Murder House for Sale

Would you buy a house known to be the scene of a murder? A favorite house of book and movie fame is Mercer House. Located in Savannah, GA, the Italianate mansion was built for a Confederate general. The songwriter Johnny Mercer is the general's great-grandson. The house was designed in 1859 by John Norris, a New York architect, but it wasn't finished until after the Civil War. Mr. Norris designed Savannah's United States Custom House. Back in the 1990's the house was on the market for nearly $9 million dollars. Such a historical house, wouldn't you want to buy it? It's the house where Jim Williams, the antiques dealer who was tried four times in the 1981 shooting death of 21-year-old Danny Hansford lived. The murder took place in the study of the house. The house was the focal point of the best-selling "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil."

Some houses are less infamous and move easily into a new life like the 20,000-square-foot mansion in Miami. In 1997, world-renowned fashion designer Gianni Versace was gunned down outside his house. Perhaps because the murder happened outside, it was simple process to turn into a hotel and club. The home was purchased in 2000 for $19 million at the time, the highest price paid for a house in Miami-Dade County.

John Lennon was gunned down outside his home at Central Park West and West 72nd St., the site of The Dakota New York City. The large apartment building has not been damage by the infamous murder which took place on the sidewalk. This murder and the Versace murder are similar in that they occurred outside the home.

The home once owned by former Marine Cpl. Cesar Laurean, who is charged with killing Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach of Vandalia in western Ohio was up for sale. She was eight months pregnant when pregnant Marine's charred remains were found buried in a shallow grave in the backyard.

The single-story, 1,100-square foot house near the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune was scheduled for auction according to the Web site for Brock & Scott PLLC. No minimum bid has been set for the house, which has three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Murders happening inside the home have a different fate. People are superstitious. They fear the bad luck, ghosts, or that the house is cursed. Or they have a more normal anxiety that the misfortunes will be more disturbing to them. It may be the awareness will diminish their happiness for living.

In other cases the scene of a brutal murder is destroyed. In 2003, Meng-Ju Wu shot and killed three young men while they slept in their Verona home. The house was acquired by a real estate company which turned it into a parking lot for three businesses. Six people were shot and killed in Madison, WI. It was reported the home burned down, and a memorial will be placed at the scene. In his Milwaukee apartment, serial killer Dahmer killed 12 of his victims. It was reported the site remains an empty lot. A community redevelopment group bought and demolished the apartment building. John Wayne Gacy hid the bodies of 29 murder victims in the crawl space and walls of his house outside Chicago. The house was wrecked in the search for the bodies in 1979. The land remained vacant until a home was built in 1988.

Some crime scenes get a makeover or facelift. Their identity is changed like they are in witness protection program - hiding in plain sight! The body of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey was found in the basement of her Boulder, Colo., home, the Tudor-style house at 749 15th St. Boulder County property records show the address of the house was changed - from 755 15th St. to 749 15th St. Brittany Zimmermann was killed in her apartment on Doty Street. It is likely the building was remodeled and rented at a cheaper rent. The Cielo Drive mansion where Charles Manson murdered pregnant actress Sharon Tate was bulldozed and substituted with a new Italian-style villa. The condominium in Los Angeles where Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman were slain had an address changed and the property remodeled.

Some states require sellers to reveal a house's harrowing history to buyers, but some set of laws order disclosure for only a short period of time. That's because some buyers consider more than just location for certain places, history can turn a dream home into a dreadful event.

Work Cited:
Murder Scene For Sale - http://www.nbc15.com/home/headlines/17754234.html

'For Sale' in the Garden of Good and Evil - http://www.geocities.com/midnightinsavannah/sistersells.html

Marine murder suspect's house for sale - http://www.wdtn.com/dpp/news/WDTN_Marinehouse

For sale: Scene of a crime http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-08-06-murder-houses_x.htm

Murder suspect's Palm Beach house for sale - http://www.palmbeachpost.com/business/content/business/epaper/2009/01/08/0108papalexis.html