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Bulger pleads not guilty to murder

This FBI photograph taken in 1994 shows one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, James "Whitey" Bulger, who was arrested on June 22, 2011. Bulger was on the run for 17 years and is wanted for a variety of crimes in the Boston area including 19 different murders, drug trafficking and extortion he was caught by FBI agents in California with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig. UPI/FBI Handout
This FBI photograph taken in 1994 shows one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives, James "Whitey" Bulger, who was arrested on June 22, 2011. Bulger was on the run for 17 years and is wanted for a variety of crimes in the Boston area including 19 different murders, drug trafficking and extortion he was caught by FBI agents in California with his girlfriend, Catherine Greig. UPI/FBI Handout | License Photo

BOSTON, July 6 (UPI) -- Reputed Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger pleaded not guilty to 19 murder charges Wednesday during a brief hearing in federal court.

Bulger is named in a 32-count indictment handed up by a grand jury while he was on the run. He and his longtime girlfriend were tracked down in Santa Monica, Calif., in June.

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Speaking softly, Bulger said "not guilty" over and over, the Boston Globe reported. His two brothers, one of them former state Senate President William Bulger, watched the arraignment.

Bulger is represented by an experienced defense lawyer, J.W. Carney Jr., who was appointed last week after U.S. Magistrate Marianne Bowler ruled Bulger is indigent. Bowler denied a request by Carney to add his partner to the defense team.

In a departure from the procedure last week, Bulger was brought to Boston from the Plymouth County Jail by car. Last week, he was transported to Logan International Airport in a Coast Guard helicopter.

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