Wichita ? The sale of memorabilia from notorious murderers is a growing industry, and items from BTK killer Dennis Rader are likely to become popular, said a man who monitors such Internet auction sites.

The first item has already sold – a letter from Rader went for $100 Thursday.

“This is just the beginning of the merchandising of Rader/BTK, whatever you want to call him,” said Andy Kahan, director of the crime-victim’s assistance program in Houston. “This is a burgeoning industry. I would be shocked if he didn’t get in on the action.”

A group of collectors around the country has dealt in “murderabilia” for decades and buying such items has become easier because of the Internet, said Kahan.

At one Web site last week, collectors could bid on foot scrapings from serial killer Angel Ramirez, on death row in Texas, or a vial of dirt from the crawl space where executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy buried his victims.

Texas, California, Florida and New Jersey have passed laws that prevent anyone from profiting from a criminal’s notoriety, Kahan said.

Kansas has a law that prohibits criminals from profiting from book or movie deals, but it says nothing about physical artifacts, said Ann Swegle, Sedgwick County deputy district attorney.

Kahan said he first became interested in the subject five years ago when he appalled to find “murderabilia” on the eBay Internet auction site. He was among those who convinced eBay to ban such objects in May 2001.

Although several Rader items went on sale on eBay shortly after his Feb. 25 arrest, eBay officials removed the items shortly thereafter.

After eBay stopped allowing crime memorabilia, Kahan said, some collectors opened their own Web sites.

State Sen. Phil Journey, R-Haysville, said he wasn’t surprised that a Rader letter had turned up on a Web site devoted to crime artifacts.

“I think it’s morbid,” he said. “I don’t know why anybody would bid on it or pay for it, but people seem to be fascinated with outlaws or castoffs in our society.”

The Rader letter was described as:

“This is … supposedly the first letter from Dennis Rader to anyone outside of law enforcement or the media. In it he jokingly refers to himself as “The Suspect” and a few other surprises. … It is handwritten and is initialed in full twice, and signed in full twice!!! Photo available for serious inquiries.”

The seller, identified only as “unlucky13,” does not explain how he got the letter.

Swegle said Rader conceivably could sell his hair, his toothbrush or his toenail clippings, but any money raised probably would go to victims’ families who have filed civil lawsuits against Rader. The fourth such lawsuit was filed Friday.

But Journey said he didn’t think the state should or could prohibit third parties from dealing in artifacts that have been lawfully obtained, saying the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits taking someone’s property without due process.

“When you start affecting third persons who have no criminal culpability, then it’s like prohibiting the sale of World War II memorabilia because it has a swastika on it. You know people collect that stuff,” he said.