Lawsuit Delays Elvis Auction Proceeds

A lawsuit keeps more than $300,000 auction money in escrow

If Elvis Presley had known his hair would create such a stir, he might have handed out more of it.

The more than $300,000 made on Sunday at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is now being held in escrow until a lawsuit, filed just days before the auction, is resolved, the Chicago Tribune reports.

John Tate and Norma Deeble claim the memorabilia -- which includes a $52,000 shirt worn by the King -- belonged to their late cousin Gary Pepper, a friend of Presley’s who allegedly had been given the items from Presley himself.

Tate and Deeble claim that Pepper’s former caretaker, Nancy Pease Whitehead, stole the items from Pepper when he was transferred to a home for disabled people in the mid-1970’s. Pepper suffered from cerebral palsy.

They also claim to have been unaware about the items and the auction on the TV news.

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