# Someone croaked Whitey Bulger **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 30, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733 "2018-10-30T17:20:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/61 "2018-11-02T12:08:24Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Bulger was murdered by another prisoner. Why assume prison officials were involved?.. Well, he was a well known prisoner who a) had informed on the mafia to the FBI; b) who had bribed and compromised a number of law enforcement officials, including in the FBI; and c) whose brother had been a very powerful state senator. To not realize that such a prisoner would be at a high risk of being murdered, especially if you housed him with a mafia hitman serving a life sentence without parole, speaks to a breathtaking level of incompetence. This wasn’t the transfer of some Joe Schmoe, this was the transfer of one of the most notorious prisoner’s in custody. While it’s fun to be internet tough guy and claim that it’s a good thing he was murdered in prison, I would point out that this kind of erosion of the rule of law is a cancer in America. Prison officials had a duty to incarcerate Bulger safely; it is not in anyone’s interest for him to be murdered. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/62 "2018-11-02T12:31:23Z")
Missed the edit, but there is also precedent of corrupt federal officials facilitating a murder in the Bulger case: FBI agents tipped off Bulger about an informant against him so that Bulger could murder the man before he was able to enter the witness protection program. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/63 "2018-11-02T14:35:20Z")
It’s the possible corruption that concerns me the most. It needs to be thoroughly investigated. The Bulger killing won’t be the only criminal activity they’ve been involved with. Getting in bed with the mob opens up the possibility of other organized crime within the prison system. Nothing is conclusively known yet. An investigation is a logical first step. Maybe his prison transfer into the arms of a known mob hit man was just a coincidence. I find that very hard to swallow, but stranger things happen every day. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/64 "2018-11-02T15:20:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. > > Rest in pieces, you fucking slimeball. Any man’s death diminishes me, yes, but sometimes imperceptibly. Reportedly the same FBI who couldn’t find him for decades will now be investigating his death. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2018, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/65 "2018-11-02T15:24:45Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > The Bulger killing won’t be the only criminal activity they’ve been involved with. Getting in bed with the mob opens up the possibility of other organized crime within the prison system. Wait, you’re suggesting that organized crime might be found within the prison system? Let’s not go overboard with the wacky conspiracy theories! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/66 "2018-11-03T02:24:22Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Any man’s death diminishes me, yes, but sometimes imperceptibly. > > Reportedly the same FBI who couldn’t find him for decades will now be investigating his death. I think this death actually added to me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/67 "2018-11-03T02:38:05Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Well, he was a well known prisoner who a) had informed on the mafia to the FBI; b) who had bribed and compromised a number of law enforcement officials, including in the FBI; and c) whose brother had been a very powerful state senator. To not realize that such a prisoner would be at a high risk of being murdered, especially if you housed him with a mafia hitman serving a life sentence without parole, speaks to a breathtaking level of incompetence. This wasn’t the transfer of some Joe Schmoe, this was the transfer of one of the most notorious prisoner’s in custody. > > While it’s fun to be internet tough guy and claim that it’s a good thing he was murdered in prison, I would point out that this kind of erosion of the rule of law is a cancer in America. Prison officials had a duty to incarcerate Bulger safely; it is not in anyone’s interest for him to be murdered. So do you favor prison officials having the power to place any prisoner into solitary confinement at will for as long as they want? Or do you feel there should be procedures regulating who gets placed in solitary confinement and how long they remain there? Because the latter case is how it works. You can’t just arbitrarily put somebody into some special status like solitary confinement or protective custody or administrative segregation or special housing (all of which are distinct categories, each with their own set of procedures - and that only covers one state) because you have a feeling. You have to be able to identify a specific reason which shows this particular individual is in some specific danger at this time. And the prisoner has the right to challenge the decision and ask to be placed back into general population. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/68 "2018-11-03T11:19:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So do you favor prison officials having the power to place any prisoner into solitary confinement at will for as long as they want? Or do you feel there should be procedures regulating who gets placed in solitary confinement and how long they remain there? > > Because the latter case is how it works. You can’t just arbitrarily put somebody into some special status like solitary confinement or protective custody or administrative segregation or special housing (all of which are distinct categories, each with their own set of procedures - and that only covers one state) because you have a feeling. You have to be able to identify a specific reason which shows this particular individual is in some specific danger at this time. And the prisoner has the right to challenge the decision and ask to be placed back into general population. Was he left without supervision? Because around here, the sanctioned hits against informers are usually done when the guard has left his post. Around here, ordinary murders, where one violent crim with poor anger management kills someone you’ve never heard of, normally happen almost immediately after the argument. Three associates killing somebody doesn’t sound like normal prison violence, but I’ll only call corruption when I hear that the guard had left his post or that a ‘mistake’ was made about inmate contact. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/69 "2018-11-03T11:26:55Z")
