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Judge

Sir Lyman Poore Duff, PC, GCMG, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada (1933–1944)
Occupation
Names	Judge, justice, magistrate
Activity sectors	Law Politics
Description
Competencies	Analytical mind, critical thinking, impartiality, commercial sense
Education required	Usually experience as an advocate

A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open court. The judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the parties of the case, assesses the credibility and arguments of the parties, and then issues a ruling on the matter at hand based on his or her interpretation of the law and his or her own personal judgment. In some jurisdictions, the judge's powers may be shared with a jury. In inquisitorial systems of criminal investigation, a judge might also be an examining magistrate.

Symbols of office[link]

17th century Spanish judge in full gowns, by Velázquez.

A variety of traditions have become associated with the rank or occupation.

In many parts of the world, judges wear long robes (usually in black or red) and sit on an elevated platform during trials (known as the bench).

In some countries, especially in the Commonwealth of Nations, judges sometimes wear wigs. The long wig often associated with judges is now reserved for ceremonial occasions, although it was part of the standard attire in previous centuries. A short wig resembling but not identical to a barrister's wig would be worn in court. This tradition, however, is being phased out in Britain in non-criminal courts.^[1]

American judges frequently wear black robes. American judges have ceremonial gavels, although American judges have court deputies or bailiffs and "contempt of court" power as their main devices to maintain decorum in the courtroom. However, in some Western states, like California, judges did not always wear robes and instead wore everyday clothing. Today, some members of state supreme courts, such as the Maryland Court of Appeals wear distinct dress.

In Italy both judges and lawyers wear particular black robes.

In the People's Republic of China, judges wore regular street clothes until 1984, when they began to wear military-style uniforms, which were intended to demonstrate authority. These uniforms were replaced in 2000 by black robes similar to those worn in the rest of the world.^{[citation needed]}

In Oman, the judge wears a long stripe (red, green white), while the attorneys wear the black gown.

Titles and forms of address[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Asia[link]

Hong Kong[link]

In Hong Kong, judges were addressed, in Cantonese, as Fat Goon Dai Yan (法官大人) before 1997, and as Fat Goon Gok Ha (法官閣下) since 1997. Fat Goon (法官) means "Judge". When trials are conducted in English, another official language of the city-state, magistrates are addressed as 'Sir/Madam', and District Court judges as 'Your Honour'. In the higher courts, namely the Court of First Instance, the Court of Appeal and the Court of Final Appeal, counsel continue to address judges as 'My Lord'/'My Lady' and 'Your Lordship'/'Your Ladyship', following the British tradition.

India[link]

These drawings were taken from life in 1758. 1. Judge of the Hindoo Law, Antoba Crustnagee Pundit. 2. Interpreter, Rhowangee Sewagee. 3. Hindoo Officer, Lellather Chatta Bhutt. 4. Judge of the Mohomedan Law, Cajee Husson. 5. Officer to the Mooremen, Mahmoud Ackram of the Codjee order or priesthood of the cast of Moormens. 6. Haveldar, or summoning Officer, Mahmound Ismael'.

In India, judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts are addressed as 'Your Lordship'/'My Lord' and 'Your Ladyship'/'My Lady', a tradition directly attributable to England. However a resolution of the Bar Council of India calls upon lawyers not to address the judges as 'lord' or 'lady', questioning the association with nobility within a constitutional democracy. Lawyers however continue to so address judges – partly out of entrenched habit and partly out of fear of falling in disfavour with them. Subordinate court judges (district, magistrate, munsif and sub-judges) are addressed as 'Your Honour'.

Israel[link]

In Israel, judges of all courts are addressed as "Sir/Madam" (אדוני/גבירתי) or "Your Honor" (כבודו/כבודה).

Japan[link]

In Japan, judges are addressed simply as "Saibancho" (Chief judge) or "Saibankan" (Judge)

Malaysia[link]

In Malaysia, judges of the subordinate courts are addressed as "Tuan" or "Puan" (Sir or Madam), or Your Honour, while judges of the superior courts are addressed as "Yang Arif" (lit. "Learned One") or My Lord/Lady and Your Lordship/Ladyship if the proceedings, as they generally are in the superior courts, are in English.

Pakistan[link]

In Pakistan, judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts are addressed as 'Your Lordship'/'My Lord' and 'Your Ladyship'/'My Lady', a tradition directly attributable to England. There is some resistance to this on religious grounds but more or less continues till this day. In lower courts, judges are addressed as "sir", "madam" or the Urdu equivalent "Janab".

Sri Lanka[link]

In Sri Lanka, judges of all courts are addressed as "Your Honour", however the Chief Justice is addressed as "Your Lordship". Judges of the Supreme Court and the Appeal Court receives the title "The Honourable".^{[citation needed]}

Europe[link]

Bulgaria[link]

In Bulgaria before 1989 during the communist regime judges were addressed as "другарю" ("comrade").^[2] After 1989 - "господин/ госпожо съдия" ("Mr./Mrs. Judge").

France[link]

In France, the presiding judge of a court is addressed as "Mr./Mrs. President" (Monsieur le président/Madame la présidente), whilst associate judges are addressed as "Mr./Mrs. Judge" (Monsieur le juge/Madame le juge).

Germany[link]

In Germany as "Mr./Mrs. Chairman" (Herr Vorsitzender/Frau Vorsitzende).

Ireland[link]

Judges of the Supreme Court or High Court are officially titled "The Honourable Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss Justice N", referred to for short as "Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss Justice N" and addressed in Court by their respective titles or styles, as "The Court", or simply "Judge". Some barristers continue occasionally to use the traditional mode of style, "My Lord", but this has been discouraged since 2006. In law reports, the Chief Justice of Ireland has the postnominal "CJ", the President of the High Court the postnominal "P", and all other judges "J", e.g. "Smith J".

Judges of the Circuit Court are titled "His/Her Honour Judge N" and are addressed in Court as "Judge". Before 2006, they were addressed as "My Lord". In law reports, "Judge Smith".

Judges of the District Court are titled "Judge N" and addressed in Court as "Judge". Before 1991 these judges were known as District Justices and addressed as "Your Worship".

Italy[link]

In Italy the presiding judge of a court is addressed as well to as "Mr./Mrs. President of the Court" ("Signor presidente della corte").

Netherlands[link]

In the Netherlands, presiding judges of either sex during trial are addressed edelachtbare ("Your Honor").

Poland[link]

In Poland, presiding judges of either sex during trial are addressed Wysoki Sądzie ("High Judge").

Russia[link]

In Russia as "Your Honor" ("Ваша Честь" trans. "Vasha Chest") - for criminal cases only. For civil and commercial cases the right version is "Respected Court".

