Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles' car goes into storage as Newseum closes

The Newseum, a Washington, D.C., museum telling the history of the free press, closed its doors on the final day of 2019, ending the public display of the car of the slain and celebrated Arizona Republic journalist Don Bolles.

Bolles was an investigative journalist for The Republic in the '60s and '70s before he was killed by a car bomb in 1976.

The car is part of the Newseum's collection and will enter a storage facility where it will be cared for with the rest of the Newseum's collection, Newseum spokesperson Sonya Gavankar said in an email.

The artifacts will remain in the storage facility until a new physical home can be found to house and show the Newseum's collection.

'GOD, IT MUST BE DON': How The Republic covered the bombing of Don Bolles

On June 2, 1976, Bolles was lured to the Hotel Clarendon by a man who promised him documents on a story involving land fraud and prominent politicians. The story was a hoax. While Bolles waited in the lobby for the interview, that man, according to police and court records, affixed a bomb under his car. Another man detonated the bomb by remote control as Bolles backed out of the parking lot.

The car had been held in a police evidence yard until the criminal cases of the three men involved wrapped up. Police then released it to the family.

Bolles’ wife, Rosalie Bolles Kasse, donated the 1976 white Datsun to the Newseum after extensive negotiations.

Kasse, in an interview in 2019, said she hoped the car would find a new home where the public could see it.

Artifacts from the Newseum will be used for outgoing loans, education programs, public events, publications, digital initiatives and more, Gavankar said.

After 11 years, the Newseum on Pennsylvania Avenue closed its doors Tuesday. The Freedom Forum said that operating the Newseum was "financially unsustainable" and will sell the building to Johns Hopkins University, according to the Newseum website.

The "Rediscovering: Don Bolles, murdered Arizona journalist" podcast from The Republic takes a look into Bolles' life and death using, in part, cassette tapes the reporter made of his phone calls and interviews.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Republic reporter Don Bolles' car put in storage as Newseum closes