Former Miss Iceland tipped FBI to ‘Whitey’ Bulger
Members of the FBI and LAPD speak during a news conference to discuss the arrest of Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger and his companion, Catherine Greig, at the Los Angeles Federal Building on June 23, 2011 in Los Angeles, Calif. A tip by a former Miss Iceland led law enforcement to the reputed mobster at his home in Santa Monica, Calif.
A former Miss Iceland is collecting $2 million in reward money after tipping off FBI investigators to the whereabouts of Boston crime boss James “Whitey” Bulger and his longtime girlfriend.
The Boston Globe reported Anna Bjornsdottir lived next door to Bulger, 82, and his girlfriend Catherine Grieg, 60, in Santa Monica, Calif. She had gotten to know the couple, even working with Grieg to save a stray cat, before calling the FBI from Iceland on June 21 when she happened to see Bulger on a CNN report.
According to USA Today, Bjornsdottir split her time between Iceland and Santa Monica, and “she realized immediately that the couple she had known as Charlie and Carol Gasko were actually criminals on the run.”
Bulger and Grieg had been on the run for 16 years before being arrested at their Santa Monica home in June. Bulger, one of South Boston’s most notorious crime bosses, fled Boston in 1995 before he was to be indicted.
Out of the $2.1 million the FBI said it paid to tipsters in the Bulger investigation, Bjornsdottir, a 57-year-old yoga instructor and graphic designer, collected $2 million, according to Fox News.
Bulger has pleaded not guilty to charges in connection with 19 murders. Grieg has pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to harbor and conceal a fugitive.