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  • Catherine Greig: Whitey Bulger’s Girlfriend is Heading Back to Court

    Catherine Greig, the longtime girlfriend and fugitive partner of mob boss James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, is due back in court on a contempt charge.

    Greig is already serving eight years for her role in harboring Bulger as well as identity fraud, but she now faces a new contempt charge.

    CBS Boston reports that Greig has refused to cooperate with authorities and divulge whether or not others were involved in helping Bulger avoid capture for 16 years.

    Bulger was on the run from 1995 to 2011. During most of that time, he lived with Greig.

    Greig pleaded guilty in 2012. She refused to speak at her sentencing.

    Screen Shot 2015-10-19 at 11.23.00 AM

    Throughout Greig’s criminal process, her lawyer argued that she was so in love with Bulger she was unable to imagine she was “harboring” a killer – and her actions didn’t actually meet the requirement from criminal harboring. But prosecutors argued she used false IDs to help Bulger stay on the run.

  • Johnny Depp: No Interest in Oscars, “Black Mass” Might Earn Him One

    Johnny Depp presently stars on the big screen as Boston mobster Whitey Bulger in Black Mass. Buzz about the film indicates Depp could be an Oscar contender for his role–and the film could earn some, too. For most actors this would be a source of great excitement and pride.

    Not so much for Johnny Depp.

    “I don’t want to win one of those things ever, you know,” he said in a recent interview at the London Film Festival, where Black Mass was opening.

    “I don’t want to have to talk,” he added.

    “They gave me one of those things, like a nomination, two or three times,” Johnny Depp says. “A nomination is plenty.”

    Given three prior Oscar nods for Finding Neverland, Sweeney Todd, and the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, the actor is clearly satisfied.

    A bit disgruntled over talk of his role in Black Mass being his big comeback, Johnny Depp laughs.

    “What did I come back from? The dead?” he asks. “I haven’t done anything different in this than I have in any other film.”

    He does, however, explain his real feelings about the Oscars.

    “The idea of winning means that you’re in competition with someone and I’m not in competition with anybody,” he says. “I just stick to my guns and do what I want to do. Sometimes people don’t like it but that’s alright.”

    Like it or not, Johnny Depp just might find himself a viable Oscar contender for his role as Whitey Bulger.

    Have you seen Black Mass? Have you seen the transformation the actor underwent to go from Johnny Depp to Whitey Bulger?

    It’s a work of art.

    Black Mass starring Johnny Depp opens in the U.K. in late November. It is currently playing in theaters nationwide in the U.S.

  • “Black Mass” Did NOT Give Benedict Cumberbatch Politics Fever

    Black Mass provided two deep roles for two very deep actors.

    Of course, there was incredible transformation of Johnny Depp in the dark role of James “Whitey” Bulger for Black Mass.

    Depp had to endure hours in the makeup chair to achieve his menacing look for Black Mass, which included a white receding hairline wig and contact lenses.

    Benedict Cumberbatch, who plays Whitey’s brother, William “Billy” Bulger, didn’t have a huge physical transformation, but he did have to study up on American politics for Black Mass. He didn’t, however, come away with a taste for the whole racket.

    He said, “This role didn’t give me a taste of politics.”

    He added, “American politics is a whole different thing. I had to do quite a bit of learning what a state senate and a president of a state senate actually does and what it means.”

    That doesn’t mean Benedict Cumberbatch didn’t enjoy working on Black Mass.

    In fact, he rather enjoyed the location. He said, “It gave me a taste for Boston, though. It’s an amazing place. I had a great time doing this and prepping for it.”

    Now, why wouldn’t Benedict Cumberbatch gain a love for American politics after filming Black Mass in Boston? I mean, come on. It’s ever so attractive right now, right?

    What do you think about the transformation of Benedict Cumberbatch and Johnny Depp for Black Mass?

  • Whitey Bulger Wanted Nothing To Do With Black Mass Film

    Whitey Bulger is in prison and will never get out. Famed Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger is currently serving two life sentences for conspiracy, racketeering, extortion and the murders of 11 people. But out of sight certainly doesn’t mean out of mind.

