James “Whitey” Bulger’s 1953 mug shot.
Had enough of Whitey?
CNN apparently hasn’t, as the network has been featuring the documentary “Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger.”
While the life and crimes of Boston’s most notorious gangster has been meticulously documented by journalists, cops and fellow mobsters aplenty, here’s three interesting tidbits from the doc:
– Whitey Bulger sounds like every other old guy you know who grew up in Southie.
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the film is when Bulger talks on the phone with his defense attorney, J.W. Carney Jr.
And in the event you thought Whitey lost his Bostonian inflections during his time on the lam, he most assuredly did not. His accent is pronounced, and yes, still nonrhodic. If it’s possible to sound like a tough guy, I suppose he pulls it off; he makes sure to mention that he got beat down by cops as a kid and did serious time in the hole in Alcatraz. He mentions those things as evidence that he is not and has never been an informant. Speaking of which…
– That whole informant label enrages Whitey Bulger.
During a phone conversation with his attorney J.W. Carney Jr featured in the film, Bulger says he was “shocked” and “angry” when he discovered that John Connolly, the disgraced FBI agent who is now in jail, kept an informant file of Bulger.
” I was the one doing the directing,” he said. “They didn’t direct me.”
-Bulger had hoped to expose the corruption of law enforcement with his trial…but still won’t name names.
The corruption of law enforcement’s handling of Whitey Bulger is not new news. This did not stop the career criminal from hoping his trial would expose the pervasiveness of the institutional rot that infected various authorities.
Said his attorney, Carney, of the trial, “For him it’s his last opportunity to tell people that he was never an informant, that our federal government was more corrupt in law enforcement than anyone ever imagined, even to this day in this trial it’s corrupt and he wants people to know it.”
That would appear to be difficult if Bulger remains adamant about not naming names; he says there were other law enforcement officials he worked with besides John Connolly but he doesn’t appear interested in outing anyone.
“I would never say anyone’s name,” he said.
Like all things Whitey-related, questions remain unanswered.
