Globe Reporter Defends Decision To Identify Bulger Tipster
BOSTON (CBS) - The Boston Globe is defending its decision to publish the identity of the tipster in the Whitey Bulger case.
Globe reporter Maria Cramer insists the decision to identify Anna Bjorn as the one who dropped a dime on Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig, wasn't made lightly.
"In order to write a credible story that would basically detail this life on the run, and also how he was caught, we had to identify her," says Cramer.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mike Macklin reports
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Through months of research, Cramer and her partner, Shelley Murphy learned that the former Miss Iceland was the one who turned in Bulger and Greig. It was also learned that the fugitives themselves knew it was Bjorn who turned them in.
Cramer says the FBI and Justice Department were given ample warning that Bjorn's name would be published. Neither agency raised any concern for the woman's safety or for the future of their tipster programs.
Anna Bjorn had been splitting her time between Iceland and the Santa Monica neighborhood where Bulger was living with girlfriend Catherine Greig.
Bjorns knew Bulger and Greig as Carol and Charlie Gasko. She was at home in Iceland in June when she saw a PSA featuring the couple.
"She was watching CNN, saw their photos flash across the screen and immediately recognized them as the Gaskos and called the FBI," said Shelley Murphy.
