James “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious former Boston mob boss, died Tuesday after being found unresponsive at a West Virginia federal prison, authorities said. Bulger was 89.
“On Tuesday, October 30, 2018, at approximately 8:20 a.m., inmate James Bulger was found unresponsive at the United States Penitentiary Hazelton, in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia,” reads an official statement from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. “Life-saving measures were initiated immediately by responding staff. Mr. Bulger was subsequently pronounced dead by the Preston County Medical Examiner.”
The statement continues: “The Federal Bureau of Investigation was notified and an investigation has been initiated. No staff or other inmates were injured, and at no time was the public in danger.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of West Virginia and the FBI will conduct the investigation into Bulger’s death.
Bulger was convicted in 2013 of murdering 11 people. He was also found guilty of extortion, money laundering and weapons charges. He was sentenced to life in prison for the crimes.
Bulger’s trial came nearly 20 years after he went on the run after being tipped off to a pending federal indictment by a corrupt FBI agent. He spent 16 years evading capture before he was arrested in 2011 in Santa Monica, California.
Prior to his capture, Bulger was second only to former Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden on the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
