Podcast Episode Details
Back to Podcast EpisodesThe Untold Story of Crime Boss and Sixteen-Year Federal Fugitive, James (Whitey) Bulger (Part One)
For twenty years, Whitey Bulger terrorized Boston with the full collusion of the FBI. On the run for sixteen years, he was eventually arrested on June 22, 2011.
Between the ages of thirteen and eighteen Bulger was arrested ten times, for crimes ranging from larceny, drunk in public and assault and battery. Only once were charges ever pursued to the point of a criminal conviction and even then, Whitey was able to get the charge reduced on appeal. It is no wonder that he developed an arrogant disdain for the criminal justice system and a sense of invulnerability. Unfortunately, this mentality only increased the severity of his transgressions. In May of 1948, Bulger and two accomplices enticed a young female into Whitey’s car and attempted to rape her at a beach in Dorchester. The girl fought back and was kicked to the curb, but not before getting the license plate. All three teens were quickly arrested. Again, Bulger plead guilty to a lesser assault charge, paid a fine and avoided a serious prison term. Within two months, he was arrested again, this time for a drunken assault in a diner that turned into a brawl with the police who showed up to arrest him. Again, he plead guilty to the lesser charge of public drunkenness, paid a modest fine and walked away.
Despite Bill Bulger’s vehement and relentless involvement, including an eleventh hour visit to DC to the Director’s office for an unscheduled, in person request for a last minute reprieve, on November 13, 1959, Whitey was flown commercial, with federal marshals, from Baltimore to San Francisco. From there, in leg irons, he was placed on the small ship that transported him to the center of San Francisco Bay and the Rock. This was an especially isolating development for Whitey for in the late fifties transcontinental flight was a luxury the Bulger family certainly could not afford. He would have to rely on letters only, the occasional visit from his brother or other family members now an impossibility.
Published on 2 years, 10 months ago