Bulger Says 'Exercise Is Over For Me' After Latest Heart Exam
BOSTON (CBS) - "Exercise is over for me."
That's what Whitey Bulger said in a letter to a friend after being examined recently for an irregular heart beat.
The check up happened quietly last week at Jordan Hospital in Plymouth.
Bulger wrote to longtime friend Richard Sunday in Pennsylvania after the appointment saying his days of working out are over.
Bulger had previously told Sunday he was doing 100 push ups a day to stay fit while in isolation at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility.
Richard Sunday spoke with WBZ-TV by phone on Wednesday. He read the first paragraph of Bulger's latest letter that was written on a Thursday at 7 pm.
"It says 'Hello Sunday. Tuesday was taken out by ambulance with A-Fib problem to local hospital. Exercise is over for me. Will miss it."
Sunday continues reading the letter, "Lots of time to think. Fed in cell. Think back to what it's been like so far. I have had a year and a half and a lifetime to go. This is the end of the trail for me."
Sunday says Bulger hasn't complained about his medical treatment or his health. His attorney says he has been treated well.
"Sheriff (Joseph) McDonald and Superintendent (Brian) Gillen have been very professional in the pre-trial detention of our client. An inmate in his 80's presents particular issues, and they have been responsive to them," said Bulger's attorney J.W. Carney. "I am confident at this time that our client will be mentally and physically ready to begin trial on June 6."
Sunday says Bulger is upset with him for giving the personal letters to the authors of the latest book, "Whitey Bulger: America's Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice."
RELATED: Authors Discuss Bulger Book
Sunday tells us, "He told me to keep 'em and use them to sell 'em, and when I did what I thought was right for him, to try to give him more humane treatment, he doesn't seem to be pleased with it."
WBZ-TV's Beth Germano reports
Sunday says Bulger is upset because he believes people are laughing at him."He thinks that's what I have done. Made people laugh at him. But on the contrary. Everybody that I've talked with said I've shown a side of Jimmy that they didn't know."
WBZ played the interview for Steve Davis, whose sister Debbie was one of the 19 people prosecutors say was murdered by Bulger. Davis says Bulger is lucky to have had so many years of freedom.
"His lifetime to go now is so short, he lived his lifetime," said Davis. "He lived and done all he wanted to do and he got away with."
Davis is hopeful that Bulger makes it to trial.
"I think there is still a lot of government officials and state officials that are afraid of what is going to come out at trial time," he says. "I believe that deeply."
