UPDATE: Sheesh, whatever happened to the days when you could trust stuff you read online? The Herald's O'Ryan Johnson tweets neither mobster nor moll is in transit anywhere - due to a computer glitch at the Bureau of Prisons, they've been marked as "in transit" since June.
A federal appeals court today ordered the government to pay nearly $3 million to the families of three people murdered by Whitey Bulger when he was under FBI protection.
In two rulings issued today, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston said enough was enough, Bulger and pal Stephen Flemmi were able to kill people because they knew the government wouldn't touch him and that the government should pay for its role in the murders of Louis Litif, Debra Davis and Deborah Hussey.
Dana Reichman Gitell spotted this guy just standing there in Dedham this morning.
Dan Kennedy analyzes the Globe's explanation on how it found the identity of the woman who turned in Bulger and why it didn't put her at any more risk than she already faced - thanks to the FBI saying a few months ago that the winning tip came from Iceland and, really, how many Icelanders would Bulger and Grieg have run across in Santa Monica?
The Globe provides the definitive look, including the identity of the cat-loving Icelander who brought him down.
Channel 4 is conflicted:
WBZ's Jim Armstrong spoke off camera with the widow of one of Bulger's alleged murder victims. She's disgusted by the idea someone would not just make such a costume, but that anyone else would dress up as a man accused of murdering 19 local people.
But it seems, if you're not personally connected to the man or his legendary wrath, you might be OK with it.
The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit today upheld an earlier decision to toss an $8.5 million verdict against the FBI for its role in letting Whitey Bulger and his henchmen kill an informant and the guy who was giving him a ride home, saying the families filed their lawsuit three weeks after the expiration of the statute of limitations.
The feds claim Whitey Bulger made several trips back to Boston from his California hideout "to take care of some unfinished business."
The allegation is in a motion filed by the US Attorney's Office in Boston today that asks a federal judge to force Bulger's brothers William, former state-senate president, and John, disgraced former court clerk, to swear they have no intention of helping their brother out with his legal bills.
According to the filing, Bulger admitted to federal agents he'd visited Las Vegas, Mexico and Boston during his 16 years on the lam:
A judge today ordered prosecutors to meet with Whitey Bulger's temporary attorney on Monday to see if the alleged murdering racketeer has any money that could be used to pay for a lawyer without fear it would be seized by the government.
In his order, US District Court Judge Mark Wolf said this could include money the US Attorney's office claims Bulger's brother, William, might be able to put up. Wolf scheduled a hearing at 10 a.m. on Tuesday on the matter.
The FBI seized $800,000 from Bulger's Santa Monica apartment last week and could move to seize additional money it says is the result of illegal activities.
The Herald tells us about Bulger's new home in the maximum-security wing of MCI Plymouth.
The Globe reports Bulger talked to feds about life on the lam, including slipping into Mexico to buy pills for an alleged heart condition. Also, could Bulger dish on the Gardner Museum thefts?
Alleged thug's brother swarmed by reporters. Photo by Ryan Boyle. More photos.
Tommy Donahue, whose father Michael was one of the 19 people Whitey Bulger is charged with murdering, talked to reporters after the court appearance yesterday:
Don't be fooled by this old man. ... He's a scumbag ... I hope he gets the chair.
Read the 1995 indictment against Bulger and his cronies for racketeering (1.6M PDF file). Somebody let Maria Stephanos at Channel 25 know; she tweets this morning:
The Wall Street Journal reports FBI agents lured him outside through a phone call claiming a storage locker of his had been broken into - and that after the arrest, they found guns hidden in books and cash stuffed in the walls of the apartment.
For those who don't remember (raises hand), Salon recounts one of Barnicle's more infamous columns, after a guy won a $14 million lottery jackpot and then claimed Bulger was actually part owner of the ticket (purchased at the South Boston liquor store Bulger took over by threatening to kill its owner's child):
James W. Bulger has a Twitter account:
Does anyone know if Stevie Fleming is on here? Would love to catch up
Then again, the 66 bus has a Twitter account, too:
There's a better chance of catching Whitey Bulger than me being on tim...umm...wait, nevermind.
On the FBI Web site today.
The murdering thug from South Boston was arrested in Santa Monica, CA yesterday, the Los Angeles Times reports.
He was picked up with girlfriend Catherine Elizabeth Greig, 60, the Times says.
Bulger had been on the lam since 1994, when now disgraced and convicted FBI agent James Connolly tipped him off that other feds and state police were closing in on him.
Channel 4 reports the lovebirds had set up a nest in a nondescript, rent-controlled apartment building three blocks from the ocean. They were living under the names Charles and Carol Gasko.
Legendary Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who has been on the run for more than 15 years, was arrested Wednesday in Santa Monica, multiple law enforcement sources told The Times.
His companion, Catherine Elizabeth Greig, 60, was also arrested.
The FBI initially declined to confirm Bulger's arrest when contacted by The Times but later issued a statement saying he and Greig were in custody and scheduled to appear Thursday in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. Bulger had been on the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitive list, and the agency had offered a $2-million reward for his arrest.
Excerpt from the Los Angeles Times article:
Legendary Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who has been on the run for more than a decade, was arrested Wednesday in Santa Monica, multiple law enforcement sources told The Times.
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.
The FBI says that people on its Top Ten Most Wanted list are not ranked, so all that happens now is they pick somebody else to join Bulger and the other eight fugitives. However, as Uncle Rico notes, Bin Laden's demise does mean that Bulger's capture reward - $2 million - is now at the top of the leader board.
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