Legislation Renews Effort to End ‘Murderabilia'

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, plans to reintroduce legislation aimed at crippling the "murderabilia" industry later this month.

Murderabilia is a term that describes items made by or from murderers and people convicted of violent crimes, including items like artwork, letters, pictures, hair and clothing.

According to Cornyn, the Stop the Sale of Murderabilia Act would prohibit prisoners convicted of violent crimes from mailing items the prisoner intends to use for interstate or foreign commerce, subject the prisoner who violates the act to a fine and increase jail time and allow officials to seize property or proceeds related to murderabilia and give victims the right recover damages and fees.

Cornyn said there is already similar policy in place in Texas, but "once the sale of this enters into the mail or interstate commerce it's harder and harder, if not impossible, for state authorities to regulate it. That's the reason why we need a federal law."

Advocates say the industry sensationalizes crime, causes victims additional unnecessary suffering, can slow the healing process and prevent closure.

"I can tell you from a victim's perspective there is absolutely nothing more nauseating and disgusting than to find out the person who murdered your loved ones now has items being hawked by third parties for pure profit," said murderabilia expert and victim advocate Andy Kahan. "It's blood money, plain and simple, whether it's one dime, one dollar, 100 dollars or one thousand. No one should be able to rob, rape and murder and turn around and make a buck off it."

Crime victim Diane Reeve agrees. She is a proponent of the legislation.

In 2006, she broke up with a man she dated for four-and-a-half years, only to later discover he knowingly transmitted HIV to her and other women. She says she was stunned to find out, even before his trial, he was working on writing a book.

"When he first was incarcerated in a county jail awaiting trial he had a girlfriend who was a novelist, and they immediately started working on a book, and it terrified all of us," Reeve said. "We thought how can we live with something out in the public domain that capitalizes on our tragedy, that capitalizes on our pain and he profits from it?"

With help from Kahan and state law in Texas, the man was prevented from writing it, according to Reeve.

Cornyn previously introduced a similar bill stopping murderabilia in 2013.