Murderabilia

Murderabilia

Murderabilia, also known as murderbilia, is a term identifying collectibles related to murders, murderers or other violent crimes, coined by Andy Kahan, director[1] of the Houston Police Department's Crime Victims Office.[2][3]

Contents

Serial killer art

Serial killer art is defined as artwork created by serial killers while in prison. Often, this process is used as a therapy device, or for further understanding a particularly disturbed psyche, while in other instances it is purely a method of time spanning entertainment for imprisoned individuals. The artists usually vary dramatically in skill and themes covered.

John Wayne Gacy, Richard Ramirez, and Henry Lee Lucas are a few of the better known American serial killer artists. Perry Smith, the mass murderer known from Truman Capote's famous work In Cold Blood, was also a prolific artist.

Collectors typically must have direct contact to obtain and authenticate this art. The actual pieces can sell for large sums of money depending on the individual artist, and their notoriety through serial killing.

Controversy

Murderabilia is a controversial area of the collecting world, as evidenced by the public backlash to the idea of selling or profiting from violent crimes.

In 2005, a serial killer's artwork was sold online in Massachusetts. State lawmakers proposed to block the activity, setting off a debate on free speech rights of prisoners.[4] In 2007, American school shooter Wayne Lo caused controversy after it was found that he was selling his artwork on a website.[5]

In 2010 Sen. John Cornyn, R-TX, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DFL-MN, have teamed up to introduce a bill in Congress that would outlaw what supporters view as a disgusting industry. The bill is called the "Stop the Sale of Murderabilia to Protect the Dignity of Crime Victims Act of 2010," and comes after several individual fights over the issue.[6] Eric Gein, whose murderabilia website Serial killers ink is often in the news for selling items belonging to serial killers, [7][8][9][10] is an outspoken opponent of the bill and has enlisted the help of the ACLU to help combat and expose the bill as an anti-civil liberties bill.[11]

In June of 2011 the United States Government auctioned off personal items which belonged to Ted Kaczynski which were found in his Montana cabin upon his capture in 1996.[12] The auction took place entirely online. The proceeds went to victims and victims families of Kaczynski's crimes.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Macdonald, Sally (July 16, 2010). "Crime Victims Advocate Moved From Mayor's Office to HPD". http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/100716-crime-victims-director-moved-from-mayor's-office-to-hpd. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  2. ^ Barrett, Grant (2006-05-23). The Official Dictionary of Unofficial English: A Crunk Omnibus for Thrillionaires and Bampots for the Ecozoic Age. McGraw-Hill. p. 243. ISBN 9780071458047. 
  3. ^ Hylton, Hilary (2007-06-05). "Cracking Down on 'Murderabilia'". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1629655,00.html. Retrieved 2008-10-04. 
  4. ^ "Online auction of killer's art spurs debate". CNET News. November 16, 2005. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-5956202-7.html. Retrieved June 23, 2009. 
  5. ^ Copulsky, Dan (May 16, 2007). "Wayne Lo 'murderabilia' site causes controversy". Llama Ledger. http://www.llamaledger.com/news/2007/05/16/News/Wayne.Lo.murderabilia.Site.Causes.Controversy-2902645.shtml. Retrieved June 23, 2009. 
  6. ^ Schneider, James (June 18, 2010). "Senators Try to Halt Sale of Gruesome 'Murderabilia'". Fox News. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/06/18/senators-try-halt-sale-gruesome-murderabilia/. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  7. ^ Lohr, David (February 13, 2010). "Murderabilia: Art or a New Form of Victimization?". http://news.aol.ca/crime/article/murderabilia-art-or-a-new-form-of-victimization/19352597. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  8. ^ Puente, Mark (January 22, 2010). "Letters from accused killer Anthony Sowell for sale online; authorities say it's legal". http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/01/anthony_sowell_letters_for_sal.html. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  9. ^ Skrzypek, Jeff (May 19, 2010). "Website Sells Kip Kinkel Letters". http://kezi.com/news/local/174564. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  10. ^ Romero, Dennis (April 2, 2010). "Creep-tastic: A Jail Letter By Serial Killer Alcala Put Up For Sale". http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/city-news/creep-tastic-a-jail-letter-by/. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  11. ^ Lohr, David (June 10, 2010). "Outraged Lawmakers Move to Block 'Murderabilia' Sales". http://www.aolnews.com/crime/article/outraged-lawmakers-move-to-block-murderabilia-sales/19511648. Retrieved July 22, 2010. 
  12. ^ Lohr, Kathy (May 24, 2011). "Unabomber's Criminal Collectibles Up For Auction". http://www.npr.org/2011/05/24/136616438/unabombers-criminal-collectibles-up-for-auction. Retrieved June 7, 2010. 
  13. ^ Vinciguerra, Thomas (June 4, 2011). "The ‘Murderabilia’ Market". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/weekinreview/05murderabilia.html?_r=3&src=twrhp. Retrieved June 7, 2010. 

Steven F. Scouller 'Murderabilia and True Crime Collecting' book 2009 Authorhouse Publishing



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