James 'Whitey' Bulger, infamous Boston mobster on the lam for 16 years, busted outside Los Angeles
Notorious Boston Mob kingpin James "Whitey" Bulger has finally been busted near Los Angeles, ending a 16-year manhunt that had proved a major embarrassment for the FBI.The Feds finally caught up with the 81-year-old fugitive Wednesday at a Santa Monica home where he was living with his long-time gal-pal Catherine Greig.
The arrest comes days after the FBI launched a renewed publicity campaign to locate the long-missing mobster, which led to a key tip, officials said.
Bulger had been living on the top floor of The Princess Eugenia, a three-story, 28-unit building just blocks from a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
Neighbors said that while Greig was friendly, Bulger was a surly, unfriendly figure in the building."He was nasty," said Barbara Gluck. "At one point \[Greig\] said \[Bulger\] has a rage issue."
Both are scheduled to appear in Los Angeles federal court Thursday.
Bulger - the subject of numerous books and an inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in the 2006 film, "The Departed" - faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering. Greig, 60, will be charged with harboring a fugitive.Bulger was on the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" list for his alleged role in 19 murders from his days running the Winter Hill Gang in Boston, which prosecutors said led a reign of terror for nearly 25 years.
At the same time, Bulger served as a high-level FBI informant.
Nicknamed "Whitey" for his striking shock of platinum hair, Bulger went on the run in 1995. As the manhunt for him continued, the FBI received tips from around the world, none of which were ever confirmed.
Adding a touch of intrigue to his story, Bulger's younger brother, William, became one of the most powerful politicians in Massachusetts, rising to the head of the state senate for 17 years and running the University of Massachusetts.The FBI tried its best to recreate Bulger's look as he aged. (FBI)
He declined to comment to the Boston Globe on his brother's arrest.
The FBI's media campaign had focused on Greig, and featured a 30-second TV ad in 14 markets the pair were thought to possibly be living.The ads aired on TV shows popular with women around Greig's age and pointed out that she had had several plastic surgeries and liked to go to beauty salons.
LOS ANGELES — Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger spent almost all of his 16 years on the lam in the same Santa Monica apartment complex, paying his rent in cash every month while he and his girlfriend hid from one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. history, the property managers said Thursday.
The managers, who asked their names not be used because they didn't want additional attention from the media, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the couple moved in around 1996.
The FBI finally caught the 81-year-old Bulger on Wednesday living on the third floor of the Princess Eugenia, a three-story, 28-unit building of one- and two-bedroom apartments three blocks from a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. He lived with longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig, just days after the government began circulating pictures of her on daytime TV in a new campaign to find the feared crime boss.
The arrest was based on a tip from the campaign, the FBI said without giving details.
The managers recalled the couple, who went by the names Charles and Carol Gasko, as ideal tenants who always paid their rent on time. Santa Monica property records show the apartment had a rent-controlled rate of $1,145 a month.
The managers were shocked by news of the arrest and recalled the Gaskos as sweet people who seemed concerned for the wellbeing of others.
In one instance, the man who called himself Charles Gasko gave a worker at the 28-unit apartment building his flashlight because he was concerned about her crossing the road after she finished her shift at night.
A woman who lived across the hall from crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, in Santa Monica said the 81-year-old crime boss appeared to be mentally deteriorating. Barbara Gluck said Greig told her that Bulger was suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
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