Spain[link]

In Spain, magistrates of the Supreme Court, magistrates and judges are addressed to as "Your Lordship" (Su Señoría); however, in formal occasions, magistrates of the Supreme Court are addressed to as "Your Right Honorable Lordship" (Vuestra Señoría Excelentísima or Excelentísimo Señor/Excelentísima Señora); in those solemn occasions, magistrates of lower Courts are addressed as "Your Honorable Lordship" (Vuestra Señoría Ilustrísima or Ilustrísimo Señor/Ilustrísima Señora); simple judges are always called "Your Lordship".

Sweden[link]

In Sweden the presiding judge of a court is normally addressed as (sometimes Mr./Mrs.) Chairman (Herr "Ordförande"/Fru "Ordförande").

United Kingdom[link]

[edit] England and Wales

In the Courts of England and Wales judges of the High Court and Court of Appeal are addressed (when sitting in those courts) as "My Lord" or "My Lady" and referred to as "Your Lordship" or "Your Ladyship".

When a judge of the High Court who is not present is being referred to they are described as "Mr./Mrs. Justice N." In writing, the post-nominal letter "J" is used to denote a Judge (male or female) of the High Court: for example, Smith J.

Judges of the Court of Appeal, also called Lords Justice of Appeal, are referred to as "Lord Justice N" or "Lady Justice N." In writing, Lords Justices of Appeal are afforded the post nominal letters "LJ:" for example, Smith LJ.

Circuit Judges and Recorders are addressed as "Your Honour." Circuit judges are referred to as "His/Her Honour Judge N." In writing, this title may be abbreviated as "HHJ" or "HH Judge," e.g. "HH Judge Smith." district judges and tribunal judges are addressed as "Sir/Madam".

Lay magistrates are sometimes still addressed as "Your Worship" in England, South Africa and Canada, mainly by solicitors, but this practice in other Commonwealth countries is nearly obsolete. Lay magistrates are also addressed as "Sir/Madam."

Masters of the High Court are addressed as "Master".

In the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, judges are called Justices of the Supreme Court. Those Justices of the Supreme Court who do not hold life peerages are now given the courtesy style "Lord" or "Lady."^[3] Justices of the Supreme Court are addressed as "My Lord/Lady" in court. In the law reports, the Justices of the Supreme Court are usually referred to as "Lord/Lady N", although the Weekly Law Reports appends the post-nominal letters "JSC" (e.g. "Lady Smith JSC"), and the President and Deputy President of the Court are afforded the post-nominal letters PSC and DPSC respectively.

Scotland[link]

In the Courts of Scotland judges in the Court of Session, High Court of Justiciary and Sheriff Courts are all addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lady" and referred to as "Your Lordship" or "Your Ladyship".

Justices of the Peace in Justice of the Peace Courts are addressed and referred to as "Your Honour".

Northern Ireland[link]

The judicial system of Northern Ireland is very similar to that of England and Wales, and superior court judges are addressed the same way as those in England and Wales. However there are a few differences at the lower levels.

In Northern Ireland, the equivalent to a Circuit Judge is a County Court Judge, and they are addressed and titled the same way as a Circuit Judge is in England and Wales. The senior County Court Judges assigned to the County Court Divisions of Belfast and Derry have the titles of Recorder of Belfast and Recorder of Londonderry respectively, but are addressed the same as other County Court Judges. A district judge sitting in the County Court is addressed as "Your Honour".

A District Judge (Magistrates' Court) is addressed as "Your Worship". A Lay Magistrate, in cases where they are present, is also addressed as "Your Worship", and may use the post nominals "LM", e.g. "John Smith LM". ^[4].

North America[link]

Canada[link]

In general, Canadian judges are addressed directly as "Your Honour" or "Justice" and are formally referred to in the third person as "The Honourable Mr. (or Madam) Justice 'Forename Surname'". Less formally, judges of a Superior Court are referred to as "Justice 'Surname'", and it is never appropriate to refer to such a judge as "Judge 'Surname.'" When referred to in a decision of a court, judges' titles are often abbreviated to the suffix "J.", so that Justice Smith will be referred to as Smith J. Judges in some superior courts are addressed as "My Lord" or "My Lady".^[5]

Generally, it is only appropriate to use the term "judge" when speaking of an anonymous or general position, such as "the trial judge," or when referring to a member of an inferior or provincial court such as the Ontario Court of Justice.

Like other members of the Commonwealth, a justice of the peace is addressed as "Your Worship," and a Master of a Superior Court is both addressed and referred to as "Master."

United States[link]

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor

In many states throughout the United States, a judge is addressed as "Your Honor" or "Judge" when presiding over the court. "Judge" may be more commonly used by attorneys and staff, while either may be common with the plaintiff or defendant. Notably, the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, the largest unified trial court in the United States, has a rule that the judge shall be addressed only as "Your Honor", and never as "Judge", "Judge (name)", "ma'am", or "sir".^[6]

The judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the judges of the supreme courts of several U.S. states and other countries are called "justices" or "judges of the peace".

The justices of the supreme courts usually hold higher offices than the justice of the peace, a judge who holds police court in some jurisdictions and who typically tries small claims and misdemeanors. However, the state of New York inverts the usual order, with the Supreme Court of the State of New York being the lowest trial court of general jurisdiction, and the Court of Appeals being the highest court. This is a historical artifact from when the superior trial court in common law jurisdictions was called the "supreme court" (which still exists in some jurisdictions, such as Australia).

Consequently, New York trial judges are called "justices", while the judges on the Court of Appeals are "judges". New York judges who deal with guardianships, trusts and estates are uniquely known as "surrogates".

A senior judge, in U.S. practice, is a retired judge who handles selected cases for a governmental entity while in retirement, on a part-time basis.

Subordinate or inferior jurisdiction judges in U.S. legal practice are sometimes called magistrates, although in the federal court of the United States, they are called magistrate judges. Subordinate judges in U.S. legal practice who are appointed on a case-by-case basis, particularly in cases where a great deal of detailed and tedious evidence must be reviewed, are often called "masters" or "special masters" and have authority in a particular case often determined on a case by case basis.

Judges of courts of specialized jurisdiction (such as bankruptcy courts or juvenile courts) were sometimes known officially as "referees," but the use of this title is in decline. Judges sitting in courts of equity in common law systems (such as judges in the equity courts of Delaware) are called "Chancellors".

Individuals with judicial responsibilities who report to an executive branch official, rather than being a part of the judiciary, are often called "administrative law judges" in U.S. practice. They were previously known as hearing examiners. They commonly make initial determinations regarding matters such as workers' compensation, eligibility for government benefits, regulatory matters, and immigration determinations.

Judges who derive their authority from a contractual agreement of the parties to a dispute, rather than a governmental body are called arbitrators. They typically do not receive the honorific forms of address nor do they bear the symbolic trappings of a publicly appointed judge. However, it is now common for many retired judges to serve as arbitrators, and they will often write their names as if they were still judges, with the parenthetical "(Ret.)" for "Retired."

