Post by CCADP on Aug 27, 2005 20:29:17 GMT -5
Waiting for justice: Crime pays
"He's a decent artist for being a serial killer," Bohannon said.
Rolling's art and letters are among the items Bohannon auctions on his Web
site, Murderauction.com. The site is among a handful of sites where
collectibles from Rolling, who murdered 5 Gainesville college students in
1990, and other serial killers are sold.
Everything from a picture Rolling drew of Michael Jackson with his hair on
fire to a review Rolling wrote of the 1960s slasher film "The Undertaker
and His Pals" has been sold online. Rolling items are being sold at prices
ranging from letters at $25 apiece to an oil painting at $1,200.P> Under a
Florida law banning felons from profiting from crimes, the state seized
profits from a book that Rolling wrote with his former fiancee and art of
his that she sold. But the law hasn't been applied to other items - called
"murderabilia" by both collectors and detractors - despite the fact that
some collectors who sell Rolling's art have sent him money in prison.
The brother of one of Rolling's victims said the state should stop him
from profiting from items that only have value because of the murders.
"The whole thing adds insult to injury," said Mario Taboada, whose brother
Manny was killed by Rolling.
Rolling had 170 deposits in his account from Oct. 18, 2000, to Aug. 10,
2005, for a total of $6,745, according to Department of Corrections
records. He is allowed to use the money to buy up to $100 per week of
items in the commissary, such as food and toiletries. He had $163.14
remaining in his account as of Aug. 10.
Deposits are read by a computerized system that didn't register many of
the names, listing those as coming from an unknown source. Most of the
remaining deposits came from Rolling's younger brother, Kevin. But several
other deposits came from murderabilia collectors.
Merle Allin, the bassist for the punk band Murder Junkies and a collector
of serial killer art, deposited a total of $750. A New Orleans man who
said he had planned to collect serial killer art for a book, Anthony
Meoli, deposited $130. A New Jersey man who collects murderabilia, James
C. Brown, deposited $30.
If the state can show the deposits are payments for art, they are fair
game to be seized, said George Waas, an attorney with the state Attorney
General's Office. But he doubted the state would pursue the matter, since
tracking down sellers would cost more than the money seized and give their
Web sites publicity.
Allin said by e-mail that he considered Rolling a friend and wouldn't
comment for this story. Brown said he also considers himself a friend, not
a collector.
Rolling never asked him for money, he said, and told him during a prison
visit that the artwork was his only creative outlet.
"I guess it's one of the last ways he can really express himself," Brown
said.
It's unclear how much art Rolling has created behind bars. In a 2003
letter to Meoli, he makes reference to having completed his 128th
painting. But since the Department of Corrections banned inmates from
obtaining more oil paints in July 2004, he's been able to complete few
paintings, according to Meoli.
"He's probably one of the most talented incarcerated prisoners ever as far
as I'm concerned," Meoli said.
Meoli said he was planning to include Rolling's art and poems in a book on
serial killer art, but "had second thoughts about it." He said he's
corresponded with more than a dozen serial murderers and collected their
art.
"Whether or not you like the idea, this is what people have created," he
said.
But Andy Kahan, director of the crime-victims office for the Houston
mayor, said most pieces are only valuable because of their connection to
heinous crimes.
"You shouldn't be able to rob, rape and murder and turn around and make a
buck on it," he said.
Only California and Texas have more inmates than Florida with items being
sold online, Kahan said. He keeps a top 10 list of bizarre murderabilia
sold online, which includes dirt from serial killer John Wayne Gacy's
crawl space and foot scrapings from "The Railway Killer," Angel Maturino
Resendiz.
He helped persuade eBay to ban murderabilia from its online auction site
and successfully lobbied for new laws to stop "notoriety for profit" in
California and Texas. A measure that would have allowed Florida to
confiscate profits made by murderabilia sellers died in the state Senate
last year before action was taken.
The borderless nature of the Internet makes it futile to push more states
to pass such laws, he said, so he's lobbying for a federal law to crack
down on murderabilia. But some civil libertarians say such a law would be
difficult to enforce.
Inmates should have the right to produce literature and art, if not profit
from it, said Ralph Selfridge, a member of the American Civil Liberties
Union in Gainesville. "Clearly the dividing line is not going to be easy
to draw," he said.
