MLK's Bible, Nobel Peace Prize now in safe-keeping

ATLANTA, March 11 (UPI) -- Martin Luther King's Bible and Nobel Peace Prize are now under lock and key with an Atlanta judge holding the key.

Bernice King, the slain civil rights leader's daughter who is feuding with her brothers Dexter and Martin Luther King III over the fate of the historic family heirlooms, handed them over to Martin during a minutes-long meeting Monday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

"It was not very dramatic at all," said William B. Hill, an attorney representing the brothers, who want to sell the items and sued their sister on behalf of the King Estate, the for-profit arm of the family's holdings, to get them back from her.

"They didn't talk. Other than the pleasantries of the day."

Eric Barnum, an attorney for Bernice King, said only that his client, who earlier had said she wouldn't turn over the items, "complied with the court order."

The Bible and Peace Prize will remain in a safety deposit box at an undisclosed location until Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney rules on the case. A hearing on several motions is scheduled for Friday, with a full hearing on the matter to take place in late September.