'Whitey' Bulger Court Appearance Left Families 'Stirred Up'

It was a day more than 16 years in the making: the onetime leader of the Boston Irish mob, James "Whitey" Bulger, handcuffed in court in South Boston.

On Friday afternoon, Bulger made his first Boston court appearance after his arrest in California on Wednesday after being on the run since 1995. His girlfriend, Catherine Greig, appeared in court separately on Friday.

Many of the families of Bulger's alleged victims were in attendance at the federal courthouse, reported WBUR's Martha Bebinger. Bulger's appearance affected the families greatly.

"His very brief appearance where he said all of two dozen words, maybe a few more, just didn't satisfy a lot of people," Bebinger said. "[It] left them very stirred up with no sense of resolution."