The Boston Globe - 20.09.2019

B2 Metro The Boston Globe FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

By Emily Sweeney

GLOBE STAFF

Bonnie Parker’s and Clyde Barrow’s sawed-

off shotgun, Al Capone’s cigarette case, Mickey

Cohen’s pinkie ring, and Sam Giancana’s gam-

bling notebooks are among many rare artifacts

from the world of crime that will be auctioned

off in Boston this weekend.

Online bidding will end Friday at 12 p.m.,

and Boston-based RR Auction will hold the live

sale at the Omni Parker House on Saturday af-

ternoon.

In addition to the sawed-off shotgun, the

auction includes a wristwatch that Barrow

wore when he died, a bulletproof vest that was

recovered from Barrow’s car, and a book of

handwritten poems that Parker wrote.

“Featuring a mix of Parker’s original creative

compositions and renditions of popular folk

ballads, these poems were written by Parker

while she was held in Kaufman County Jail,

Texas, in 1932, after being arrested for the

botched armed robbery of a hardware store,”

the auction listing states.

Her black leatherette book includes works ti-

tled “The Story of ‘Suicide Sal,’ ” “The Prosti-

tute’s Convention,” “The Hobo’s Last Ride,”

“The Fate of Tiger Rose,” (a narrative poem

about a “woman of shame, who played a hard

game”), and “I’ll Stay,” (Just like the stars in

heaven / fling around the moon at nite / I’ll stay

with you forever / whether you are wrong or

right).’’

Other items for sale include a mortgage doc-

ument signed by Capone in 1926; a court docu-

ment from a federal case against Vito Genove-

se; a $15,000 check that Boston crime boss

Charles “King” Solomon wrote in 1929; and a

Christmas card that Sam Giancana addressed

to his wife, which he signed using his nick-

name, “Love, Mooney.”

Capone’s sterling silver cigarette case was a

gift from fellow mobster Johnny Torrio for his

wedding anniversary. The case was engraved

with the words “To Al and Mae, 12-18-29, From

John Torrio.”

“Capone came of age under Johnny Torrio in

Brooklyn, looking up to him as a mentor while

serving as his bodyguard and trusted associate,”

the auction listing states. “Shortly after Prohibi-

tion began, Torrio summoned Capone to Chica-

go to act as his lieutenant in a violent effort to

corner the market in the bootleg whiskey trade.

Fronting as a used furniture dealer, Capone or-

ganized a gang of gunmen and began a cam-

paign of terror to drive out the competition.’’

The face of Cohen’s 14K gold pinkie ring fea-

tures his initials “MC” with a Star of David in

the center. The ring is accompanied by a letter

of provenance from Jim Smith, who was Co-

hen’s “longtime right-hand man,” according to

the auction listing. “This vintage initial MC

ring was one of many items that I took posses-

sion of at the time of Mickey Cohen’s death,”

Smith wrote in the letter.

The sawed-off shotgun that belonged to

bank-robbing couple Bonnie and Clyde could

fetch upwards of $75,000, according to RR

Auction. The Western Field Browning Model 30

shotgun was seized after their shootout with

police in Joplin, Mo., in 1933.

Tom De Graff was a detective with the Joplin

Police Department who tried to execute a

search warrant at the apartment where the out-

laws were staying, according to the auction list-

ing.

“In the spring of 1933 while in the company

of two other officers, we made an investigation

in the south part of Joplin, Missouri, at which

time we engaged the Barrow brothers in a gun

battle,” De Graff wrote in an affidavit, referring

to another member of the Barrow Gang —

Clyde’s brother, Marvin. “The two officers who

accompanied me were killed, I also received a

few shots from this shotgun.”

When De Graff left the police department in

1941, he took the shotgun “as a memento of the

gun battle,” the auction website states.

Emily Sweeney can be reached at

[email protected]. Follow her on Twitter

@emilysweeney.

Going,going,sold:slicesofmoblore

PHOTOS BY RR AUCTION

Bonnie Parker’s book of handwritten poems could sell for as much as $50,000.

