Online auction plans to sell dragging-death memorabilia
An online auction house's decision to sell memorabilia related to the 1998 dragging death of Jasper man James Byrd Jr. is upsetting at least one of his relatives.
On June 7, 1998, three purported white supremacists in the East Texas town chained 49-year-old Byrd's ankles to the back of their pickup and dragged him about three miles. His head, right shoulder and right arm were severed when his body hit a culvert. They dumped the rest of his body at a black church cemetery.
Murderauction.com lists four items with a connection to John W. King or Shawn A. Berry, two of three men convicted in Bird's death. King, 39, is on death row at the prison system's Polunsky Unit near Livingston. Berry, also 39, is serving a life sentence at the Ramsey Unit in Rosharon. The third man, Lawrence A. Brewer, was executed in September 2011 at age 44.
The thought of anyone profiting from such a heinous crime is distressing to Byrd's family, said Shelly Mullins, one of his relatives.
In an email to the Chronicle, Mullins called the practice of selling items associated with convicted killers is "despicable."
"We all try to move on with our lives, but that's proven rather difficult, especially when the men responsible for James' death make headlines for selling their letters and possessions to these true crime websites to make money," Mullins wrote.
Andy Kahan, director of Houston's Crime Victims office who has long fought against so-called "murderabilia," said it's unclear whether King, or any inmate, profits from the auction of his possessions, since a third-party seller handles the transaction.
"The last that I know, years back a dealer promised (King) magazine subscriptions in return for personalized items," Kahan said Wednesday.
Visits 'as a friend'
William Harder, murderauction.com promoter, said none of the inmates represented on his website gets paid from the sales. More than 90 percent of the listed items are ones he has purchased from other collectors.
"I don't pay inmates for art work (they give me)," Harder said. "Items given as gifts are kept as gifts. It usually goes on my wall."
Harder was in Texas on Wednesday, part of a two-week trip that includes some stops at prisons, not to collect items to sell but to visit inmates "as a friend," he said.
"The website has nothing to do with my visits," he said.
While many people are disgusted by the practice of selling crime-related items, Harder said people find a lot of other things disgusting, too, such as fur coats and the kosher slaughter of animals.
"I didn't create the interest in John King or (California convicted killer) Charles Manson," he said. "It's the press that sensationalizes cases and creates public interest."
People who are offended by his website should not visit it, he said.
"As a matter of fact, I ask them not to," Harder said. "It's un-American to tell me I cannot sell my personal property, period. It's real easy to be mad at it and hate it, but if you go down to brass tacks, it's what this country is about."
'Crossing a line'
In April 2010, murderauction.com advertised a small bag of dirt from Byrd's grave site as well as photos of the site and road.
At the time, Byrd's sister Louvon Harris, of Houston, said she wanted the website shut down.
"People out there continue to stir up things and make a mockery out of (his death) and do not take it seriously," Harris told the Chronicle in 2010. "He should be resting in peace. It's very selfish and disrespectful of the family."
Harder said Wednesday he no longer includes items from grave sites on the website.
"I figured that was crossing a line," he said.
Nor does he post photos of victims' children or offenders' children, Harder said.
Texas is one of eight states that prohibit inmates from profiting from murderabilia sales, but it's hard to enforce when the transaction is processed by a seller in another state, Kahan said.
"We really need a federal bill," he said.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news...th-5859821.php
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