Notorious Boston gangster, James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, who ran the Boston crime scene in the 1970s and 80s, was murdered on October 30th last year.
Bulger’s sister and two brothers, including William M Bulger, a well-respected attorney that was once President of the Massachusetts state Senate, have declared themselves as his official beneficiaries despite the estate currently being worthless.
For over sixteen years Whitey Bulger was on the run from the authorities for his role in the violent and illegal actions of the Boston mafia; for twelve of those years, he was considered to be second on the FBI’s most wanted list.
The mobster was finally arrested on June 22nd 2011 and was then convicted for the involvement of eleven murders during his illicit reign at the top of the American crime circuit.
Following his conviction, Whitey Bulger was housed in UPS II, a facility known to secure disabled prisoners, ex police officers, crime defectors, informants and any other inmate that would be at risk if they were placed in general population prisons.
However, whether through political bureaucracy or just poor luck, Whitey Bulger was moved to Hazelton prison as his health was said to be improving. It took Bulger’s mafia and crime enemies less than a day to kill him.
After being left in an open cell room, two inmates were said to have entered and completed the revenge kill by bludgeoning the mobster with a padlock stuffed sock amongst other gratuitous acts of violence.
Although James ‘Whitey Bulger’s estate is currently worth very little, the family have initiated a lawsuit with the help of their lawyer, Hank Brennan, against the federal government, for negligence and wrongful death following the ease with which their brother was brutally murdered.
The Wall Street Journal had claimed that Bulger, 89-years-old when he died, was excited to inform his attorney, Hank Brennan, that he was set to leave his Florida prison where he had spent a lot of time in solitary confinement and moved to a prison medical facility.
However, at some point after this call on September 28th, the authorities moved Whitey and he was swiftly executed by a rival mafia gang; the lawsuit will now determine if this murder was caused by prison officer negligence. If the Bulger’s win, the estate could benefit from compensation.
Whilst many will argue that the estate should pay the victims of Bulger’s crimes, the siblings could benefit in the near future.
Does this hypothetical windfall make it more difficult to administer the estate?
