Federal prosecutors release evidence in Catherine Greig case, provide window into her life on the run with James ‘Whitey’ Bulger

By Martin Finucane, Globe Staff

A shelf of books in the apartment James “Whitey” Bulger shared with Catherine Greig was full of non-fiction and fiction books about gangsters and crime, topics that federal prosecutors say Bulger, who is charged with murdering 19 people, already knew quite well.

The books in the crime shelf at the apartment rented by Catherine Greig and James “Whitey” Bulger

The books included such titles as “American Mafia,” “G-Men and Gangsters,” “Rat Bastards,” “Public Enemies,” “Written with Lead,” and “Where the Money Was,” co-authored by the notorious bank robber Willie Sutton.

The books also included “Escape from Alcatraz,” a prison where Bulger had served time when he was young, and “Brutal: The Untold Story of My Life Inside Whitey Bulger’s Irish Mob,” co-authored by former Bulger associate Kevin Weeks. Other bookshelves included numerous war books.

Photographs of the bookshelves were among hundreds of pages of evidence in the case against Greig that were released by federal prosecutors today. The evidence provides a detailed window into Greig and Bulger’s life on the run.

The documents, filed in federal court, included a wide range of images, showing, for example, the couple’s utility bills for their Santa Monica, Calif., apartment, the fake IDs the couple used, and the wads of cash and small arsenal of guns found inside its walls. The documents also included FBI reports and transcripts of grand jury testimony from witnesses in the case.

In one FBI report, a doctor told an agent that Bulger was a patient and “had a temper and would push the nurses around” and that Bulger had introduced his “wife, Carol,” as “his girl.” Bulger also told the doctor that he was “scared of needles,” the agent reported..

Photographs of the apartment’s interior showed details such as a row of knickknacks that appeared to belong to Greig and pictures of cats and dogs apparently hung by Greig on the wall.

The evidence also included a Valentine’s Day card apparently handed to Bulger by Greig.

“Happy Valentines Day, ‘Valentine,’ Love Always Cxxxxoooo,” the card read.

Greig, 61, was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison for helping Bulger, 82, to evade capture for more than 16 years. Bulger is slated to stand trial in November.

Bulger and Greig were captured in June 2011 in Santa Monica, where they had been living in the same rent-controlled apartment two blocks from the ocean for 15 years.