Bulger tells of armed visits to Hub (page 1)

James “Whitey’’ Bulger returned to Boston in disguise and “armed to the teeth’’ several times during his 16 years on the run because he had “to take care of some unfinished business,’’ prosecutors said in court documents yesterday.
The notorious gangster, arrested last week in Santa Monica, Calif., refused to say whom he was going to see or when, prosecutors said. But, according to his former associates, Bulger returned to Boston at least twice during his first year on the lam.

Bulger told FBI agents on his return flight to Boston that he traveled frequently while in hiding, visiting not only Boston but Las Vegas and Mexico, and that he stashed money with people he had trusted. He did not identify anyone who might be hiding his assets, according to the document.

Prosecutors said Bulger’s lifestyle showed he clearly has the resources to pay for his defense, the first legal issue to come up in a racketeering trial that includes charges of 19 murders.

“During his more than sixteen years as a fugitive . . . Bulger financed a relatively comfortable lifestyle for himself and his girlfriend,’’ prosecutors said in court documents, describing Bulger’s trips to Las Vegas, where he “won more than he lost,’’ and his ventures into Mexico to purchase medicine.

Investigators also said yesterday that they found two cellphones and other items in the apartment he shared with Catherine Greig. The phones could show whom Bulger and Greig contacted and whether they have assets beyond the $822,198 in cash found hidden in the apartment walls.

Bulger’s provisional attorney, Peter B. Krupp, has argued that Bulger needs a court-appointed, taxpayer-funded lawyer to defend him, in part because the federal government seized all the cash found in the apartment. Krupp said if government agents find other assets belonging to Bulger, they will probably seize those, too.

Prosecutors said Bulger and Greig told federal officials that Bulger’s younger brother William, the former Senate president, could help her post bail. “Of course, if that is true, William Bulger might also be willing to pay for an attorney to represent his brother,’’ prosecutors wrote.

The prosecutors have asked the court to order William Bulger and another brother, John, to fill out a financial affidavit disclosing whether they can help, citing case law that says a court “may consider whether he has income or assets available to him from other sources.’’

The documents note that John Bulger was convicted of perjury in 2003 after lying to a federal grand jury about his role in managing James Bulger’s financial affairs in Florida.

“James Bulger stands accused of an avalanche of serious charges,’’ prosecutors said in court documents, adding, “He has every incentive to lie and stick the taxpayers with the bill for his defense.’’

source: www.boston.com