Whitey Bulger's girlfriend moved to halfway house in Massachusetts to serve out sentence
Catherine Greig, the girlfriend of Whitey Bulger, is now at a halfway house in Massachusetts to serve out the rest of her federal prison sentence for helping the notorious crime boss. According to CBS Boston, Sheriff deputies in Barnstable County assisted with her transport Wednesday, while Greig's family is anxiously awaiting her return.
Greig is the longtime girlfriend of the Boston mobster, and served a multi-year sentence for harboring a fugitive after being on the run with Bulger for 16 years. Bulger was killed in prison last year,
Greig's sister Margaret McCusker says it was out of love and loyalty. "We don't choose the people we fall in love with," McCusker tells WBZ-TV. "It just happens she was faithful to him."
Bulger is an epic figure in the annals of American crime. He was the most prominent crime boss in late 20th century Boston with a shocking secret: a 25 year relationship with FBI agents. Bulger was recruited by rogue FBI agents as an informant on organized crime matters relating to the Italian-American mob. In return, Bulger was given free rein to get away with robbery, drug dealing, extortion and the alleged murders of 19 people. In 1995, after being tipped off that federal agents were set to indict him, Bulger went on the run with Greig, hiding out all over the country for 16 years.
Greig was faithful to the man convicted in the murders of 11 people while running a Boston crime ring from the 1970's through the 1990's. The notorious pair was finally arrested in Santa Monica, California in 2011. He had been the most wanted man in American behind Osama Bin Lader and was sentenced to two consecutive life terms. After being transferred to federal prison in Hazelton, West Virginia, he was beaten to death within 12 hours of his arrival at the prison, authorities said. Bulger was 89.
Families of Bulger's victims say Greig could have eased their pain and given them closure decades ago.
Steve Davis says been dealing with the pain of his sister's murder for more than half his life.
"How evil does it get you know? And you're evil to run with someone like that, she don't have a decent bone in her body," he told CBS Boston.
Debbie Davis, who dated Bulger's partner in crime, is widely believed to have been strangled by the mobster when she learned too much.
"It hurts," Davis said to CBS Boston. "She could've put a close to it in the late 90s. She chose to keep her mouth shut."
Greig pleaded guilty to helping Bulger and identity theft and fraud a year later. Asked about Bulger's victims, McCusker said, "I feel bad for them, I feel very bad, but she wasn't the cause of that. It was a difficult time for her, I don't believe she deserved to go to prison."
Sources say Barnstable County deputies outfitted Greig with a GPS monitoring device which is required until her release next year. Her sister says Greig had hoped to reach out to Bulger again before his death. "That's been very upsetting to her. The fact that he's gone is upsetting to her."
Greig was said to be a model inmate who helped train service dogs while in prison. The location of the halfway house has not been released.