    In the new film Black Mass, actor Johnny Depp portrays Bulger, a fact that some former Bulger associates are keen on, but some are not. Depp famously expressed interest in the human side of the murdering gangster, saying of his preparation for the role,

    “The first thing for me was to understand him first and foremost as a human being,”

    “Anybody and everybody, especially the families of his victims, could say ‘He’s just an evil person.’ I don’t believe that exists. People have their humanity, everything they’ve carried with them since they were children. There’s a side of James Bulger who is not just that man who was in that business.”

    Depp says he wanted to talk to Bulger himself, but was turned down.

    “I made an attempt to contact Mr. Bulger only out of respect. It’s his life, and I’m playing him onscreen,” Depp says. Apparently Bulger did not like the book about him that the film was built on.

    “I’m sure he’s not enthusiastic about any of the books – which I understand,” Depp said of Bulger. “I never expected him to meet with me.”

    Bulger’s defense attorney Hank Brennan is not even enthusiastic about Depp’s portrayal of Bulger.

    “Johnny Depp might as well have been playing the Mad Hatter all over again as far as James Bulger is concerned,” Brennan says. “Hollywood greed is behind the rush to portray my client, and the movie missed the real scourge created in my client’s case, the real menace to Boston during that time and in other mob cases around the country – the federal government’s complicity in each and every one of those murders with the top echelon informant program.”

    “The movie missed the real story and instead made a cartoon mockery out of Jimmy Bulger,” Brennan says.

    Dick Lehr, who co-authored Black Mass, begs to differ.

    “Yeah, I think Johnny nailed it,” says Lehr. “Johnny didn’t back away from the fact that he’s a monster.”

  • Whitey Bulger Movie Too Soon? Victim’s Family Thinks So.

    Whitey Bulger is in a maximum security prison in Florida. He is 85 years old now. The gangster was on the run for 16 years before finally being captured in 2011, sentenced to two life terms plus five ears, and locked away for good.

    Now Johhny Depp has a new movie about Whitey Bulger called Black Mass that many think is a return to form for the actor who has spent much of the last 10 years playing pirates, cartoonish figures, and a few forgettable normal ones.

    But Whitey Bulger killed people. And those people have families. And some of those family members think that Johnny Depp’s new movie is a really bad idea.

    One of those people is Steven Davis. His sister Debra was strangled to death by White Bulger and dumped into a shallow grave.

    “A lot of the families are very, very upset about this,” Steve Davis told The Globe about the new Whitey Bulger film. “I don’t like it one bit. . . . Everybody seems to be profiting off it. It’s sad for the movie industry, it’s sad for the actors. The movie industry and the actors, they’re the ones making the money. It’s another (expletive) slap in the face, that’s what we’re getting paid. Another slap in the face.’

    Davis argues that it is too soon to do a film about Whitey Bulger. It’s too much hurt still going on. It’s still too new to the heart for people.”

    Steven Davis’ sister Debra was only 26 when Whitey Bulger killed her. Her boyfriend was Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, Bulger’s second lieutenant. Apparently Flemmi told his girlfriend more than Bulger wanted her to know. Flemmi was supposed to kill her, but couldn’t do it. So he brought her to Bulger.

    Whitey Bulger strangled her, then took a nap while Flemmi cleaned up the mess.

    Whitey Bulger got away with as much as he did because he was an FBI informant. But Steven Davis calls him something else.

    “He was a piece of shit,” Davis said. “The only reason he had the power to do what he did was because the FBI was protecting him.”

    The film stars Johhny Depp as Whitey Bulger himself. Bulger’s longtime girlfriend Lindsey Cyr is played by Dakota Johnson, fresh off 50 Shades of Grey. Whitey’s brother Billy Bulger is played by Benedict Cumberbatch.

  • Whitey Bulger Transferred From Arizona To Florida

    Whitey Bulger, the alleged Boston-area crime boss who was convicted in 2013 on charges of racketeering and murder, has been transferred from a prison in Arizona to one in Florida.

