Whitey Bulger found guilty of 11 murders as mob boss

After five days of jury deliberations, nine weeks on trial and 16 years on the run from the federal government, James “Whitey” Bulger was found guilty Monday of 31 of the 32 counts brought against him at the John Joseph Moakley Courthouse in South Boston.

Bulger was convicted of 11 of the 19 murders he allegedly committed as a former mob boss of the Winter Hill Gang during the 1970s and 1980s. He was found not guilty on seven murder charges and the jury could not reach a decision on the final charge.

Relatives of the victims and the prosecution said his conviction was worth the wait.

“So many lives were so terribly harmed by the criminal actions of Bulger and his crew, and today’s conviction does not alter that harm,” said Carmen Ortiz, United States Attorney for Massachusetts. “However, we hope that they find some degree of comfort in the fact that today has come and Bulger is being held accountable for his horrific crimes.”

Upon hearing the verdict, several relatives of victims were brought to tears and others also displayed emotion in a press conference held outside the courthouse after the decision was heard, various news outlets reported.

“It was a lot of emotion I’ve been holding in for a long time,” said Patricia Donahue, whose husband, Michael, was also killed by Bulger during a hit on a rival Mafia informant. “It makes me feel good to let people know that my husband was an innocent person in this whole saga that’s been going on and that Whitey deserved to be guilty on his charge.”

The only murder charge the jury would not decide on was that of Debra Davis, as they could not reach a unanimous consensus.

Davis was the girlfriend of Stephen Flemmi, one of Bulger’s closest associates, at the time of her death. She was allegedly strangled by Bulger in 1984 because she could have told other people that Flemmi and Bulger were informants for the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Steve Davis, Debra’s brother, said he was happy with how the prosecution and the defense presented their cases, but he believed Bulger was innocent of killing his sister. He said Flemmi “definitely did it,” and that he would never be done grieving.

“I don’t believe in closure,” he said. “I have to live every day, my family has to live every day and the rest of the families have to live every day with the fact that they lost a loved one. They can’t bring them back. I can’t use the closure on that … She [Debra] knows I’m a fighter.”

Since the trial began in June, the jury heard testimonies from 72 witnesses as the prosecution and defense made their cases. Witnesses included extorted drug dealers, confessed killers who worked with Bulger and FBI agents who knew of Bulger’s status as an informant against the rival Mafia.

Testimony often brought emotions and tensions to a peak as former friends and associates saw their boss for the first time in years. Several times throughout the trial, Judge Denise Casper had to silence the witnesses, the audience or the defendant after outbursts of profanity.

J.W. Carney, Bulger’s attorney, said he would file an appeal over a ruling that prevented Bulger from presenting a defense based on immunity he said the FBI granted him. Carney said Bulger never expected to get away with an acquittal.

“Mr. Bulger knew as soon as he was arrested that he was going to die behind the walls of a prison,” he said. “This trial has never been about Jim Bulger being set free and coming out of this court house.”

Hank Brennan, another attorney for the defense, said Bulger had his own goal for the trial.

“James Bulger has wanted to tell his story from the moment he was arrested,” he said. “This trial, while it tells quite a bit about the criminal justice and the corruptness in the department of justice, doesn’t begin to tell the whole story. I don’t think you’ve heard the last word from James Bulger.”

Bulger is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13.