A Las Vegas man is fuming over the fact the FBI has written a $2 million reward check to an Iceland woman who reportedly tipped off authorities about the whereabouts of fugitive mobster James “Whitey” Bulger in June.
The Boston Herald reported that Keith Messina, 45, the manager of a Subway and father of three, says he spotted Bulger on a beach in California in 2008 and tipped off authorities, but nothing happened. He said he deserves a reward.
The Herald reports that Messina said the “feds” called him about a month ago to say they were writing the check to a woman in Iceland who spotted Bulger.
“I’m peeved,” Messina said, according to the Boston Herald “I would have been happy with half. I did all the work and you give it to a person in Iceland? The FBI is hiding something.”
“The feds told me ‘We’re writing the check as I speak’ to the woman, ” Messina said in a telephone call from his Las Vegas home.
The feds nabbed Bulger in June in Santa Monica, Calif., along with his longtime companion Catherine Greig.
Messina told the Herald that he spotted Bulger in Santa Monico in 2008 reading a book near the Pacific Ocean.
“I was sitting in front of him next to the chess area. He was standing up reading a thick, brown book,” the 45-year-old Subway manager said. “I want half the money, if not all.”
The paper reported that Messina immediately reported his find and also told the Fox show “America’s Most Wanted.”
“I want the truth for the people in Boston,” Messina said, according to the Herald. “They deserve straight answers.”
