CRIME PAYS
Collector hopes to cash in from his treasure of murder memorablilia
Dan Warburton
A man who is obsessed by serial killers has launched a website to sell his grisly murder memorabilia.
His disturbingg collection includes letters from Yorkshirerkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, who murderedurdered 13 women.
In one missive,, which is up for sale at £ 85, Sutcliffe,, 73, tells how he is going blind.
A letter from nightight stalker Richard Ramirez is on offer for £ 150. The satanist, who diedied aged 53 in 2013, was convicted inn 1989 of 13 murders, f ive attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglariesurglaries in California.
He was on Deathath Row – the source of many items for sale on the Dark Crime Collectables site..
Founder Roror y Everett, of south-heast London, hass a £10,000 collectionn of letters, art andd documents whichh have been collected with help from contacts in the US.
Software engineer Rory, 31, said: “My father is from the east end of London and I’ve always been interested in British gangland memorabilia – letters from the Kray twins and the Richardsons.
“But then it swung over to the darker side of memorabilia such as 70s serial killer Ted Bundy.
“It’s always been huge in the States but Netflix documentaries on serial criminals and dark crime have made these people household names in the UK.”
Rory is even planning to sell ghoulish T- shirts and hoodies. He has a 1995 phone card signed by OJ Simpson – the US American footballer and actor found liable in a civil case over the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole and a male friend, Ron Goldman.
A £40 bundle claims to include a Death Row hair sample from Douglas Clark, 72 – one of the Sunset Strip Killers who claimed six lives in Los Angeles in 1980.
Rory says his collection focuses largely on US killers who are free to post items from jail. Values rise if the killer is dead.
He said: “A couple of years ago, Bundy’s toe nails sold for £ 4000.
“I had letters from the gangster Whitey Bulger and the minute he died, they quadrupled in price. These can be eerie gifts.”