The Long and Frustrating Hunt for One of America's Most Wanted ( Psst: He's Not a Terrorist)

By Jumana Farouky / London Saturday, June 11, 2011
    • Illustration by Asaf Hanuka for TIME

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    Have You Seen This Man?
    He loves dogs and doesn't use credit cards. He may be on heart medication. He has a thick Boston accent that he probably couldn't hide even if he tried. These are the things the FBI wants people to know about Bulger, the traits they hope someone will recognize in the elderly man living down the street.

    Bulger, for example, may have cultivated a nice-guy demeanor, but he probably still has a controlling streak. The task force has heard stories of his taking people to dinner and then yelling at the waitress if her bra strap was showing. "He takes over every conversation," says one task-force member. "If you were to use the wrong fork, he would correct you on that. He can't help himself."

    Those are the kinds of details the FBI hopes will ensnare him. Bulger can dye his hair or shave his mustache, but changing his personality isn't as easy. "He's a person who does things very deliberately," says another investigator on the case. On the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Bulger is described as "armed and extremely dangerous." As a young man, he carried a knife in his boot, and "he could still be doing that now," says the investigator.

    But Bulger is also an octogenarian and, as far as anyone knows, hasn't committed a crime in over 15 years. Those on the task force say that's irrelevant: the U.S. has no statute of limitations for murder. "There are a lot of families of the victims, and you can't close the door to them," says one investigator. "They want to see him brought to justice."

    In South Boston, Bulger still casts a long shadow. Locals don't talk to strangers about him, so at home, his infamy is his best protection against ever being caught. In Europe, he would be just an old man with an accent. That anonymity makes it easy for him to avoid suspicion. But those tracking him hope that one day it will also prove his undoing.

    With reporting by Stefanie Friedhoff / Boston

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