13 Aug 2013

Boston gang boss facing life in jail

4:29 pm on 13 August 2013

American gang boss James "Whitey" Bulger has been convicted of 11 murders, plus racketeering and conspiracy.

Bulger terrorised an Irish-Catholic neighbourhood of Boston in the 1970s and 1980s as leader of the Winter Hill Gang.

The 83-year-old showed no emotion upon hearing the verdict on Monday after a trial lasting two months in a federal court in Boston.

He was convicted on 31 of 32 charges against him and faces a sentence of life in prison.

The trial heard evidence that Bulger had participated in 19 murders, but was found guilty of a role in only 11 of them.

During the trial, the jury heard testimony from 72 witnesses and saw 840 exhibits. The BBC reports Bulger refused to testify and called the proceedings "a sham".

In 1994, Bulger fled Boston and was not captured until 2011 in Santa Monica, California. He was featured on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list for 16 years until discovered living in California with his girlfriend. In 2012, she was sentenced to eight years' jail for helping him evade the law.