Serial Box Crime

I have a friend who once paid several thousand dollars for what amounted to a small leather dress.  The fact that this dress adorned Xena: Warrior Princess for less than a few minutes of screen time in some episode really didn’t impress me much.  To my friend however, it was something she kept in her house and took out once in a while to appreciate.

What does this have to do with “Murderabilia?”  Simply put, collectors will never be understood by everyone, and they will never let social pressure get in the way of their collecting.

There is a stigma that is eternally attached to anyone who collects true crime artifacts.  Sure, I have a hard time understanding why someone would pay money for the used socks of a serial killer, but I also have a hard time understanding why someone kills and animal, guts it, mounts it to their wall and calls it “art”.  Same goes for people who would pay millions for a dress some starlet wore to the Oscars, a baseball signed by a major leaguer, or a car used in a famous high-speed chase.  Yet, regardless of what you collect, I think what separates the collector from the crazy pack rat or the zealous fan is how much they let their collection define them as a person.

Sure, there are probably some kids out there who buy the stuff because they think it is “cool”; there are bad apples in every group.  In my travels, I have found a great many people who collect true crime artifacts don’t have it displayed in lights in their living room, nor will they bring their items out to everyone who enters their house.   They don’t take it to work with them and rub it on themselves in the bathroom, nor do they attempt to channel Satan through the item.  It is a lot more like, “Here is this thing; this is the background of the thing; I bought it for this amount.  Let’s put the thing away and go see a movie.” Those who do have serial killer items prominently displayed don’t typically invite people into their homes who would be put off by seeing the items.  I know my friends realize I donate my time to non-profits, am active in the arts, have a great family, and I just happen to have the Serial Killer Calender in my office.  They understand and respect my interests and I would fashion they are intelligent enough that if they thought I was killing cats in my spare time they would call the police.

How do we get away from the stigma?  I don’t know if it is possible.  Wounds will forever be present, and I fully respect someone’s right to wish everything connected to a crime would disappear, but my strongest belief is in the power and choice of the individual to do as they will (within the confines of the law).

I have continuously called for a true crime museum.  I think an assembly of true crime artifacts and displays would put some of these items into a historical context instead of a sensational one.  If the public had a place where they could research true crimes, learn about the victims, and see displays of the monsters behind the crimes, it would not only be successful, but could help funnel money into victims assistance groups and violent crime prevention research.

To sum up, I understand not getting “murderabilia” collectors, but I don’t get a lot of people.  There is a whole other set of criteria I look for in a friend before I care about what they spend their days bidding on in an auction site.  If I am victim of a serial killer and someone wants to sell the items related to the crime, more power to them.  I would rather focus my efforts on how I deal with the living and preserving the memory of the dead instead of keeping people from collecting material objects.