First bin Laden, now Bulger. According to reports, the notorious Boston crime-ster was picked up in California this week after more than 15 years on the lam. And the saddest part of the whole thing is that, now, Martin Scorsese has no more material for his movies.
According to Boston.com, “Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig, surrendered peacefully Wednesday night in Santa Monica, California, when agents showed up at his home. The capture was the result of a tip from FBI television spots that began airing this week. His capture ended a manhunt that spanned the globe.”
Bulger, whose life is said to be the story behind the film The Departed, was a mobster turned FBI informant. Since the 90s he’s been listed on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list for the murder of 19 people, among other charges. Bulger was the purported leader of South Boston’s “Winter Hill Gang,” and in an interesting twist, his brother, William, was president of the Massachusetts State Senate and head of the University of Massachusetts. That’s Boston for ya.
While clearly this arrest is a coup for the FBI, Staties and the Boston PD, I can’t help but feel a little sadness about the end of this manhunt. His story always reminded me of the bootleggers in the 1920s, and while he’s definitely a hardened criminal and should be punished, this is definitely the end of a crime era in Boston that was more the story of old-time mob bosses than modern-day villainy.
Sidenote: The United States apparently took some heat from Pakistan after the capture of Osama bin Laden when we pretty much blatantly somewhat accused them of aiding the terrorist: “If Whitey Bulger can live undetected by American police for so long,” Ambassador Husain Haqqani said to The Atlantic recently, “why can’t Osama bin Laden live undetected by Pakistani authorities?”
Gauntlet thrown. Challenge accepted. Victory achieved. Pakistan, your move.
NoMad Blogger 
“South Boston’s ‘Winter Hill Gang,'” on Boston.com, no less? Jesus. As our President could tell them, Winter Hill is Somerville, for christ’s sake.
From what I can gather, the name is derived from Somerville’s Winter Hill neighborhood, but the gang, as it currently exists, is headquartered in South Boston. Destroy this information as soon as possible.