Unlike many civil law countries which have some courts on which panels of judges with nearly equal status composed of both legally trained professional judges and lay judges who lack legal training and are not career judges, the United States legal system (like most Anglo-American legal systems) makes a clear distinction between professional judges and laymen involved in deciding case who are jurors who are part of a jury. Most, but not all U.S. judges have professional credentials as lawyers. Non-lawyer judges in the United States are often elected, and a typically either justices of the peace or part-time judges in rural limited jurisdiction courts. A non-lawyer judge typically has the same rights and responsibilities as a lawyer who is a judge holding the same office, and is addressed in the same manner.

Oceania[link]

Australia[link]

In Australia since 2007 magistrates and judges of all jurisdictions including the High Court of Australia are now referred to as "Your Honour" or "His Honour Mr Justice Forename Surname". Judges of the Supreme Court are called "Justice". Like other common law jurisdictions, when referred to in court judgments as Surname J. Judges in the New South Wales Court of Appeal are referred to as Justices of the Appeal (abbreviated Surname JA).

New Zealand[link]

In New Zealand, judges of the High Court and above are referred to as "His/Her Honour Justice Surname" in speech, and "Surname J" in writing. Judges of the District Court and the other statutory courts are referred to as "His/Her Honour Judge Surname" in speech, and "Surname DCJ" or "Judge Surname" in writing. The "Mr" of the title "Mr Justice" was dropped on the appointment of Cartwright J to the High Court. In Court, all judges are addressed as "Your Honour", or "Sir/Madam".

South America[link]

Brazil[link]

In Brazil, judges are simply called "juiz" or "juíza" (male and female forms of "judge") and traditionally addressed to as "Vossa Excelência" (lit. "Your Excellency", translated as "Your Honor") or "Meritíssimo" (lit. "Honorable", but it is used as a pronoun also translated as "Your Honor"). Judges that are part of a pannel in a State Court, or Federal Court are called "desembargadores". Judges sitting in the higher courts (Supremo Tribunal Federal, Superior Tribunal de Justiça, Tribunal Superior do Trabalho and Tribunal Superior Eleitoral) are called "ministro" or "ministra" (male and female forms of "minister") and also referred to as "Vossa Excelência".

International courts[link]

Judges at the International Court of Justice

At the International Court of Justice, judges may be addressed by the titles they received in their countries of origin.

Judges of the International Criminal Court are referred to as "judge."

Other[link]

Biblical Judges[link]

The Biblical Book of Judges revolves around a succession of leaders who were known as "Judges" (Hebrew shoftim שופטים) but who - aside from their judicial function - were also tribal war leaders, leading in war against threatening enemies. The same word is, however, used in contemporary Israel to denote judges whose function and authority is similar to that in other modern countries.

See also[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Judges

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Judges

• Adjudicator
• Barrister
• Court dress
• Election judge
• Judicial deference
• Judiciary
• Lawyer
• Lay judge
• List of jurists
• Magistrate
• Prosecutor
• Public defender
• Solicitor

References[link]

External links[link]

Look up judge in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• State of California Commission of Judicial Performance

Europe
M.E.D.E.L European association of judges and public prosecutors.

• CEPEJ European commission for the efficiency of justice.
• CCJE European consultative council of judges.
• How sentencing works: You be the Judge
• Directgov Crown Court - what it does (Directgov, England and Wales)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2011)

Jeanine Ferris Pirro (born June 2, 1951) is a former prosecutor, judge, and elected official from the state of New York, who is currently a legal analyst and television personality. A Republican from Westchester County, Pirro served as a county court judge before serving as the elected District Attorney of Westchester County for 12 years. As a district attorney she gained considerable visibility, especially in cases regarding domestic abuse and crimes against the elderly. She was the first female judge on the Westchester County Court bench.

Pirro was the Republican nominee for New York State Attorney General in 2006, losing to Democrat Andrew Cuomo (a fellow Albany Law alumnus). She also held the nominations of the New York Conservative and Independence Parties. She previously sought the nominations of her party for the offices of New York State Lieutenant Governor and United States Senator and withdrew her name in each case. She was a regular contributor to The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. She is currently contributing to Today, Fox NY Good Day New York, is a Fox News legal analyst appearing on various shows, and has guest hosted shows such as Larry King Live, The Joy Behar Show and Geraldo at Large. She is a frequent guest on Fox's late-night satire show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, and also currently hosts a television program entitled Judge Jeanine Pirro. In May 2010, the show received its first Emmy nomination. Pirro is also the host of Fox News Channel's Justice with Judge Jeanine which premiered in January 2011. In 2011, Judge Pirro received the daytime Emmy Award for her TV court show "Judge Pirro."

Biography[link]

Early life[link]

Pirro was born in Elmira, New York, to Nasser "Leo" and Esther Ferris. Her father was a mobile-home salesman; her mother, a department-store model. She is a Catholic of Lebanese descent.^[1]

She graduated from Notre Dame High School in three years rather than the usual four.^[2] She then graduated from the University at Buffalo. She received her J.D. degree at Albany Law School in 1975.

Marriage[link]

Jeanine Ferris married Albert Pirro in 1975. She was reported as being separated from her husband in a December 6, 2009 article in The New York Times.^[3]

Westchester County positions[link]

In 1978, Pirro became an assistant district attorney in Westchester County.

In 1986, GOP gubernatorial candidate Andrew O’Rourke selected Pirro to be his running mate in the campaign. Allegations surfaced about her husband's business dealings and his refusal to release information about his financial life. Pirro pulled out of the race and journalists later revealed her husband’s alleged ties to organized crime.

In 1989, she became a judge on the Westchester County Court, the first female to hold such a position.

In 1993, Pirro was elected district attorney of Westchester County, again the first female to hold that position.^[4] She was re-elected in 1997 and 2001. Prosecuting murder, rape, domestic violence, and other cases, Pirro achieved considerable fame and media visibility, appearing on television programs such as Larry King Live and Nightline. People magazine named her as one of its 50 Most Beautiful People in 1997.^[5]

In 1997 she chaired the New York State Commission on Domestic Violence Fatalities, whose report and recommendations resulted in legislation passing that enhanced protections of, and safeguards for, the victims of domestic abuse.

On May 23, 2005 Pirro announced that she would not seek re-election as Westchester Country District Attorney.^[6]

During her time in Westchester, it has been confirmed that Pirro met with Douglas Durst in regards to the 1982 disappearance of his sister in law, Kathie Durst. It has been speculated that this meeting put a stop to the reinvigorated search for Kathie and investigation into her death, which was largely thought to be at the hands of Robert Durst, Kathie's husband and Douglas' brother. This meeting was said to be mutually beneficial for Pirro's political and media career as well as for the Durst Corporation.

