Crime & Safety

New Photos: Inside 'Whitey' Bulger's Santa Monica Apartment

Prosecutors release photos of the Third Street apartment where the reputed mobster lived on the lam for 15 years.

Mob boss James Whitey Bulger read war chronicles and crime novels, some about his own alleged lawlessness, and stockpiled hand soap and cleaning supplies while hiding out in Santa Monica.

A mass of evidence unsealed by the U.S. Attorney's office in Boston Friday give an intimate look into Bulger's life as a fugitive. Photos of his apartment and interviews with acquaintances were released three days after his longtime companion Catherine Grieg for helping fugitive while they lived together for 15 years in a rent-controlled apartment on Third Street.

Before his arrest at home last year, Bulger was one of the FBI's most wanted men. He faces charges in connection with 19 murders. Prosecutors have said in court documents that he liked Santa Monica because it was a cosmopolitan location with a number of transients and vacationers.

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Prosecutors' newly released photos show framed images of cats hanging from the apartment's entryway. They watched TV on a large flat screen, but otherwise their furniture was modest.

The couple stayed in separate bedroom's, according to the Associated Press:

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Bulger's room is cluttered, with an unmade bed, socks strewn on the dresser and crowded shelves. On one of the shelves is a Valentines' Day card with a picture of a puppy in front of a big red heart.

But not everything about the home was normal.

Bulger cut holes in the apartment's walls to hide $800,000 in cash and more than 30 weapons, the AP reported.

One photo shows handguns visible inside one hole. Another shows a picture of a crucifix taped to a doorframe above a hole in the wall, where it appears the FBI removed a mirror that was hiding it. Another shows stacks of cash.

Using cash, they rented Unit 303 at the Princess Eugenie complex at 1012 Third St., just south of Washington Avenue, reportedly paying a mere $1,145 a month. Going by the aliases of Charles and Carole Gasko, the fugitives were able to live there without owning a vehicle and were within walking distance of the beach, a park, library, stores and restaurants.

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