Whitey Bulger's funeral held in South Boston

Family and friends bade farewell to Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger in a private funeral held in the same neighborhood he once terrorized.

At last a half dozen family members, including Billy Bulger's brother, attended the 30-minute service at St. Monica's Church in South Boston on Thursday.

Margaret McCusker, the twin sister of Bulger's longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig, was also seen going into the church.

The Boston archdiocese confirmed that the funeral mass was held and NBC Boston had an exclusive video of the family members outside the church.

The service was held nine days after Bulger, 89, was at the death of his cell at the Hazelton federal penitentiary in West Virginia.

Bulger's battered body was found less than 12 hours after he arrived at the prison, which is plagued by violence and a staffing shortage.

Law enforcement sources told NBC News that Bulger was struck repeatedly with a padlock stuffed inside a sock. The killer or killers then places Bulger in his bed to make it look like he was sleeping, law enforcement sources said.

The FBI is investigating the killing. No suspects have been made to investigate multiple suspects, including a Mafia hitman who despises snitches, according to law enforcement sources and the man's lawyer.

The decision to transfer Bulger from a Florida prison to a general population unit at the notorious Hazelton penitentiary has drawn scrutiny from current and form federal prison staffers.

As NBC News reported earlier in the week, the official reason given for this study is complete.

But Bulger was not a medical facility before it was shipped to West Virginia. He had been locked up in solitary confinement after verbally threatening a nursing supervisor.

Whatever the reason for his transfer, Bulger should never be held in a general position and given the status of a member of the Board of Prisons staffers told NBC News.

Cameron Lindsay, retired warden at three federal facilities, called "a shocking failure on multiple levels."

"There's absolutely no way Bulger should have been to Hazelton, and he sure would not have been released to the compound at Hazelton," Lindsay told NBC News earlier in the week.

"It's hard to imagine how and why so many people dropped the ball on this thing."

Tom Winter

Tom Winter is a producer and reporter for the NBC News Investigative Unit based in New York, covering crime, courts, terrorism, and financial fraud on the East Coast.

Rich Schapiro

Rich Schapiro is an editor in the investigations department of NBC News.