The courts have wrangled with lawmakers over the issue for decades. After
a publisher offered to pay "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz to tell his
story in 1977, New York became the first state to prohibit criminals from
profiting from their crimes. Another 40 states, including Florida,
followed suit.
But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1991 the law violated the First
Amendment. The court ruled the law had the potential to restrict any
literature that referred to the author's past crimes, such as "The
Autobiography of Malcolm X."
States were forced to ditch or revise their laws. Florida's prosecution of
Sondra London under its revised law is one of a handful of successful
cases since that time.
London started writing Rolling after his arrest, trading love letters and
other correspondence with him. She eventually became engaged to him, wrote
about their relationship for the tabloids, co-wrote a book with him, "The
Making of a Serial Killer," and edited another book that contained his
writings.
The state of Florida sued to seize her profits from selling those stories,
his art and letters. The state won and Rolling's victims received about
$16,400 from the suit, which was distributed to a local victims' memorial
park, and scholarships and foundations named for the students.
By e-mail, London refused comment for this story. But she directed a
reporter to a Web site, on which she criticized the victims' families for
taking issue with her work but also making a deal for a made-for-TV
production about the slayings.
When the families discovered they couldn't stop a movie from being made,
they resorted to making the deal to keep control over its content, said
Jay Howell, a Jacksonville lawyer who represented the families in the
deal.
"Their whole intent from day one was to not have something made," he said.
A push by national politicians to crack down on TV violence caused studios
to back away from making the movie, he said. Political pressure has also
caused Web sites related to Rolling and other killers to be taken down.
London maintained one such site, which included Rolling's writings and
those of another serial killer with victims in Wyoming and other states.
When the former governor of Wyoming caught wind of it, he convinced AOL
chief executive Steve Case to remove the site from the company's servers.
Political pressure also led AOL to ban another Web site that posted
letters and art from serial killers, Mansonfamilypicnic. com. That site,
which is back online on another server, includes one of Rolling's letters.
"He seemed eager for more attention," said Rick Downey, who runs the site,
in an e-mail.
One European collector of Rolling's art, Henk Janssen, said efforts to ban
such sites will only incite a greater interest.
"If they would just pay no attention to it, it will flow over like a
silent breeze on the ocean," he said in an e-mail.
But Kahan said he's detected much less interest in murderabilia since its
heyday, before it was banned on eBay.
Meoli said "Hollywood types" maintain interest, paying as much as $10,000
for pieces. He's been contacted by collectors looking for tips on getting
Rolling to write back and send art, but considers that a violation of
their friendship.
"This isn't a freak show - what I have with him isn't for sale," he said.
Bohannon said most collectors will part with even their most valued
pieces. "For the right price, it's all for sale," he said.
****
Art, letters and other items made by notorious criminals are being sold
online at several independent Web sites. The following three sites offer
so-called "murderabilia" from Danny Rolling and other prominent serial
killers, with the asking price or opening bid listed earlier this week.
Murderauction.com:
Danny Rolling ink sketch, $200
Danny Rolling letter and art, $25
Danny Rolling letter, $50
John Wayne Gacy painting of Christ, $600
Charles Manson signed fingerprint card and press photo, $225
Supernaught.com:
Danny Rolling poem, $175
Danny Rolling oil painting of skeleton and knight, $1,200
Danny Rolling, drawings (5 listed), $150 apiece
Ted Bundy final Christmas card, $1,200
Jeffrey Dahmer handwritten birthday card, $1,700
Lowbrowartworld.com:
"Son of Sam" David Berkowitz greeting card and photo, $120
Jacksonville serial killer Ottis Toole handprint in fingerpaint on paper,
$150
No art or letters by Danny Rolling
[source: Murderauction.com, Supernaught.com, Lowbrowartworld.com]
Deposits in Danny Rolling's prison account (Oct. 18, 2000- Aug. 10, 2005):
Kevin Rolling, younger brother, $1,545
Merle Allin, friend/murderabilia collector, $750
Anthony Meoli, friend/murderabilia collector, $130
James C. Brown, friend/murderabilia collector, $30
Other/unknown, $4,290
Total deposits by outside parties: 170
Total amount deposited: $6,745
Account balance (Aug. 10, 2005): $163.14
[source: Florida Department of Corrections]
(source for all: Gainesville Sun)
"He's a decent artist for being a serial killer," Bohannon said.