If that’s what happened, an arranged, premeditated murder, even of this shitstain, it’s as bad as anything he did. Not saying it isn’t justice for a murderer to get murdered, but he still didn’t get sentenced to death by our courts, acting in our names. Whoever decided to have him killed is just as much of a shitstain as he was. That’s the issue I have with capital punishment in general - no matter how much the convict deserves it, in any way you choose to think about it, it makes us murderers too. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/70 "2018-11-03T14:11:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So do you favor prison officials having the power to place any prisoner into solitary confinement at will for as long as they want? Or do you feel there should be procedures regulating who gets placed in solitary confinement and how long they remain there? > > Because the latter case is how it works. You can’t just arbitrarily put somebody into some special status like solitary confinement or protective custody or administrative segregation or special housing (all of which are distinct categories, each with their own set of procedures - and that only covers one state) because you have a feeling. You have to be able to identify a specific reason which shows this particular individual is in some specific danger at this time. And the prisoner has the right to challenge the decision and ask to be placed back into general population. Whitey Bulger was a very high profile prisoner who was known to have informed against the Mafia. For reasons that have still not been explained, he was transferred from a prison in Florida to the prison in West Virginia and was beaten to death within hours of his arrival. The state failed spectacularly in its duty to imprison Bulger and it is important that we understand why, was it corruption or a gross incompetence? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/71 "2022-08-19T06:39:36Z")
Four years later they finally get around to indicting 3 people: > **[3 men indicted in the beating death of gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/18/us/james-whitey-bulger-death-indictment/index.html)** > > Three men have been indicted in the beating death of imprisoned Boston gangster and convicted murderer James "Whitey" Bulger, prosecutors announced Thursday. > **[3 charged with killing Boston gangster Whitey Bulger in 2018](https://apnews.com/article/whitey-bulger-killing-men-charged-11072fae9deaad36a929080798802804)** > > BOSTON (AP) — Three men, including a Mafia hitman, have been charged in the 2018 prison killing of notorious Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger, the Justice Department said Thursday. > **[Three Men Charged in Prison Killing of Whitey Bulger](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/18/us/james-whitey-bulger-killing-charges.html)** > > The men were incarcerated alongside the notorious Boston crime boss when he was beaten to death in 2018. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/72 "2022-08-19T06:55:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Jailhouse tip: Don’t use a lock. They’re relatively light, they’re valuable, and they’re easy to trace if you have to drop the weapon. Throw a can of beans in a sock instead. actually, I was told if I found myself in jail/prison and needed a quick weapon use fruit in a sock or bag … (oranges seemed to be preferred)becuase it doesn’t leave marks and cant be traced ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/73 "2022-08-19T08:47:22Z")
Both of those are good ideas though, just grab something from the pantry in your cell. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/74 "2022-08-19T15:00:16Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > actually, I was told if I found myself in jail/prison and needed a quick weapon use fruit in a sock or bag … (oranges seemed to be preferred)becuase it doesn’t leave marks and cant be traced Never bring an orange to a lock fight. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/75 "2022-12-07T23:39:11Z")
> **[Justice Dept. report outlines series of mistakes that led to prison beating...](https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/07/politics/whitey-bulger-report/index.html)** > > The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General released a report on Wednesday outlining how a series of mistakes by the embattled Bureau of Prisons led to the beating death of imprisoned Boston gangster and convicted murderer James "Whitey"... Here is the report: > **[23-007\_0.pdf](https://oig.justice.gov/sites/default/files/reports/23-007_0.pdf)** > > 1729.69 KB ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2022, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/76 "2022-12-11T17:14:47Z")
> [@The\_Vorlon](#): > > And now, the mad scramble to find the rest of the missing money has begun… I’m hoping Whitey left clues, in the form of cleverly-devised notes. No one will be able to decipher them at first, and rumor is that they just lead to the next clue. The result will be multiple cross-country high-speed chases, and the ensuing scavenger hunt will look a lot like _Rat Race_ or _It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World._ ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2022, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/77 "2022-12-11T17:22:53Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > (oranges seemed to be preferred)becuase it doesn’t leave marks and cant be traced Most forensic pathologists can detect the lingering citrus odor at autopsy. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2022, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/78 "2022-12-11T17:47:30Z")
I’ve always loved the “magic thinking” where there are ways to literally beat a man to death without making a mark on him. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/79 "2022-12-12T04:11:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Never bring an orange to a lock fight. I just pissed myself laughing. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2022, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733/80 "2022-12-12T21:11:20Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Most forensic pathologists can detect the lingering citrus odor at autopsy. “Either this man was murdered or somebody had carne asada for lunch.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-croaked-whitey-bulger/823733.md?page=5)