Evidence of a Violent History

Collecting Murderabilia

I am always rather surprised to see someone with an adverse reaction to murderabilia, serial killer art, prison art etc. To me, it is no different than any other historical artifact. Collecting of letters, artwork and oddities from notorious killers is just another hobby no different in gruesome value than taxidermy. People collect everything from Nazi and Holocaust evidence, to pieces from the World Trade Center and Columbine High School. We have become a society so numbed by constant exposure, holding authentic artifacts from some of the country's biggest tragedies can help to connect us emotionally to the trauma our brothers and sisters who are affected are feeling. It can also be a way to keep the victims of these tragedies forever in the public eye.

Wanting to hold, experience, and even own some inanimate object from a crime scene, tragedy, or disaster is not as strange as it sounds. In fact, it is a thriving industry. Conventions, seminars, and lectures are held all over the country on the subject. People gather to trade, buy, and sell this notorious merchandise. There are a bevy of online boutiques and auction houses dedicated to selling peculiarities like letters from killers, drawings, paintings, and artwork from various murderers, rapists and terrorists.

Andrew Dodge is a Washington native who owns True Crime Auction House.
True Crime Auction House is a website and gaggle of Facebook and Insta pages dedicated to showcasing murderabilia as well as all sorts of grisly wet specimens like stillborn pups. He graciously gave The Woman Condemned an exclusive interview.

Q. How did you get into it (true crime/murderabilia sales) and who was your first?

It all goes back to when I was a young kid. I was raised on horror movies. I've always been fascinated with history, dark history to be exact. I'm a history buff and nerd, I've always been interested in fascinated with serial killers as early as 12 as I can remember. It started with watching horror movies, then reading true crime watching true crime documentaries and movies. Researching dozens and dozens of serial killers. I only learned about murderabilia when I was 19, and thought it was not only creepy but cool in a cringe-worthy way.

The first case that really interested me was Jeffrey Dahmer. It amazed me at how this man had body parts and his fridge essentially all over his house, and he could keep a calm cool composure like it was just a normal thing, that he integrated into his life.

When I was 19 years old, I decided I would reach out and attempt to write a serial killer. I figured, I won't get a response but it'll be fun to try. About two and a half weeks later, I get a letter back from Phillip Jablonski, he was the first person I ever wrote and got a response from. to this day, I still talk with jJblonski weekly. Ever since then, I've corresponded with at least 300 convicted murderers and infamous criminals worldwide. I established my website in 2015, which is True Crime Auction House. my first actual prison visit was in 2011, with convicted Washington state mass murderer, Isaac Zamora. 

Q. Do you ever feel guilty/bad for what you do?

Do I feel bad about selling Murderabilia? No. Do I feel bad for the victims? Yes. I will always have sympathy and empathy for crime victims, no matter the case no matter the circumstances. I see nothing wrong with selling off my personal property, that I receive over time. I am certainly not rubbing what I sell in other people's faces, my website and/or murderabilia Facebook groups I run, aren't the easiest to locate if you don't know what to search for. The media does, on a large scale, what I do on a very small scale, financially speaking. I make it aware to people that I am an advocate for inmates, more than half of the money that I make from selling products, goes right back out to helping inmates whether it be food, clothing packages, stamps or even helping their family out. Ive also used the money to donate to disaster relief funds. 

Q. What's the most interesting case for you and why?

 The most interesting case to me is Jack Spillman out of Washington State. Although Spillman is only convicted of three murders, the crimes are so atrocious and so demented, it's almost straight out of a horror movie. Spillman is convicted of the murder of a mother her daughter and another little girl. He removed the genitalia from the two children, and put them and their mouths and then positioned the bodies in provocative positions.