CORNYN ANNOUNCES NEW BILL TO PROTECT VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN HOUSTON
Discusses new federal effort to combat sale of ‘murderabilia’
HOUSTON—U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and former Texas Attorney General, announced new legislation Tuesday in Houston to protect victims’ rights and combat the exploitation of criminal activity. Before Congress adjourned last week, Sen. Cornyn introduced the Stop the Sale of Murderabilia to Protect the Dignity of Crime Victims Act of 2007, S. 1528.
“It is with startling and increasing frequency that prisoners are turning to the Internet and seeking to profit from their deplorable crimes. This heinous activity hurts the victims and their families yet again,” U.S. Sen. Cornyn said today. “This new legislation would cut off the source of these murderabilia Web sites—by simply prohibiting state or federal prisoners from placing almost any item into the mail for purposes of interstate commerce. Experts like Andy Kahan think this approach will shut down the industry, and I hope and pray they are right. I intend to push this legislation until this despicable industry is gone forever.”
Sen. Cornyn’s office has worked closely this year with Andy Kahan, longtime director of the Houston Mayor’s Office Crime Victims Assistance Division and Kim Ogg, a former Harris County Prosecutor and former head of Houston Crimestoppers, on federal legislation to combat the sale of “murderabilia.”
Kahan coined the term “murderabilia,” which refers to the (almost exclusively online) industry in which tangible goods owned or created by convicted murderers are sold for profit. Kahan was successful in convincing eBay in 2001 to cease the sale of murderabilia on its site. But independent online dealers are now numerous. Some prisoners are even setting up their own Web sites to sell murderabilia.
Background:
1) Lee Boyd Malvo was convicted for the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks in Maryland and Virginia, killing 10 people and critically wounding 3 more.
- In all, Malvo is believed to have been involved in 16 murders and 7 additional attempted murders. Victims included people from Texas, California, Arizona, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Maryland and Virginia.
- A sketch of Osama bin Laden drawn by Malvo was recently listed on MurderAuction.com and could be bid on or bought outright for $500.
- Denise Johnson, whose husband was killed in the shooting, and Victoria Snider, whose sister was killed in the shooting, both expressed shock and outrage that the items could be sold legally.
2) In 2000, authorities charged Nathaniel Bar-Jonah with the murder of 10-year-old Zach Ramsay, whose remains have never been found. Authorities found evidence that Bar-Jonah butchered Zach and cannibalized his body in meals served to neighbors. (These charges had to be dropped, however, after Zach’s mother said she would testify that she believed her son was still alive.)
- Bar-Jonah was later sentenced to 130 years for kidnapping, sexually assaulting and choking a different teenage neighbor boy.
- The Great Falls Tribune reported that Bar-Jonah appeared to be sending personal items to a woman in Utah who was selling them on his behalf.
- In December 2006, he listed 30 items, including shoes, bifocals, artwork and his own hair for sale on MurderAuction.com. He also listed court documents from the Zach Ramsay disappearance.
Sen. Cornyn serves on the Armed Services, Judiciary and Budget Committees. In addition, he is Vice Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. He serves as the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee’s Immigration, Border Security and Refugees subcommittee and the Armed Services Committee’s Airland subcommittee. He served previously as Texas Attorney General, Texas Supreme Court Justice and Bexar County District Judge.
