By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
Boston gangster and murderer James “Whitey” Bulger was beaten beyond recognition, and his attackers tried to cut out his tongue, a federal law enforcement official told CNN.
The 89-year-old inmate was killed Tuesday at a high-security federal prison in West Virginia on Tuesday, a day after he was transferred from another facility.
It’s a popular punishment in organized crime circles to cut out the tongue of people who snitch. And Bulger was a notorious snitch and a ruthless killer.
His move to the Hazleton Prison in Bruceton Mills gave inmates easy access to Bulger, who was found unresponsive at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday.
Investigators believe several people were involved in the attack, including Fotios “Freddy” Geas, a mafia hitman from Massachusetts who is serving a life sentence for two murders in 2003, according to The New York Times.
Dick Lehr, author of “Whitey: The Life of America’s Most Notorious Mob Boss,” said Bulger’s killing was fitting, in a way.
“He lived violently and he apparently died violently,” he said. “It marks the full circle of a terrible life.”
