The fugitive gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, who for years featured next to Osama bin Laden on the FBI's Most Wanted list, has been captured after 16 years on the run.
Bulger, 81, one of the most notorious crime bosses in America, was the inspiration for Jack Nicholson's character in the 2006 Oscar-winning film The Departed.
The aging mobster, who once ruled the Boston underworld with an iron fist, was found living the quiet life in Santa Monica, California, with his girlfriend Catherine Greig, 60. They were living under the assumed names of Charles and Carol Gasko and shared a one-bedroom apartment three blocks from the Pacific Ocean. Neighbours said they spent much of their time walking their dog on the beach. Inside the apartment, agents found a store of weapons and a large amount of cash.
Bulger's capture was the end of an epic manhunt that included reported sightings from Ireland, France, Italy, Thailand, Brazil and Spain. The last credible one was by a businessman on a London street in 2002, although a member of the public told the FBI they had seen Bulger leaving a San Diego cinema showing The Departed last year.
The gangster's brother, William Bulger, a leading figure in the Boston Democratic Party and former president of the Massachusetts State Senate, declined to comment on the capture.
Nicknamed "Whitey" because a shock of bright hair, Bulger grew up in a gritty South Boston housing project.
With Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, he led the violent Winter Hill Gang, a largely Irish mob that ran loan-sharking, gambling and drug rackets and was responsible for a 25-year reign of killing.
Bulger fled Boston in January, 1995, and his escape subsequently became a major embarrassment for the FBI.
He was tipped off by an FBI agent, John Connolly Jr, and it emerged that Bulger had been one of the bureau's most valuable informants. Connolly had recruited him two decades earlier. While the FBI waged a war against the mob in the 1970s and 1980s Bulger provided key information on the Winter Hill Gang's rivals, the New England Mob. Connolly was later convicted of racketeering for protecting Bulger and Flemmi. In 2003 a congressional committee said the FBI's use of Bulger as an informant, and the overlooking of some of his crimes, was "one of greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement". Bulger was connected to 19 murders and a reward of $2 million (pounds 1.2 million) was offered.
His eventual capture came after the FBI focused on finding Greig, a former dental hygienist. She was known to have had plastic surgery and to enjoy going to beauty salons. On Tuesday the FBI began broadcasting TV advertisements. It hoped a hairstylist, manicurist, doctor or other acquaintance might recognize Greig. It also placed advertisements in Plastic Surgery News.
The tactic appeared to work and a tip led to agents swarming the three-storey Princess Eugenia apartment building, close to a row of designer shops in Santa Monica. Bulger, who in his younger days always carried a knife, gave up without a struggle and did not appear to be in good health.
Janus Goodwin, 61, a neighbour and friend, said he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease and emphysema.
She said the couple had lived there for about 15 years and looked after a stray cat. She said: "I thought they were just nice people. Obviously, I was wrong."
Source
http://www.theprovince.com/news/Afte...602/story.html 
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