2006 U.S. Senate campaign[link]

On August 10, 2005 in New York City, Pirro announced that she would seek the Republican nomination to challenge first-term incumbent Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Democrat, in the 2006 election for U.S. Senator from New York.

Other Republicans who announced campaigns for the nomination were John Spencer, a former mayor of Yonkers, William Brenner, an attorney in Sullivan County, and attorney Edward Cox, the son-in-law of former President Richard Nixon.

During an appearance at the Crime Victims Resource Center, Pirro described herself this way: "I am red on fiscal policy. I am conservative and I support the Bush tax cut." She added, however: "I have broad blue stripes when it comes to social issues... I am a woman who is a moderate in New York." ^[7]

Republican Governor George Pataki's endorsement of Pirro caused Cox to withdraw from the race,^[8] leaving Pirro as the likely nominee. On December 21, 2005, after continuing pressure from party chiefs, a lagging fundraising effort, and polls showing she would be defeated by Clinton (a Quinnipiac University poll found Pirro would lose to Clinton 62 percent to 30 percent), Jeanine Pirro dropped out of the Senate race just two months after she started her campaign. "I have decided that my law enforcement background better qualifies me for a race for New York State attorney general than a race for the United States Senate," she said in a statement.^[9]

Donors to the political campaigns of Jeanine Pirro have included designer Tommy Hilfiger (also a native of Elmira), Donald Trump and numerous contractors and real estate executives who have done business with her husband.^{[citation needed]}

2006 State Attorney General campaign[link]

On May 31, 2006, Pirro, unopposed for the GOP nomination, became the party's official candidate by acclamation at the GOP convention.^[10] However, in the general election, Pirro lost to the Democratic nominee, former Clinton Housing and Urban Development Secretary Andrew Cuomo.^[11]

Judge Jeanine Pirro on The CW[link]

On May 5, 2008, The CW announced that Pirro would host a weekday television show to be named Judge Jeanine Pirro, part of the network's CW Daytime lineup and that features two episodes airing daily. The show is distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television and is by default carried by all CW affiliates.^[12]

Judge Jeanine Pirro has been cleared for a second season beginning in fall 2009. Unlike its first season, the second season launching fall 2009 was not exclusive to CW affiliates.^[13]

References[link]

Sources and further reading[link]

• Healy, Patrick D. "Democrats Push Rival to Repay Security Costs." New York Times. August 3, 2005.
• Kovaleski, Serge F. "In Sex Arrests Hailed by Pirro, Little Jail Time." New York Times. October 13, 2006.
• "Pirro Takes Aim at Clinton's Job". Newsday, August 9, 2005.

External links[link]

• The Jeanine Machine A frank biography by S. Richard Blassberg
• New York Elections, informedandenfranchised.com
• Westchester County District Attorney's Office official website As of January 2006^[update], Janet DiFiore holds this office.
• Jeanine Pirro for Attorney General official website
• Jeanine Pirro official website

James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger
U.S. Marshals Service mugshot
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
Charges	Racketeering influenced and corrupt organizations (RICO): Murder (19 counts) Conspiracy to commit murder Conspiracy to commit extortion Narcotics distribution Conspiracy to commit money laundering Extortion
Alias	Thomas F. Baxter, Tom Harris, Tom Bulger, Mark Shapeton, Thomas Marshall, Charles Gasko[1]
Description
Born	James Joseph Bulger, Jr. (1929-09-03) September 3, 1929 (age 82) Dorchester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Parents	James Joseph Bulger, Sr. and Jane Veronica (née McCarthy) Bulger
Siblings	William M. Bulger John P. Bulger 3 sisters[2]
Criminal Status
Added	August 19, 1999
Caught	June 22, 2011[3]
Number	458
Captured

James Joseph "Whitey" Bulger, Jr. (born September 3, 1929) is a former organized crime figure from Boston, Massachusetts.^[4][5] Local folklore depicted Bulger as a Robin Hood–style social bandit dedicated to protecting the neighborhood and its residents.^[5][6][7] Bulger allegedly masterminded a protection racket targeting drug kingpins and those running illegal gambling operations. Based upon the testimony of former associates, Federal prosecutors have indicted Bulger for 19 murders.

Beginning in 1975, Bulger served as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).^[8] As a result, the Bureau largely ignored his organization in exchange for information about the inner workings of the Italian American Patriarca crime family.^[9][10][11] Beginning in 1997, the New England media exposed criminal actions by federal, state, and local law enforcement officials tied to Bulger. For the FBI especially, this has caused great embarrassment.^[12][13][14] On December 23, 1994, after being tipped off by his former FBI handler about a pending indictment under the RICO Act, Bulger fled Boston and went into hiding. For sixteen years, he remained at large. For twelve of those years, Bulger was prominently listed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.^[15]

On June 22, 2011, Bulger was arrested outside an apartment in Santa Monica, California. Arrested with him was his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger was 81 years old at the time of his arrest.^{[3][16][17][18]} Soon after, Bulger and Greig were extradited to Massachusetts and brought under heavy guard to the waterfront federal courthouse. This necessitated the closing of part of Boston Harbor. Greig was arraigned in the Federal District Court of the First Circuit in Boston on charges of harboring a fugitive and is currently seeking release on bail. Bulger has not sought bail and remains in custody at the Plymouth County House of Correction in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Early life[link]

A mug shot of Bulger taken in 1953

Bulger's father, James Joseph Bulger, was the son of parents from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. His father married Jane Veronica McCarthy, a first generation Irish-American, after settling in the North End, Boston.^[19][20][21] Their first child, James Jr., was born in 1929.

The elder Bulger worked as a union laborer and occasional longshoreman; however, he lost his arm in an industrial accident^[22] and the family was reduced to poverty.^[23] In May 1938, the Old Harbor Village public housing project (formerly known as the Mary Ellen McCormack Housing Project) was opened in South Boston.^[24] The Bulger family moved in and the children grew up there. Young James preferred the streets, but his younger brothers (William and John) excelled at school.

Jimmy Bulger was arrested in 1943, at the age of 14 and charged with larceny.^{[citation needed]} By then, Bulger had joined a street gang known as the "Shamrocks" and would eventually be arrested for assault, battery and armed robbery. He was eventually sentenced to a juvenile reformatory. Shortly after his release in April 1948, he joined the United States Air Force.^[25] After his basic training, he was stationed first at the Smoky Hill Air Force Base in Salina, Kansas, then in Idaho. Bulger was sentenced to the stockade for several assaults. He was also arrested in 1950, for going absent without leave. Nevertheless, he received an honorable discharge in 1952, and returned to Massachusetts.^[25]

Early criminal career[link]

Prison[link]

Alcatraz mug shot of Bulger, 1959

In the 1950s, Bulger was first in federal custody at Atlanta Penitentiary (1956–1959) for armed robbery and hijacking. There, according to mobster Kevin Weeks,^[26] he was involved in the MK-ULTRA program, the goal of which was to research mind-control drugs for the Central Intelligence Agency, headed by CIA chemist Sidney Gottlieb.^[27] For eighteen months, Bulger and eighteen other inmates who had volunteered to lessen their sentences were given LSD and other drugs.^[26] Bulger later complained that he and the other inmates had been "recruited by deception," and that they were told that they were helping to find "a cure for schizophrenia".^[28]

He was then transferred from Atlanta to Alcatraz Island, arriving on November 2, 1959, as prisoner #AZ1428. He became a close friend of fellow inmate Clarence Carnes, alias "The Choctaw Kid". In November 1962, he was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary (1962–1963), and in the following year to Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary (1963–1965). He was released after serving nine years in prison.