AROUND THE REGION

SWANSEA

Treeworkerkilledby

fallingbranchathouse

A man was killed by a tree limb while working at

a private residence at 40 Deborah Lane Thursday

morning, authorities said. Police received a 911

call reporting an injured tree worker. Taylor

Bowden, 28, of Rehoboth, had been working in

the bucket lift of a tree truck when he was struck

by a limb, police said in a statement. He was low-

ered from the bucket, and witnesses adminis-

tered CPR. He was taken by ambulance to Rhode

Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead,

the statement said. Swansea police and State Po-

lice detectives assigned to the Bristol district at-

torney’s office are investigating. The Massachu-

setts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health

mourned Bowden’s death in a separate state-

ment. “Our hearts go out to the family and

friends of Taylor,” said executive director Jodi

Sugerman-Brozan. “We have lost too many work-

ers to tree-related deaths and have worked di-

rectly with their devastated loved ones. We must

ensure every safety measure is used while on the

job to prevent any more tree workers from losing

their life on the job — they save lives.”

SALEM

Manfoundguiltyof

slayingestrangedwife

A Salem man was sentenced to life in prison

without parole Thursday after a Superior Court

jury found him guilty of murdering his wife at

her apartment in 2016 while children and grand-

children were at home, the Essex district’s attor-

ney’s office said. Douglas Steeves, 53, was con-

victed after a seven-day trial of murder with de-

liberate premeditation, prosecutors said in a

statement. Carmela Saunders, 48, had taken out

a restraining order and filed for divorce when

Steeves arrived at her home on Aug. 2, 2016, the

statement said. He strangled Saunders to death,

then left to visit a motorcycle club in Beverly, be-

fore going to the Salem police station to report

the crime, according to the statement. “Carmela

Saunders was a mother and a grandmother

whose life was needlessly, selfishly and cruelly

cut short” by Steeves, Essex District Attorney

Jonathan Blodgett said in the statement. “While

this verdict and sentence provide justice to her

family and friends, nothing we do can alleviate

their grief and loss.”

WESTFORD

Motorcyclistkilledin

crashwithschoolbus

A 20-year-old man died after his motorcycle was

involved in a crash with a school bus in Westford

Thursday afternoon, the Middlesex district attor-

ney’s office said. The man, who was not identi-

fied, was driving on West Street in the area of

Blanchard Middle School when he was involved

in the crash with a bus from the Acton-Boxbor-

ough Regional School District at about 3:45 p.m.,

the office said in a press release. He was pro-

nounced dead at the scene. The school bus was

transporting middle school students at the time

of the crash; no one on board was injured, the

statement said. The driver of the bus was taken

to a hospital for precautionary reasons. The

cause of the crash is under investigation, the

statement said. No charges have been filed.

BOSTON

Zoomournslossof

Luther,thewhitetiger

Franklin Park Zoo’s beloved white tiger Luther

died Thursday after a short battle with cancer,

Zoo New England announced. The 14-year-old

tiger was recently diagnosed with an “undiffer-

entiated round cell tumor” and stopped respond-

ing to medication, the zoo said in a press release.

As his health “steeply declined,” the decision was

made to “humanely euthanize him,” the release

said. Luther moved to the zoo in 2006, when the

“Tiger Tales” exhibit opened to help educate the

public about illegal wildlife trafficking. “White ti-

gers, which are purposely bred for their color-

ation, are prone to a number of health issues due

to inbreeding,”said John Linehan, Zoo New Eng-

land chief executive officer. “We were fortunate

that Luther was a healthy cat up until very re-

cently.” He and another cat, a Bengal mix named

Anala, had been confiscated as cubs from a wild-

life sanctuary by federal wildlife agents, who

posed as private sector buyers, according to the

release. Together, Luther and Anala were the

first tigers exhibited at the zoo in 30 years. Anala

still lives there.

CONCORD, N.H.

Billapprovedtocreate

ChristaMcAuliffecoin

New Hampshire’s Democratic congressional del-

egation is welcoming the passage of a bill that

will create a commemorative coin to honor

Christa McAuliffe, the Concord High School

teacher who died in the space shuttle Challenger

disaster 33 years ago. The bill passed the Senate

in July and the House version was approved on

Thursday. The bill now goes to President Trump’s

desk. The bill calls for the creation of a $1 coin to

raise money for the FIRST Robotics program.

