James "Whitey" Bulger, a notorious Boston mob boss, was captured back in 2011 and convicted in 2013 for a list of charges including murder and extortion. Why is this still relevant to us today? Because on Saturday, the 25th, an auction was held selling off items owned by him and his girlfriend, Catherine Greig. Why sell memorabilia from a known murderer's life? To raise money for the families of his victims.

The auction raised $109,295 in all. Some of the items sold were the white bucket hat he was wearing when he was arrested in 2011 ($6,400), a rat mug ($3,600), and an Irish claddagh ring that sold for a whopping $23,000. These (and more) items were retrieved from Whitey's apartment at the time of his arrest along with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and numerous guns.

As you can imagine, this stirred up some controversy. On one side of things, some people are disgusted. To them all this auction did was make him more famous. Why broadcast the life of a killer and make the families relive probably one of the worst moments of their lives?

On the other hand, some people see it as collecting a piece of history. History is rife with death and tragedy, and people have been collecting mementos from these moments in time for years. (For example: Civil War guns.) Why should this be any different? There's already a movie about him (Black Mass).

This isn't the first time gangster memorabilia has been auctioned off, though. Items from Al Capone, "Lucky" Luciano, Frank Calabrese Sr., and Sam Giancana (to name a few) have raked in thousands upon thousands of dollars. Sometimes like with Bulger this money goes to the families of the victims of these notorious mobsters.

It's up to you to decide for yourself if this selling is ethical/moral or not. Which side are you on?