    Bulger’s attorney says he wasn’t given a reason for the move. Bulger actually stayed at a prison in Oklahoma for a few days before making the move, but it’s not clear how long he will be in Florida.

    “I haven’t been notified of any reason why he has been moved to Florida…the Bureau of Prisons routinely moves people for a variety of reasons,” Hank Brennan said.

    Bulger was convicted last year on counts of money laundering, racketeering, and for the murder of at least 11 people and was given a double life sentence plus five years. Several family members of his alleged victims testified against him, including Sean McGonagle, who said he was just eleven years old when his father, a rival gang member, disappeared. Paul McGonagle’s body was found decades later, but Sean said he’ll never forget answering the phone as a child and hearing Bulger’s voice say, “Your father won’t be coming home for Christmas.” When the boy asked who he was speaking to, Bulger allegedly replied, “Santa Claus.”

    “You’re a domestic terrorist fueled by greed and sickening evil,” McGonagle told Bulger during the trial.

    Bulger is the subject of a film starring Johnny Depp called Black Mass, which will be released next fall. The movie also stars Benedict Cumberbatch, Sienna Miller, Adam Scott, and Joel Edgerton. Boston locals will recognize the Boston University band in a St. Patrick’s Day scene, which the university’s director said was a bit hectic to film.

    “It was a little bit hectic. The first hour was spent learning the music, and in the second hour we practiced the piece all together. We rushed through memorization of the piece, the Irish folk tune ‘The Garry Owen March,’ which was fairly simple thankfully, so we could get outside and practice marching, as most of us had never marched with each other,” Aaron Goldberg told BU Today.

  • Johnny Depp and Lily-Rose Depp to Star in ‘Yoga Hosers’

    Johnny Depp and his 15-year-old daughter, Lily-Rose Depp, are set to begin filming for a new movie they will star in together. Called Yoga Hosers, this film is dubbed a ‘comic book movie,’ and it also stars writer Kevin Smith’s daughter, Hailey Quinn Smith.

    “People always ask me ‘Are you ever going to make a comic book movie?’ This is it–but instead of yet another dude saving the day, our antiheroes are the most feared and formidable creatures man has ever encountered: two 15-year-old girls,” Smith explains.

    This isn’t the first time Johnny Depp and Kevin Smith’s daughters have appeared on the big screen either. Both teens had cameos in Kevin Smith’s last film called Tusk. Tusk will premiere in September at the Toronto Film Festival.

    In Yoga Hosers, Lily-Rose Depp and Hailey Quinn Smith will play the crime-fighting Colleens. They will join forces with Johnny Depp’s character to–according to the film’s producers–battle evil, “all seven Chakras, one Warrior Pose at a time.”

    Johnny Depp has spent many years keeping his two children he shares with former partner Vanessa Paradis (both Lily-Rose Depp and Jack Depp) out of the limelight. It seems as Lily-Rose is trying to forge her own path into the acting world, he is becoming more in tune with her wishes by helping her learn her craft–but staying close by at the same time.

    One place Lily-Rose Depp didn’t make herself obvious was on the set of Black Mass, in which Johnny Depp plays the role of mobster Whitey Bulger. That film is set to premiere in 2015–and Depp is hard to recognize. Many of that film’s scenes were shot in the Boston area where Whitey Bulger committed so many of his heinous crimes.

    Do you foresee Johnny Depp and Lily-Rose Depp becoming the next father-daughter film sensation or do you think Depp is just affording Lily-Rose the opportunity to dip her toes in the water?

  • Johnny Depp Not Evil Enough To Play Whitey Bulger

    Johnny Depp has been involved with the film Black Mass for several months now, seeing it through several problems that arose after production began and battling with producers over a pay cut. Despite all his hard work, however, at least one man who actually worked with Whitey Bulger–the focus of the film–says Depp isn’t the right man to portray the Boston legend.

    Bulger–who was found guilty last year of 32 federal charges including murder, racketeering, and money laundering–went on the run in the ’90s after an informant friend in the FBI tipped him off to an impending arrest, and he lived for several years on the lam. However, he was caught in San Francisco after a curious neighbor notified authorities in 2011. Since then, he has been in the headlines for a lengthy trial that brought many dark tales of corruption and violence to light.

    Eric Schneider, who at one time reportedly worked for Bulger, said that Depp is too “wimpy and dorky” to play the organized crime boss and has described Bulger as a “demon” with intense eyes that seem to burn right through a person.

    Depp was spotted filming in Revere, Massachusetts recently in full makeup and costume; his co-star Sienna Miller was seen as well. Producers have transformed the local filming area into Miami Beach, complete with palm trees.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Johnny Depp Crashes Willie Nelson’s Boston Show

    Johnny Depp crashed Willie Nelson’s show in Boston on Tuesday–and some audience members didn’t even know it. Depp, who is in Boston filming a movie about mobster Whitey Bulger–in which he plays the lead character–simply played guitar throughout Nelson’s set. The 81-year-old (yes, Willie Nelson is 81) introduced his band members, but used only their first names.

    “He just said something like, ‘And that’s Johnny over there playin’ the guitar,’ ” an attendee from Boston said, adding that Depp “even played a solo in one of the songs.”

    Can you imagine how exciting this must have been for those in the audience who realized exactly who the handsome guitarist was? It’s like they got a ‘two-fer’ at a Willie Nelson concert.

    The fans who did recognize Depp eagerly shared their discoveries via Twitter.

    Just a few hours earlier Johnny Depp appeared on the set of Black Mass along with costar Juno Temple, as they filmed scenes in South Boston. Fiancee Amber Heard reportedly watched some of the filming this week. It’s unknown if she is sticking around or had been in town for long. Depp turned 51 back on June 9th. Perhaps her presence was an ongoing birthday treat?

    Johnny Depp is unrecognizable in makeup and in character as Whitey Bulger in the biopic. One would never recognize the mobster as the man who played guitar on stage with Willie Nelson. His slicked back hair worn over a bald cap is a major transformation from the heartthrob women have lusted over for years. The film is based on the 2012 nonfiction account of Bulger’s crimes–also titled Black Mass.

    The real Whitey Bulger is currently serving two consecutive life sentences for his crimes. The film is set to premiere in theaters some time in 2015.

    Image via YouTube

  • Whitey Bulger Letter May Help An Innocent Man

    Whitey Bulger, the notorious Boston crime boss who was convicted last summer of 32 charges that included murder, racketeering, and money laundering, has reportedly written a letter that may help free an innocent man imprisoned for murder.

    Bulger wrote the letter last fall while incarcerated, saying that he encouraged the murder of Robert Lamonica decades ago after a friend came to him in fear of retribution. The friend–believed to be Thomas Barrett–allegedly told Bulger that Lamonica was out to get him because Barrett had beaten up a friend of his.

    “I told him get him first, kill him … if you don’t get him first I’d say he will get you — he’s dangerous — so again kill him and it’s over,” Bulger wrote.

    However, authorities believe that Bulger helped frame a man named Fred Weichel for Lamonica’s murder–as the two had reportedly been feuding for years–by pressuring a former FBI agent not to tell police that he’d seen Weichel at a Boston bar just before Lamonica was shot to death in Braintree. Weichel has been imprisoned for the murder for over three decades.

    “We believe that the letters mean that Bulger encouraged Barrett to kill the victim (LaMonica), that Bulger warned Barrett not to talk about their conversation ever again and that Bulger is encouraging Barrett to come forward because Weichel is innocent,” Weichel’s attorney Michael Ricciuti said.

    Bulger has been a notorious figure in the crime world for decades, and managed to go on the run in the ’90s when an FBI agent friend of his tipped him off about an impending arrest. He was later captured in 2011 and put on trial; the 84-year old is now serving two life sentences plus five years in November of 2013.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Dakota Johnson: From ‘Fifty Shades’ to Whitey Bulger?

    Dakota Johnson is in talks to star opposite Johnny Depp in an upcoming film about Whitey Bulger. Black Mass will reportedly tell the story of the Boston mobster and FBI informant. If the talks work out for all involved, Johnson will start filming Black Mass once filming for Fifty Shades of Grey wraps.

