Whitey Bulger's Medford Connections

Two of the most infamous incidents in Medford's history are connected to James "Whitey" Bulger, the renowned South Boston mobster who was captured Wednesday in California after 16 years on the lam.

Bulger, now 81, was originally credited for tipping off investigators to those responsible for the 1980 robbery of the Bank Depositor's Trust in Medford Square, according to a January 1998 Boston Globe report.

That was later discredited when it was revealed that FBI agent John Connolly, who had enlisted Bulger as an informant, frequently embellished the information he got from Bulger, according to a Globe Spotlight Team report later in 1998.

Connolly credited Bulger for being the first to name the suspects in the heist in a report, but it was later revealed that police received calls from tipsters the day after the Memorial Day robbery that looted hundreds of safety deposit boxes, the Globe story said.

The 1989 wire-tapping of a Mafia ceremony in South Medford is not directly connected to Bulger, but he and his right-hand man, Stephen Flemmi, allegedly recruited Angelo "Sonny" Mercurio to be an FBI informant, according to another Globe report. Mercurio admitted he helped bug a Patriarca family Mafia induction ceremony on Guild Street in Medford while working as an informant, according to the report.

More on the Bulger arrest:

• James 'Whitey' Bulger, Alleged Mob Boss, Arrested in Santa Monica
• PHOTOS: James 'Whitey' Bulger's Santa Monica Apartment
• The Many Faces of James 'Whitey' Bulger
• FBI Used Ruse to Lure 'Whitey' Bulger From Home
• IMAGE GALLERY: James 'Whitey' Bulger Left His Mark on Locations throughout the City