housing project in South Boston.

While his brothers were good at academics, he lived on the streets and made an attempt to run with the circus at the age of 10, thus becoming a thief and street fighter eventually.

Offences & Incarceration

His criminal life started at the age of 14 when he was arrested for delinquency. He became a part of the street gang ‘Shamrocks’ and was sent to a juvenile reformatory for five years, on charges of larceny, assault and battery.

Upon his release in 1948, he joined the US Air Force and served in Kansas and Idaho. However, when he revealed his true colors, he was arrested in 1950 for going absent without leave, but was discharged honorably in 1952.

He returned to Massachusetts, where his criminal offences increased, starting with his arrest in 1956 for bank robbery. He was jailed for 25 years in federal prison, but was released in 1965.

He came back to South Boston and became an enforcer for gangster Donald Killeen. After Killeen’s murder in 1972, he joined Winter Hill Gang where he transformed into a shrewd, ruthless mobster.

He carried out various murders, killing members of the rival Mullen gang, including Paulie McGonagle, Tommy King, and Spike O’Toole, apart from shooting Buddy Leonard and Edward Connors.

He served as an FBI informant during 1975-90 for providing information linked with Italian mafia, thereby utilizing this power to eliminate his associates who supposedly posed a threat to him.

His brother, William Bulger, became the President of the State Senate in 1978, which he took to his advantage in several of his murder carry-outs.

In 1979, Howie Winter’s arrest for horse race-fixing paved way for him and his partner Stephen Flemmi, to take over the Winter Hill Gang as the leader, thereby increasing drug dealing, loan sharking and bookmaking at large.

He, along with Flemmi and Weeks, carried out extortion, bookmaking, trafficking, truck hijacking and loan sharking openly during the 1980s, due to intense support from FBI agent John Connolly and Lt. Richard J. Schneiderhan.

In May 1981, he and Flemmi organized the killing of Roger Wheeler, in a money skimming case. Wheeler was shot by John Martorano, a hit-man in the Winter Hill Gang.

He ordered Martorano to murder John Callahan, former president of World Jai Alai, so that he would not help investigators in the Jai Alai scheme.

He helped the FBI end his top rival Italian-American Patriarca crime family, with the arrest of underboss Gennaro Angiulo in 1986, after which he took over the crime network in the Boston area.

In December 1994, he left Boston, with Theresa Stanley, after Drug Enforcement Administration, Massachusetts State Police and Boston Police Department started searching for him.

He changed his plan of returning to Boston in January 1995 after learning about Flemmi’s arrest by his police detective brother, Michael Flemmi.

After moving across cities for three weeks, he met Kelvin Weeks in Dorchester, from where he fled with a mistress, Catherine Elizabeth Greig.

He and Greig were arrested on June 22, 2011 in Santa Monica, California, after a Bulger Fugitive Task Force was formed to nab him, thereby ending his underworld reign.

He was put on trial and on July 6, 2011 found guilty on 48 charges, including 19 murders, perjury, extortion, narcotics distribution, money laundering, weapons violation and others.

On June 12, 2012, Greig confessed using fake identities in concealing Bulger and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.

On November 14, 2013, he was charged on 31 counts, including 11 murders, and sentenced to two life terms plus five years imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated in the United States Penitentiary Coleman II, Sumterville, Florida.

Major Crimes

In 1980, he gunned down bookmaking gangster, Louis Litif, on refusing to pay his profit share, committing two murders without his permission and threatening to kill his friend, Kevin Weeks.

He shot dead cocaine dealer Edward Brian Halloran, and his friend, Michael Donahue, in 1982, when Halloran informed the FBI on having information about the Roger Wheeler murder operation and turned witness in Louis Litif murder.

Personal Life & Legacy

He met waitress and fashion model from North Weymouth, Massachusetts, Lindsey Cyr in 1966, after which the two shared a live-in relationship with a common law marriage for 12 years.

The couple had a son – Douglas Glenn Cyr, in 1967. However, he suffered from Reye’s Syndrome, an allergic reaction to an aspirin injection, and died in 1973 at the age of six.

After Bulger and Cyr ended their relationship, he got involved with Theresa Stanley, a divorcee with several kids from South Boston.

The ‘Brotherhood’ series, broadcast on Showtime channel during 2006-08, was inspired by the relationship of Whitey and Billy Bulger, standing on opposite sides of the law.

His trials became a subject of the 2014 documentary ‘Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger’, directed by Joe Berlinger.

Director Scott Cooper’s ‘Black Mass’, starring Johnny Depp as Bulger, based on the 2012 book ‘Black Mass’ authored by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, is due to release in 2015.

Trivia

He hated being referred to as ‘Whitey’, for his white-blonde hair during childhood, and preferred being called ‘Jimmy’ or ‘Jim’ or even ‘Boots’, due to his love for cowboy boots.

He spent three years in Alcatraz Island prison off San Francisco’s shoreline, after attempting to escape from the Atlanta prison in November 1959.

The crime show ‘America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back’ featured him 14 times, as per 2007 records.

