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His crimes were thoroughly detailed throughout his high-profile murder trial, but here are six things you might not know about this infamous Boston gang leader:
1. He’d rather be in Alcatraz
Shortly after Bulger’s 2011 capture, Alcatraz historian and author Michael Esslinger wrote to the imprisoned Bulger asking for details about his time in the notorious federal penitentiary.
2. Volunteered for LSD testing in prison
While imprisoned in Atlanta for the bank robbery conviction in 1957, Bulger volunteered to be a drug test subject in an effort to reduce his prison sentence.
Bulger said he suffered from lifelong insomnia and nightmares as a result of the experiment.
“According to (Bulger’s associate Kevin) Weeks, Bulger had even taken preliminary steps to track down the overseer of the program, Dr. Carl Pfeiffer … and assassinate him,” English wrote.
3. Only known son died at age 6
Despite his initial reluctance toward fatherhood, Cyr said Bulger doted on the boy. “He helped pay for child care and showered Douglas with toys,” wrote the Globe’s Cullen and Murphy.
As Bulger rose through the ranks of Boston’s Winter Hill Gang in 1973, 6-year-old Douglas fell ill and was hospitalized with Reye’s Syndrome, a severe reaction to aspirin. Bulger sat by his side for three days, wrote Cullen and Murphy. “When he died, Jimmy (Bulger) was out of his mind,” Cyr is quoted as saying in Cullen and Murphy’s book.
4. He was honorably discharged from the military despite arrests
Bulger served nearly four years in the U.S. Air Force, working as an aircraft mechanic and earning his high school diploma. Yet the future gang leader never strayed far from trouble. During his military service, the young Bulger was arrested for going AWOL and, in a separate incident, police arrested him on rape charges.
He was never convicted or sentenced on either charge and received an honorable discharge in 1952.
5. He hated the nickname ‘Whitey’
6. His old apartment is for rent
A neighbor described the couple as a quiet and polite, who sometimes helped carry her groceries.
In the summer of 2014, the seaside apartment was put up for rent, according to several media reports.
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