BOSTON – A rat-shaped pencil holder and a sterling silver “psycho killer” skull ring were among the belongings of gangster James “Whitey” Bulger that pulled in more than $100,000 at a court-ordered auction to raise money for his victims.
Hundreds of items belonging to Bulger and his longtime girlfriend, Catherine Greig, were up for bid at Saturday’s auction in Bulger’s South Boston hometown. The proceeds, totaling $109,295, will be split among the families of Bulger’s victims, including 20 people killed by Bulger and his gang and several extortion victims.
Bulger’s coveted rat-shaped pencil holder, a nod to the gangster’s longtime status as an FBI informant, sold for $3,600, according to The Boston Globe. The skull ring, one of the auction’s prized items, brought in $5,200. The gangster’s gold and diamond Claddagh ring, appraised at $10,000 to $15,000, fetched the highest price of the auction: $23,000.
Some said they came to the auction at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for the local history, while others said they wanted to support the victims and their families.
South Boston attorney Richard Lane, a close friend of Greig’s twin sister, Margaret McCusker, paid $110 for framed photographs of Bulger and Greig’s beloved pets. Lane said he would give the photos to McCusker to “keep them in the family.”
Those items and more revealed Bulger’s domestic life in hiding with Greig. Other mundane items that sold included used shoes and slippers and a reclining loveseat.
Bulger, now 86, was convicted of a host of charges, including participating in 11 murders, during a 2013 racketeering trial. He is serving a life sentence.
Greig was initially sentenced to eight years in prison, then got 21 additional months for refusing to testify about whether other people helped him while he was a fugitive.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