The Killeen Gang[link]

After his release, Bulger worked as a janitor and eventual construction worker before becoming an enforcer for Donald Killeen, the leader of the dominant Irish mob in South Boston. In 1971, Killeen's younger brother allegedly bit off the nose of Michael Dwyer, a member of the rival Mullen Gang. A gangland war soon resulted, leading to a string of killings throughout Boston and the surrounding suburbs. The Killeens quickly found themselves outgunned and outmaneuvered by the younger Mullens.

According to Kevin Weeks:

"One day while the gang war was still going on, Jimmy was driving down Seventh Street in South Boston when he saw Paulie [Paul McGonagle] driving toward him. Jimmy pulled up beside him, window to window, nose to nose, and called his name. As Paulie looked over, Jimmy shot him right between the eyes. Only at that moment, just as he pulled the trigger, Jimmy realized it wasn't Paulie. It was Donald, the most likable of the McGonagle brothers, the only one who wasn't involved in anything. Jimmy drove straight to his mentor Billy O'Sullivan's house on Savin Hill Avenue and told O'Sullivan, who was at the stove cooking, 'I shot the wrong one. I shot Donald.' Billy looked up from the stove and said, 'Don't worry about it. He wasn't healthy anyway. He smoked. He would have gotten lung cancer. How do you want your pork chops?'"^[29]

According to former Mullen boss Patrick Nee, Paul McGonagle was enraged by the murder of his twin brother. Certain that William O'Sullivan was responsible, McGonagle ambushed and murdered Bulger's mentor. The end of the war has usually been related as follows. Bulger, realizing that he was on the losing side, secretly approached Howie Winter, the leader of the Winter Hill Gang. He allegedly told Winter that he could end the fighting in South Boston by murdering the leaders of the Killeen gang. Shortly thereafter, Donald Killeen was gunned down outside his home in the suburb of Framingham.^[25] Former Mullen Gang boss Patrick Nee disputes this claim. According to Nee, the slaying of Donald Killeen on May 13, 1972, was carried out not by Bulger but by Mullen Gang enforcers James Mantville and Tommy King.^[30]

Also according to Nee, Bulger and the Killeens fled the city in the aftermath of their boss's murder, fearing that they would be next. Instead of murdering Bulger, however, Patrick Nee arranged for the dispute to be mediated by Howie Winter and Patriarca crime family captain Joseph Russo. After a sit-down at Chandler's restaurant in the South End, Boston, the two gangs joined forces, with Winter as overall boss.^[31]

Nee stated,

Nobody talked fault, although at first it was tense while we ran down the 'who killed who' list. Whitey was a defeated warrior looking to keep as much honor as possible. He knew the Mullens had courageous, fierce men willing to die for theirs, and he was perceptive. Deep down, Whitey knew that he couldn't take over for the Killeens without cutting the Mullens in on their bookmaking and loansharking. Tommy [King] and I felt victorious, but we didn't want to gloat. The meeting lasted for six hours. We ate good steaks, chasing them down with nothing stronger than ginger ale. It was business, and contrary to media stereotype, we weren't a bunch of lowlifes who sat around drinking beer all day and all night.^[32]

According to Nee,

The balance of the meeting was spent forming an alliance, and by far the hardest part was deciding whom to protect. After a war, each side usually gets to protect so many people from harm. Those who aren't protected are fair game for retribution and 'shake-downs.' Everything was split down the middle. All the horses, dogs, bookmaking, and loansharking were now going to be under our mutual control. This was the beginning of our relationship. Whitey and I were now officially partners and nobody at that table could ever have possibly imagined how this treacherous fuck would treat his partners.^[33]

Eventually Bulger would become the lover of Catherine Greig, the ex-wife of Robert McGonagle, the brother of twins Donald and Paul McGonagle.^[34]

The Winter Hill Gang[link]

Stephen Flemmi

After the 1972 truce, Bulger and the Mullens were in control of South Boston's criminal underworld. FBI Special Agent Condon noted in his log in September 1973, that Bulger and Nee had been heavily shaking down the neighborhood's bookmakers. During the years that followed, Bulger began to remove opposition by persuading Howie Winter to sanction the killings of those who "stepped out of line". These included Mullen Gang veterans Spike O'Toole, Paulie McGonagle and Tommy King. It is also alleged that he had direct involvement in the slayings of Eddie Connors and Buddy Leonard in November 1975.^[25] In a 2004 interview, Winter recalled that the highly intelligent Bulger, "could teach the devil tricks."^[35]

In 1979, Howie Winter was arrested, along with many members of his inner circle, on charges of fixing horse races. Bulger and his then partner Stephen Flemmi were left out of the indictments. They stepped into the vacuum and took over the leadership of the gang. They transferred its headquarters to the Lancaster Street Garage in Boston near the Boston Garden in the North End.^[25]

FBI informant[link]

In 1971, the FBI, searching for reliable information in their battle against the Patriarca crime family, approached Bulger and attempted to recruit him as an informant. FBI Special Agent Dennis Condon was assigned to make the pitch. However, Condon reported that Bulger was too concerned about his own safety to start working with the FBI.^[25]

In 1974, Bulger became partners with Stephen Flemmi, an Italian American mobster and FBI informant since 1965. Although it is a documented fact that Bulger soon followed Flemmi's example, exactly how and why continues to be debated. Special Agent John Connolly frequently boasted to his fellow agents about how he had recruited Bulger at a late night meeting at Wollaston Beach inside an FBI issue car. Connolly allegedly said that the Bureau could help in Bulger's feud with Mafia underboss Gennaro Angiulo. After listening to the pitch, Bulger is said to have responded, "Alright, if they want to play checkers, we'll play chess. Fuck 'em."^[36]

Author Howie Carr alleges that Bulger had been an off-the-books informant since the 1940s. Carr dubiously claims that a teenaged Bulger worked as a male prostitute in Boston's gay bars. Carr also claims that, Bulger was blackmailed into informing after Special Agent H. Paul Rico tailed him into a gay bar. This has never been confirmed, however.

