His life ended as it had been for decades: violent. James "Whitey" Bulger, notorious and legendary Boston mafia boss, was found lifeless in his cell at Hazelton Prison, Bruceton Mills, West Virginia Tuesday morning at 8:20 am. He who ordered and executed countless murders was himself killed.

"The Procuratorate and the FBI will initiate an investigation into the death of James Bulger, and no further information is currently being released," the Boston Globe quoted a West Virginia prosecutor spokeswoman. Three people familiar with the case told the newspaper that they were investigating an inmate who allegedly had connections to the mafia.

Bulger suffered the fate of many of his victims and the victims of his murder cronies. As the "godfather of Boston," Winter Hill gang brutally ruled the underworld of the city in the 1970s and 1980s. The gang forgave illegal loans, became rich with blackmail and killed those who got in their way.

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James "Whitey" Bulger: Life of a gangster

Bulger dived in 1994 and was caught in 2011. Since 2013, he has served his sentence for his crimes, and his valuables have been auctioned off to help his victims financially. It was not until Monday that the now 89-year-old was transferred from a high-security prison in Oklahoma to West Virginia.

Bulger's career began in a slum in southern Boston. In 1929 he was born the eldest son of Irish immigrants. His white-haired hair earned him the nickname "Whitey". His younger brother William freed himself from education with poverty and went into politics, for many years president of the Massachusetts Senate. The machinations of his brother finally caught up with him. Because he did not want to testify under oath about the fugitive "Whitey", he gave in to public pressure and resigned as president of the University of Massachusetts.

While William was still a respected figure in public life, James put his faith in the law of the street: making his name in brutality with his brutality, joining Winter Hill Gang and making bank robberies. He was arrested in 1965 and spent part of his sentence on the notorious prison island of Alcatraz. To shorten his term of detention, Bulger volunteered to participate in a CIA program experimenting with LSD. In his prison diary, he wrote that the experiment had caused him hallucinations and nightmares.

After his release, Bulger returned to Boston and met an old acquaintance there again. The eleven years younger John Connolly had grown up in Bulgers neighbor house and stood as an FBI man on the other side of the law - actually. But the two linked their origins and apparently also criminal energy. They arranged a questionable deal: Bulger provided Connolly with information about rival mafia bosses, in return Connolly kept his back free.

Ruler of the Boston underworld

From a liquor store in the waterfront, "Whitey" Bulger continued his business, assisted by henchmen such as Stephen "Man with Gun" Flemmi and Johnny "The butcher of Baisin Street" Martorano. He controlled illegal gambling and drug trafficking in the city, was loan shark and extortionist. He disavowed unwelcome competitors and witnesses - with Connolly's knowledge. He strangled one of his victims with his bare hands because she knew of his role as an FBI informant.

Banned by the FBI, Bulger rose to become the "godfather of Boston." In return, Connolly, using "Whitey's" information, arrives at spectacular arrests. For his achievements, the agent was celebrated at the FBI and got the nickname "the prince".

For ten years, with Connolly's help, Bulger ruled the Boston Underworld. When the FBI man retired in 1994, they wanted to drop Bulger as an informant. Connolly warned his childhood friend; Bulger submerged with his girlfriend Catherine Greig. The FBI put him on the "Most Wanted" list, but "Whitey" had enough resources to stay undetected for 16 years. The gangster boss won the lottery in 1991: $ 14.3 million. That the profit was a lucky coincidence, may be doubted. When Bulger picked up the prize, according to "Boston Herald," he said, "They never believe that."

Retired couple Charlie and Carol Gasko, the felon and his girlfriend were hiding in Santa Monica, California. The fascination with Bulger did not ebb. In 2006, the film "Departed: Among enemies", which is strongly inspired by Bulger's life. Jack Nicholson played the character of the Mafia goddess. The film got four Oscars. In 2015, the story of the rise and fall of "Whitey" Bulger appeared again in the cinema - in "Black Mass" Johnny Depp played the lead role.

Investigation success thanks to breast implants

The films might have shaped and transfigured the memory of Bulger if his girlfriend had no breast implants. Their serial number tracked investigators to a plastic surgeon, which Greig regularly sought to control - and finally found so Bulger. On June 22, 2011, the investigators arrested the then 81-year-olds. In the couple's apartment, they found an arsenal and $ 800,000 in a wall hiding place.

Greig was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2012 for the benefit of a false identity and her role as an escape assistant. Bulger had to face trial in 2013. Assassin Martorano testified against his ex-boss in revenge for his role as an FBI informer. "I shot him in the heart," he reminded himself in the witness stand of the murder of a rival in 1974, whom he had lured into a trap at the behest of Bulgers.

After 15 months of trial, Bulger was found guilty of 31 counts in August 2013, including 11 murders between 1973 and 1985. Eight more murders were not clearly demonstrated. The mafia boss got life imprisonment twice plus five years.

This Bulger followed his former partner, the corrupt FBI man Connolly. He had been sentenced to 50 years in prison for his involvement in 2002 and 2005.