Report: Inmates were tipped off about ‘Whitey’ Bulger’s transfer

WASHINGTON (WCAX) - A new investigation into the prison-beating death of notorious gangster James “Whitey” Bulger has found that inmates -- including a Montpelier man who was one of three indicted in his death -- knew Bulger was being transferred and that no precautions were taken to keep him separate from the general inmate population.

The report by the Justice Department’s inspector general Wednesday determined Bulger’s death was the result of multiple layers of management failures, widespread incompetence, and flawed policies at the Bureau of Prisons, although it’s still not clear if the missteps were intentional.

The 89-year-old Bulger was killed in his cell hours after he was transferred to the West Virginia prison. The mobster turned FBI informant 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.

Sean McKinnon of Montpelier, along with two other men, were indicted in August on federal charges of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. McKinnon, who was serving time for stealing numerous guns from R&L Archery in Barre and trading them for drugs in Connecticut, was a cellmate of Fotios Geas, a convicted mafia hitman.

Click here to read the DOJ report.