Kevin Weeks dismisses all of these allegations. According to Weeks, the charismatic Bulger, "had more women than Hugh Hefner." As for Bulger's informant status, Weeks considers it more likely that Bulger's partner Stephen Flemmi had betrayed him to the FBI. He writes of his belief that Bulger was caught between a rock and a hard place: supply information to the FBI or return to Federal prison.^[37]

In 1997, shortly after The Boston Globe disclosed that Bulger and Flemmi had been informants, Weeks met with retired FBI Agent John Connolly, who showed him a photocopy of Bulger's FBI informant file. In order to explain Bulger and Flemmi's status as informants, Connolly said, "The Mafia was going against Jimmy and Stevie, so Jimmy and Stevie went against them."^[38]

According to Weeks,

As I read over the files at the Top of the Hub [restaurant] that night, Connolly kept telling me that 90 percent of the information in the files came from Stevie. Certainly Jimmy hadn't been around the Mafia the way Stevie had. But, Connolly told me, he had to put Jimmy's name on the files to keep his file active. As long as Jimmy was an active informant, Connolly said, he could justify meeting with Jimmy and giving him valuable information. Even after he retired, Connolly still had friends in the FBI, and he and Jimmy kept meeting to let each other know what was going on. I listened to all that, but now I understood that even though he was retired, Connolly was still getting information, as well as money, from Jimmy. As I continued to read, I could see that a lot of the reports were not just against the Italians. There were more and more names of Polish and Irish guys, of people we had done business with, of friends of mine. Whenever I came across the name of someone I knew, I would read exactly what it said about that person. I would see, over and over again, that some of these people had been arrested for crimes that were mentioned in these reports. It didn't take long for me to realize that it had been bullshit when Connolly told me that the files hadn't been disseminated, that they had been for his own personal use. He had been an employee of the FBI. He hadn't worked for himself. If there was some investigation going on and his supervisor said, 'Let me take a look at that,' what was Connolly going to do? He had to give it up. And he obviously had. I thought about what Jimmy had always said, 'You can lie to your wife and to your girlfriends, but not to your friends. Not to anyone we're in business with.' Maybe Jimmy and Stevie hadn't lied to me. But they sure hadn't been telling me everything.^[39]

A federal judge ruled on September 5, 2006, that the mishandling of Bulger and Flemmi caused the 1984 murder of informant John McIntyre. As a result, the McIntyre family was ordered to receive more than $3 million from the U.S. Federal Government. The judge stated the FBI failed to properly supervise their own agent John Connolly (convicted and jailed in 2002) and also failed to investigate numerous allegations that Bulger and Flemmi were involved in drug trafficking, murder, and other crimes over decades.^[40]

In a 2011 interview, Stephen Flemmi recalled, "Me and Whitey gave [the Feds] shit, and they gave us gold."^[28]

Crime boss[link]

Consolidating power[link]

Federal Bureau of Investigation surveillance photograph of Bulger (right) with enforcer Stephen Flemmi (left) c. 1980.

Winter and most of his organization's leadership were sentenced for fixing horse races in 1979, but the FBI persuaded federal prosecutors to drop all charges against Bulger and Flemmi. Bulger and Flemmi then took over the remnants of the Winter Hill Gang and used their status as informants to eliminate competition. The information they supplied to the FBI in subsequent years was responsible for the imprisonment of several Bulger associates whom Bulger viewed as threats; however, the main victim of their relationship with the federal government was the Italian-American Patriarca crime family, which was based in Boston's North End, and in Federal Hill, Providence. After the 1986 RICO indictment of underboss Gennaro Angiulo and his associates, the Patriarca family's Boston operations were in shambles. Bulger and Flemmi stepped into the ensuing vacuum to take control of organized crime in the Boston area.^[25]

Litif murder[link]

In 1980, Bulger was approached in South Boston's Triple O's saloon by Louis Litif, a neighborhood bookmaker. Kevin Weeks, who was then a bouncer at Triple O's, witnessed the discussion that followed. He has recalled,

"He wasn't a big guy, maybe five seven and 185 pounds. Of Arab descent, he had a mustache like Saddam Hussein. He had a wife and a couple of kids, and a three decker townhouse on East Broadway and G. I was friendly with his daughter Louanne, who was a few years younger than me. That night, as always, he was talking in his obnoxious loud voice. Even when there were 400 people in the bar, you always knew Louie was there.^[41]

According to Weeks, Litif had been stealing from his partners in the bookmaking operation and using the money to traffic cocaine. What is more, Litif had not only refused to pay a cut of his drug profits, but had also committed two murders without Bulger's permission.^[42]

As Weeks listened, Litif told an outraged Bulger that he was also going to kill his partner, "Joe the Barber," whom he accused of stealing money from the bookmaking operation. Bulger refused to sanction this, but Litif vowed to kill him anyway. Seething with anger, Bulger informed Litif that he had, "stepped over the line," and was, "no longer just a bookmaker."^[43]

At the time Kevin Weeks was about to get married to his longtime girlfriend. A short time before the wedding, Weeks informed Bulger that he was having difficulty seating Louis Litif. "Don't worry about it," Bulger responded. "He probably won't show."^[44]

According to Weeks,

"Personally, I liked Louie. Every Sunday night, he'd come down to Triple O's and we'd play cards or pinball, twenty bucks a game. He was loud but funny, and he'd always been a major moneymaker for Jimmy. He should have just stayed a bookie and not tried to jump from the minor leagues to the majors. And now he wanted to kill a friend of Jimmy. There was no way that would be allowed. Shortly after that, a week or so before my wedding, Louie was found stuffed into a garbage bag in the trunk of his car, which had been dumped in the South End. He'd been stabbed with an ice pick and shot. 'He was color coordinated,' Jimmy told me. 'He was wearing green under wear and was in a green garbage bag.' At the wedding, when I went around to greet his table, Jimmy pointed to the empty chair beside him and said, 'Say hi to Louie.' Stevie picked up a napkin and made a show of wiping his face. 'He keeps on drinking and it keeps on leaking out of him,' he said, reminding us that Louie had been shot in the head and any drink he might have put in his mouth would pour right out of his face. And they all broke out laughing."^[45]

Halloran and Donahue murders[link]

In 1982, a South Boston cocaine dealer named Edward Brian Halloran, known on the streets as "Balloonhead," approached the FBI and stated that he had witnessed Bulger and Flemmi murdering Louis Litif. Meanwhile, FBI agent John Connolly kept Bulger and Flemmi closely briefed on what Halloran was saying to the Bureau. According to Kevin Weeks, Bulger and Flemmi were most enraged that Halloran was falsely claiming involvement in their assassination of Tulsa, Oklahoma businessman Roger Wheeler. Ultimately, the FBI discovered Halloran's falsehoods and refused him and his family a place in the Witness Protection Program. Soon after, on May 11, 1982, Bulger, Flemmi and Weeks were tipped off that Halloran had returned to South Boston.

