Property Managers: Whitey Bulger Lived At Santa Monica Apartment For 15 Years
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (CBS/AP) - Two property managers at the Santa Monica apartment complex where Boston mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger lived with his girlfriend say the pair moved in about 15 years ago and paid the rent in cash.
Whitey Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig were arrested at their home in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday after more than 16 years on the run.
The managers, who asked their names not be used because they didn't want additional attention from the media, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the couple moved in around 1996.
Photos: Whitey Through The Years
The managers recalled the couple, who went by the names Charles and Carol Gasko, as ideal tenants who always paid their rent on time.
Bulger was lured out of the apartment in a ruse, officials said Thursday.
Read: Learn More About Whitey's Background
Bulger lived on the third floor of The Princess Eugenia, a three-story, 28-unit building of one and two-bedroom apartments near a bluff that overlooks the Pacific Ocean.
Andrew Blankstein, a UMass-Amherst graduate who now writes for the Los Angeles Times, said Bulger's apartment is just three blocks from the beach.
"It's rent controlled, which makes it a place where a lot of retirees live. It would be an easy place, if you came here to hide out, you could blend in."
Santa Monica property records show the apartment had a rent-controlled rate of $1,145 a month.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Joe Mathieu talks to Blankstein
Podcast
Blankstein said the building is quickly becoming a tourist site for New Englanders.
"There were a half a dozen people from the Boston-area who showed up, kind of curious about what happened."
"This is actually a very nice neighborhood, that's just north of the Wilshire Boulevard area of Santa Monica. It's very thickly settled, a fairly upscale neighborhood," Aaron Lewis, a former reporter who lives in the area, told WBZ NewsRadio 1030.
"(It's) about three blocks from the cliffs that overlook the beach. Not exactly a place where you would go if you wanted to lay low. There's certainly a lot of people walking around on the sidewalks and not too far away is the 3rd Street Promenade, which is a very popular attraction for tourists."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports
Podcast
Lewis said neighbors described Bulger as an unassuming older man who some say went by the name "Charlie."
Timeline: A Life Of Crime
A look at Bulger's apartment from Google Street View:
(TM and © Copyright 2010 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
