NEW YORK, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- A machine used by Dr. Jack Kevorkian in assisted suicides failed to attract the minimum $60,000 bid at an auction in New York, officials say.
The largest bid for the Thanatron, a name coined from the Greek word for death, was $50,000, The Detroit News reported. Before the auction Friday, experts had said the machine might go for as much as $200,000.
The auction at the New York Institute of Technology did bring in about $100,000 for items like Kevorkian's golf clubs and a bullet-proof vest he wore for court appearances. The money is to be split between Kevorkian's niece and an organization helping children with cancer.
Mayer Morganroth, the executor of Kevorkian's estate, said a dispute with the Armenian Library and Museum Association probably kept buyers away from Kevorkian's artwork, 17 oil paintings. Kevorkian loaned the paintings to the association before he began serving a prison term in Michigan, and they were put on the block with disclaimers about disputed ownership.
"There were some large bids of $80,000-$100,000 made on some but when bidders saw the disclaimers on them they withdrew their bids," Morganroth said.
Morganroth is suing the association in Michigan, seeking return of the paintings and triple damages.
Kevorkian, the most notorious advocate of assisted suicide in the United States, died in March at 83.
