Whitey Bulger Trial Date Set for November 5

Aging Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger will face trial on Nov. 5 if the date set forth Monday by a federal magistrate judge set holds.

According to Bloomberg, U.S. Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler in Boston set the trial date over the objection of Bulger’s court-appointed attorney, J.W. Carney Jr.

“I think it’s best I give you a strict timeline,” Bowler told Carney and federal prosecutors. “I urge you to work in a cooperative fashion. This is a monumental task.”

Carney, however, who has been inundated with 580,000 pages of documents and 921 tapes of secret wiretaps related to the 48-count racketeering indictment, said that his team needs significantly more time and manpower to prepare for the Bulger trial.

“We can’t possibly be ready,” he told the judge.

Bulger, the former leader of the Winter Hill Gang, is charged with participating in 19 murders committed from 1973 to 1985 and crimes including extortion, bookmaking and drug trafficking. The 82-year-old former mob boss and FBI informant was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., in June, after 16 years on the run.

With Whitey’s trial looming less than nine months away, the sooner the better to get it over with say the families of his alleged victims.

“I was pleased at what the judge had to say, I think we’re still going to have trouble with speeding this all up,” Stephen Davis said.

His sister Debra was allegedly killed by Bulger in 1981.

“A lot of questions need to be answered. And to delay it would torture guys like me, families like Stevie’s, and dozens and dozens more,” Donahue added.

Bulger’s lawyer, however, said he will not discuss his client’s health or his family.

The next court date for the U.S. v. Bulger case (99-10371) is Monday, March 19.

For more on James Whitey Bulger’s trial date, watch the clip below: