Daily BrewClifford Olson memorabilia remains up for sale days after serial killer’s death
Most Canadians want to purge themselves of the memory of Clifford Olson, one of the country's true monsters. But there are some who still see the notorious serial killer as a source of fascination, and profit.
Olson, who died of cancer last Friday at age 71, not only took the lives of 11 children in the Vancouver area between January 1980 and August 1981. After he was caught, he extracted $100,000 from the authorities in return telling them where some of his victims' bodies were located. And once in prison, he taunted the families of those victims.
Now, as prison officials prepare to quietly, and secretly, bury him, some Olson memorabilia is again up for sale. MurderAuction.com has five items on its website, which has been updated to reflect Olson's death.
They include a copy of former FBI profiler John Douglas's book on sexual homicide signed by Olson, which carries a starting bid of US $350. Another signed book, this one a theology text, is offered for $199 and a calligraphy kit Olson used in prison starts at $299.
If that's too rich, a couple of Clifford Olson collector cards are going for $5 each.
Interestingly, there are no posted bids for any of the items yet.
It's the second time MurderAuction.com has had Olson memorabilia for sale. It was forced to pull several items from its site in 2008 after Olson victim families raised a stink.
When the latest batch of material came to light two weeks ago, the families once again expressed their dismay.
"I think it's absolutely disgusting," said Sharon Rosendfeldt, whose son Daryn was killed by Olson. She wondered how these items were leaving prison.
Website owner William Harder told CTV News people often write to inmates and receive things from them, something prison officials can do nothing about.
"People are going to buy and sell items. People are going to write books," said Harder, who seemed indifferent to the pain these sales causes to families of murder victims. "I think right and wrong is a subjective issue. This is not wrong."
(Reuters Photo)