The lawmakers say the coin honors McAuliffe

and reaffirms Congress’s commitment to invest

in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathe-

matics education. McAuliffe would have been

NASA’s first designated teacher in space. She and

six crewmates were killed when the Challenger

broke apart shortly after takeoff on Jan. 28,

1986. (AP)

DOVER-FOXCROFT, MAINE

‘MountKatahdin’or

just‘Katahdin’?

The director of the Baxter State Park Authority is

floating the idea of dropping the ‘‘Mount’’ from

Maine’s ‘‘Mount Katahdin.’’ Eben Sypitkowski

told Piscataquis County Commissioners in an e-

mail that Katahdin gets its name from an Abena-

ki or Penobscot words that mean ‘‘greatest

mountain.’’ Therefore, he said there’s no need for

the word ‘‘Mount.’’ He said that’s redundant, like

calling it ‘‘Mount Greatest Mountain.’’ He wrote

that he applied to the USGS Board of Geographic

Names for a name change of the summit. (AP)

‘Thinking,“Ohitwon’t

happentous,ohdon’t

worry,someonewillsave

us,’’isthewrongwayto

think.Theonlypeoplewho

aregoingtosaveusare

ourselves.’

SIMON CHERNOW,a junior at Boston Latin
Academy who is helping to organize the Boston
climate protest on Friday.

BILL BRETT FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

QUOTE OF THE DAY

GET SMART

By Danny McDonald
GLOBE STAFF
An Asian elephant that was recently exhib-
ited at The Big E and was central to a legal ef-
fort to grant animals “personhood,” has died,
according to the group that runs the West
Springfield fair.
Fifty-four-year-old Beulah “had many fans
and was dearly loved by her family, as well as
her friends at Eastern States Exposition,” ac-
cording to a statement from the group.
Beulah and two other elephants are at the
center of a Connecticut legal case in which a
group called the Nonhuman Rights Project
has asked the courts to grant the animals the
same rights as humans. Here is a look at the
dispute.

What’sthebasisforthelegalchallenge?
Beulah was owned by R.W. Commerford &
Sons Traveling Petting Zoo in Goshen, Conn.
The rights project had said Beulah and the
other elephants are being detained illegally in
“deplorable” conditions and want them
moved to a wildlife sanctuary, according to
the Associated Press. The case has been ap-
pealed to the state’s Supreme Court.
The Nonhuman Rights Project said Beulah
was born in the wild in Myanmar in 1967 and
imported between 1969 and 1973.
According to that group, she was sold to
the Commerford Zoo in 1973 and was used in
circuses and fairs.
“Our fight to secure recognition of our ele-
phants clients’ right to liberty and their re-
lease to a sanctuary will continue, in Beulah’s
name and in the names of all the elephants
before her who have found freedom only in
death,” the group said in a statement.
The group previously filed unsuccessful
lawsuits on behalf of four captive chimpan-
zees in New York.

WhathappenedtoBeulah?
In a Wednesday statement, the organiza-
tion said Beulah died “after collapsing multi-
ple times at the Big E fair.”
While The Big E said the elephant died of
natural causes, a spokesman for the US De-
partment of Agriculture said the cause of her
death is unknown. The spokesman confirmed
that her death was reported to the depart-
ment’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service.
Gene Cassidy, Eastern States Exposition
president, said the Big E was broken-hearted
over the loss.
“If you truly loved Beulah, kindly remem-
ber her and the Commerford family in your
thoughts and prayers,” he said, “They have
lost a loved one.”
The 17-day fair, which runs until Sept. 29,
has drawn more than 350,000 attendees this
year, according to the Big E’s website.

Material from the Associated Press was used
in this report. Danny McDonald can be
reached at [email protected].

Abigloss,with

bigquestions

THE BIG E

The MetroMinute

A sterling silver cigarette case was given to

Al Capone as a wedding anniversary gift.

The engraving reads “To Al and Mae, 12-18-

29, From John Torrio.’’ A wanted poster for

Clyde Barrow (left) was hand-made by D. E.

Walsh, superintendent of the Bureau of

Identification for Dallas Police Department.