The Los Angeles Times reports tonight that famed Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, an FBI 10 Most Wanted fugitive for more than ten years, was arrested today in Santa Monica, California. From the LAT:
Bulger, 81, has been the subject of several books and was the inspiration for "The Departed," a 2006 Martin Scorsese film staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.
Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 as federal agents were about to arrest him in connection with 21 killings, racketeering and other crimes that spanned the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.
Above, a mugshot from 1953. He served as an FBI informant for a number of years in the 1970s.
More here. In 2000, there were reports he had been spotted in Orange County, and in 2005, there was speculation that Bulger was the "Senior Citizen Bandit" who robbed a number of banks in O.C.
An FBI alert distributed at the time explained that "Whitey" Bulger, nicknamed for his white hair, was fond of reading books and was "known to frequent libraries and historic sites."
His girlfriend, Catherine Grieg was the target of a recently-launched FBI PSA campaign targeting plastic surgery clinics and dentist's offices. You can watch one of the TV ads here. She "had multiple plastic surgeries" before fleeing with Bulger, and was known to be obsessive about oral hygiene. She is now listed as "captured," along with Bulger.
According to the FBI profile, they both love "dogs and all kinds of animals."
FBI officials in Boston and Los Angeles said late Wednesday that a tip generated by "recent publicity" had led led agents earlier that evening to a residence in Santa Monica where both Greig and Bulger were arrrested.
