12 Hours After His Arrival at Hazelton, He Was Beaten to Death. Who Killed Him and Who Paid for it?
DOJ Report Says Mistakes Made by Fed. Goverment
By Dan Murphy
A scathing Department of Justice report on the death of James “Whitey” Bulger at Hazelton Federal Penitentary in West Virginia on October 29, 2018 found that the Federal Bureau of Prisons transfer of the former FBI informant, and one of the most wanted fugitives in the U.S., was mishandled in several ways.
“In our view, no BOP inmate’s transfer, whether they are a notorious offender or a non-violent offender, should be handled like Bulger’s transfer was in this instance,” writes DOJ inspector general Michael Horowitz, in his findings.
Bulger was caputured by the FBI in 2011, after living on the lamb for 18 years, mostly in California. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life. He served the first seven years at a Federal prison in Florida, including eight months in solitary confinement.
Bulger told prison employees that he wanted to get out of solitary and wanted to walk in the prison yard. But Whitey was underestimating the dozens of prison inmates at Hazelton who either wanted him dead, or would take a payday to kill one of the most famous “Rats” in history.
The DOJ-IG report contradicts itself in some parts. While the DOJ was unable to establish that any prison employees were in on the Bulger transfer and death, another part of the report says that a prison manager requested that Bulger be transferred to his unit.
Why that manager was so bent on having Bulger in his wing we may never know. But with at least one member of organized crime also in the wing, can we take a guess at why the welcome mat was laid out?
This same manager told investigators that he was not aware of any threats made against Bulger. This conflicts with the testimony of inmates who said that “everybody knew” that Bulger was coming, and that Bulger would be killed for his role as an informant with the FBI against the Italian Mafia in Boston.
The IG’s report adds that more than 100 prison employees knew about Bulger’s transfer and spoke openly about it around inmates. “Our investigation revealed serious BOP staff and management performance failures at multiple levels; bureaucratic incompetence; and flawed, confusing and insufficient BOP policies and procedures,” said IG Horowitz.
At least three Hazelton inmates wanted Bulger dead and three were arrested and charged with his murder:
Fotios “Freddy” Geas, was a hitman for the New England mafia during the years before Bulger fled in 1994, serving life in prison at Hazelton.
Paul DeCologero, was another made member of organized crime from Massachusetts, serving a 25 year sentence at Hazelton.
Sean McKinnon was the third inmate charged with conspiracy to committ first degree murder in the death of Bulger. All three were charged in Aug. of 2022.
McKinnon shared a cell with Geas and is charged as serving as the lookout, while Geas and DeCologero beat Bulger with a large metal lock.
McKinnon spoke to the media and said he is innocent, and not involved in Bulger’s death. McKinnon spent two years in solitary confinement after Bulger’s death. McKinnon, who is not a member of organized crime, said the Geas and DeCologero are also innocent.
“Hey, forgot to tell u Whitey B. the celebrity is coming here,” was what one inmate wrote in an email in the days before Bulger’s arrival, according to the report.
When he entered Hazelton prison, for what would be a one day stay, Bulger, in a wheelchair, had to pass by half the prison population in his wing to get to his cell, alerting anyone who didn’t already know he was here. That night, many inmates were kept up as other inmates yelled at Bulger for being a rat. Bulger died at 630 am that morning after his roomate left the cell and the beating began.
The sentiment of many was that, as Steven Davis said, “he had it coming and he didn’t have the right to live as long as he did.”
As an FBI informant, Bulger helped bring down the Patriarca crime family Boston Mafia. Whitey should have known they would get their revenge-be it 40 years later.
