The guitar collection
auctioned Sunday contained a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 electric guitar,
a Martin D-41 acoustic guitar and a Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster
electric guitar, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported Monday.
One
buyer, Mike Rawlins of Winston-Salem, said he plans to resell the
Custom 24 he bought for $2,000. He hopes Nifong's notoriety attracts a
higher price.
A federal bankruptcy judge
ordered the auction. Nifong filed for bankruptcy in January, after
three former Duke lacrosse players sued him for malicious prosecution.
Nifong
pursued charges that the three raped a woman at a March 2006 off-campus
party. His case collapsed amid the woman's changing story and a lack of
evidence to support it. State prosecutors eventually declared the three
players innocent in April 2007.
Although some came to the auction because of the instruments, some were interested in the history of the Duke lacrosse case.
"There
are one or two people I know who would buy one to go out in the parking
lot and smash it to pieces," said Bob Panoff, a former college lacrosse
player who has followed the case closely and attended the auction.
Nifong's
attorneys have said the three guitars make up most of his total assets,
listed at about $250,000 in court filings. His home is worth $235,000,
but residences usually are not involved in bankruptcy cases.
Auction
house owner Cindy Smith said she fielded inquiries from New York to
Texas about the guitars, which have what she said have a higher value
because of their source.
"They're very nice instruments in and of themselves, and then there's the story behind them," she said.
Victor
Lukas, a member of a country band, said his research showed the
Telecaster was worth about $500, but he worried the increased attention
would drive up the price. It did. The instrument sold for $1,000.