Montpelier man indicted in ‘Whitey’ Bulger prison murder

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Four years after notorious mobster James “Whitey” Bulger was brutally beaten to death behind bars, a Vermont man is among those now facing charges in the killing.

Sean McKinnon, 36, of Montpelier, along with two other men, were indicted Thursday on federal charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, according to the New York Times.

Bulger terrorized the Boston area in the ‘70s and ‘80s. He was convicted of 11 murders but suspected of many more. Authorities finally nabbed him in 2011 after years on the run. Bulger, prior to his arrest, was also an FBI informant, a fact that may have played a role in his own death. He was moved to a West Virginia prison in 2018, where the 89-year-old was beaten to death just hours after he arrived.

Also facing charges are Fotios Geas and Paul DeCologero. Geas, a convicted mafia hitman, was cellmates with McKinnon, who was serving time for stealing numerous guns from R&L Archery in Barre and trading them for drugs in Connecticut.

McKinnon was on federal supervised release when he was arrested in Florida on Thursday. He also faces a separate charge of making false statements to a federal agent.

A number of questions remain surrounding the case, including why Bulger was moved to the prison and held with the general population. It’s also not clear why it took federal authorities four years to bring the charges.

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Montpelier man named in ‘Whitey’ Bulger prison murder investigation

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