Wednesday, May 06, 2009

Stuff: Daisy cutters.



The true crime site Clews (that's "clues" in old-timey spelling) recently posted a link to a story about convicted wife-killer Mark Hacking (pictured above). Seems that Hacking's been shipping out personal items to online auction-sites that specializes in "murderabilia."

From Salt Lake City's Deseret News:

The Utah Department of Corrections said it plans to monitor convicted killer Mark Hacking's mail after an alleged confession and even moustache hair from the notorious wife-killer appeared on an online auction site specializing in so-called "murderabilia."

. . .

Hacking is serving a six-years-to-life sentence for the 2004 murder of his wife, Lori. He admitted to shooting her and dumping her body in the garbage. He claimed she had disappeared while jogging. Her body was found months later in the Salt Lake Valley landfill. Prosecutors said he killed her after she had unveiled his web of lies.

DaisySeven.com touted the letter as being a confession from Hacking, including details about his sex life with Lori. On Monday, it was selling for $24. A posting on the Web site said operators of the auction do not give interviews.


Visiting DaisySeven, "lowest price, free shipping", is a bizarre experience. The site itself is pretty low-rent looking, but in a way that suggests something kludged together by earnest, but novice coders. It's almost clumsily charming and could be mistaken for some home business's arts and crafts site, if it wasn't for selection options like "Dial a Killer" (which allows you to browse categories by specific criminal – not all killers, by the way: Heidi Fleiss is a category unto herself) and the featured Spahn Ranch business card auction (buy it now price is just $4.64) on the home page.

Horror fans more interested in the supernatural than true-crime will be gladdened to know that there's a entire shopping category dedicated to "vampires," consisting mostly of collectables from the nine-person Vampire Klan of Kentucky, responsible for the 1996 bludgeoning deaths of Richard and Naoma Wendorf, the parents of the one of the cult members.

The only member of the clan to do serious time, Dana Cooper (the only legal adult at the time of the murder), has a lovely signed photo taken from her home at the Lowell Correctional Institution in Ocala, Florida. It's black and white and Cooper, now in her late-twenties, stands sideways towards the camera. She looks over her left shoulder at the camera. Her hair is thick and curly; she has a slight smile and dark eyes. She's wearing lipstick and eyeliner. She has a full, rounded face. She appears to be leaning against a wall that's been covered up with palm shoots or some other thin reed-like plant. Her hands are together, as if she's going to rest her head on them. In the black and white photo you can't immediately tell she's wearing her blue prison-issued top. In clear, legible cursive, at the bottom of the photo, she's written "Dana L. Cooper Easter 2003." The buy it now price is $28.64. Perfect for Mother's Day.

2 comments:

The Igloo Keeper said...

Put me down for a Ted Bundy letter and a John Wayne Gacey Seven Dwarves oil painting.

CRwM said...

Iggy,

You're in luck - every Gacy prainting comes with a free Lee Boyd Malvo self-portrait, signed and with numbered certificate of authenticity!

Enjoy you purchases!