Online Sources for Following the James 'Whitey' Bulger Trial

In Boston, the backdrop to the summer of 2013 will be the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger, a reputed mobster accused of multiple crimes, including 19 murders.

Bulger's story is one of brutal violence, crime, intrigue, corruption, political connections and a city's not-so-distant history of ethnic divides and parochial neighborhood worldviews.

Throw a stone in Boston and you'll hit an armchair Whitey Bulger scholar, but for everyone else the story can seem like a maze of names, places and confusing family trees.

As previously written on Somerville Patch, "You've got your Johnny and your Jimmy Martorano (brothers), your Ilario Zannino and your Larry Baione (same person), your Paul Rico (an FBI agent) and your all-capital-letters RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), and your Howie Winter ... leader of the Winter Hill Gang, even though his name has nothing to do with the hill."

For those interested in following the trial, here are some online resources:

• Boston Globe
• WBUR
• Boston Herald on the Bulger trial
• Boston Herald on "Whitey" Bulger history
• Somerville Patch
• A tour of Boston mob characters and places from the Boston Globe

For those interested in learning more, here are some books you might want to check out:

• The Boston Mob Guide: Hit Men, Hoodlums & Hideouts. A who's who about the Boston mob. (Read about the book on Somerville Patch).
• Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice. A book by two veteran Globe reporters. (Read about the book in the Boston Globe).
• The Brothers Bulger: How They Terrorized and Corrupted Boston for a Quarter Century. A good overview of the Bulger story from Howie Carr.
• Citizen Somerville: Growing up with the Winter Hill Gang. A first-hand look at Somerville's role in Boston's mob history. (Read about the book on Somerville Patch. See what the book's author has to say about James "Whitey" Bulger. See what Winter Hill thinks about Whitey Bulger.)