As a rule, the “American dream” has a flip side: most people who have not achieved success in a legal way begin to assert themselves through the criminal path. That is why in a country dominated by democracy, there is a huge number of maniacs, brutal killers and thugs. However, the most wanted US criminal, Whitey Bulger, in the criminal environment occupied almost the first place in terms of authority.
The fate of this gangster completely refutes the axiom, the essence of which boils down to the following: a person’s life determines the environment in which he was brought up. This does not apply to James Whitey Bulger. Although he controlled a small territory, his life was unique. Whitey Bulger was charismatic, confident, strict and exacting in relation to his "colleagues" in the craft. He easily took the life of anyone who was capable of betrayal. It was for these qualities that Whitey Bulger became the legendary mafioso who ran affairs under the guise of corrupt intelligence agencies. How, then, from an ordinary boy he turned into a seasoned criminal? Consider this issue.
He was raised by the street
Why is Whitey Bulger interesting? The biography of this genius of the criminal world, undoubtedly, deserves a separate consideration. He is a native of the city of Dorchester (Massachusetts). Whitey Bulger was born in 1929. His father was a Boston worker who once lost his arm.
Naturally, it was difficult for a person with such a physical handicap to feed a large family, and very soon the “cell of society” headed by him was on the verge of poverty. But to make ends meet helped social benefits. As a child, James Whitey Bulger was by no means an exemplary boy: he spent all his free time on the street, where he regularly got into fights. Often it happened to him and steal. Already at the age of 10 he ran away from home, and four years later he first appeared in a police station. The reason for the drive was a robbery. He did not appear at school, he preferred to become a member of the Shamrocks youth group. After serving his due date, James Whitey Bulger was forced to join the US Air Force due to his age of majority.
The beginning of the criminal path
Having given his debt to his homeland, the young man did not come up with anything new, how to take up the old. And again, Whitey Bulger, whose biography was taken as the basis for the film “Black Mass”, was in places not so distant. He was serving a sentence for hostage-taking and robbery.
During the second imprisonment, CIA officers invited Whitey to participate in a schizophrenia drug test program. He agreed. The offender was supposed to take LSD tablets and other narcotic drugs, and in return he was reduced to a prison term. One way or another, but Whitey Bulger (gangster) spent in prison for nine whole years. Having been released, for some time he returned to ordinary life, even got a job as a janitor.
Gang Leader
After some time, Whitey again began to gravitate to criminal cases. He joined the ranks of a criminal group called Winter Hill Gang. At the turn of the 70-80s of the last century, this gang has established itself as the most cruel and bloody. However, the police still managed to detain the leader of the gang, after which Bulger became its new leader.
Intelligence Recruitment
Led by Whitey, Winter Hill Gang took control of much of the Boston sweepstakes and drug market.
For his conquest, the gangster had to commit a huge number of murders, and only 19 of them were able to prove. Soon the special services managed to recruit a seasoned criminal. Only in this way was he able to go about his business for a long time. His competitors went to prison one by one, and Whitey remained at large. It is noteworthy that his brother was able to break into big politics. Bulger’s calm and measured life came to an end in the 90s, when a large-scale investigation was initiated against the gangster. He was charged with a huge number of atrocities: murders, robberies, robberies. He seemed to be isolated from society for many years, and maybe forever. But ... He manages to escape from law enforcement.
On the run
No wonder Whitey was called the most wanted criminal in the United States. It was not difficult for him to circle the policemen and detectives around the finger . Bulger changed his name and used the personal data of an American Thomas Baxter, who lived in Massachusetts. For 16 years he impersonated him.
He led a quiet life as a pensioner. And he managed to open several bank deposits and extend the terms of a driver’s license. When the offender was preparing to implement his plan, he offered to "keep him company" with his cohabitant, but she refused. But the gangster, without hesitation, offered his idea to his other passion - a certain Catherine Green, and she agreed. She was twenty years younger than Whitey. Despite this, they for many years made up the happy couple who lived in Louisiana.
Gangster caught
But after many years, the police still managed to get on the trail of the criminal. The arrest of Whitey Bulger took place in the summer of 2011 in the California city of Santa Monica.
At that time, the gangster was already in old age. The process of his capture was accelerated due to the fact that the authorities promised a solid reward to a person who knows where the most wanted criminal in the USA is. And such a result was found.
The investigation was helped by a certain Anna Björnsdottir, who was next door to Whitey in Santa Monica. In the criminal’s house, they found firearms and a bunch of dollar bills.
In 2013, the Massachusetts court began judicial hearings on criminal episodes in which Bulger participated. His mistress, Catherine Green, was sentenced to eight years in prison for conspiring with a seasoned gangster. Whitey, in turn, received two life sentences.
Cinema about Bulger
In the USA, the atrocities of a criminal who managed to hide from justice for 16 years could not but cause a great public outcry.
Whitey's biography was a ready-made script for a feature film. And the famous director Scott Cooper realized this. It was he who decided to shoot a criminal movie called Black Mass. Whitey Bulger agreed to give several interviews in which he told his life story. The film was released last year, and the role of the protagonist went to the famous Johnny Depp. It is noteworthy that Bulger was already a prototype in the movie. He was brilliantly played by the popular actor Jack Nicholson in Martin Scorsese's film The Departed.