Police have identified three suspects in the murder of notorious criminal James “Whitey” Bulger, who was murdered in a maximum-security prison in 2018 at the age of 89. Two of the men are currently incarcerated, one former inmate has been re-arrested for the murder of the former FBI informant.
The elderly Bulger, who was first arrested at 14 and was the leader of the infamous Winter Hill Gang, was transferred to a prison in Hazelton, West Virginia, in October 2018. A few hours after his arrival there, he was found dead in his cell.
The US Department of Justice announced Thursday that Fotios “Freddy” Geas, 55, who is serving a life sentence himself, is suspected of having beaten Bulger to death, along with fellow inmate Paul J. “Pauly” DeCologero. A third former inmate, Sean McKinnon (36), is said to have been involved. He had already been released but was arrested again on Thursday.
The authorities had their eye on the prisoners immediately after the murder, but the investigation took a long time. The Boston Globe reports that Bulger’s transfer to prison was controversial, because he had many enemies in the criminal circle. For years he had a dual role as an informant for the FBI, eliminating several rivals in the process.
In 2011, Bulger was arrested following a tip-off and in 2013, he was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he served until his transfer in 2018 in institutions where he enjoyed extra protection. He struggled with health problems in the last years of his life.