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Whitey Bulger, Boston Gangster, Killed in 'Apparent Homicide' at West Virginia Prison

Updated: October 20, 2018 at 7:45 p.m.

Notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger was found dead Tuesday morning in a federal prison in West Virginia. An official for a union representing prison guards said the death is being investigated as a homicide.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Federal Bureau of Prisons, Bulger was found unresponsive at 8:20 a.m. Tuesday. Live-saving measures were attempted before he was pronounced dead by the Preston County Medical Examiner, according to a news release.

Bulger rose from the projects of South Boston, along with his brother William, who went on to become president of the Massachusetts Senate and later the University of Massachusetts.

Whitey, though, would spend his life being one of the most feared men in Boston.

The mob boss-turned-FBI informant fled Boston in 1994, following a tip from his FBI handler, and then spent more than 16 years on the lam. With his escape being a subject of criticism for the FBI, police finally caught up with Bulger in 2011. He was tried and convicted in 2013.

According to a news release from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, he was serving a life sentence for racketeering, conspiracy, racketeering, extortion conspiracy, money laundering, possession of unregistered machine guns, transfer and possession of machine guns, possession of firearms with obliterated serial numbers, and possession of machine guns in furtherance of a violent crime.

Richard Heldreth, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 420, called Bulger’s death an “apparent homicide” based on information from responding guards. He said two officers were assigned to the housing unit where Bulger was found.

Specific information on injuries Bulger sustained was not immediately available, Heldreth said. The FBI was notified and has started an investigated.

“It is being investigated as a murder,” Heldreth told West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

The 89-year-old had been transferred to the Hazelton Penitentiary near Morgantown, West Virginia, the day before his death. He had been in a prison in Florida before a stopover at a transfer facility in Oklahoma City. Federal officials and his attorney declined to comment to the Associated Press as to why he was transferred.

Bulger’s death is the third at the Hazelton facility in the past seven months, which raises concerns about the safety of inmates and staff alike, according to union officials.

“Today’s reported death at USP Hazelton, while concerning, is unsurprising,” American Federation of Government Employees National President J. David Cox Sr. said in a news release.

He and the AFGE have attributed the deaths at Hazelton to staffing issues.

“Federal prisons across the country are suffering from severe understaffing, and the situation is perhaps no more dire than at Hazelton,” Cox said.

One in five positions that were authorized two years ago are currently vacant, including correctional officers and medical staff, according to the union.

“Our union’s call to fill these vacant positions unfortunately has fallen on deaf ears,” Heldreth said in the Tuesday news release from AFGE. “We weren’t even notified by the prison warden about today’s death for hours after it had occurred. This incident only exacerbates the tense work environment at the prison and highlights how neglectful management is readily putting all staff in danger.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Feds to Bulk Up Prosecuting Crime in West Virginia City

More federal prosecutors will be used in a crackdown on gun and violent crime and drug trafficking in one West Virginia city.

The number of prosecutors focusing on those cases in Huntington will be doubled immediately and tripled within weeks, U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said Thursday. He didn’t provide specific numbers.

Stuart said the goal of the Project Huntington initiative is to make West Virginia’s second-largest city the safest one in America. The effort will be led by assistant U.S. attorney Monica Coleman.

“The instructions to my team could not be more clear — put violent criminals behind bars, off the streets and in prison as long as possible,” Stuart said.

Speaking at a news conference along with Huntington interim Police Chief Hank Dial and Mayor Steve Williams, Stuart said “this is about teamwork.”

The city of Huntington, population 48,000, had a record 19 homicides last year, up from three in 2015.

“I can’t say enough about how excited I am about the partnership and the solutions that this is going to create,” Dial said.

Dial said existing efforts to slow down violent crimes in Huntington already appear to be working – there’s been a 27 percent reduction in such arrests in the first two months of this year compared to the same period of a year ago.

Last year U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions instructed federal prosecutors to bring the toughest charges possible against most crime suspects. The move was a reversal of Obama-era policies and was assailed by critics as a return to failed drug-war policies that unduly affected minorities and filled prisons with nonviolent offenders.

Sessions also announced last year that federal prosecutors would be added in West Virginia’s southern district and other areas of the country ravaged by addition to focus exclusively on investigating health care fraud and opioid scams that are fueling the nation’s drug abuse epidemic.

