When a federal appeals court ordered the government to sell Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski’s property to the highest bidders, it created a stir in the collectibles world of “murderabilia,” says the Los Angeles Times. “I know collectors in Florida, New York, California, Ohio – they would probably love to get anything from him,” said Tod Bohannon, owner of http://www.murderauction.com , an auction website for murder memorabilia.
Bohannon’s site, created after EBay banned the sale of murder-related items amid protests from victims’ rights groups, features dozens of items from killers, including John Wayne Gacy’s framed Illinois license plate and letters written by Dennis Rader, the BTK killer in Wichita, Ks. Dealers believe the Unabomber’s journals could fetch more than $1,000 apiece, noting that some of the paintings Gacy created in prison purportedly have sold for as much as $10,000. A panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said that Kaczynski’s property should be sold to help pay the $15 million in restitution that he was ordered to pay his victims.