Mob boss arrest ends 16-year FBI manhunt
Source: Agencies |
June 24, 2011, Friday
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A BOSTON mob boss was captured near Los Angeles 16 years after his run from the law sparked an international manhunt and served as a major embarrassment to the FBI as their onetime informant eluded authorities.
The FBI finally caught 81-year-old James "Whitey" Bulger at a residence in Santa Monica along with his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig on Wednesday, just days after the government launched a publicity campaign to locate the fugitive mobster, said Steven Martinez, FBI's assistant director in charge in Los Angeles. The arrest was based on a tip from the campaign, he said.
Bulger, who was an inspiration for the 2006 Martin Scorsese film, "The Departed," is wanted for his alleged role in 19 murders. At one time, he provided information on a rival gang to the FBI, then fled in January 1995 when a former agent told him he was about to be indicted.
After he fled, Bulger became one of the country's most-hunted fugitives. With a place next to Osama bin Laden on the "Ten Most Wanted" list, he had a US$2 million reward on his head.
He blended in
The FBI had been conducting surveillance in the area where the arrest was made, said Police Sergeant Rudy Flores, who gave no details of the arrest. Agents swarmed around Bulger's building late on Wednesday, hours after the arrests in a neighborhood of two and three-story apartment buildings.
Bulger lived 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 that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Neighbors said the couple did not stand out.
Barbara Gluck, who lives on the same floor as Bulger and Greig, said she didn't know their names but recognized them from photos on the Internet after she heard about their arrest.
Gluck described Greig as "sweet and lovely" and said they would have "girl talk" when they ran into each other in the building. Bulger became angry whenever he saw the two of them talking, and would say, "Stop talking to her," Gluck said.
"He was nasty," she added. "At one point, (Greig) said (Bulger) has a rage issue," Gluck said.
End of the road
Bulger and Greig were scheduled to make an appearance in Los Angeles federal court yesterday. He faces a series of federal charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering, while the 60-year-old Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.
The arrest brings an end to a manhunt that received worldwide attention as the FBI received reported sightings of Bulger and Greig from all over the United States and parts of Europe. In many of those sightings, investigators could not confirm whether it was Bulger who was spotted or a look-alike.
Bulger, nicknamed "Whitey" for his shock of bright platinum hair, grew up in a gritty South Boston housing project, and went on to become Boston's most notorious gangster. Along with Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, he led the violent Winter Hill Gang that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets.
The FBI finally caught 81-year-old James "Whitey" Bulger at a residence in Santa Monica along with his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig on Wednesday, just days after the government launched a publicity campaign to locate the fugitive mobster, said Steven Martinez, FBI's assistant director in charge in Los Angeles. The arrest was based on a tip from the campaign, he said.
Bulger, who was an inspiration for the 2006 Martin Scorsese film, "The Departed," is wanted for his alleged role in 19 murders. At one time, he provided information on a rival gang to the FBI, then fled in January 1995 when a former agent told him he was about to be indicted.
After he fled, Bulger became one of the country's most-hunted fugitives. With a place next to Osama bin Laden on the "Ten Most Wanted" list, he had a US$2 million reward on his head.
He blended in
The FBI had been conducting surveillance in the area where the arrest was made, said Police Sergeant Rudy Flores, who gave no details of the arrest. Agents swarmed around Bulger's building late on Wednesday, hours after the arrests in a neighborhood of two and three-story apartment buildings.
Bulger lived 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 that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. Neighbors said the couple did not stand out.
Barbara Gluck, who lives on the same floor as Bulger and Greig, said she didn't know their names but recognized them from photos on the Internet after she heard about their arrest.
Gluck described Greig as "sweet and lovely" and said they would have "girl talk" when they ran into each other in the building. Bulger became angry whenever he saw the two of them talking, and would say, "Stop talking to her," Gluck said.
"He was nasty," she added. "At one point, (Greig) said (Bulger) has a rage issue," Gluck said.
End of the road
Bulger and Greig were scheduled to make an appearance in Los Angeles federal court yesterday. He faces a series of federal charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, narcotics distribution, extortion and money laundering, while the 60-year-old Greig is charged with harboring a fugitive.
The arrest brings an end to a manhunt that received worldwide attention as the FBI received reported sightings of Bulger and Greig from all over the United States and parts of Europe. In many of those sightings, investigators could not confirm whether it was Bulger who was spotted or a look-alike.
Bulger, nicknamed "Whitey" for his shock of bright platinum hair, grew up in a gritty South Boston housing project, and went on to become Boston's most notorious gangster. Along with Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, he led the violent Winter Hill Gang that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets.
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