Investigators hope strut, gestures of Whitey Bulger lead to arrest
e flexes his arms, struts, and occasionally barks orders at other men. He keeps his stomach tucked tight, displaying his weightlifter's build, and he sometimes slices the air with his hand for emphasis in conversation. He seems hyper-aware of what's around him, and often has his arms folded across his chest in a challenging pose.
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Now, federal investigators are asking the world: Has anyone seen these mannerisms?
For the first time, they have released a 1980 surveillance video of fugitive gangster James ''Whitey'' Bulger, hoping that someone who sees it will recognize the gestures, distinctive walk, and head motions of the aging criminal and lead them to Bulger, who has been on the lam for 11 years.
''Even though it's an old video, a videotape showing his mannerisms might be helpful,'' said US Attorney Michael
J. Sullivan, who posted the tape yesterday on his office's website. ''If somebody is very familiar with him now and sees the video, they might see some characteristics similar enough that it might raise their suspicions.''
While Bulger's face has been plastered on posters from here to Bangkok since he fled Boston to evade a January 1995 federal racketeering indictment, the Massachusetts State Police videotape, which captures Bulger at the Lancaster Street garage near Boston's North Station, had not been made public previously. The Bulger on the videotape, at age 50, looks more wiry than the slightly hunched figure in a Red Sox cap seen in more recent photos. ''He was always sucking in his stomach, checking out his shoulders, making sure he looked good,'' said Robert Long, the retired State Police detective who commanded the unit that had Bulger and his cohorts under surveillance.
He recalled how Bulger sometimes stood with his arms extended away from his sides, looking as if he was about to hoist a barbell.
''I remember more about his eyes than his walk,'' Long said. ''His eyes were piercing.''
For months, State Police videotaped and photographed Bulger and his partner, Stephen ''The Rifleman'' Flemmi, as a cast of characters from the Irish and Italian underworld arrived for meetings, and bookmakers, drug dealers, and suspected robbers came to drop off cash.
After receiving a tip from corrupt law enforcement sources, Bulger abandoned the garage near the old Boston Garden, and started doing business outside what was then the Howard Johnson's, just off the Southeast Expressway in Dorchester. State Police followed, again taking surveillance. That investigation eventually was compromised.
Footage from both sites was posted yesterday on the government website. It shows Bulger at both locations, sometimes dressed in a long-sleeved dark jersey, and another time in a muscle shirt.
''I think it could be helpful to them,'' said Long, who now works at Vance, a national investigation and security consulting firm. ''Sure, he's changed, but I don't think how you carry yourself or how you walk changes that much, except when you stoop or arthritis sets in when you get elderly.''
Sullivan said the tape was being released for media broadcasts in the United States and overseas as part of its effort to capture Bulger, now 76, who is wanted in the slayings of 19 people.
Asked if the release of the 26-year-old tape suggests investigators are desperate, Sullivan said: ''I wouldn't say it's a desperate move because we continue to remain optimistic that at some point in time, we hope he'll be apprehended. And when opportunity rises to promote the fugitive, we do.''
