Anthony Sowell, the man accused of killing 11 women in Cleveland, is sending letters and cards to an Internet-based company devoted to selling memorabilia from serial killers. Serialkillersink.net listed two envelopes and two letters for sale on its Web site yesterday, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer. The letters, addressed to employees at the company selling them, go for $200; the envelopes $100 and the Christmas card $200. The site also sells artwork, letters and personal items from some of the country’s most infamous killers.
In one letter, Sowell talked about his ex-wife who died in 1998. And he wrote that he can only receive money orders, but not cash. Criminals are not allowed to make money from the crimes in Ohio by selling their stories to book publishers or filmmakers, but selling letters does not appear to violate any state law. The trade in crime memorabilia has become a part of the public’s fascination with violence. Most of artifacts are made by serial killers in prison and sold by several Internet dealers around the country. Critics call it “murderabilia.” Eight states have banned inmates from sending anything to companies who sell the memorabilia. Ohio is not one of them, said Andy Kahan, director of crime victims assistance for the Houston mayor’s office, who has led a national movement to end the murderabilia trade.