After arriving at the scene, Kevin Weeks staked out Anthony's Pier 4 Restaurant, where Halloran was dining. Michael Donahue of Dorchester, a construction worker, neighbor, and friend of Halloran, incidentally ran into him at the restaurant. In a decision that would prove costly, Donahue offered Halloran a ride home.

As Donahue and Halloran drove out of the parking lot, Weeks signaled Bulger by stating, "The balloon is in the air", over a hand held radio. Bulger drove up with a masked man armed with a silenced Mac 10; Bulger himself carried a .30 caliber carbine. Bulger, wearing a floppy hat and a long haired wig, and the other shooter opened fire and sprayed Halloran and Donahue's car with bullets. Donahue was shot in the head and killed instantly. Halloran lived long enough to identify his attacker as James Flynn, a Winter Hill associate, who was later tried and acquitted. Flynn remained the prime suspect until 1999, when Weeks agreed to cooperate with investigators and identified Bulger as one of the shooters. Stephen Flemmi has identified the second shooter as Mullen Gang leader Patrick Nee. Nee denies the allegation and no charges have yet been filed.

Michael Donahue was survived by his wife and three sons. The Donahue and Halloran families eventually filed a civil lawsuit against the United States Federal Government after learning that FBI Agent John Connolly had informed Bulger of Halloran's informant status. Both families were awarded several million dollars in damages. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal, due to the late filing of the claims.^[8][46] Thomas Donahue, who was eight years old when his father was murdered, has become a spokesman for the families of those allegedly murdered by the Winter Hill Gang.^[47]

Glory days[link]

Throughout the 1980s, Bulger, Flemmi and Weeks ran shakedowns throughout eastern Massachusetts, e.g., extortion, loansharking, bookmaking, truck hijackings and arms trafficking. State and federal agencies were repeatedly stymied in their attempts to build cases against Bulger and his inner circle. This was caused by several factors. Among them was the trio's paranoid fear of wiretaps, South Boston's code of silence, and also corruption within the Boston Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Although disgraced FBI agent John Connolly has long been Bulger's most infamous friend in law enforcement, Kevin Weeks has insisted that Lieutenant Richard J. Schneiderhan was valued far more highly. According to Weeks, this was because Schneiderhan was the Winter Hill Gang's only source inside the Massachusetts State Police.^[48][49]

Drug trafficking[link]

During the middle 1980s, Bulger began to summon drug dealers from in and around Boston to his headquarters. Flanked by Kevin Weeks and Stephen Flemmi, Bulger would inform each dealer that he had been offered a substantial sum to assassinate them. He would then demand a large cash payment not to do so. Eventually, however, the massive profits of drugs proved irresistible. According to Weeks,

Jimmy, Stevie and I weren't in the import business and weren't bringing in the marijuana or the cocaine. We were in the shakedown business. We didn't bring drugs in; we took money off the people who did. We never dealt with the street dealers, but rather with a dozen large-scale drug distributors all over the State who were bringing in the coke and marijuana and paying hundreds of thousands to Jimmy. The dealers on the street corner sold eight-balls, . . . grams, and half grams to customers for their personal use. They were supplied by the mid level drug dealer who was selling them multiple ounces. In other words, the big importers gave it to the major distributors, who sold it to the middlemen, who then sold it to the street dealers. In order to get to Jimmy, Stevie, and me, someone would have had to go through those four layers of insulation.^[50]

In South Boston, most of the neighborhood's cocaine and marijuana trade was managed by John Shea. According to Weeks, Bulger briefly considered murdering Shea, but eventually decided to just shake him down.

According to Weeks, Bulger enforced strict rules over the dealers who were paying him protection.

The only people we ever put out of business were heroin dealers. Jimmy didn't allow heroin in South Boston. It was a dirty drug that users stuck in their arms, making problems with needles, and later on, AIDS. While people can do cocaine socially and still function, once they do heroin, they're zombies.^[51]

Weeks also alleges that Bulger strictly forbade PCP and selling to children,^[52] and that those dealers who refused to play by his rules were violently driven out of the neighborhood. In 1990, "Red" Shea and his associates were arrested as part of a joint investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Boston Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. All refused to testify against Bulger, Flemmi, and Weeks. According to Weeks,

Of course, Jimmy lost money once the drug dealers were removed from the streets in the summer raid, but he always had other business going on. Knowing I had to build something on the side, I had concentrated on my shylocking and gambling businesses. The drug business had been good while it lasted. But our major involvement in it was over."^[53]

It would not be until the 1999 cooperation of Weeks that Bulger, by then a fugitive, was conclusively linked to the drug trade by investigators.

Won Massachusetts state lottery[link]

One week in the summer of 1991, Bulger and three friends came into possession of the winning Massachusetts Lottery ticket, which had been bought at a store he owned. The four men shared a prize of around $14 million.^[54]

Downfall[link]

Photographed in 1994

In April 1994, a joint task force of the DEA, the Massachusetts State Police, and the Boston Police Department launched a probe of Bulger's gambling operations. The FBI, by this time considered compromised, was not informed. After a number of bookmakers agreed to testify to having paid protection money to Bulger, a Federal case was built against him under the RICO Act.

According to Kevin Weeks,

In 1993, and 1994, before the pinches came down, Jimmy and Stevie were traveling on the French and Italian Riviera. The two of them traveled all over Europe, sometimes separating for a while. Sometimes they took girls, sometimes just the two of them went. They would rent cars and travel all through Europe. It was more preparation than anything, getting ready for another life. They didn't ask me to go, not that I would have wanted to. Jimmy had prepared for the run for years. He'd established a whole other person, Thomas Baxter, with a complete ID and credit cards in that name. He'd even joined associations in Baxter's name, building an entire portfolio for the guy. He'd always said you had to be ready to take off on short notice. And he was.^[55]

He had also set up safe deposit boxes, containing cash, jewelry, and passports, in locations across North America and Europe including Florida, Oklahoma, Montreal, Dublin, London, Birmingham (UK) and Venice. In December 1994, Bulger was informed by retired FBI Agent John Connolly that sealed indictments had come from the Department of Justice and that the FBI were due to make arrests during the Christmas season. In response, Bulger fled Boston on December 23, 1994, accompanied by his common law wife, Theresa Stanley.^{[citation needed]}

Fugitive[link]

After fleeing Boston, Bulger and Stanley initially spent four days over Christmas in Selden, New York, before spending New Year's Day in a hotel in New Orleans' French Quarter. On January 5, 1995, Bulger prepared to return to Boston, believing that it had been a false alarm. That night, however, Stephen Flemmi was arrested outside a Boston restaurant by the DEA. Boston police Detective Michael Flemmi, Stephen's brother, informed Weeks of the arrest. Weeks immediately passed the information on to Bulger, who altered his plans.^[25]

