James “Whitey” Bulger’s “Psycho Killer Skull” ring was for sale at the auction.

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

A framed photo of a car. A “Psycho Killer Skull” ring. Rolling shopping carts.

These were among the items sold on Saturday at an auction of James “Whitey” Bulger and his girlfriend Catherine Greig’s belongings, the New York Times reports. 

The auction raised a modest $109,295 for the families of Bulger’s victims.

A friend of Greig’s family bought several photos of cats for $110 and plans to give them back to Grieg when she finishes serving her prison sentence in 2020.

The most expensive item was Bulger’s claddagh ring, which went for $23,000.

Steve Neavling

The U.S. government plans to unload nearly 30,000 bitcoins – valued at $17.3 million – during an auction later this month after seizing the currency as part of an FBI crackdown last year on an illicit online marketplace for drugs, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Some of the bitcoins seized from Silk Road  will be auctioned off over a 12-hour period on June 27. Bids can be placed on the U.S. Marshals website.

The Journal reports that the sale of so many bit coins could devalue the digital currency.

The value of bitcoins have fluctuated wildly after reaching an all-time high of $1,166 in December. The value hit a low of $344.24 on April 11 and has bounced back to $583, the Journal wrote.

Ross Ulbricht, the alleged administrator of Silk Road, was arrested in October by the FBI. He faces trial on Nov. 2.

Steve Neavling

A mannequin with a cat on its head. Nine fedoras. A collection of porcelain cats.

All belonged to convicted mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, who was sentenced to life in prison last month.

The items are among a number of his possessions that are being auctioned off, The Las Vegas Guardian Express reports.

The proceeds will go to his victims.

“The reality is there are lots of people who would be willing to pay money for some or all of the contents of that apartment, and that money is going to victims and victims’ families. So we want to do what we can to get as much money as we can for them,” First Assistant US Attorney Jack Pirozzolo said.

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The recent auction that sold off belongings of Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski –including his journals and sun glasses — is paying off for the victims of his evil deeds.

The Los Angeles Times reports that checks totaling $225,000 from the auction were sent to four victims. A federal judge in Sacramento ordered the disbursement last week.

The LA Times reported that the online government auction, which ended June 2, included the typewriter Kaczynski used to compose the manifesto he sent to the New York Times and the Washington Post. That sold for $22,003.

His hooded sweatshirt and sunglasses depicted in an FBI sketch of the Unabomber suspect sold together for $20,025, the paper reported. And his personal journals sold for $40,676.

The paper reports that Kaczynski is currently serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Colorado after mailing homemade explosives that killed three people and wounded 20.

According to the LA Times, the money was dispersed as follows:

• Susan Mosser, widow of advertising executive Thomas Mosser, who was killed in 1994; $185,177.23.
• Connie Murray, widow of Sacramento forester Gilbert Murray, who was killed in 1995; $33,648.05.
• Gary Wright, who was injured by a 1987 bomb; $3,545.47.
• Lois Epstein, the wife of University of California, San Francisco physician and researcher Charles Epstein, who was severely injured by a 1993 bomb; $3,364.81.

By Allan Lengel

The feds stand to gain some serious cash from the 10 Russian spies who were quickly deported last week.

The New York Daily News reports that the feds could try to auction off the property left behind including homes that still have clothes hanging in the closets.

“The crowds at these auctions can almost double [regular auctions],” Robert Olson, owner of auction house Erkelens and Olson in Salt Lake City which has handled a number of high-profile U.S. Marshals auctions told the Daily News. “I guess they want to see what those people in actuality owned, and how they lived.”

The paper reported that the homes left behind include a $530,800 one in Montclair, N.J., and a $447,059 one in Yonkers.

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