Expert weighs-in on prison beating of Whitey Bulger

A well known hitman is being called the likely suspect in a payback hit on former Boston mob boss Whitey Bulger inside federal prison Tuesday, and a local expert in organized crime believes it a classic case of old school retaliation.

The man believed to be behind the attack is Fotios ‘Freddy’ Geas, hailing from West Springfield and doing time in the same prison Bulger was transferred to for murder.

Reports say Bulger wasn’t just killed, he was worked over and a message was sent.

Officials are saying a group of inmates attacked the once notorious crime boss with a lock in a sock and a makeshift knife, and prison officials tell TMZ his attackers tried gouging his eyes out and cutting out his tongue.

Frederic Reamer is a professor of social work at Rhode Island College who is also an author. Reamer has written extensively on organized crime and believes the murder has all the signs of a payback hit.

“Is it a hallmark of some of the cases I’ve seen, yes. It’s not just we’re going to end this person’s life, it’s payback,” Reamer said. “The case has the markings of something that might come out of Universal Studios. It is old school.”

The major unanswered question at this point of the investigation is if Geas knew Bulger would be coming to the prison known by inmates as Misery Mountain.

Reamer, a former social worker in federal prisons and a former Rhode Island Parole Board worker of 24 years speculates that Geas most likely did not know.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if word spread fast and Geas may have been tipped off or he was very astute and as soon as Bulger hit that prison in West Virginia, word may have spread like wildfire,” he said.

Reamer said because the mob is not what it once was, it’s a small world where everyone knows everyone.

“People know each other by reputation, by sight,” he said. “I would say there’s considerable likelihood that they knew of each other.”

Federal authorities said Bulger was transferred due to health reasons. He was killed less than 24 hours after he arrived.