inside one of the biggest manhunts in fbi history. [ bagpipes ] reporter: the church bells of saint monica near the harbor in south boston have sounded for generations of irish immigrants. [ bell ringing ] reporter: it is a tight-knit community that s always protected its own, a place james whitey bulger, one of boston s most notorious gangsters, called home. bulger learned to fight and survive on the mean streets of south boston, known as southy to locals like john shay who would decades layer later, work for bulger. the guy was legendary. he made tough guys shake. he made them shake. reporter: bulger s life of crime started early. arrested in his teens he was robbing banks by age 20. his shock of blond hair earning him the name whitey a name he s said to despise. with his rugged good looks and reckless flamboyance, bulge jer imagined himself boston s version of hollywood gangster jimmy cagney. instead of red carpets, he was headed to alcatraz. a string of bank r