Whitey Bulger Lived in Santa Monica 15 Years, Reports Say

By Gene Williams
Lookout Staff

June 24, 2011 – James “Whitey” Bulger – the fugitive Boston mobster whose arrest Wednesday made headlines across the country – had spent nearly all of his 16 years on the lam living in the same Santa Monica apartment, news sources said.

Residents speaking to reporters following the arrest said they had no idea that the quiet, elderly couple who lived on the third floor of the Princess Eugenia apartments on 1012 Third Street were actually Bulger – a notorious mobster wanted in connection with 19 slayings and assorted other crimes – and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

Managers of the apartment building, who asked that their names be withheld, described Bulger and Greig as model tenants, who always paid the rent on time and in cash, the Associated Press reported.

The couple moved into the building around 1996, managers told the news service. The apartment was under rent control and cost the couple $1,145 a month, the report said.

Bulger was taken into custody outside the residence at about 5:45 p.m. Wednesday evening, the FBI said. Greig was arrested inside the apartment a short while later, where a substantial cache of guns and cash were discovered, the FBI said.

Santa Monica police assisted with the search following the arrests, Sergeant Richard Lewis told The Lookout.

The couple were reported to have been living under the aliases of Charles and Carol Gasko.

A neighbor told KTLA News he never suspected there was anything wrong with the pair, whom he described as a nice, elderly couple who liked to take walks together.

But Barbara Gluck, who lived closer to the two fugitives tells a different story, describing Greig as “sweet” and Bulger as “nasty,” the Associated Press reported.

Gluck said Greig told her that Bulger has a “rage issue,” the report said.

Agents tracked down the pair after a renewed publicity effort turned up a tip on Greig, the FBI said.

Although the FBI did not say specifically where the tip came from, the agency said it placed advertisements in a variety of media and targeted a variety of businesses, including dental offices.

Greig, a former dental hygienist, was known to like having her teeth cleaned once a month. Beauty salons and plastic surgeons were also targeted.
The 81-year-old Bulger – who has been on the run since 1994 after being tipped off by an FBI agent of his impending arrest – faces federal and state charges including murder, conspiracy to commit murder, drug trafficking, extortion, racketeering and money laundering.

The FBI described Bulger as “armed and dangerous,” a man with a bad temper who always carries a knife.

Bulger also has a keen interest in history and likes to visit libraries, the FBI reported. He and Greig, 60, loved dogs and animals of all kinds, the report said.

Bulger faces federal charges in Boston and murder charges in Oklahoma and Miami.

Bulger’s brother, William Bulger -- a former leader of the Massachusetts state senate and a former president of the University of Massachussets – would not comment to reporters about news of Wednesday’s arrest.