Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Notorious mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, who seized Boston’s criminal underworld in the 1970s and ’80s, likely will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a jury found him guilty Monday of murder and racketeering.
Wearing a gray shirt, dark pants and sneakers, the 83-year-old who occasionally shouted in anger during the trial showed little emotional response as the jury read guilty 32 verdicts following five days of deliberations.
Boston’s legendary figure, who spent 16 years on the run, will be sentenced Nov. 13, bringing to an end a brutal chapter in U.S. history.
Bulger’s victims had been waiting for this moment for decades, but not everyone was happy. The jury decided the prosecution only proved its case in 11 of 19 murders.
“My father just got murdered 40 years later, again, today in this courtroom,” William O’Brien, whose father, also named William, was murdered, told the Boston Globe. “That prosecution dropped the ball. . . . That jury should be ashamed of themselves.”
For Patricia Donahue, the verdict provided some closure after Bulger was found guilty of killing her husband, Michael Donahue, 31.
“I couldn’t hold my emotions,” she told the Globe. “I cried for myself. I cried for [the other families], because we are all in the same place.
Her son, Tommy Donahue, felt mixed emotions.
“It’s a good feeling,” he said after the jury found Bulger killed his father. “But my heart also goes out to those families who were searching for that closure.”
When feds finally tracked down Bulger in California, they found $822,000, guns, knives and other pricey belongings, such as a Stanley Cup ring.
According to a separate Boston Globe report, Bulger isn’t going to fight for his cash, guns and ammunition, but he wants his ring back.
Whether his wish is granted remains to be seen.
It’s unclear how Bulger acquired the ring, but the Globe reported that the mobster paid for the wedding of NHL player Chris Nilan, a Stanley Cup winner with the Montreal Canadiens.
