Notorious Criminal "Whitey Bulger" Exhibits Now At Mob Museum!!

When planning began for an exhibit featuring alleged crime figures on the lam for The Mob Museum, the National Museum of Organized Crime and Law Enforcement, among  those originally slated  for inclusion was notorious gangster-turned-FBI-informant James “Whitey” Bulger. By the time the Museum opened its doors on Valentine’s Day 2012, exhibits featuring Bulger had to be altered to account for his 2011 arrest. With Bulger’s trial under way in Boston, guests of the Mob Museum are flocking to these exhibits seeking to understand the man’s role in organized crime, which allegedly includes 19 murders in the 70s and 80s.

Bulger is featured in several places throughout the Museum, including:

-Mention in death of innocent victim in “Mob’s Greatest Hits” on second floor.

-Mention in disappearance of women in “Missing” on second floor.

-Video feature that plays at entry of  “Too Early for Obituaries” on the first floor.

-Graphic displaying copy of wanted poster of young Bulger in the line-up room third floor.

-Panel featuring him in 100 years of Made Men Wall on the first floor.

-Two original wanted posters from the FBI in “Bringing Down the Mob” on the first floor.

Says journalist and author Beverly Ford, who, along with co-author Stephanie Schorow, will appear at the Museum Aug. 16-17 to discuss their book, “The Boston Mob Guide: Hit Men, Hoodlums and Hideouts”: “Bulger is one of the more notorious mobsters alive today. His ongoing trial serves as a reminder that the damage wrought by organized crime is not a thing of the remote past; it continues to impact lives.”

Ford is currently covering the Bulger trial in Boston for the New York Daily News.

Bulger’s story began in Boston where he was originally depicted by the local media as a Robin Hood-esque bandit dedicated to protecting his neighborhood and its residents. In reality he was, according to authorities, creating a protection racket targeting drug kingpins and those running illegal gaming operations. By 1975, he was serving as an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), focusing on providing information about the inner workings of the Italian-American Patriarca crime family. In the meantime, he was building his own lethal operation, believing he was protected by his FBI association. But in 1994, tipped off by his former FBI handler of a pending indictment under the RICO act, Bulger went on the run. For 12 of the 16 years he was in hiding, he was prominently listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. Furthering Bulger’s mystique, actor Jack Nicholson portrayed a character “loosely based” on the aging mobster in the Academy Award-winning 2006 movie, “The Departed,” which also starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon. In June 2011, the 81-year-old Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, Calif.

Today, he faces 19 murder counts, as well as charges for conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to commit extortion, narcotics distribution and conspiracy to commit money laundering extortion. The trial is just beginning, but already it has become a closely watched court drama, with lawyers from both the prosecution and defense verbally sparring in court.

For more information on the Museum, go to www.TheMobMuseum.org. To reserve space at the August speaking engagement featuring authors Beverly Ford and Stephanie Schorow, please call (702) 229-2734 or go to themobmuseum.org/archives/category/events/.