>>
shocking new twist. the
boston globe
talked about the tipster who led police to the gangster of james
whitey bulger
. this is actually a former
miss iceland
.
1974
's
miss universe
contestant called the
fbi
after recognizing bulger and his girlfriend on as former neighbors from
southern california
. the tipster was an actress in the 80s seen here on
remington steel
. he might have been an informant and alleged to have played a in 19 gangland murders, second only to
osama bin laden
on the
fbi
's most wanted list and his life even inspired the character in the
2006
film and the departed. the feds arrested bulgener june living a
quiet life
on the land in a rent-controlled
santa monica
apartment. shelly murphy is say long time crime reporter and one of the reporters that broke this story and joins us to talk more about it. for those who may have missed it, remind us and explain how a former
miss iceland
and a
stray cat
helped lead authorities to the
fbi
's most wanted man.
>>
it's really an incredible story according to neighbors who lived across the street and around the corner from
whitey
. this woman from
iceland
happened to notice
whitey
's girlfriend feeding a
stray cat
every morning and late afternoon. she would come out with a can of food while
whitey
stood by her side. they were an elderly retired couple who she thought were kind. it's only when she saw them on cnn and realized who he was that she called the
fbi
.
>>
were there reservations in the newsroom there for the
boston globe
to not go ahead and print anna's name? any fears about her safety?
>>
i can tell you that there were months of discussions and it was a the editor of the globe after we had reached out to the
fbi
, the
u.s. attorney
's office, and to ana herself.
federal law
enforcement officials did not suggest that safety was an issue. if we -- if anyone had said to us, if you print her name, she'll be in danger, we would not have printed her name. we did reach out to ana and got one e-mail back from her husband saying she greatly values her privacy. so we also believe that
whitey bulger
knew who the tipster was, because within days of his arrest, it was widely reported that the tip came from a woman in
iceland
who lived across the street from them in
santa monica
. and we knew from neighbors that there was only one person who fit that description. that being said, we also felt that there was widespread speculation that there was no tipster, that
whitey
had been this longtime
fbi informant
and they found him living in one place for all these years. there was a lot of skepticism about this claim that some woman from
iceland
was the one to recognize him. and we felt that with so much scandal around the
whitey bulger
case, with the discovery that he had been an informant, there was really a need to tell the public that this woman was real. and the only way to do that was to name her.
>>
so there wasn't any, i guess, concern over the fact that doing so, knowing what the
crime scene
in boston was like, especially during the years that
whitey
was there, that this would put her in any undue harm?
>>
well, nobody suggested to us that she would be in any danger. and i think it's important to know that when
whitey bulger
was outed as an
fbi informant
in
1987
, most of his former cohorts cooperated against them. now many of them have written books, have been out there in the
public eye
, and there are dozens of witnesses who are prepared to testify against him, who have implicated him in numerous crimes, who are out there, you know, living in boston and there have been no reprisals. so i think that nobody here is suggesting that
whitey
has anybody that can reach out to ireland. i mean,
iceland
, i'm sorry.
>>
iceland
--
>>
there were sightings in ireland.
>>
she's certainly revered to certain people who had it out for
whitey
, especially since he was a informant, you know, here's the rat on the other foot, so to speak. your report didn't just identify the tipster in the case, you also recreated the couple's life on the lam. shelley, from reporting on this, what were some of the most fascinating things you learned about their day-to-day routines? we thou ght it was really interesting that he was out and about, you know, frequently. that he lived within blocks of the third street promenade, a very busy area, and apparently they walked there in the morning and again in the late afternoon. there are surveillance cameras all over the place. he wasn't concerned. one of the most interesting things we found, though, was that one of the -- he had numerous aliases, and one of them was the identity of a homeless man who he had befriended and convinced to let him use his identity.
>>
shelley murphy, thank you so much, shellshelley, thank you for joining us today. very interesting reporting. we'll be right back after this. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only
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