Hunting Whitey: The Inside Story of the Capture & Killing of America's Most Wanted Crime Boss

Have lived in Central Massachusetts for 39 Years. Followed somewhat over the years, the crimes he committed among other news stories. This book is an eye opener. Hard time putting it down, for even a minute.

There are plenty of details, maybe too many about the various FBI agents. The writing is of poor quality. The publisher should have had a good editor go over the manuscript.

Whitey Bulger was/is synonymous with murder and mayhem in the Boston area for years… and then on the lam for sixteen years as the #1 NAME ON THE FBI’S MOST WANTED LIST… though he fell to second on the list for a period until Osama bin Laden was killed. Whitey not only was accused of nineteen murders… but he was a spineless RAT for the FBI… turning evidence of friends and foes alike. He also had numerous CORRUPT cops and FBI agents on his payroll. His main FBI flunky was John Connolly. His part in corruptness that stunk up the FBI lasted for decades and even years after his involvement the smell of rancid fish permeated all things FBI in Boston. Good… dedicated agents that followed have had to try to operate with the lack of respect and doubt… that was rightfully left behind… hovering like a nuclear cloud .

The author’s do a stupendous job in integrating Bulger’s life story… with flashbacks… and flash-forwards of his murderous… criminal career… while meticulously tracking and explaining his sixteen years of disappearing from the grid… and attempting to live anonymously while still being sought by many different FBI workers… with different levels of perseverance. From gruesome descriptions of his murders… to the street level maneuvers… like buying drivers licenses… social security cards… and birth certificates… from down and out homeless people and alcoholics… to his girlfriend Catherine Greig’s plastic surgery records… leading the FBI after almost sixteen years of pursuit…to actually finance and release a TV commercial asking for help… and offering a reward… for assistance in tracking down Bulger and Greig. This unique ad did produce the lead that led to their capture. They were holed up and living anonymously in Santa Monica… and Whitey actually drove to San Diego to a movie theatre to watch “The Departed” the movie based upon him starring Jack Nicholson and Matt Damon. A local sheriff was watching the movie also and thought he recognized Bulger and contacted the task force… but they didn’t respond quick enough.

As mentioned earlier the authors not only flash back seamlessly… but some of their flashback facts are absolutely intriguing… such as that Whitey considered Alcatraz as his alma mater after serving time on “The Rock” from 1959 to 1962… and he had special ties to some of his co-inhabitants there… and always tried to stay in touch with them and help them… including but not limited to “The Choctaw Kid”. Fascinating is the only word I can use to describe the revelation that Whitey volunteered “to take part in a covert CIA program called MK-Ultra in exchange for time shaved off his sentence. Bulger and other prisoners were lied to and told that they were participating in a study to find a cure for schizophrenia. In reality, the CIA was working on a mind control weapon. Whitey was injected with LSD for weeks at a time, and he suffered terrifying hallucinations as he envisioned blood pouring from his cell walls while his prison bars transformed into slithering black snakes. He felt his head change shape and heard haunting voices. Years later he read that LSD also caused chromosome damage, and he blamed the drug for the death of his only son.” (Reviewers personal note: during my time in the military I was privy to historical records that related to the same tests. MLK’s killer was also involved in similar tests if you have the capability of researching those documents.)

Throughout the hunting of Bulger… his family left behind in Massachusetts was constantly contacted and questioned about his whereabouts and they would never give an inch. And his family included Billy Bulger THE PRESIDENT OF THE MASSACHUSETTS SENATE… one of the most powerful Massachusetts politicians ever. It is stated in the book that he lied under oath on one occasion.

The story never slows down… and you learn what makes the current Bulger task force individuals tick… and how in addition to wanting to capture this lowlife killer who was mistakenly made a folk hero… like a Robin Hood in Boston… that in addition to the capture alone… they’re trying to re-capture the dignity that was once the FBI. But based on current FBI corruption… they need to start all over with even a bigger burden to clear.