In addition, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has established a new field office in Louisville, Kentucky, to oversee opioid abuse investigations in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia.

Cabell County has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic – on one day in August 2016, more than two people in Huntington overdosed on heroin during a five-hour span. In November, the sheriff’s office had its largest-ever drug seizure at a Huntington residence. West Virginia leads the nation by far in the rate of drug overdose deaths.

Williams said drug dealers must be stopped before reaching Huntington.

“This is a complex issue,” he said. “People are suffering from addiction and there are so many things that we have to do. We have to have prevention and intervention, we absolutely have to have treatment. But make no mistake about it. We have to have law enforcement.”

Us & Them: A Policeman is a Person in Your Neigh-bor-hood!

Two rivers run through Charleston, West Virginia. While most of the city is situated on the Kanawha, it’s the Elk River that demarcates the West Side from the governmental and business center of Charleston. Today, the West Side is the poorest neighborhood in Charleston.

As you might imagine, those demographics lead to others: higher crime, higher drug activity, higher incarceration rates. Many people in other parts of Charleston think of the West Side as a dangerous place to avoid.

And yet, Corporal Errol Randle received $50,000 from a program called West Invest to purchase a dilapidated house on the West Side, fix it up, and move in with his family. He moved to the West Side in 2015; now there are 3 cops living in the same neighborhood.

When I first heard about this, I wanted to know: who are these guys who are willing to do this? I mean, I can see wanting do something to help the West Side, too, but — would I be willing to move there to be a part of that change?

On this week’s episode of the “Us & Them” podcast: two different views of what police are, and two different views of how a community can determine its own destiny.

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and PRX, this is “Us & Them,” the podcast where we tell the stories about America’s cultural divides.

Subscribe to “Us & Them” on Apple Podcasts, NPR One or wherever you listen to podcasts.

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This episode is part of a series made possible with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

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Us & Them: Deanna, Tymel & Amarie

Sunday dinner is a big deal in Deanna McKinney’s family. Deanna’s a de facto mom to her three sisters and two brothers — when she moved to West Virginia from New York City, they came too. These Sunday dinners are to remind the siblings that someone’s always got their back.

Deanna’s told the story of her son’s murder so many times, that she can recount it to me — a relative stranger with a microphone — while she picks out cornbread mix at the grocery store. His name was Tymel and his senseless death is an experience that has defined her life and informed who she is.

On this week’s episode of the “Us & Them” podcast: the first of a four-part series that focuses on the West Side of my hometown of Charleston, WV. It’s a part of town that’s struggled economically in the past few decades. It’s got the two statistics that often go together — high poverty and high crime

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and PRX, this is “Us & Them,” the podcast where we tell the stories about America’s cultural divides.

Subscribe to “Us & Them” on Apple Podcasts, NPR One or wherever you listen to podcasts.

And if you enjoyed this episode, join our community and sustain “Us & Them” with a pledge of support.

Huntington Police Report Less Crime, More Arrests

The Huntington Police Department reports that crime was down but arrests were up in the city last year.

Preliminary statistics released Wednesday show that total reported offenses were down nearly 5 percent. However, arrests increased more than 6 percent.

Drug offenses and DUI arrests both increased by about one-fourth. Prostitution arrests were up 83 percent.

Serious crimes as defined by the FBI decreased by nearly 5 percent. These crimes include murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

Officers answered nearly 45,000 calls for service, an increase of nearly 3 percent.

Guard Reaches Misdemeanor Plea After Felony Drug Charges

A correctional officer accused of bringing controlled substances onto the grounds of Salem Correctional Center has reached a misdemeanor plea deal due to an incomplete investigation.

The Exponent Telegram reports 45-year-old Philomena R. Liberty was sentenced to six months in prison for possession of dextroamphetamine without a valid current prescription, but the sentence was suspended and she was placed on six months of unsupervised probation.

She had faced a felony charge of transporting drugs into a correctional facility after authorities found her in possession of four drugs. Harrison County Assistant Prosecutor Susan Morris says the state never received the necessary information to put together a meaningful prosecution on the felony charge.

State Corrections Commissioner Jim Rubenstein says Liberty hasn’t been employed by the Division of Corrections for over a year.