'I Think He’ll Start Talking and He’ll Start Taking People Down'

It's probably a safe bet there are a lot of current or former FBI agents and Boston cops who are sweating today as Whitey Bulger is returned to the scene of his crimes. The better hope he's diagnosed with Alzheimer's so they can worm their way out of a jam.

Notorious gangster James "Whitey" Bulger was expected to be returned home to Boston on Friday, a law enforcement official said.

Bulger, the former leader of the violent Winter Hill Gang, was captured in Santa Monica, Calif., Wednesday, along with his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, after 16 years as a fugitive.

Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz, said Bulger and Greig are expected to be returned to Boston Friday and could have an initial appearance in federal court as early as Friday afternoon. Sterling said logistics are still being worked out.

After 16 long years, the arrest of Bulger appeared to end a long, frustrating manhunt that had embarrassed the FBI and raised questions about its efforts to find one of its most wanted fugitives.

But Bulger’s capture could be only the beginning of a new scandal for the Boston FBI and others.

If Bulger decides to cut a deal with prosecutors, he could implicate an untold number of local, state and federal law enforcement officials, according to investigators who built a racketeering indictment against Bulger before he fled in 1995.

"If he starts to talk, there will be some unwelcome accountability on the part of a lot of people inside law enforcement," said retired Massachusetts state police Maj. Tom Duffy. "Let me put it this way: I wouldn’t want my pension contingent on what he will say at this point."

One of Bulger's former soldiers thinks he'll start blabbing.

Edward J. MacKenzie Jr., a former drug dealer and enforcer for Bulger, predicted that Bulger will disclose new details about FBI corruption and how agents protected him for so long.

"Whitey was no fool. He knew he would get caught. I think he’ll have more fun pulling all those skeletons out of the closet," MacKenzie said.

"I think he’ll start talking and he’ll start taking people down."

Meanwhile, if you think Howie Carr is gloating, you'd be correct.

Whitey Bulger Nabbed in Santa Monica

It figures. This bloodthirsty, Democrat-connected mob boss skipped one liberal enclave 17 years ago and finally is found. In another.

Fugitive South Boston gangster James "Whitey" Bulger, wanted for 19 murders, was captured last night in Southern California, the result of a tip from FBI television spots that began airing this week. His capture ended a 16-year manhunt that spanned the globe.

Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI's Boston office, and Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office, released a statement this morning confirming that FBI agents had arrested the fugitive, who was on the bureau's Ten Most Wanted list, and his companion, Catherine Greig, in California. Neither resisted arrest.

"Recent publicity produced a tip that led agents to a residence in Santa Monica, California, where they located Bulger and Greig Wednesday evening," the statement said.

The arrests of Bulger, 81, and Greig, 60, were initially announced by FBI headquarters on Twitter.

The arrest is a long-sought victory for the FBI, whose reputation was sullied by its connection to the mobster and whose fruitless efforts to find the fugitive had been regarded by some with suspicion.

Bulger did not appear to be in good health, an official said.

"I don't think he's in a position to be fighting anybody," the official said, adding, "They got a confession from him."

Bulger's brother, former president of the state Senate William M. Bulger, had little to say this morning when a reporter knocked on the door of his South Boston home.

That of course would be Democrat William M. Bulger.

"No comment," said William Bulger, who answered the door in his T-shirt. Informed that his brother had been arrested, Bulger said, "Thank you."

I hope he was wearing some pants along with the t-shirt. (All you need to know about Billy can be found here.)

In case Whitey still isn't familiar, this may jog the memory.

Bulger, 81, has been the subject of several books and was the inspiration for "The Departed," a 2006 Martin Scorsese film staring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson.

Bulger fled Boston in late 1994 as federal agents were about to arrest him in connection with 21 killings, racketeering and other crimes that spanned the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.

Howie Carr, author of The Brothers Bulger, is kvelling.

After all these years, how do the feds finally catch Whitey?

By running an ad on “The View.” Or “Rachael Ray.” Or some other silly daytime women’s TV show. Whitey, the president-for-life of the He Man Woman Haters’ Club, brought down by the likes of Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg.

And where were he and Catherine Greig living? Not in some dreary British tenement, but in Santa Monica, LaLa Land. And no Hollywood ending either.

Hey Whitey, in case you’ve forgotten, Oklahoma and Florida are death-penalty states.

The best part about this capture is that now our worst nightmare isn’t realized. His greedy little brother, Billy, does not get to step forward and claim the $2 million reward — one final thumb in the eye of the American taxpayer.

And who will be the first Globe columnist to write, “Well at least Jimmy kept the drugs out of Southie.”

Not a single confirmed sighting of the creepy old serial killer in the U.S. since 1996, yet the FBI suddenly decides to run those PSAs in a bunch of cities, including Los Angeles.

Did somebody give them a heads-up after all these years?

Is This Whitey Bulger?

In this image released by the FBI on Friday, Sept. 14, 2007 a man and a woman are shown in Taormina, Italy, in April 10, 2007. The FBI said their identities are inconclusive, but they resemble fugitive gangster and former FBI informant James 'Whitey' Bulger, now 77, and his longtime girlfriend Catherine Greig, 56. Bulger, the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, fled just before he was indicted on racketeering charges in 1995. He is charged in 19 murders and is on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. Authorities have received hundreds of tips about possible Bulger sightings in more than a dozen countries, but many of the sightings have turned out to be Bulger lookalikes. (AP Photo/FBI)

Rumor has had it he fled to Ireland, but it appears notorious Boston gangster Whitey Bulger may have been spotted in Italy.

BOSTON - The gait is similar. So are the hand mannerisms. The sunglasses and baseball cap look right, too. But is it on-the-run gangster James "Whitey" Bulger?

The FBI released a photograph and a video Friday that show a couple bearing a strong resemblance to Bulger, one of the FBI's "Ten Most Wanted" fugitives, and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig.

The brief video, taken in Italy in April, shows a couple window-shopping in Taormina, a city on the island of Sicily.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan said a person observed a couple believed to be the fugitive and his girlfriend and videotaped them. But Sullivan's office and the FBI said they have not been able to positively identify them.

Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI's Boston office, said three different facial recognition consultants were unable to determine if the images were of Bulger and Greig.

Still, the FBI said the man in the images resembles Bulger in several ways, including the way he walks, the way he holds his hands and the neat way he's dressed — in crisp khaki pants and a sweater.

Bulger has traveled to Italy in the past, including a stop in Venice during a trip to Europe he made in 1994 — the year before he fled Boston — the FBI said.

"Those kinds of things make us say, you know, we have to take a hard look," Marcinkiewicz said.

The FBI would not identify the source of the video. The Boston Globe, citing unidentified law enforcement sources, reported an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration took the video while vacationing in Italy.

Bulger, the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, is charged in 19 murders.

He also was an FBI informant. Authorities say he fled in 1995 after his FBI handler tipped him off that he was about to be indicted on racketeering charges. That former agent, John J. Connolly, Jr., is serving a 10-year prison sentence.

Bulger apparently planned for life on the run by leaving cash in safe deposit boxes around the world, including Florida, Ireland, England and Canada, authorities said.

FBI video here and most wanted poster here. Compare the middle photo with the one above, and it does appear to be him.

Boston Globe item here.

His brother, by the way, is a longtime prominent Democrat in Massachusetts.