Mobster's Run Almost Textbook Case of Evasion

[steven johnson]

A successful fugitive has to cut all contact with his previous life. It is easier said than done.

Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend posed as two retirees holed up in a nondescript apartment complex in Santa Monica and eluded detection for a long time. Apparently, his girlfried was his undoing. All of his preparation with 30 guns, $800,000 and passports in the apartment didn't protect him from his girlfriend's predictable habits by which she could be tracked.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 25, 2011 at 4:13 PM ET

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) — Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger did almost everything right in evading capture for 16 years.

The notorious mobster's run from the law was remarkable for its longevity, which was due mainly to the unremarkable new identity he built for himself while on the lam.

He adopted an unassuming lifestyle, paid for everything with cash, didn't drive a car, limited his social contact to small talk and adhered to the code of silence from the mob life he left behind. When federal agents tracked him to his lair this week, it was only after targeting the one part of his past that Bulger didn't leave behind — his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

By all accounts, the two did little to ever arouse suspicion, posing as two retirees holed up in a bland white 1970s apartment complex in Santa Monica amid other buildings of the same era.

Although Bulger — who fled Boston in 1995 after a retired FBI agent who had recruited him as an informant tipped him to a pending indictment — was believed to have millions of dollars stashed in secret accounts, and investigators found $800,000 hidden in the apartment, the couple didn't live lavishly. They paid $1,145 cash several days in advance each month for a rent-controlled unit, while newer neighbors paid more than twice as much. Greig shopped at a 99-cent store.

The $2 million reward and recent publicity campaign by the FBI probably didn't help, either


Mobster's Run Almost Textbook Case of Evasion

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 25, 2011 at 3:09 PM ET

BOSTON (AP) — The FBI says a tipster who led federal agents to the California home to Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger and his longtime girlfriend recognized the couple from a recent TV campaign.

FBI spokesman Greg Comcowich says the tipster called the FBI after she saw the recent commercials that asks people, particularly women, to be on the lookout for Greig.

The commercial says that Bulger's girlfriend, Catherine Greig (greeg), had several plastic surgeries before going on the lam and was known to frequent beauty salons. The 30-second ad ran this week in 14 television markets.


FBI: Bulger Tipster Saw Recent Campaign Commercial

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