Friday, November 28, 2008

The Search for Whitey Bulger

The Boston Globe ran a story about the manhunt for fugitive gangster Whitey Bulger. We discussed this case before which was immortalized in the great movie The Departed.

Boston's most notorious gangster worked hand-in-hand with FBI agents, ratting out his Mob rivals in exchange for protection. When the partnership unraveled, James "Whitey" Bulger disappeared.


I don't know about you, but something about that bothers me. I think the story is that he was working with the FBI until it came out that the FBI was as dirty as he was. It reminds me of the way we've dealt with certain heads of state in recent years, Noriega and Hussein to name just two.

There are a number of fascinating articles on the Boston Globe site, among which is one from last year about a sighting here in Italy. A bunch of Task Force guys flew out. But I guess wiley Whitey was too fast for them. Come to think of it, I think I spotted him myself one day while sipping a cappuccino near the Coliseum. He was speaking perfect Italian and looked just like Jack Nicholson.


5 comments:

  1. Well, also remember that "Zip" Connoly was considered part of the Winter Hill Gang, as well as a Member of the FBI. I suspect that Whitey's swethart deal with the FBI was in-part and inside job. He was certainly a smart and ruthless gangster, who held a robin-hood like image in the public eye with the people of Metro Boston while he was still operating in the open.

    I don't think we'll ever catch him.

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  2. wow... i honestly didnt know that the departed was loosely based on fact... very cool.

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  3. Pretty damn close to fact as far as Hollywood goes.

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  5. Slyde, I didn't know it the one time I saw the film. I'm looking forward to seeing it again after following these stories. Plus, the movie was a little too complicated for me to get on one viewing.

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