    Not all of the roles have been cast yet for Black Mass. Depp will reportedly play Bulger. Dakota Johnson will probably play the role of Lindsey, the mother of Bulger’s son Douglas. Joel Edgarton seems to be a definite in the role of FBI agent John Connelly. Connelly was Whitey Bulger’s childhood friend who wound up tipping Bulger off as the Feds neared closing in on him. Connelly served time in prison for his role in the case.

    Whitey Bulger was on the lam for 19 years before being tracked down in California in 2011. He is now serving time in a Federal prison for several charges.

    Guy Pearce is set to play the role of Whitey Bulger’s brother Bill, who was the president of the Massachusetts Senate and a big Boston power broker.

    Since the Whitey Bulger story is true, it will be very interesting to see how close to the truth the film remains. Many people in the Boston area claim he was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones, although proof was never determined. There could be some controversy if the film doesn’t mirror at least a portion of the truth.

    Not much is known about Lindsey, the mother of Whitey Bulger’s son–at least not publicly. It will be interesting to see how Dakota Johnson portrays her in the film, if she does in fact take the role.

    It’s not surprising that a new film is being made about the Whitey Bulger case. There are no doubt lots of stories within his sordid tale that have yet to be shared, and that typically translates into intrigue once a film hits the big screen.

    Image via YouTube

  • Whitey Bulger Film Gets New Life With Warner Bros.

    Whitey Bulger has been a subject of fascination for decades now; the infamous Boston crime boss was only captured fairly recently after years on the lam and charged with racketeering and murder, and his story loosely inspired the Scorsese film “The Departed”. Now, a new film about his relationship with FBI informant John Connolly starring Johnny Depp is back in the works again after a brief delay.

    Depp will play Bulger in “Black Mass”, which is now slated for a fall/2015 release after Warner Bros. agreed to co-finance it. Originally to be directed by Barry Levinson, the film failed to get the financing it needed last year and the deal fell through. However, Scott Cooper is now attached to the project and Depp is back on, as well, with Joel Edgerton tapped to play Connolly.

    Connolly was sentenced to 40 years in prison for allegedly tipping Bulger off that he was about to be arrested in the early ’90s and allowing him to run free. He wasn’t seen or heard from until a chance run-in with a neighbor in San Francisco led to a call to the authorities. He was arrested in 2011 and was charged last year with 32 counts of racketeering, murder, and money laundering.

    “The guy is a sociopathic killer,” Tom Foley, an organized crime investigator who spent most of his career with the Massachusetts State Police trying to bust Bulger, told CNN. “He loved that type of life. He’s one of the hardest and cruelest individuals that operated in the Boston area. He’s a bad, bad, bad guy.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Whitey Bulger Gets Two Life Sentences

    Whitey Bulger Gets Two Life Sentences

    Whitey Bulger, the Boston crime boss who was convicted of 32 charges in August, was sentenced to serve two life terms plus five years this morning.

    Bulger was found guilty of charges which included the murder of at least eleven people, racketeering, and money laundering, among other things, and on Wednesday sat in court as the family members of some of his victims testified against him. One of them–Sean McGonagle–says he was just eleven years old when his father, a rival gang member, disappeared. Paul McGonagle’s body was found decades later, but Sean said he’ll never forget answering the phone as a child and hearing Bulger’s voice say, “Your father won’t be coming home for Christmas.” When the boy asked who he was speaking to, Bulger allegedly replied, “Santa Claus.”

    “You’re a domestic terrorist fueled by greed and sickening evil,” McGonagle told Bulger.

    Bulger ran an underworld empire throughout the ’70s and ’80s with the help of several law enforcement agents who were in his pocket; one of them, FBI agent John Connolly, tipped off Bulger about an impending arrest in the ’90s and allowed him to run. He hid successfully for years, until a curious neighbor started a chain of events that led to his arrest in 2011 in San Francisco.

  • Whitey Bulger Could Get Life Sentence Next Week

    Whitey Bulger, who was convicted in August of 32 charges of murder, money laundering, and racketeering, could face life in prison after his sentencing next week.

