James "Whitey" Bulger was reportedly beaten so savagely, his body was unrecognizable when he was found.
Did a convicted hitman take out mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger?
Freddy Geas has been named as one of four inmates who beat Bulger to death in his prison cell with a padlock inside a sock, according to a published report.
The beating was so savage, 89-year-old Bulger was unrecognizable when his body was found.
It's believed he had a target on his back because he had been exposed as an FBI informer.
"Freddy hated rats," one source told The Boston Globe.
Geas, who is serving life for a gangland slaying, reportedly "didn't dispute his role in [Bulger's] killing,” according to the Globe.
Bulger's killers were reportedly seen on surveillance tape entering his cell around 6 a.m. Tuesday, moments after the door was unlocked for breakfast.
The killers reportedly tried to cut out Bulger's tongue and gouge his eyes out, which is traditional payback for an informer.
“Whitey became a sellout and he paid the price for that,” prison expert Larry Levine told Inside Edition. “The inmates knew what time the doors open, the inmates knew what cell he was in. So the locks open on the doors, boom, they rush in, they take care of business.”
Patricia Donahue, the widow of a Bulger victim from Boston, said she popped champagne after learning of the mobster’s slaying. Donahue's husband, Michael, died when he was caught in the crossfire of a Bulger hit in 1982.
Bulger's murder took place the day after he was transferred to a West Virginia federal prison. Authorities have not said why Bulger was transferred.
RELATED STORIES
