Mobster Tells Court: 'Give Me My Money Back'

Fugitive crime boss James "Whitey" Bulger has appeared in a Boston court two days after his capture following 16 years on the run.

Dozens crowded court benches for a glimpse as Bulger, handcuffed and sporting a white beard and hooded sweatshirt, entered the courtroom.

The 81-year-old was once feared as a leader of the city's notorious "Winter Hill" gang.

Bulger, whose life inspired gritty Hollywood movie The Departed starring Jack Nicholson, spoke only once during the brief proceedings in front of two magistrates.

Asked by magistrate judge Marianne Bowler if he could afford a lawyer, a portly and tired-looking Bulger replied: "Well, I could if you'd give me back my money."

Bulger, who is charged with 19 murders in the 70s and 80s in Boston, was captured late Wednesday in Santa Monica, California, where he had been living under an assumed name with his long-term girlfriend Catherine Greig, 60.

Police found \$800,000 (about £500,000) in cash and a "fairly big arsenal" of weapons in Bulger's modest apartment after his arrest, law enforcement sources said.

Some of the relatives of his victims had packed into the main courtroom, while video screens were put up in two other rooms to cope with the large crowd.

Bulger's brother, William, a former president of the Massachusetts senate, was also in court.

He sat stoney-faced as prosecutors told the judge that US taxpayers should be spared paying for Bulger's defence, arguing that his family had the money to pay for a lawyer.

Further proceedings have been postponed until next week at the earliest, while magistrates review Bulger's defence.

Outside the court, lawyer Peter Krupp said Bulger "looks forward to facing the charges against him" but refused to answer any questions.

Bulger and Greig were flown to Boston on a private jet on Friday before being driven to the federal court where a huge crowd had gathered to see the legendary gangster from "Southie," Boston's tough, predominantly Irish South Side.

"For the people of Boston it's as if their own Osama bin Laden has been captured," said local resident Bonnie Sashin, 60.

Greig also appeared before the magistrates on charges of harbouring a fugitive.

Bulger fled Boston in January 1995 after being tipped off by an FBI contact that he was about to be arrested. He was spotted in London in 2002 and in California in 2000 and 2005 but managed to evade arrest.

After he fled, it emerged that he had been a long-time FBI informant fueling suspicion about the agency's inability to find him.

Bulger and Greig had lived for years under the pseudonyms Charles and Carol Gasko.