BOSTON — James “Whitey” Bulger, the city’s most notorious gangster, was haunted by LSD flashbacks, kept cash hidden in the U.S. and Europe, and returned to Boston on “several occasions” armed “to the teeth” while on the lam.

It’s all part of his handwritten draft of a book manuscript and interview notes after his capture that is part of a motion for Post Conviction Relief sought by onetime FBI agent John “Zip” Connolly filed in a Florida court Monday.

It’s a tell-all by an aging and bitter mobster who once wanted a normal life.

Bulger, a serial killer murdered in prison in 2018, rails against the “lies” told about him and how “your lies have thrust me into the Court of Public Opinion.” An understatement for a ruthless assassin depicted in numerous Hollywood films.

“The purpose of this book is first to expose that these people who have lied about me to get a ‘get out of prison pass’ who continue to lie about innocent people to fulfill the deal they made,” Bulger writes in his clean, cursive, flowing style. “I have no intention of ever giving testimony in court against these people — I seek no deal and will freely write the truth about many crimes and in doing so give up any hope for being able to fight for a not guilty finding in court.”

He’s referencing, in part, his once-loyal hitmen Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi and John “The Executioner” Martorano — who both testified in court they had 43 murders between them while running with the Winter Hill Gang out of Somerville and Boston.

For Connolly, the draft of this book that was never published — with Bulger not allowed under law to receive any proceeds anyway — could help the ex-FBI agent have his second-degree murder conviction tossed, his lawyer Peter Mullane told the Herald Monday.

Bulger writes, in that vein, “these revelations will be a weapon — the law enforcement and prosecutors who made the deals with these people may see the error of their way. They will realize these people played them for suckers … and produced a chorus of lies.”

He called his gang members, turned witnesses, his “old partners in murder.”

He came back to Boston

In the interview notes, Bulger said ex-FBI agent John Morris — not Connolly — tipped him off that a federal indictment was imminent so he took off on the run on Dec. 23, 1994.

“He drove through various areas of the United States … he liked to go to museums, antique shops, and historical areas” with his girlfriend Teresa Stanley and later Catherine Greig, the feds write.

He stashed money in safe deposit boxes in New York City and Clearwater, Fla. He cleaned both out, one for $35,000, and also had safe deposit boxes in London and Paris listed “either in his true name or in the alias name of Thomas Baxter.”

This memo of a rambling interview of Bulger after he was caught in Santa Monica, Calif., on June 22, 2011, with $822,198 in cash hidden in his condo wall, told of a fight on a train in London. It was not clear when it occurred, but “he was on a train when he was called ‘Yank’ by an English citizen … and that he responded by calling this individual ‘asshole’ which resulted in an extensive fist fight on the train.” He was using Thomas Baxter as his name then.

In a stunning admission, Bulger bragged that he returned to Boston while one of the Most Wanted criminals in the country, sometimes driving a “two-door Honda Accord” and “armed to the teeth.” He returned heavily disguised in a wig, false facial hair and makeup “to take care of unfinished business.” He did not elaborate.

Why Santa Monica?

Bulger said he chose Santa Monica, Calif., to hide out after enjoying Venice Beach and Santa Monica was close enough and “cosmopolitan with numerous transient and homeless people and vacationers. Bulger also advised that many Jewish people lived there and kept to themselves.”

Bulger also said that just before moving to California, he stayed in Grand Isle, Louisiana, where he bought property, giving friendly neighbors $10,000 to buy land and put it in their name. He also bought glasses for the neighbor’s children, but soon ended the relationship after the neighbor put Bulger and Greig’s dog “down after it became sick.”

He traveled to Chicago, where he ditched his car after learning his Thomas Baxter identity was known and he and Greig took a train to Los Angeles.

Helicopters and LSD

Bulger soon became jittery in LA when helicopters were hovering over his motel, only to discover the trial of OJ Simpson was taking place at the nearby court. That was in 1995, so they moved down the coast to Santa Monica, stealing a “piece of identification” from “an alcoholic” to begin adopting a new fake identity.

He opened up an account with Bank of America and “loved going to Las Vegas and went on numerous occasions. Bulger stated that he played the slots and would often win money.”

Bulger stated that he “had hidden and subsequently picked up money from all over the country. Upon questioning, Bulger described the amount of money as ‘a lot’ and stated that it was kept for him by individuals from whom he had done favors.” Some of the money was in Chicago, the memo states, but he refused to share more.

Bulger admitted that while in Alcatraz as a younger man, “he had planned to get out and try for one year to get a good job, a woman, and go straight. … it did not work out.”

He did add he “came out of prison smarter and stronger than before he went in.” He was transferred to Leavenworth Federal Penitentiary in Kansas after California closed Alcatraz in 1963 and got out early in 1965 after volunteering for CIA-sponsored LSD experiments.

When federal officers asked why he had so many candles in his Santa Monica hideout, Bulger said he had “problems sleeping” due to the LSD experiments. “Bulger described several hallucinations which occurred after he had been given LSD … that skin was falling off individuals he believed he was observing while hallucinating.” He also took “the highest dose of LSD” with “terrible results.”

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