Whitey Bulger Lawyer Says He Will Sue Over Prison Killing

A lawyer for James "Whitey" Bulger says he plans to sue the government over the notorious gangster's prison killing.

Attorney Hank Brennan told The Wall Street Journal that he will bring wrongful death and negligence claims on behalf of Bulger's estate.

Brennan told The Associated Press he expects to begin filing a number of lawsuits over the next month, but declined to provide further details.

“It’s important for the family and the public to know why the prisons decided to wheel an 89-year-old man with a history of heart attacks into one of the most dangerous prisons in the country,” Brennan told the Journal.

The lawyer said Bulger called him four weeks before his death, saying he was being transferred to a prison medical facility.

Though Brennan said he thought that was good news, Bulger appeared apprehensive, saying, "The devil you know is better than the devil you don't. I don't trust them."

Bulger was serving a life sentence for 11 murders and other crimes when he was beaten to death in October, hours after he was transferred to a West Virginia prison. His slaying was the third at the prison in the last six months.

Authorities have said two Massachusetts mobsters are under suspicion in the 89-year-old's killing. No charges have been filed.