BOSTON (AP) — Jurors in the trial of James "Whitey" Bulger have begun deliberations in a sweeping racketeering indictment that accuses the reputed crime boss of participating in 19 murders during a two-decade reign over Boston's underworld.

The jury began deliberations Tuesday morning after hearing instructions from Judge Denise Casper.

The 83-year-old Bulger is charged with orchestrating or committing the killings during the 1970s and '80s while he allegedly led the notorious Winter Hill Gang, a crew of mostly Irish-American gangsters.

Bulger was one of the nation's most wanted fugitives after he fled Boston ahead of a 1994 indictment. He was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in 2011.

He is accused of shooting or strangling some of the victims himself. In other cases, he allegedly ordered the slayings or participated in some other way.


Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.

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