Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger, who was captured in Santa Monica after 16 years on the lam, appeared in front of a federal magistrate Thursday with his girlfriend Catherine Greig and agreed to be sent back to Massachusetts to face charges that he participated in 19 murders while serving as an FBI informant.
Greig, who disappeared with Bulger in 1995 before they were discovered Wednesday night in an apartment blocks from the beach on Third Street in Santa Monica, also waived her right to a removal hearing.
Bulger, 81, and Greig, 60, sat handcuffed near each other behind a glass partition along with other defendants in a packed courtroom.
During the roughly seven-minute hearing in downtown Los Angeles, Magistrate Judge John McDermott asked if Bulger had been advised of the charges against him. Bulger, with a hint of defiance and sarcasm in his voice replied, "I knew them all anyways."
Bulger, who appeared bald with a snow-white beard, was wearing glasses and a white hoodie-type sweatshirt. Greig's short hair was streaked with grey. She wore a white long-sleeved V-neck shirt.
Extras: General Audio of Bulger (MP3) | Surveillance Video of Bulger (1980) | 1999 RICO Indictment (PDF) | Bulger 4th Superseding Indictment (PDF) | FBI's Ad Campaign "Have You Seen This Woman?"
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Both appeared pale and concerned but chatted with each other and smiled.
McDermott then ordered both Bulger and Geig remanded to custody of the U.S. Marshall and to be transferred to the charging district in Massachusetts. They are currently being held in Los Angeles without bail.
Bulger's public defender Myra Sun, who was appointed to represent him, asked in light of the charges that the judge seal a financial affidavit. The judge granted the request.
Boston's "Winter Hill'' crime gang, which specialized in drug sales, gambling and loan sharking, Bulger was sought for his alleged role in 19 murders, along with extortion, racketeering, money laundering and other crimes from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, according to the FBI.
A tip to the FBI's Boston bureau led agents to Bulger in Santa Monica where he was arrested. The FBI said agents found a variety of weapons and hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in the couple's apartment.
That Santa Monica apartment building has become a tourist destination with many curious onlookers stopping to take pictures.
