HUNTSVILLE, AL - Its a ghoulish trade. Propelled by the internet, the Murderabilia market is growing by leaps and bounds. The dealers of the eerie serial killer collectibles are making a killing from those obsessed with the morbid side of life.
Tod Bohannan runs several of the websites that sell artifacts from convicted murderers. But his personal collection isn't up for sale. Some of his most treasured items include a box that the
Nightstalker's watch came in, hair from child murderers
Norris and Bittaker - the notorious Murder Mack duo - stone from the fireplace where Sharron Tate was killed and water from a pool where
Herb Baumeister strangled his victims.
The collection of serial killer's belongings is nothing new. In 1958, a carnival paid $760 for the 1949 Ford Sedan of
Ed Gein, the inspiration for Norman Bates character in "Psycho." In 1991, a Florida real estate developer paid $200,000 for the .38 caliber Colt revolver that
Jack Ruby used to kill
Lee Harvey Oswald.
The internet has made the strange obsession a thriving profitable industry. Eric Gein runs SerialKillersInk.com. He says if people didn't buy it, he wouldn't sell it. "There is a huge demand for what we offer. Throughout history people have always been attracted to the morbid side of life," says Gein.
Bohannan is one of Gein's biggest competitors. He says when he launched the first site a decade ago, he never imagined it would transform into what it is today. "Murder action was invented before the term was so popular but as a social network because I wanted to meet other collectors so I could see what they had and I could try and get it," says Bohannan.
Some of his pride and joy includes paintings by
John Wayne Gacy - a convicted child rapist and murderer who once dressed up as a clown for children's birthday parties.
Charles Manson's hair and eerie paintings and letters, graphic drawings by Daniel Lee Seibert who, among his many victims, included a student from the Alabama School for the Deaf and the Blind.
Bohannan says he has looked into the eyes of evil time and time again. He likens his "friendship" with notorious serial killers to the human desire to get a closer look at evil. "Its like if you could stop at a car wreck and get out and walk up to get a closer look. The reason we do it is so we can walk up and touch it," says Bohannan.
The bond Bohannan formed with Alabama death row inmate John Trawick, convicted of killing two women in Birmingham, got him an invite to his execution.
"When you sit down with them its like talking to your grandpa. That's what I used to say about Shawcross. You'd never know that they were killers," says Bohannan.
But for the families of victims whose lives were touched by serial killers say the Murderabilia market is a despicable trade. They say it glamorizes the killers who stole from them the life of a loved one.
They say the industry has transformed killers into idols. As they sit on death row, many on the outside idolize them. Brandi Graham is one who believes this needs to stop. "For people to site there and thrive on certain serial killers to where they have to know everything in detail and they actually kind of want to live their life, that's disgusting. Its creepy. Those are the people you need to look out for," says Graham.
Graham's father was murdered a decade ago. Since then, she's been struggling to let go of the pain and the anger. "Those memories live with you for a lifetime. To be able to cope and deal with them is a miracle. Don't make them have to do it all over again," says Graham.
But she says that's exactly what the Murderabilia industry is doing. "Its offensive in so many ways. For these people to sell sketches or items from these serial killers, it opens up deep, deep wounds," she says.
Those making a living off the killer cottage industry disagree. They say all they're doing is capitalizing on a fascination with crime just like everybody else.
"There is a huge double standard. People aren't going after the authors. They aren't going after the cable networks. They're going after us because we are the little guys in this "so-called" seedy corner of the internet. We are easy to pick on," says Gein.
But for those whose families have been touched by evil, the industry crosses a painful line. "To bring back these crimes some ten, twenty, thirty years later? Its awful. Its just wrong," says Graham.
Currently only eight states forbid the sale of Murderabilia and Alabama isn't one of them. Last year, a Senate bill that would ban it entirely was introduced but it died in committee.
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Shea Allen WAAY 31 News