Rolling's art and letters are among the items Bohannon auctions on his Web
site, Murderauction.com. The site is among a handful of sites where
collectibles from Rolling, who murdered 5 Gainesville college students in
1990, and other serial killers are sold.
Everything from a picture Rolling drew of Michael Jackson with his hair on
fire to a review Rolling wrote of the 1960s slasher film "The Undertaker
and His Pals" has been sold online. Rolling items are being sold at prices
ranging from letters at $25 apiece to an oil painting at $1,200.P> Under a
Florida law banning felons from profiting from crimes, the state seized
profits from a book that Rolling wrote with his former fiancee and art of
his that she sold. But the law hasn't been applied to other items - called
"murderabilia" by both collectors and detractors - despite the fact that
some collectors who sell Rolling's art have sent him money in prison.
The brother of one of Rolling's victims said the state should stop him
from profiting from items that only have value because of the murders.
"The whole thing adds insult to injury," said Mario Taboada, whose brother
Manny was killed by Rolling.
Rolling had 170 deposits in his account from Oct. 18, 2000, to Aug. 10,
2005, for a total of $6,745, according to Department of Corrections
records. He is allowed to use the money to buy up to $100 per week of
items in the commissary, such as food and toiletries. He had $163.14
remaining in his account as of Aug. 10.
Deposits are read by a computerized system that didn't register many of
the names, listing those as coming from an unknown source. Most of the
remaining deposits came from Rolling's younger brother, Kevin. But several
other deposits came from murderabilia collectors.
Merle Allin, the bassist for the punk band Murder Junkies and a collector
of serial killer art, deposited a total of $750. A New Orleans man who
said he had planned to collect serial killer art for a book, Anthony
Meoli, deposited $130. A New Jersey man who collects murderabilia, James
C. Brown, deposited $30.
If the state can show the deposits are payments for art, they are fair
game to be seized, said George Waas, an attorney with the state Attorney
General's Office. But he doubted the state would pursue the matter, since
tracking down sellers would cost more than the money seized and give their
Web sites publicity.
Allin said by e-mail that he considered Rolling a friend and wouldn't
comment for this story. Brown said he also considers himself a friend, not
a collector.
Rolling never asked him for money, he said, and told him during a prison
visit that the artwork was his only creative outlet.
"I guess it's one of the last ways he can really express himself," Brown
said.
It's unclear how much art Rolling has created behind bars. In a 2003
letter to Meoli, he makes reference to having completed his 128th
painting. But since the Department of Corrections banned inmates from
obtaining more oil paints in July 2004, he's been able to complete few
paintings, according to Meoli.
"He's probably one of the most talented incarcerated prisoners ever as far
as I'm concerned," Meoli said.
Meoli said he was planning to include Rolling's art and poems in a book on
serial killer art, but "had second thoughts about it." He said he's
corresponded with more than a dozen serial murderers and collected their
art.
"Whether or not you like the idea, this is what people have created," he
said.
But Andy Kahan, director of the crime-victims office for the Houston
mayor, said most pieces are only valuable because of their connection to
heinous crimes.
"You shouldn't be able to rob, rape and murder and turn around and make a
buck on it," he said.
Only California and Texas have more inmates than Florida with items being
sold online, Kahan said. He keeps a top 10 list of bizarre murderabilia
sold online, which includes dirt from serial killer John Wayne Gacy's
crawl space and foot scrapings from "The Railway Killer," Angel Maturino
Resendiz.
He helped persuade eBay to ban murderabilia from its online auction site
and successfully lobbied for new laws to stop "notoriety for profit" in
California and Texas. A measure that would have allowed Florida to
confiscate profits made by murderabilia sellers died in the state Senate
last year before action was taken.
The borderless nature of the Internet makes it futile to push more states
to pass such laws, he said, so he's lobbying for a federal law to crack
down on murderabilia. But some civil libertarians say such a law would be
difficult to enforce.
Inmates should have the right to produce literature and art, if not profit
from it, said Ralph Selfridge, a member of the American Civil Liberties
Union in Gainesville. "Clearly the dividing line is not going to be easy
to draw," he said.
