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Notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger was found dead at a federal prison in West Virginia Tuesday, federal officials said. Bulger, 89, had recently arrived at the high-security penitentiary USP Hazelton in West Virginia, according to the Boston Herald. The feared former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger was convicted in 2013 of participating in 11 murders stretching from Massachusetts to Florida to Oklahoma.

So now, just weeks after the FBI’s worst nightmare, a gangster and FBI informant by the name of Whitey Bulger came strolling back into town, Congress is about to ignore its own wisdom and let Bob Mueller, the FBI director and former US Attorney in Boston, stay on an extra two years. Back in the 1980s, when he was serving on the Massachusetts parole board, Albano expressed some sympathy for a group of men who had always maintained they had been framed for the 1965 gangland murder of a hoodlum named Teddy Deegan in Chelsea. The FBI had been instrumental...

Harvard law professor and author Alan Dershowitz argued Monday that former FBI director and current special counsel Robert Mueller should be investigated for his role in protecting a notorious FBI informant — and that civil liberties are at stake. In a column for the Washington Examiner, Dershowitz decries that “any criticism or even skepticism regarding Mueller’s history is seen as motivated by a desire to help” President Donald Trump.

Jon Venables, one of the infamous killers of toddler James Bugler, is back in jail after being caught with child porn. The 35-year-old was arrested last week after officials making a routine visit to his home discovered the 'sickening' images on his computer and alerted police. It is the second time that the monster has been put behind bars for child porn offences, having been caught with a large hoard of images in 2010. The killer's identity is protected by a lifelong order and has been changed four times since his release in 2001, costing taxpayers £250,000 each time. On...

James J. “Whitey” Bulger has been found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy and 11 murders in a split verdict, and his lawyers say he plans to appeal. The indictment accused Bulger of the gangland murders of 19 men and women between 1973 and 1985, money laundering, extortion, drug distribution and illegal firearms possession. He was convicted on two racketeering counts, 11 murders, 3 counts of conspiracy to commit murder, seven extortion counts, one drug count and six money laundering counts.

Corrupt FBI let mobster Whitey Bulger keep killing—and it cost innocent lives. You'd hardly know it from the wall-to-wall coverage of the George Zimmerman case, but there's another trial going on that's at least as worthy of national attention. That's the 32-count federal racketeering indictment against James "Whitey" Bulger, a Boston mob kingpin linked to at least 19 murders, captured in 2011 after 16 years on the lam. Bulger, a former "Top Echelon Informant" for the FBI, is a monster, but he's hardly the only villain in a story where "gangster government" leaves the realm of metaphor. As Boston Globe...

Rakes, 59, of Quincy, had been attending Bulger's racketeering trial in Boston and, at one point, was expected to be called as a witness for the prosecution. Rake's body was found around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the area of Mill Street in Lincoln, Mass., according to Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan

Stephen "Stippo" Rakes, a possible witness in the murder trial of alleged crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, has been found dead, authorities said. The body of Rakes, 59, had "no obvious signs of trauma" and an autopsy is being performed to determine the cause of death, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Lincoln, Mass., Police Chief Kevin Mooney announced today. The corpse was found on Mill Street in Lincoln yesterday at 1:30 p.m., police said.

The body of a key witness in James 'Whitey’ Bulger's racketeering trial was found dead on the side of a road Wednesday by a jogger in Lincoln, Mass., which is just west of Boston. The body belonged to Stephen "Stippo" Rakes, 59, who was allegedly extorted by Bulger and considered one of the most determined alleged victims who waited a decade to testify, The Boston Globe reported. The Globe reported that Rakes has been a fixture for six weeks at Bulger's trial and was told recently that he would not get the chance to testify. The Middlesex County district attorney's...

Howie thread for last half of Aug starting with his July 17 2013 Herald column

Howie thread for the second half of June, 2013 starting with his Sunday Herald column, another one related to Whitey Bulger: "Stench from garage finally out"

As the trial of alleged Boston gang boss, FBI informant and former fugitive James "Whitey" Bulger begins with jury selection Tuesday, Steve Davis is looking for three things: answers, justice and eye contact. "He will not turn back and look at any of us," Davis complained Monday night after Bulger, wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, sat stony-faced through a lengthy pre-trial hearing. "What a coward." Davis's sister, Debra, was allegedly strangled by a bare-handed Bulger in 1981 because she planned to break up with his partner, Steven "The Rifleman" Flemmi. That's one of 19 slayings the 83-year-old Bulger is accused...

