To Boston, from Santa Monica, with love….
The long-time (16 YEARS!) fugitive mobster, James “Whitey” Bulger, 81, who was arrested, along with a girlfriend yesterday, will be sent back to Boston, MA by U.S. Magistrate Judge John E. McDermott. Members of the Fugitive Task Force staked out the apartment, which is near a beach near Santa Monica‘s shopping and tourist strip, an open-air corridor called the Third Street Promenade, on Wednesday and arrested Bulger and Catherine Elizabeth Greig, 60, who is suspected of harboring Bulger. Neither resisted arrest. Bulger was arrested outside the apartment, after authorities used a ruse, and then Greig was arrested inside the apartment. There was a $2 million FBI reward for Bulger.
A search of the apartment yielded more than $800,000 in cash, numerous fake IDs, 30 firearms (now THAT’S a “collection!” 
) that included pistols, rifles, and shotguns, and several knives, according to Steven Martinez, FBI assistant director in charge in Los Angeles.
Bulger, who is one of the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted fugitives was also the inspiration for the 2006 Martin Scorsese film “The Departed.” He was wanted for 19 counts of murder, and a host of other crimes, including conspiracy to commit murder, extortion, narcotics distribution and money-laundering charges, the FBI said. Bulger’s alleged criminal enterprises included gambling, extortion, narcotics, loansharking, and the murder of people who got in the way. Bulger was an FBI informant before he fled in 1995. Some of the charges date back 40 years, and no one knows how many of the potential trial witnesses are still alive. (Note added June 26,2011: After all, even though they both “pay well,” “organized crime,” unlike “corporate crime,” does not have a very good “retirement plan!” )
The FBI launched a publicity campaign about Grieg in 14 markets across the country where the couple was known to have ties. (Ah, there goes that “social networking” again! ) The arrests resulted directly from the publicity campaign. Within days, authorities received a tip, at about 8 PM Pacific Time on Tuesday. At about 5:45 Pacific Time on Wednesday, Bulger and Greig were arrested.
According to the CNN article:
“Carmen Ortiz, U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts, said she believes the death penalty is not an option in the federal charges Bulger faces in her district, but that she believes he could face the death penalty for two cases outside the district.”
FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was an assistant U.S. attorney in Boston in the 1980s, traveled to Boston today to meet and congratulate staff who were involved in Bulger’s arrest. Bulger, who was known to use disguises, was considered armed and extremely dangerous. The FBI Most Wanted List’s description says, “He has a violent temper and is known to carry a knife at all times.”
According to the Wikipedia article, Bulger participated as a subject in the CIA’s MK-ULTRA program which administered LSD and other drugs. He also spent some time on Alcatraz Island, arriving on November 2, 1959, as prisoner #AZ1428.
Boston, you can have him.
(Note added June 24, 2011: Could Whitey Bulger solve “the holy grail” of art crimes? [Why would he? ]:
The masterpieces and four other paintings stolen that day are estimated to be worth more than $500 million. Two decades later, the case remains stubbornly unsolved. It has been called ‘the holy grail of art crime.'”
You knew that I had to work Art into this, somehow! Also, another article has been published about Bulger enjoying his life in California. Who wouldn’t? If you do not enjoy your life in California, you are doing something WRONG! [I say that from experience, and as a tip to a few, certainly not ALL, of my former managers.])
-Bill at
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