As the National Crime Agency (NCA) seized thousands of pounds from secret UK bank accounts belonging to notorious American mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, we have taken a look at his Scottish-linked lover who helped him evade capture for 16 years.
Catherine Greig, 75, stood loyally beside the feared Winter Hill gang leader as he fled Boston in the ’90s upon learning authorities were closing in on him. As the FBI desperately hunted him, investigators turned their attention to Scotland because of Greig’s family roots in South Lanarkshire.
Her machinist father David Greig was originally from Rutherglen before emigrating to the United States, where Catherine was later born on April 3, 1951. By the age of 20, she had married Boston firefighter, Bobby McGonagle, who had family with ties to an Irish mafia gang in their South Boston neighbourhood.
View 2 ImagesJames ‘Whitey’ Bulger’s mugshot in 2011 before being convicted of 11 murders and a string of gang-related crimes(Image: Getty Images)
Her husband blamed James ‘Whitey’ Bulger after he was wounded in a gunfight in 1969 and two of his brothers were killed within the next five years.
Following their divorce years later, Greig began a romantic relationship in the late 70s with Bulger – who continued to live with another woman, Teresa Stanley.
When the crime boss fled Boston in late 1994 after being tipped that authorities were closing in, he initially left with Stanley, before returning in 1995 to drop her off and picked up Greig. Stanley only found out about Greig that year.
She would accompany Bulger during his 16 years on the run, ultimately settling in Santa Monica, California, as “Carol and Charlie Gasko”. The couple was captured on June 22, 2011, at which point she was 60 years old.
The mistress was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2012 after pleading guilty to charges including conspiracy to harbour a fugitive, identity fraud, and conspiracy to commit identity fraud. She later received an additional 21 months for refusing to testify before a grand jury regarding the involvement of others.
Bulger was killed in prison in 2018 after receiving being sentenced to life in 2013. As of 2020, Greig was released from federal custody and resided in South Boston.
Read the full story: NCA seize thousands from notorious US gang boss with links to Rutherglen
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