Murderbelia: Reggie Kray And Charles Manson's Letters Go Under The Hammer

Prison letters written by London gangster Reggie Kray and US death-cult leader Charles Manson are to go under the hammer in Glasgow.

The "murderbelia", which will go up for sale on 16 August, belongs to a collector and offers a rare insight into the minds of two of the 20th century's most infamous criminals.

Kray's letters, written across 20 pages and dated over several days in mid-July 1998, are said to be coded instructions to outside associates.

In the letters, Kray wrote: "Go to work for the fee. I'm so proud of all you've achieved."

It is signed off at the bottom with: "Take care, God bless, affection, yours Reg."

Kray also makes numerous references to "Karl", said to be outside "muscle for hire" who would do Kray's bidding.

The letters state: "31st July at your place Karl will tell him to cook up. Talk later of him."

Kray also refers to Karl as "so cute", although the context is unclear.

Kray's twin brother Ronnie was openly bisexual and murdered a criminal associate for calling him a "fat poof", although Reggie was also reportedly bisexual.

Reggie died in 2000 after a short period of compassionate release from prison, five years after his brother died in a high-security psychiatric hospital.

Reggie Kray's letters are expected to fetch hundreds of pounds at Glasgow's McTear's Auctioneers on Thursday.

A second lot contains a letter by Charles Manson, serving a life sentence in prison for his part in the murder of seven people and "one unborn child" in California in 1969.

His most famous victim was actress Sharon Tate who was married to film director Roman Polanski and was eight months pregnant at the time.

The undated, four-page handwritten letter includes the quotes "the pubic (sic) are bought and sold on jelly beans ... would get their babies, cut their tongues out and break their eardrums and create a chamber of nothing".

He also describes religion as "the biggest deceiver", adding: "They come in all forms with words ... but what they are saying is that they need your soul".

He also refers to his relationship with "Manson Family" members.

Manson wrote: "It can be used as the people in the so-called Family used me; by giving me their problems ... all I did was give them the answers.

"You see them singing my music and dancing my motions. That's how I've survived all my life by staying on top of my end."

Steven F Scouller, a collector and true-crime author who is putting the items up for sale, said: "Murderabilia is the name given to items that were once owned or created by notorious criminals. I believe that letters by such people as Charles Manson and Reg Kray should be preserved so future generations can study them in a bid to help understand the terrible decisions these criminals made."

Brian Clements, managing director at McTear's, said: "These are very unusual items that give an insight into the minds of two of the world's most notorious criminals. It is rare to find detailed letters like these coming to auction and I expect there will be considerable interest in the sale."

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Cops: Tourist Beaten With Hammer In The Head By Stranger

NEW YORK -- An unemployed man in a business suit abruptly pulled out a hammer and beat a Spanish tourist eating lunch with his girlfriend in the park around City Hall until bystanders wrestled the hammer away, prosecutors said.

John Yoos, his head shaved and wearing his navy blue suit, said nothing Tuesday as a prosecutor described the bizarre, unprovoked attack on a man who had no connection to Yoos beyond sitting next to him on a park bench.

"This is a completely random act of brutal violence on a total stranger," Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Allison Altmann said.

Yoos, who was arraigned on an attempted-murder charge, is being held without bail and is due back in court on Friday. Despite the strange allegations, prosecutors and Yoos' lawyer aren't seeking a psychiatric evaluation for him.

Altmann said the tourist, Hugo Alejandre, was on a bench in City Hall Park on Monday when Yoos stood up and started hitting him in the head with the hammer's claw end.

"He did it over and over again," she said.

After Alejandre fell to the ground, Yoos whacked him in the back and hit his girlfriend when she tried to help him, the prosecutor said. Bystanders intervened and pried the hammer away, she said.

Alejandre, of Barcelona, was treated at a hospital for a spinal fracture, deep gashes to his face and cuts on his chest and arms. He declined to comment as he left the Manhattan district attorney's office on Tuesday.

Yoos, 43, was arrested nearby, and police collected the bloody hammer plus a 5-inch-long steak knife from his jacket, prosecutors said.

"I hit him approximately 10 times with the hammer, at least once in the head," Yoos told an officer, according to a court complaint.

Alyssa Gamliel, Yoos' lawyer, told a judge that Yoos has lived in New York for two years. He had been arrested once before, in Hawaii in 2008, in a case that involved failing to pay a fine, she said. The details of that case were unclear.

The New York allegations more likely should reflect an assault charge, rather than an attempted murder charge, Gamliel said, noting that Alejandre was released from a hospital within a day.

She said she wasn't planning to seek a psychiatric exam for her client, at least for now.

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