Bulger's girlfriend to remain held without bail (AP)

BOSTON – A federal judge on Friday ordered the longtime girlfriend of former Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger to remain in custody without bail while she awaits trial on allegations that she helped him evade capture for more than 16 years.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal's order came two days after an attorney for Catherine Greig said she would voluntarily remain in custody while he gathers more information to support his request that she be granted bail and placed under electronic monitoring.

Bulger and Greig were arrested last month in Santa Monica, Calif. Bulger is charged with participating in 19 murders. Greig is charged with harboring and concealing a fugitive.

Bulger has pleaded not guilty. Greig has sought to be released on bail in the custody of her twin sister.

The judge ordered that Greig be detained separate from convicts or those appealing their sentences. The suspect should also be given reasonable opportunity for private consultations with her attorney, according to the court order.

"This order is without prejudice to the defendant filing a motion to consider the issue of pretrial detention," Boal said in her order of voluntary detention.

Greig's bail hearing on Wednesday sparked passionate arguments from prosecutors, her attorneys and victims of Bulger's alleged crimes.

Prosecutors portrayed Greig as an eager partner to Bulger, willingly going on the run with him and actively helping him elude authorities for more than 16 years. They also argued that Greig could easily flee again if she is released on bail.

Defense attorney Kevin Reddington questioned an FBI agent who acknowledged that members of a family who befriended the couple in Grand Isle, La., during their first two years as fugitives said Bulger was harsh and controlling, and treated Greig like a servant.

Reddington argued that when Greig left Boston with Bulger in 1995, he had only been charged with extortion in a racketeering indictment. The murder allegations were included in a separate racketeering indictment four years later.

Bulger's former top lieutenant, Kevin Weeks, called as a witness by Greig's lawyer, said Greig was not involved in Bulger's criminal enterprises, which allegedly included drugs, loan-sharking and extortion.

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Associated Press writer Rodrique Ngowi can be reached at: http://twitter.com/ngowi

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"Whitey" Bulger's girlfriend due back in court (Reuters)

BOSTON (Reuters) – James "Whitey" Bulger's longtime girlfriend was headed on Wednesday to federal court in Boston, where family members of the gangster's alleged murder victims could be granted time to speak.

Catherine Greig, 60, was arrested with 81-year-old Bulger on June 22 in their Santa Monica, California hide-out. She has been charged with harboring Bulger as a fugitive and could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

Greig was scheduled to appear before Magistrate Judge Jennifer Boal in a continuation of her probable cause and detention hearing that began on Monday.

Prosecutors said at least three family members of Bulger's 19 alleged murder victims wanted to speak in court and were relevant to the case. The government said it has evidence showing that Greig harbored Bulger and caused direct harm to the families.

Greig's defense attorney has said the charges against her are not related to these crime victims.

In a separate filing, her attorney wrote that when Greig fled with Bulger, he was "considered to be a hero-like figure in the city of Boston," and only many years later was the brutality of his alleged killings revealed.

If the court allows the families time to speak, they will be limited to a few minutes, court filings said. The defense has requested that victim impact statements be addressed to the court and not directly to Greig "in any type of highly charged, emotional or pejorative terms."

During Monday's session, prosecutors called one witness, FBI special agent Michael Carazza, who detailed the early period of Bulger and Greig's 16 years on the run together.

He discussed the pair obtaining and using fake identities and played video footage from a Santa Monica pharmacy showing Greig picking up prescriptions under an alias.

CALLING CARDS

Carazza also said Greig and Bulger used calling cards to stay in touch with associates and with Greig's twin sister in Boston. Greig would speak with her sister in calls placed to the homes of neighbors and friends, he said in his testimony.

Carazza said the pair crossed the country spending time in Louisiana and New York, sometimes indicating they were from New York and that Bulger was a retired real estate broker and Greig was a dog groomer.

