Unit #303

Johnny Depp is practically unrecognizable in Black Mass as apparently was James “Whitey” Bulger in real life for sixteen years. Bulger is the notorious crime figure who for more than a decade mixed in with the local community in Santa Monica, California in apartment #303 where he enjoyed life for thirteen years incognito. Bulger is now inmate number 02182-748 at the United States Penitentiary Coleman II in Sumterville, Florida.

We probably unwittingly sat next to him at “Shutters” on occasion, the popular watering hole on the beach where the views were majestic, the breeze soothing and the plates piled high with prosciutto and melon with a side of gherkins and pickled olives. On June 22, 2011, Bulger was arrested outside his apartment with his long-time girlfriend Catherine Greig. Bulger was 81 when he was were extradited to Massachusetts where part of Boston Harbor was shut down for the trial. Bulger was “one of the most vicious, violent criminals ever to walk the streets of Boston,” said Assistant US Attorney Fred Wyshak of James Bulger, Jr. – a.k.a. “Whitey” Bulger. He was a legendary figure; we can attest to that having grown up in Boston, although you didn’t have be a Bostonian to be intrigued by this case.