Convicted Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger was beaten early Tuesday morning when cell doors were unlocked so inmates could leave to eat breakfast, according to a law-enforcement official familiar with the investigation into Bulger’s death at a West Virginia prison.
The onetime kingpin of a ruthless gang was pronounced dead soon after, and federal authorities are investigating his death at the U.S. Penitentiary Hazelton as a homicide. One of the suspects is a mafia hitman from Massachusetts serving a life sentence at the same prison, the law enforcement official said.
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