Bulger and Stanley then spent the next three weeks traveling between New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco before Stanley decided that she wanted to return to her children. They then traveled to Clearwater, Florida, where Bulger retrieved his "Tom Baxter" identification from a safe deposit box. Bulger then drove to Boston and dropped off Theresa Stanley in a parking lot. He then met with Weeks at Malibu Beach in Dorchester, who had brought with him Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Greig. Bulger and Greig then went on the run together.^[25]

In his memoirs, Weeks describes a clandestine meeting with Bulger and Greig in Chicago, Illinois. Bulger reminisced fondly about his time hiding out with a family in Louisiana. He told Weeks, who had replaced him as head of the Winter Hill Gang, "If anything comes down, put it on me."^[56] As they adjourned to a nearby Japanese restaurant, Bulger finally revealed how exhausted he was with life on the run. He told Weeks, "Every day out there is another day I beat them. Every good meal is a meal they can't take away from me."^[57]

New York Public Library, 42nd Street and 5th Avenue

In mid-November 1995, Weeks and Bulger met for the last time, at the lion statues at the front of the New York Public Library, and adjourned for dinner at a nearby restaurant. According to Weeks,

At the end of our dinner, he seemed more aware of everything around him. His tone was a little more serious, and there wasn't as much joking as usual. He repeated the phrase he'd used before that a rolling stone gathers no moss, which told me that he knew he was going to be on the move again. I got the feeling that he was resigning himself to the fact that he wasn't coming back. Up until then, I always believed he thought there was a chance he'd beat the case. However, at that point, there was something different going on with him. I didn't fully understand all the aspects of his case. It would be another six months before it became clearer. Yet at that moment, in that restaurant in New York, I sensed that he had moved to a new place in his mind. It was over. He'd never return to South Boston.^[58]

On November 17, 1999, Weeks was arrested by a combined force of the DEA and the Massachusetts State Police. Although by this time he was aware of Bulger's FBI deal, Weeks was determined to remain faithful to the neighborhood code of silence. However, while awaiting trial in Rhode Island's Wyatt Federal prison, Weeks was approached by a fellow inmate, a "made man" in the Patriarca crime family. The wiseguy told him, "Kid, what are you doing? Are you going to take it up the ass for these guys? Remember, you can't rat on a rat. Those guys have been giving up everyone for thirty years."^[59]

Retouched photo done in 2004.

In the aftermath, Weeks decided to cut a deal with federal prosecutors, and revealed where almost every penny and body was buried. Writing in 2006, Weeks recalled,

I had known all along, however, that it would not be easy for anyone to capture Jimmy. If he saw them coming, he would take them with him. He wouldn't hesitate. Even before he went on the run, he'd always say, 'Let's all go to hell together.' And he meant it. I also knew that Jimmy wouldn't go to trial. He would rather plead out to a life sentence than put his family through the embarrassment of a trial. If he had a gun on him, he'd go out in a blaze of glory rather than spend the rest of his life in jail. But I don't think they'll ever catch him.^[60]

Manhunt[link]

The last confirmed sighting of Bulger before his capture was in London in 2002.^[61] However, there were unconfirmed sightings elsewhere. FBI agents were sent to Uruguay to investigate a lead. FBI agents were also sent to stake out the 60th memorial of the Battle of Normandy celebrations, as Bulger is reportedly an enthusiastic fan of military history. Later reports of a sighting in Italy in April 2007, proved false. Two persons on video footage shot in Taormina, Sicily, formerly thought to be Bulger and his lover, Catherine Greig, walking in the streets of the city center, were finally identified as a tourist couple from Germany. Evidence was provided by viewers of the German television program Aktenzeichen XY ... ungelöst, which had aired an episode containing a film about Bulger.^[62]

In 2010, the FBI turned its focus to Victoria, British Columbia, on Vancouver Island.^[63] In pursuit of Bulger, a known book lover, the FBI visited bookstores in the area, questioned employees, and distributed wanted posters.^[63][64] Following his arrest, Bulger revealed that he had in fact traveled frequently. Also following his arrest, it was clear that he had not been reclusive, witnesses coming forward to say they had seen him on the Santa Monica Pier and elsewhere in southern California.^[65] A confirmed report by an off-duty Boston police officer after a San Diego screening of The Departed also led to a search in Southern California that lasted "a few weeks".^[66]

Capture[link]

The apartment building in Santa Monica, California where Bulger lived as a fugitive for at least fifteen years.

After sixteen years at large and twelve years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, California, on June 22, 2011.^{[67][68][69][70]}

Bulger was captured as a result of the work of the Bulger Fugitive Task Force which consisted of FBI Agents and a Deputy US Marshal. According to retired FBI agent Scott Bakken,

Here you have somebody who is far more sophisticated than some 18-year-old who killed someone in a drive-by. To be a successful fugitive you have to cut all contacts from your previous life. He had the means and kept a low profile.^[71]

A reward of US $2 million had been offered for information leading to his capture. This amount was second only to Osama Bin Laden's capture reward on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.^[72][73][74] Bulger has been featured on the television show America's Most Wanted 16 times, first in 1995, and last on October 2, 2010. According to the authorities, the arrests were a "direct result" of the media campaign launched by the FBI in 14 markets across the country where Bulger and Greig reportedly had ties. The campaign focused on Greig, describing her as an animal lover who frequently goes to beauty salons.^[75]

Some of the weapons found in Bulger's apartment

Authorities received a tip from a woman in Iceland that he was living in a Santa Monica, California, apartment near a beach.^[76][77] A day later, ". . . using a ruse, agents and other task force members lured Mr. Bulger out of his apartment", "arrested him 'without incident,' then went in the house and arrested Greig".^[75] Bulger was charged with murder, "conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics distribution and money-laundering". Agents found "more than $800,000 in cash, 30 firearms and fake IDs" at the apartment.^[75] Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, stated that "she believes the death penalty is not an option in the federal charges Bulger faces in her district, but that she believes he could face the death penalty for two cases outside the district."^[75] In Oklahoma, where Bulger is alleged to have ordered the killing of businessman Roger Wheeler, Sr. in 1981, Tulsa County District Attorney Tim Harris stated: "It is our intention to bring Bulger to justice and to be held accountable for the murder of Mr. Wheeler." In Florida, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said: "After a 16-year delay, I will be working to ensure that a Miami jury has the opportunity to look (Bulger) in the eyes and determine his fate."^[78]

Immediately after being brought back to Boston, Bulger began talking to authorities. He informed them that during his days as a fugitive he was able to go back and forth frequently across the border to Mexico to buy medicine that he needed for his cardiac problems.^[79][80] It is anticipated by many, and feared by some, that Bulger will have a lot to say to authorities about the corruption on the local, state and federal level which enabled him to operate his criminal enterprise for so long, and that such disclosures may earn Bulger some special treatment in sentencing.^[12][13][14]