Beauty queen gets $2 million reward in Bulger case

A former Miss Iceland who met Boston crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger and his girlfriend in California was paid a $2 million reward for the tip that led to Bulger's arrest in June, according to a report.

The Boston Globe said the FBI paid the reward money to Anna Bjornsdottir, a one-time model and Miss Iceland 1974.

She became friends with Bulger's girlfriend Catherine Greig after the two women both took a shared interest in a local stray cat while the fugitive couple hid out in Santa Monica.

Bulger and Greig had assumed new identities during more than a decade on the run from federal charges, and appeared to neighbors to be a modest retired couple.

1. Only on msnbc.com

   1. Third-party effort aims to transform 2012 race
   2. Next up for reeling Netflix: Damage control
   3. Nice guys and gals still finish last at the office
   4. Got water? Schools scramble to provide drink to kids
   5. iPhone 4S service plans: Dirty secrets, sweet deals
   6. China carefully marks 1911 revolution
   7. Student?s heart stops; teachers save her

It was Bjornsdottir, the newspaper reported, who recognized Bulger in a news report this summer while she was back in Reykjavik and called authorities.

After the tip, Bulger and Greig were arrested without incident at their Santa Monica apartment building in June .

Property records showed they moved into a two-bedroom unit in April 1998, paying $863 a month.

Video: Reputed mobster Bulger behind bars in Boston (on this page)

Authorities have said they found about 30 firearms and $822,000 in cash hidden in the walls of their apartment.

The FBI had said in September it had paid $2.1 million to "more than one individual" for information that led to the arrests of Bulger and Greig, but had not given more detail.

The newspaper reported Bjornsdottir had collected $2 million of the $2.1 million in FBI rewards for her tip.

Story: 'Whitey' Bulger: Not a guy you 'double-crossed'

A spokesman for the FBI's Boston office said he could not discuss people who gave the bureau information.

'Unholy alliance'
Bulger had fled Boston after hearing from a corrupt FBI agent that he was about to be indicted. Greig joined him a short time later and has been charged with harboring Bulger as a fugitive.

Past Boston FBI officials had used Bulger as an informant for years against other organized crime factions and, later investigations found, tolerated or enabled his own ongoing criminal activities in what an appeals court in a related case earlier this year termed an "unholy alliance."

Video: Will Bulger receive a fair trial? (on this page)

Bulger, who for years led the Boston-based Winter Hill Gang, faces charges that include 19 alleged murders from the 1970s and 1980s. Both Bulger and Greig have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

Through her husband, Bjornsdottir declined to speak to the Globe, the newspaper said. She had moved to Southern California in the late 1970s and appeared in cosmetics commercials. More recently she had befriended Greig after noticing her feeding a local cat, the paper reported.

The newspaper described her currently as a "57-year-old yoga instructor and graphic designer."

Video: Inside the mind of a mobster (on this page)

Speaking to the Boston Herald, Iceland-based journalist Magnus Geir said that people were "really quite surprised" by the story linking Bjornsdottir to Bulger.

He described Bjornsdottir as well-known in Iceland, "especially among the older generation."

The Globe story also included many details of Bulger's time on the run, including how Bulger assumed the identity of a local homeless man to obtain medicine and keep a bank account.

Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44840737/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

casey jones casey jones debit card fees debit card fees how to be a gentleman how to be a gentleman iphone 5 case