Aug. 12, 2013 Boston.com
James J. “Whitey” Bulger, the notorious Boston gangster who rampaged through the city’s underworld for decades before slipping away from authorities and eluding a worldwide manhunt for more than 16 years, was convicted today in a sweeping federal racketeering indictment of charges that he killed 11 people.
After 32 1/2 hours of deliberations over five days, the jury of four women and eight men returned to the courtroom this afternoon with their verdict, bringing a resounding end to Bulger’s decades of evading justice. They found Bulger guilty of 31 of the 32 counts he faced. He now faces the likelihood that he will die in prison.
After the verdict was announced, the 83-year-old Bulger gave a thumbs-up sign to family and pointed at them as he was led out of the courtroom. A woman in the row reserved for victims, yelled, “Rat-a-tat, Whitey!”
Bulger’s brother, John Bulger, ignored reporters’ questions as he left the courthouse.
While the jury found Bulger responsible for 11 of 19 murders he was charged with, the jury said the charges were not proved for seven of the murders, and they could not reach agreement on the final charge. Read More
Charlie Wilson
On August 12, 1964, Charlie Wilson, part of the gang who pulled off the 1963 Great Train Robbery, one of the biggest heists of its kind, escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England. Several men broke into the maximum-security facility to free Wilson, who remained on the loose until 1968.
Aug. 9, 2013 Associated Press
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Two young men were arrested in the cyberbullying case of a 17-year-old Canadian girl who killed herself after a photo of her allegedly being sexually assaulted circulated online. They were charged with distributing child pornography almost two years after the alleged assault.
Rehtaeh Parsons, who died after being removed from life support following a suicide attempt in April, led to an outcry across North America. Police initially concluded there were no grounds to charge anyone after a yearlong investigation.
Her mother said a boy took a photo of the alleged assault in November 2011 and that her daughter was bullied for months after it went viral.
On Thursday, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Chief Supt. Roland Wells said one man, 18, was charged with two counts of distributing child pornography and the second man, also 18, was charged with making child pornography and distributing it. Wells said the two are not being identified because they were minors when the alleged crimes occurred. Read More
Charles Manson
On August 9, 1969, members of Charles Manson's cult kill five people in movie director Roman Polanski's Beverly Hills, California, home, including Polanski's pregnant wife, actress Sharon Tate. Less than two days later, the group killed again, murdering supermarket executive Leno LaBianca and his wife Rosemary in their home.
Bruce Reynolds, mastermind behind the Great Train Robbery
On August 8, 1963, a gang of 14 thieves rob a royal mail train headed from Glasgow and London making off with over $7 million in stolen money. The mastermind of the Great Train Robbery was Bruce Reynolds, a known burglar and armed robber. He was inspired by the railroad heists of the Wild West in America.
Aug. 7, 2013 ABC News
The trial of Major Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people and wounding dozens more in a Fort Hood shooting rampage, was temporarily halted today when a lawyer objected that Hasan was putting up no defense in an effort to get himself executed.
The lawyer's concern brings a touch of the absurd to the trial. Hasan was prevented from pleading guilty because that would have eliminated a trial and the option of a death sentence.
But his feeble defense -- in his opening statement Hasan said, "I am the shooter" -- may ultimately backfire if an appeals court finds his defense was so poor that his trial could not be considered fair.
The government has spent four years and $5 million to guarantee Hasan is given an airtight trial that concludes with a guilty verdict and the possibility of a death sentence. Read More
On August 7, 1998, a massive truck bomb explodes outside the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. Minutes later, another truck bomb detonated outside the U.S. embassy in the capital of neighboring Tanzania.
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
