Whitey Bulger

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Whitey Bulger

American crime boss

Also known as: James Joseph Bulger, Jr.

Written by John M. Cunningham, Dick Lehr•All

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Dec 17, 2024 • Article History

Quick Facts

Byname of:: James Joseph Bulger, Jr.

Born:: September 3, 1929, Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.

Died:: October 30, 2018, U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia (aged 89)

On the Web:: BBC - Gangster James 'Whitey' Bulger killed in prison (Dec. 17, 2024)

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Whitey Bulger (born September 3, 1929, Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.—died October 30, 2018, U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia) was an American crime boss who, as head of the Boston-area Winter Hill Gang, was a leading figure in organized crime from the late 1960s to the mid-1990s. For more than a decade, until his capture in June 2011, he was listed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as one of its 10 most-wanted fugitives. Bulger was born to working-class Irish immigrants and grew up in a housing project in the neighbourhood of South Boston. In his early years he ...(100 of 837 words)

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