One of the FBI’s most wanted men, notorious Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, who fled from justice about 16 years ago, was arrested in his Santa Monica apartment Wednesday.
Surveillance on Bulger began just before 11 that morning, following a tip received by the FBI’s Boston Bureau, said Special Agent Richard Deslauriers, who heads the bureau’s Boston office.
Shortly before 6 p.m., the 81-year-old fugitive was lured out of his apartment by a “ruse” and placed under arrest without incident by agents from the bureau’s Los Angeles Fugitive Task Force and LAPD officers, Deslauriers said. Also arrested was Bulger’s longtime companion, 60-year-old Catherine Greig.
Bulger had been living at The Princess Eugenia complex in the 1000 block of Third Street, two blocks west of Wilshire Boulevard, according to reports. Officials said Bulger liked beaches and parks, and walked to stay in shape.
Agents found a variety of weapons and a substantial amount of cash in the apartment, Deslauriers said. Broadcast reports said that more than 30 guns were found and $100,000 in cash.
Bulger was sought for his alleged role in 19 murders, in addition to extortion, racketeering, money laundering and other crimes between the early 1970s and mid-1980s in connection with his leadership of South Boston’s Winter Hill Gang, according to the FBI.
He was described as having a violent temper and carrying a gun at all times.
The FBI recently ramped up its attempts to nab Bulger and Grieg by launching a media campaign, which produced the tip that led agents to Santa Monica, where they located the couple, according to Deslauriers and Steven Martinez, the FBI’s assistant director in charge in Los Angeles.
Greig, a.k.a., Helen Marshal, a.k.a., Carol Shapeton, was last seen with Bulger in London in 2002. She was formerly employed as a dental hygienist and has had multiple plastic surgeries. She had also dyed her hair to disguise herself, according to The Los Angeles Times.
The $2 million reward for information leading to Bulger’s arrest was the largest the FBI has offered for a Top 10 domestic fugitive.
Federal charges of harboring a fugitive were filed against Greig in 1997. There was a $100,000 reward for information leading to her arrest. She had been on the run with Bulger since 1995.
According to reports, Bulger worked as an informant for the FBI and initially fled after he was tipped by John Connolly Jr., an FBI agent who worked with him. Connolly was convicted of racketeering in May 2002 for protecting Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, another known crime kingpin and FBI informant.
In 2000, a man told officials that he believed he saw Bulger outside a Fountain Valley hair salon where a woman who may have been Greig was having her hair done, The Times reported.
Authorities said Bulger has traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Mexico. He was known to be an avid reader with an interest in history, frequenting libraries and historic sites. He has been known to alter his appearance through disguises.
He was the apparent inspiration for several books and the 2006 Academy Award-winning Martin Scorsese-directed movie The Departed, in which Jack Nicholson played a character resembling Bulger.