When finally captured in Santa Monica… the agents with guns pointed at Bulger in the garage below the apartment he was living in… yelled out to him…. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME?” Bulger’s reply… “YOU KNOW WHO I AM.”

In Whitey’s small apartment they found “more than thirty firearms, including a Ruger pistol and several Smith & Wesson and Colt revolvers that he kept hidden inside cut-out walls and hollowed-out-books, along with killing knives and $822,000 in cash. He also had two shotguns and two rifles stored under his bed and a pistol at his bedside. All the weapons were loaded, and there was enough ammunition on hand to defend against a small army. Bulger was armed to the teeth and had vowed that he’d never be taken alive.”

But… alive he was taken… and along with false braggadocio… he always made an attempt to rewrite history. The story then closes with his trial and his murder. The reader will certainly get a good feel of what life is like on the run… and you’ll also learn that everyday people can be living right next door to the #1 wanted man in America… who despite constantly being seen for years on his balcony looking up and down the street with binoculars… and never letting anyone in his apartment… could still not put two and two together.

I was extremely disappointed with the “reporting” by authors Casey Sherman and Dave Wedge. The horrible murderers attributed to Boston gang leader James “Whitey” Bulger have been well documented, but rather than taking a realistic look at how how “our” FBI and federal prosecutors covered up his wrongdoing and probably assisted Bulger in his flight to avoid justice, the authors seem determined to continue the false narrative that he was doggedly pursued for 16 years when there’s plenty of evidence that proves otherwise. The FBI repeatedly claimed that only a few agents were compromised and that they (Agents John Connolly and H. Paul Rico) were held accountable, but the most serious charges against them (murders) weren’t filed by the federal government, but by state and local agencies which found the FBI continuously blocking their efforts. When a corrupt FBI supervisor (John Morris) admitted to accepting thousands in bribes from Bulger and leaking info to the press that the fugitive had been a confidential informant, the authors characterize Morris as corrupt, but ignore the fact he’d not only been retained by the FBI, but PROMOTED to Assistant Special Agent in Charge of an anti-corruption unit in Los Angeles (just a few miles from Bulger’s “hiding place” in Santa Monica), under the auspices of Director Robert Mueller!!! Mueller’s decision to retain this crooked cop isn’t addressed, nor is the fact that personnel assigned to the “Bulger Task Force” included a “friend” of convicted murderer agent John Connolly and Supervisor Richard Teahan who had worked on Mueller’s security team is described as “Boston Irish”, but one has to wonder if the agent was appointed to this assignment because of his investigative abilities or willingness to keep corruption allegations quiet? The authors don’t seem to know or care. While excusing the FBI’s decision not to publicize age enhanced wanted posters of Bulger and his girlfriend in the Los Angeles area as “too expensive”, Wedge and Sherman fail to recognize the agency said they had agent(s) from that office who’d followed LA “Bulger leads” and later claimed (falsely) that none were generated there. Even though the Icelandic woman that supposedly informed FBI HQ of Bulger’s presence in Santa Monica which preceded his arrest, told the authors she’d contacted the FBI/Los Angeles Office (after seeing an FBI internet commercial advising of the $2 million reward) disclosed they’d rejected her report and the authors failed to ask: WHY?

Out of hand the authors dismiss the ONE FBI agent (Robert Fitzpatrick) that reported his managers were in a highly questionable relationship with “informant” Bulger YEARS before his arrest as a liar and perjurer, glossing over known false information used by supposedly ethical agents to frame innocent defendants without consequences.

Probably the worst part of this book is how Wedge and Sherman attempt to justify the murders of some known criminals (specifically Bulger and others convicted of crimes, but not sentenced to death), because they feel the justice system wasn’t (in their view) harsh enough. Applauding extra-judicial capital punishment is especially disgusting, when one considers how leniently these two treat FBI and DOJ personnel that clearly aren’t accountable to the public they’ve sworn to protect and defend according to our Constitution.

The book is informative, keeps your attention !

Another F-up from an corrupt fbi