Official: Bulger tip came from overseas

E-mail | Print | Comments () 06/24/2011 3:19 PM

Eric Grigorian for The Boston Globe

Fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, used the aliases Charles and Carol Gasko.

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By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- The tip that led to a stunning break in the 16-year-long international manhunt for fugitive James “Whitey” Bulger came from overseas, a law enforcement official said.

The tip came from a woman who was living overseas but had previously crossed paths with Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, in Santa Monica, where the couple were arrested Wednesday.

The tipster was watching CNN in the other country when she spotted a story about a new FBI TV ad campaign focusing on Greig. The FBI had announced the campaign on Monday, saying it was trying a new tack in its long-thwarted hunt for Bulger. The woman then called authorities.

FBI spokesman Damon Katz said, “The identity of the tipster and where the tipster is from is not something we are going to get into.”

FBI officials have said the tip came in Tuesday to the FBI’s Los Angeles office. It was then reviewed by Bulger experts in Boston and deemed to be credible. Authorities began surveillance of Bulger and Greig’s apartment on Wednesday, arresting them late Wednesday afternoon, Pacific time.

The couple had been living a quiet life in a modest apartment building just a few blocks from the beach.

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