Jury selection completed in 'Whitey' Bulger trial

BOSTON, June 11 (UPI) -- A jury was sworn in Tuesday in federal court in Boston for the long-awaited trial of mobster James "Whitey" Bulger.

After U.S. District Judge Denise Casper administered the oath to the 12 jurors and six alternates and warned them to "keep an open mind" during the trial, she ordered them to return Wednesday morning, The Boston Globe reported. Opening statements are expected to begin then, although defense lawyers have asked for a delay.

Bulger, 83, was arrested in 2011 in Santa Monica, Calif., where he and his girlfriend, Catherine Grieg, had been living under assumed names for more than a decade. The former head of the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger allegedly ran criminal operations out of the heavily Irish South Boston neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s and faces a long list of charges, including 19 alleged homicides.

Key prosecution witnesses include former Bulger associates. The defense asked Casper for more time to investigate allegations the FBI has ignored crimes committed by one former hit man since he agreed to cooperate.