BOSTON (AP) – Letters written behind bars by notorious Boston gangster James “Whitey” Bulger have sold for as much as $1,430 each at an auction in West Palm Beach, Florida.
The letters offered on Sunday by Urban Culture Auctions, a division of Palm Beach Modern Auctions, provide a glimpse into Bulger’s life behind bars before he was killed by fellow inmates last year. The letters were written to a man Bulger met in prison.
Rico Baca, the auctioneer and co-owner of Urban Culture Auctions, says the six letters fetched between $845 and $1,430 each. News of the letters’ impending sale attracted worldwide media coverage, including from newspapers and TV stations as far away as Australia.
In the letters, Bulger longingly recalled his old days at Alcatraz, complained about the gentrification of his old neighborhood and discussed how other inmates would try to push his wheelchair when he passed.
Bulger was beaten to death in October shortly after being transferred to a troubled prison in West Virginia. He was serving a life sentence for participating in 11 murders.
Click to read the full preview that appeared on Auction Central News prior to the auction.
Online: www.modernauctions.com
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Catherine Saunders-Watson, Auction Central News International, contributed to this report.
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