Whitey Bulger attackers tried to cut out his tongue

Bulger, 89, was beaten beyond recognition in the fatal attack Tuesday at the Hazelton Prison in Bruceton Mills. The South Boston mobster died a day after he was transferred to another place.

At the time of the fatal attack, Bulger was in the general prison population, which gave his attackers easy access to him, according to the federal official, who has knowledge of the investigation.

Investigators believe he was attacked by one person. At least one of the inmates involved in Mbadachusetts, the official said.

One suspect is a mafia hit man

One of the two suspects in the brutal beating was identified as Fotos "Freddy" Geas, a Mafia hit man from Mbadachusetts, The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources. It said it was moved to solitary confinement after the killing.

Geas, 51, is serving a life sentence at the same prison for the 2003 murder of a crime investigating and informing FBI.

The US Penitentiary Hazelton is a high-security facility that houses 1,270 male offenders.

No staff or inmates were injured in the attack, the prison office said. Federal officials are investigating Bulger's death as a homicide.

'It marks the full circle'

A man who wrote a book about the much-feared crime boss said he died the way he once lived.

"He lived violently and violently," said Dick Lehr, author of "Whitey: The Life of America's Most Notorious Mob Boss."

"It marks the full circle of a terrible life."

Bulger was arrested in June 2011 after he was elected to the federal government for more than 16 years. He was serving the rest of his life in prison for a series of crimes that included his role in 11 murders. Before he went on the run, he had been a longtime informing FBI.

A federal jury convicted him of 31 counts, including racketeering, extortion, money laundering, drug dealing and possession. The jury found him guilty in 11 killings from 1973 through 1985.

The circumstances of this week's transfer remain unclear. Bulger had also been housed at federal penitentiaries in Oklahoma and Tucson, Arizona.

Captured nearly 2 decades later

Bulger skipped town ahead of a pending indictment, and was captured in California a decade later.

In 2012, his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, was sentenced to eight years in federal prison for identity fraud and helping the mob boss avoid capture. Before their arrest, they lived under false names in Santa Monica, in which Bulger described as a "16-year honeymoon."

After fleeing Mbadachusetts, investigators learned that the longtime South Boston gang leader had been an FBI informant and his FBI handler had tipped him off to the charges.

His Oscar-winning film "The Departed," which starred Jack Nicholson has a character modeled after him.

In 2015, actor Johnny Depp played in the movie "Black Mbad."