Web site selling drawings by killer
Published 5:00 am Thursday, June 25, 2009
PORTLAND — Original drawings by one of Oregon’s most notorious killers are being sold online.
The work of Ward Weaver, who is serving a life sentence for murdering two Oregon City girls in 2002, is for sale on a site called prisonboundserialkillers.com. Four drawings, three of which feature women either naked or almost naked, are going for $75 each. His drawing of a rose bush can be had for $18.99.
A Department of Corrections spokeswoman told The Oregonian newspaper on Tuesday that no rules prevent Weaver from selling art. Eight states have laws that prohibit prisoners from profiting from their notoriety; Oregon isn’t one of them.
“Obviously, this is not a DOC-sanctioned activity he is engaging in,” said Jeanine Hohn, the spokeswoman. “However, he’s not violating any current policies of the department.”
Andy Kahan, a Houston-based crime victims’ advocate, said there is demand for so-called “murderabilia,” which can include anything from hair samples of a serial killer to Weaver’s lurid drawings.
Kahan monitors several Web sites that deal in murderabilia. The sites pay imprisoned killers by putting a portion of the proceeds into their prison commissary accounts, or sending it to third parties, Kahan said.
“It always amazes me that prison officials don’t even bat an eye when you’re sending out … sexually depraved artwork,” Kahan said. “It’s an insidious, despicable industry.”
Weaver, 46, is serving a life sentence at an Eastern Oregon prison with no chance of parole.
He pleaded guilty to the murders of Ashley Pond, 12, and Miranda Gaddis, 13, who went missing in early 2002. Their bodies were found later that summer on the property of a home Weaver rented.
Weaver is not the first Oregon murderer to sell art. In 2002, “Happy Face Killer” Keith Jesperson acknowledged he had earned about $1,000 by selling his penciled drawings of wildlife.