How the FBI caught "Whitey" Bulger

60 minutes correspondent steve Kroft went inside the FBI 16 year manhunt for James Whitey Bulger the search ended in 2011 when agents found the mobster and his girlfriend living in an apartment building in Santa Monica California Bulger and Catherine Greig went by the aliases Charlie and Carol Gasko until the FBI got a tip agent Scott Gehrig Arriola set up a ruse with their landlord Josh bond and it ended one of the most embarrassing episodes in the bureau's history bond told the FBI he wasn't going to knock on the gas goes door because there was a note posted expressly asking people not to bother them Carroll told neighbors that Charlie was showing signs of dementia so we were we were back Evan so Gary ola devised a ruse involving the gas goes storage locker in the garage had the name gas go across it an apartment 303 he had the manager called to tell them that their locker had been broken into and that he needed someone to come down to see if anything was missing Carol Gasko said her husband would be right down we just rushed him Amy guns out don't know gave the word hey FBI and get your hands up hands went up right away and then at that moment we tell him get down on his knees and he gave us yeah I ain't getting down on my effin knees did want to get his pants you know why get his pants dirty you know wearing white and seeing the oil on the ground I guess he didn't want to get down and we'll even at 81 this was a man used to being in control I asked him to identify himself and that didn't go over well he asked me to effing identify myself which I did and I asked him I said are you are you Whitey Bulger he said yes just about that moment someone catches my attention from a few feet away by the elevator shaft it was Janice Goodwin from the third floor coming to do or laundry and I said excuse me I think I can help you this man has dementia so if he's acting oddly you know that could be why immediately flashed through my mind is oh my god I just arrested an 81 year old man with Alzheimer's who thinks he's Whitey Bulger what is he gonna tell me next he's Elvis so I said do me a favor I said this woman over here says you have a touch Alzheimer's he said don't listen to her she's effin nuts he says I'm James Bulger a few minutes later he confirmed it signing a consent form allowing the FBI to search his apartment as he's signing he says that's the first time I've signed that name in a long time was there's a feeling of resignation I don't think he had it I did ask him I said hey whitey I said aren't you relieved that you don't have to look over your shoulder anymore and it's come to an end and he said are you nuts so what surprised you about this he did or did not think that he was gonna get caught in the end but he became number one on the most-wanted list that for some of it I think that that was I think that was when things started to change he became much more reclusive at the end and I and and the FBI believes it's because he knew that when Osama bin Laden was killed and he moved up to number one then the whole game changed and I mean he'd been on America's Most Wanted something like 23 times and they'd never really you know come closer gotten that many tips about him has he said anything has anybody gotten to him is he talking about what happened to it himself he talked to the FBI yeah the guy are you talking back inhe said he was very talkative they thought you need that I cooped up in the apartment with his wife for 16 years he was happy to talk to somebody you point out that they you know he'd forgotten in some ways how to be a criminal you know I mean that's why eventually he got caught right yeah and I think you just yeah and I my guess is he was probably grumpy because he didn't have any outlet to like get rid of it to get rid of all these hostilities that he had before he could just go out and kill somebody but he was so obsessed with like not violating the law and not drawing any attention to himself that he just kind of and fascinating that the way they actually got to him was his girlfriend Catherine Greig discovering what about her the pictures I mean they they started in checking with doctors because they'd heard she had plastic surgery and and had breast implants and they have serial numbers and they thought maybe if she had died it would turn up or white he had killed her it would turn up that she'd be a Jane Doe someplace and they got these pictures these plastic surgeries so she's in prison for eight years I guess right what is it that interest you about him well I thought just the 16 years on the lam I mean here's a guy we had 16 years to tell his story what I wanted to know how when he got caught it was like how did you do it and he was very clever he and and the FBI said he was not your normal fugitive for one thing he was very smart he got he found he would befriend these people you will find on the promenade alcoholics mostly and he would look for people that look like him and he found this guy James Lawler and he made himself look like a Lawler grew a beard and and he and he got Lollard to give him his ID selling his ID why'd he put him up in a hotel for for a number of years and to kind of look after him because he had a Social Security card he had a driver's license and all these things that whitey might need to move around town is it did they have a lot of money with him they say about $800,000 and he said he asked Susan how many how much you haven't he said we found $800,000 he's really that much that's more than I thought I had should have been here a couple of years ago incredible reporting and storytelling an amazing piece new crop great to have you here

Channel: CBS Mornings

Views: 973,420

Keywords: steve, kroft, whitey, bulger, catherine, greig, james, fbi, mobster, mob, mafia, video, videos, cbsnews.com video, cbs news video

Id: 9vxfNPrPnQk

Length: 6min 3sec (363 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 25 2013