    Bulger did not take the stand at all during his trial over the summer, but he’ll be given a chance to speak before his sentence is handed down. Federal prosecutors said on Thursday that the 84-year old deserves life in prison for the crimes he’s accused of, which include at least eleven murders as well as drug trafficking. They asked the judge for two consecutive life sentences plus five years.

    “There are no mitigating factors, and defendant Bulger has no redeeming qualities, which would justify any sentence below the one called for by the US Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable case law and statutes,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “Bulger’s horrific crimes and sadistic behavior demonstrate that he deserves no mercy at the time of sentencing.”

    Bulger was indicted in 1994 for racketeering, which he managed with the help of some friends in the Bureau. For decades, he ran a large underground world of crime in the Boston area and had several law enforcement officials in his pocket. One of them, John Connolly, tipped Bulger off about his impending arrest in the ’90s and allowed him to run free. He eventually fled with longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig and ended up in San Francisco, where a curious neighbor started the chain of events that led to his capture in 2011. Part of his story inspired the film “The Departed”.

    US District Court Judge Denise J. Casper will hear from families of the victims, prosecutors, and defense attorneys on November 13 before making a decision about sentencing.

    Image: Wikimedia Commons

  • Whitey Bulger Reportedly Amassed $25 Million

    Whitey Bulger, Boston’s famous mob boss amassed over 25 million dollars through racketeering in his 20 years as an FBI informant, according to documents filed in Federal Court. CNN reports that a federal jury convicted Bulger in August on 31 counts of racketeering, extortion, and money laundering. They ultimately ruled that Bulger participated in the murder of 11 people. He will be sentenced on November 13.

    The evidence presented at trial read that “the proceeds from the Defendant’s racketeering conspiracy totaled millions upon millions upon millions of dollars,” according to the federal prosecutors’ “motion of forfeiture” released on Friday, which breaks down Bulger’s spoils that were exposed in testimony from gangsters, former associates, drug dealers, convicted felons, and extortion victims during the 41 day trial this summer.

    The notorious mob boss began building capital off his criminal empire around 1972. He continued until around 2000, 5 years after he went on the lam after being tipped off by his rogue FBI connection to a pending indictment.

    Michael Solimando, a business entrepreneur testified that Bulger pointed a gun at his belly, and then threatened to kill his family. Solimando, 64, described how, at a meeting between them, Bulger took a machine gun and “shoved it underneath the table, pointed at my stomach and my groin,” and how he was forced to pay Bulger $400,000.

    Marijuana smuggler, David William Lindholm, testified he almost didn’t survive a high-stakes Russian-roulette style drama when Bulger ordered his goon to load the chamber of a gun with one bullet and fire that bullet past his head.

    “A bullet was put in the chamber it was spun and pointed at my head,” said Lindholm. He lived to testify that Bulger extorted $250,000 from him.

    Many convicted drug dealers testified that Bulger collected “rent” from criminal operatives, a tax that had to be paid to him in order to do drug business in South Boston during the “Bulger Era”.

    Richard Buccheri, a Boston real estate developer used two fingers to show the a gun barrel as he described how Bulger “takes a shotgun off the table and sticks it in my mouth. Then he took it out, punched me in the shoulder and said, ‘Richard you’re a stand-up guy. I’m not going to kill you.’” But then, Buccheri said, Bulger “puts a 45 to my head” and demands $200,000 in 30 days, “threatening to kill me and my family.”

    Whitey Bulger was found hiding out in Santa Monica, California, with his girlfriend and $822,000 in cash in 2011. They also had 30 guns and an assortment of knives and a taser. Before his conviction, Bulger waived his right to a forfeiture hearing. The government has moved to seize Bulger’s personal assets that they say he gained from a life of gambling and drug dealing. These include jewelry, electronics, art, furniture, clothing and other items found in the Santa Monica apartment.

  • Whitey Bulger Found Guilty, “Pleased” With Outcome

    James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston mobster accused of killing nearly 20 people, has been found guilty of 32 charges that include murder, racketeering, and money laundering.