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Whitey Bulger biography timelines

  • // 3rd Sep 1929
    James Joseph Bulger Jr. was born on September 3, 1929 in Dorchester, Massachusetts, as second of the six children, to Roman Catholic Irish parents who immigrated to America.
  • // 1956 To 1965
    He returned to Massachusetts, where his criminal offences increased, starting with his arrest in 1956 for bank robbery. He was jailed for 25 years in federal prison, but was released in 1965.
  • // Nov 1959
    He spent three years in Alcatraz Island prison off San Francisco’s shoreline, after attempting to escape from the Atlanta prison in November 1959.
  • // 1966
    He met waitress and fashion model from North Weymouth, Massachusetts, Lindsey Cyr in 1966, after which the two shared a live-in relationship with a common law marriage for 12 years.
  • // 1967 To 1973
    The couple had a son – Douglas Glenn Cyr, in 1967. However, he suffered from Reye’s Syndrome, an allergic reaction to an aspirin injection, and died in 1973 at the age of six.
  • // 1972
    He came back to South Boston and became an enforcer for gangster Donald Killeen. After Killeen’s murder in 1972, he joined Winter Hill Gang where he transformed into a shrewd, ruthless mobster.
  • // 1975 To 1990
    He served as an FBI informant during 1975-90 for providing information linked with Italian mafia, thereby utilizing this power to eliminate his associates who supposedly posed a threat to him.
  • // 1978
    His brother, William Bulger, became the President of the State Senate in 1978, which he took to his advantage in several of his murder carry-outs.
  • // 1979
    In 1979, Howie Winter’s arrest for horse race-fixing paved way for him and his partner Stephen Flemmi, to take over the Winter Hill Gang as the leader, thereby increasing drug dealing, loan sharking and bookmaking at large.
  • // 1980
    In 1980, he gunned down bookmaking gangster, Louis Litif, on refusing to pay his profit share, committing two murders without his permission and threatening to kill his friend, Kevin Weeks.
  • // May 1981
    In May 1981, he and Flemmi organized the killing of Roger Wheeler, in a money skimming case. Wheeler was shot by John Martorano, a hit-man in the Winter Hill Gang.
  • // 1982
    He shot dead cocaine dealer Edward Brian Halloran, and his friend, Michael Donahue, in 1982, when Halloran informed the FBI on having information about the Roger Wheeler murder operation and turned witness in Louis Litif murder.
  • // 1986
    He helped the FBI end his top rival Italian-American Patriarca crime family, with the arrest of underboss Gennaro Angiulo in 1986, after which he took over the crime network in the Boston area.
  • // Dec 1994
    In December 1994, he left Boston, with Theresa Stanley, after Drug Enforcement Administration, Massachusetts State Police and Boston Police Department started searching for him.
  • // Jan 1995
    He changed his plan of returning to Boston in January 1995 after learning about Flemmi’s arrest by his police detective brother, Michael Flemmi.
  • // 2006
    The ‘Brotherhood’ series, broadcast on Showtime channel during 2006-08, was inspired by the relationship of Whitey and Billy Bulger, standing on opposite sides of the law.
  • // 2007
    The crime show ‘America’s Most Wanted: America Fights Back’ featured him 14 times, as per 2007 records.
  • // 22nd Jun 2011
    He and Greig were arrested on June 22, 2011 in Santa Monica, California, after a Bulger Fugitive Task Force was formed to nab him, thereby ending his underworld reign.
  • // 6th Jul 2011
    He was put on trial and on July 6, 2011 found guilty on 48 charges, including 19 murders, perjury, extortion, narcotics distribution, money laundering, weapons violation and others.
  • // 2012 To 2015
    Director Scott Cooper’s ‘Black Mass’, starring Johnny Depp as Bulger, based on the 2012 book ‘Black Mass’ authored by Dick Lehr and Gerard O’Neill, is due to release in 2015.
  • // 12th Jun 2012
    On June 12, 2012, Greig confessed using fake identities in concealing Bulger and was sentenced to eight years imprisonment.
  • // 14th Nov 2013
    On November 14, 2013, he was charged on 31 counts, including 11 murders, and sentenced to two life terms plus five years imprisonment. He is currently incarcerated in the United States Penitentiary Coleman II, Sumterville, Florida.
  • // 2014
    His trials became a subject of the 2014 documentary ‘Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger’, directed by Joe Berlinger.

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Whitey Bulger's FAQ

  • What is Whitey Bulger birthday?

    Whitey Bulger was born at 1929-09-03

  • Where is Whitey Bulger's birth place?

    Whitey Bulger was born in Dorchester

  • What is Whitey Bulger nationalities?

    Whitey Bulger's nationalities is American

  • Who is Whitey Bulger spouses?

    Whitey Bulger's spouses is Lindsey Cyr

  • Who is Whitey Bulger siblings?

    Whitey Bulger's siblings is John P. Bulger, William M. Bulger

  • Who is Whitey Bulger childrens?

    Whitey Bulger's childrens is Douglas Glenn Cyr

  • What is Whitey Bulger's religion?

    Whitey Bulger's religion is Catholicism

  • How tall is Whitey Bulger?

    Whitey Bulger's height is 170

  • Who is Whitey Bulger's father?

    Whitey Bulger's father is James Joseph Bulger Sr.

  • Who is Whitey Bulger's mother?

    Whitey Bulger's mother is Jane Veronica Bulger

  • What is Whitey Bulger's sun sign?

    Whitey Bulger is Virgo

  • How famous is Whitey Bulger?

    Whitey Bulger is famouse as American convicted murderer and former organized crime figure