BOSTON — Mobster James “Whitey” Bulger may have written two autobiographies, according to prosecutors, who have notified his lawyers that they may use the memoirs against him at his upcoming trial.
Bulger, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang and a longtime FBI informant, was captured last year in Santa Monica after 16 years on the run. He is charged with participating in 19 murders and is awaiting trial.
In a status report filed in court Tuesday, federal prosecutors said they found one document, entitled “My Life in the Irish Mafia Wars,” at a South Boston home in 1995 and a second document at the apartment in Santa Monica where Bulger was captured last year with his girlfriend.
Prosecutors say it’s unclear whether Bulger wrote the document found in South Boston. They say the document found in California “appears to be autobiographical.”
The government included descriptions of the documents in a list of evidence prosecutors have turned over to Bulger’s lawyers. Prosecutors informed Bulger’s lawyers that they may use the document found in 1995 “as evidence in (the) case-in-chief and/or to impeach the defendant” at his trial, which is scheduled to begin Nov. 5.
Bulger’s lawyer J.W. Carney Jr. did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Tuesday. A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz declined to comment.
In the new court documents, prosecutors list hundreds of pieces of evidence they say they have turned over to the defense, including: surveillance photos and video of various locations frequented by Bulger and other members of his gang; crime scene and medical examiner photos of people Bulger and his gang are accused of killing; and statements made by Bulger, including those included in his FBI informant file. The list of evidence was filed in court ahead of a March 19 status conference in the case.
Bulger, who gave the FBI information on the rival New England Mob, fled Boston in late 1994 after being tipped by his former FBI handler, John Connolly Jr., that he was about to be indicted. Connolly later was convicted of racketeering for warning Bulger about the impending indictment.
Bulger, now 82, has pleaded not guilty. His girlfriend, Catherine Greig, 60, is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to charges she helped Bulger evade capture during their 16 years on the run together.