    The 83-year old, who inspired a character in the popular Scorsese film “The Departed” played by Jack Nicholson, was convicted of 11 counts of murder on Monday after the jury found they couldn’t prove he was responsible for eight of the deaths he’d originally been accused of. After the verdicts were read, Bulger was “pleased” with the outcome, according to his lawyer Jay Carney.

    “It was important to him that the government corruption be exposed,” Carney said. “He knew as soon as he was arrested that he would die (in prison) or on a gurney.”

    Bulger was indicted in 1994 for racketeering, which he managed with the help of some friends in the Bureau. For decades, he ran a large underground world of crime in the Boston area and had several law enforcement officials in his pocket. One of them, John Connolly, tipped Bulger off about his impending arrest in the ’90s and allowed him to run free. He eventually fled with longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig and ended up in San Francisco, where a curious neighbor started the chain of events that led to his capture in 2011.

    “The guy is a sociopathic killer,” Tom Foley, an organized crime investigator who spent most of his career with the Massachusetts State Police trying to bust Bulger, told CNN. “He loved that type of life. He’s one of the hardest and cruelest individuals that operated in the Boston area. He’s a bad, bad, bad guy.”

    Bulger will be sentenced in November, and plans to appeal the verdict.

  • Whitey Bulger’s Partner Sings for Jury

    Whitey Bulger ran from the law for 16 years. Twelve of those years were spent on the FBI’s most wanted list. The only reward bigger than the price on Bulger was for Osama Bin Laden himself. He was featured on America’s Most Wanted 16 times. And when they finally caught him, he still had $800,000 in cash, 30 firearms, and some fake IDs.

    But now Whitey sits in a courtroom, and has to listen to his former partner rat on him.

    Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi used to be loyal to Whitey. According to the Boston Globe, on Friday he sang like a bird, rapidly spouting off events and details that only he would have knowledge of. He was a Frankie Pentangeli that no one could get to – no way to shut him up.

    He described a time when he and Bulger killed an associate in a phone booth who was too loose-lipped about goings-on in their organization. Someone lured the man to a phone boon, and the two men did the deed.

    “We just stepped out from the side of the building — the garage — and shot him,” Flemmi said, matter-of-factly. “We just fired on him.”

    Flemmi has already cut a deal with prosecutors to get life in prison for his role in 10 murders. It is his testimony on Bulger that makes him so valuable.

    On Thursday, Flemmi had been called to the stand, but only gave 15 minutes of testimony before the jury was adjourned for the day. As he left the courtroom, he and Bulger mouthed obscenities at each other.

    Other informants in the past have attested to Bulger’s methods and policies in how he took care of business. According to one informant, Bulger refused to allow heroin, PCP, or selling to children. On the other hand, he murdered people.

  • Depp To Play Bulger In Barry Levinson’s New Project

    Johnny Depp is all set to play Whitey Bulger, one of Boston’s most notorious criminals, in the upcoming film “Black Mass”.

    Bulger has been the object of fascination for many over the years, specifically since Scorsese’s much-loved film “The Departed” was released in 2006. Jack Nicholson had the honors of playing the role back then, so it will be interesting to see what Depp does with it.

    Bulger was accused over the years of various crimes; his reputation was one of violence and corruption, yet he also worked with the FBI to cover his tail. But those ties soon soured and Bulger became one of the infamous names on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List on 19 counts of of murder, as well as conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, and money laundering. He was captured in 2011, hiding out in California.

    “I could not be more thrilled to have the biggest star in the world and Academy-Award winning director Barry Levinson to finally bring this incredible story to the big screen,” said Cross Creek Pictures president Brian Oliver in a statement. “We have been working on this project since we originally optioned the book in 2005. Black Mass expertly details the twists and turns of this highly complex story, painting a vivid portrait of Boston’s underbelly and its corrupt political machine, as well as exposing the worst scandal in FBI history. It’s also an examination of loyalty to family, Irish heritage, and South Boston.”

    “Black Mass”, which is being helmed by Barry Levinson, is an adaptation of the book Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob, written by former Boston Globe reporters Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill. Filming is set to begin this May.