The FBI has paid out $2.1 million in reward money for the information that led to the capture of feared Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, according to the bureau. The Boston FBI office last week got the green light to disburse $2 million for Bulger and an additional $100,000 in reward money for his companion, Catherine Greig. "As of Friday, September 23, 2011, the FBI has paid this reward money to more than one individual," the bureau said, without disclosing any information about the parties collecting the reward. Bulger, who is charged with 19 murders in the 1970s and 80s...

In October 25, 2007, a U.S. Army specialist in Afghanistan braved enemy fire in an attempt to save a fellow soldier who had been wounded in an ambush. An insurgent bullet struck his armored chest plate, knocking him down. He got up and rushed back into enemy fire to retrieve his fallen comrade. He threw several hand grenades toward the enemy, and was able to grab his colleague and immediately begin first aid. Though the man he'd risked his life for later died from the wounds, his heroic actions didn't go unnoticed. Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, received the medal...

Whitey Bulger pleads not guilty on 19 murder counts BOSTON - James "Whitey" Bulger pleaded not guilty today to a racketeering indictment .. in 19 murders, some dating back to the 1970s. [DNC and General court bigwigs] brothers William and John . were seated in the front row.]

Murder, Inc. - Experts say Whitey could cash in on his brutal bio [taxpayers to pay legal bills] "If convicted, accused mass murderer James “Whitey” Bulger could make a killing selling his blood-soaked biography to a publishing house or Hollywood studio, experts say, thanks in part to state lawmakers, who for years have refused to bar cons from cashing in on their crimes." "With no notoriety for profit law on the books, it’s not just Bulger’s secrets from 16 years on the lam that are potentially worth big bucks. ... Notoriety for profit laws have been adopted by Texas, California,...

Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger kept hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash hidden behind the walls of his Santa Monica apartment and traveled –- sometimes in disguise and armed -- to Boston, Las Vegas and Mexico to purchase pharmaceuticals, according to court records made public Monday in Boston. ...FBI agents are quoted in the documents as saying Bulger later admitted traveling from time to time outside the Santa Monica area. “Bulger waived his Miranda rights and admitted that he had been a frequent traveler as a fugitive. Bulger acknowledged visiting Las Vegas on numerous occasions to play the slots...

The murderer in chief of the Boston mob, Whitey Bulger, has now been arrested, but the godfather of the mob, William Bulger (known as “Billy”), is still at large. Until William Bulger is brought to justice, there will be no occasion for celebration. Without William Bulger, there would have been no Whitey Bulger. Killer Whitey would have remained a petty criminal were it not for the protection he allegedly got from his Godfather Billy. While Whitey Bulger was climbing the ladder of crime in Boston, Billy was climbing the ladder of politics. Of course in Boston, the separation between crime...

BOSTON (AP) - After 16 long years, the arrest of notorious Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger appeared to end a long, frustrating manhunt that had embarrassed the FBI and raised questions about its efforts to find one of its most wanted fugitives. But Bulger's capture could be only the beginning of a new scandal for the Boston FBI and others. If Bulger decides to cut a deal with prosecutors, he could implicate an untold number of local, state and federal law enforcement officials, according to investigators who built a racketeering indictment against Bulger before he fled in 1995. "If he...

Brothers Bulger wave in court, Whitey held "It was a family reunion in U.S. District Court today featuring former Senate president William "Billy" Bulger (Democrat) waving to his mobster brother James "Whitey" Bulger at his arraignment and mouthing hello. Galpal Catherine Greig also smiled at her twin sister at her arraignment after Bulger and raised her eyebrows as she was being taken out of court. Billy Bulger said outside court that seeing his big brother in handcuffs after 16 years on the run "an unusual experience." Asked to explain further, Billy Bulger stammered and added "I have to think about...