The couple was arrested in Santa Monica, California where authorities found a stash of about 30 firearms and $822,000 in cash hidden in holes in the wall.

Prosecutors said they plan to wrap up Carazza's testimony on Wednesday, and Greig's defense lawyer Kevin Reddington was slated to address the court.

He has requested that Greig be released on bail to home confinement and electronic monitoring pending trial, according to court documents.

Greig, born and raised in South Boston, still owns a home in Quincy, Massachusetts, south of the city. Her twin sister will offer her home as collateral in the release as well, the filing said.

Greig's attorney said Greig posed no danger to the community and was not a flight risk, as the government has suggested.

It was Greig, not Bulger, who took a star turn in the authorities' recent media campaign that led to a crucial tip from the public and the arrest of the pair.

Authorities produced television spots that focused on Greig's appearance, habits and personality traits.

Greig loves dogs and was known to frequent beauty salons, according to the FBI. She had previously worked as a dental hygienist and had plastic surgery before fleeing with her criminal boyfriend, 20 years her senior.

(Reporting by Lauren Keiper; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)

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FBI turns to TV to find Whitey Bulger's girlfriend (AP)

BOSTON – FBI agents on the trail of James "Whitey" Bulger are turning to TV ads aimed at women and hoping to exploit his longtime girlfriend's vanity as they try to bring the fugitive Boston mob boss to justice after 16 years on the run.

The FBI on Monday announced a new publicity campaign and accompanying public service ad that asks people, particularly women, to be on the lookout for Catherine Greig.

She and Bulger have been on the run since 1995 and are thought to still be traveling together. Bulger is wanted in connection to 19 murders while Greig is accused of harboring a fugitive.

The 30-second ad is scheduled to start running Tuesday in 14 television markets to which Bulger may have ties and will air during programs popular with women roughly Greig's age.

"We are trying to reach a different audience that will produce new leads in the case," said agent Richard Teahan, who has been tracking Bulger since 2006. "Greig has certain habits, characteristics, and idiosyncrasies that are recognizable, and we think the public might naturally notice these things."

The new campaign points out that Greig had several plastic surgeries before going on the lam and was known to frequent beauty salons.

It notes that Greig, a former dental hygienist who is 5-foot-6, blue-eyed and blond, had impeccable oral hygiene and perfect teeth as a result of monthly visits to the dentist. It also notes that she, like Bulger, is an animal lover and mentions that she has used the aliases Helen Marshal and Carol Shapeton.

The public service announcement also stresses the age difference between the two. Bulger is now 81. Grieg is 60.

The FBI already had taken out ads in publications aimed at dentists and plastic surgeons.

"The next logical step was to profile her on a national scope," Teahan said.

The FBI is hoping that a patron or employee of a dental office, hospital, manicurist, beauty salon or other business remembers seeing Greig.

The FBI also doubled the reward leading to Greig's capture to $100,000. The reward for the capture of Bulger, who is on the FBI's most wanted list, is $2 million.

Bulger was the leader of the Winter Hill Gang when he fled in January 1995 after being tipped by a former Boston FBI agent that he was about to be indicted. Bulger was a top FBI informant.

The FBI has pursued Bulger around the world. The history buff and avid reader is believed to have traveled in France, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Spain and Canada while on the run. The last credible sighting of the couple was in London in 2002.

The current campaign focusing on Greig will be extended internationally, Teahan said.

Despite his age, the FBI said Bulger is still considered dangerous because of his violent temper and is known to carry a knife.

"It is important for the FBI to bring Bulger to justice, and Catherine Greig can lead us to him," Teahan said.

The ads will be shown in Albuquerque, N.M.; Biloxi, Miss.; Boston; Chicago; Fort Myers, Fla.; Miami; Milwaukee; Mobile, Ala.; New Orleans; Phoenix; San Diego; San Francisco; Tampa, Fla.; and Tucson, Ariz.

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Online:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/june/greig_062011/greig_062011

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