The Trial of James 'Whitey' Bulger Lasted 41 Days.
June 12th, 2o13-August 12th , 2013
All photos drawn by Margaret Small, 2013.
Scroll over photos above to view a description
Scroll over photos above to view a description
Summary of the Trial:
A jury of eight men and four women along with a multitude of witnesses and lawyers deliberated the fate of James 'Whitey' Bulger. Over the seven weeks, Bulger was determined to have been involved in "murder, extortion, drug trafficking, loansharking, bookmaking and other gangster crimes covering the time Bulger ran Boston's Irish mob from the early '70s through late 1994, when he fled the city" (Feyerick). Bulger's partner Stephen 'The Rifleman' Flemmi took to the stand numerous times as well as John Connolly, the crooked FBI agent who was convicted of tipping off both men that they were about to be indicted back in 1994. Whitey was eventually found guilty of 31 out of 32 of his charges.
Who's Who?
Click over each image to see who they are and why they were important to Whitey.
PROTECTING HIS REPUTATION
"I never killed a woman"
I don’t think that Whitey has any qualms about hurting a woman, this idea that, 'Oh I would never hurt a woman', is just sheer myth. Teresa talked about how controlling he was and how one time he was really upset with her because she was out with a friend and they were drinking wine and he was physically abusive when he found out, he was so angry at her. He was a nasty guy with a nasty temper and just the brutality of some of the murders he committed, the way he killed Buffy Barrett, the way he killed John McIntyre, he was so brutal and so vicious, and they were buried in secret graves so why would he drawn the line at a woman? |
Fbi Informant?
During the trial, 'Whitey' refused to admit he was an informant even though the evidence proved drastically otherwise.
Whitey's refusal to admit that he was involved with the FBI proves he was not willing to relinquish power or his role as a terrorist of Boston streets.
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Key Witness Murdered.
On July 18, 2013, Stephen Rakes was found dead in the middle of the trial. He was determined to testify against Bulger. While his murder was later found not to be connected to the trial, the spark of panic it ignited caused many to fear that Bulger still had influence in Boston. Victims of 'Whitey' were terrified to testify against him, showing his power over others even while behind bars.
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I can't wait to get on the stand and look him right in the eyes. I come here to represent the victims that are afraid to come here. My friends. That’s why I’m showing up. And there’s not one. There’s not 10. There’s hundreds. And they’re still afraid. Some of them, 40 years later, they’re still afraid. I tell them, ‘Are you going to let him kick us around or are we going to kick him around?’ They took everything from me. They don’t care about nothing. They don’t care about what they take from you." |
The Evidence.
Death Certificates of Victims
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Whitey's "Financial Investments"
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All images in Evidence category are from the Boston Globe, taken by the FBI and provided by the US Attorney's Office.
When he was sentenced, the judge said, ‘you are nothing more than a common criminal who was motivated by money. Yes you were smart Mr. Bulger’, she told him, ‘but it doesn’t take much intelligence to threaten someone with a gun.’ And that’s what he did, he ruled by the brutality and was manipulative, and those closest to him could not believe that he was an FBI informant because they couldn’t believe the FBI would get into bed with someone as vicious as he was."
-Shelley Murphy in Interview