The courts have wrangled with lawmakers over the issue for decades. After
a publisher offered to pay "Son of Sam" killer David Berkowitz to tell his
story in 1977, New York became the first state to prohibit criminals from
profiting from their crimes. Another 40 states, including Florida,
followed suit.
But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1991 the law violated the First
Amendment. The court ruled the law had the potential to restrict any
literature that referred to the author's past crimes, such as "The
Autobiography of Malcolm X."
States were forced to ditch or revise their laws. Florida's prosecution of
Sondra London under its revised law is one of a handful of successful
cases since that time.
London started writing Rolling after his arrest, trading love letters and
other correspondence with him. She eventually became engaged to him, wrote
about their relationship for the tabloids, co-wrote a book with him, "The
Making of a Serial Killer," and edited another book that contained his
writings.
The state of Florida sued to seize her profits from selling those stories,
his art and letters. The state won and Rolling's victims received about
$16,400 from the suit, which was distributed to a local victims' memorial
park, and scholarships and foundations named for the students.
By e-mail, London refused comment for this story. But she directed a
reporter to a Web site, on which she criticized the victims' families for
taking issue with her work but also making a deal for a made-for-TV
production about the slayings.
When the families discovered they couldn't stop a movie from being made,
they resorted to making the deal to keep control over its content, said
Jay Howell, a Jacksonville lawyer who represented the families in the
deal.
"Their whole intent from day one was to not have something made," he said.
A push by national politicians to crack down on TV violence caused studios
to back away from making the movie, he said. Political pressure has also
caused Web sites related to Rolling and other killers to be taken down.
London maintained one such site, which included Rolling's writings and
those of another serial killer with victims in Wyoming and other states.
When the former governor of Wyoming caught wind of it, he convinced AOL
chief executive Steve Case to remove the site from the company's servers.
Political pressure also led AOL to ban another Web site that posted
letters and art from serial killers, Mansonfamilypicnic. com. That site,
which is back online on another server, includes one of Rolling's letters.
"He seemed eager for more attention," said Rick Downey, who runs the site,
in an e-mail.
One European collector of Rolling's art, Henk Janssen, said efforts to ban
such sites will only incite a greater interest.
"If they would just pay no attention to it, it will flow over like a
silent breeze on the ocean," he said in an e-mail.
But Kahan said he's detected much less interest in murderabilia since its
heyday, before it was banned on eBay.
Meoli said "Hollywood types" maintain interest, paying as much as $10,000
for pieces. He's been contacted by collectors looking for tips on getting
Rolling to write back and send art, but considers that a violation of
their friendship.
"This isn't a freak show - what I have with him isn't for sale," he said.
Bohannon said most collectors will part with even their most valued
pieces. "For the right price, it's all for sale," he said.
****
Art, letters and other items made by notorious criminals are being sold
online at several independent Web sites. The following three sites offer
so-called "murderabilia" from Danny Rolling and other prominent serial
killers, with the asking price or opening bid listed earlier this week.
Murderauction.com:
Danny Rolling ink sketch, $200
Danny Rolling letter and art, $25
Danny Rolling letter, $50
John Wayne Gacy painting of Christ, $600
Charles Manson signed fingerprint card and press photo, $225
Supernaught.com:
Danny Rolling poem, $175
Danny Rolling oil painting of skeleton and knight, $1,200
Danny Rolling, drawings (5 listed), $150 apiece
Ted Bundy final Christmas card, $1,200
Jeffrey Dahmer handwritten birthday card, $1,700
Lowbrowartworld.com:
"Son of Sam" David Berkowitz greeting card and photo, $120
Jacksonville serial killer Ottis Toole handprint in fingerpaint on paper,
$150
No art or letters by Danny Rolling
[source: Murderauction.com, Supernaught.com, Lowbrowartworld.com]
Deposits in Danny Rolling's prison account (Oct. 18, 2000- Aug. 10, 2005):
Kevin Rolling, younger brother, $1,545
Merle Allin, friend/murderabilia collector, $750
Anthony Meoli, friend/murderabilia collector, $130
James C. Brown, friend/murderabilia collector, $30
Other/unknown, $4,290
Total deposits by outside parties: 170
Total amount deposited: $6,745
Account balance (Aug. 10, 2005): $163.14
[source: Florida Department of Corrections]
(source for all: Gainesville Sun)