Belongings of murdered family to be auctioned Saturday

While the case against Joseph McAndrew Jr. gathers steam in Montgomery County Court, the belongings of three family members he is accused of killing will be sold at auction Saturday.

Barry S. Slosberg Inc. auctioneers said the Philadelphia firm is conducting an estate auction at the McAndrew home, 203 Holstein Rd., Gulph Mills, at 10 a.m. Saturday.

It was there on March 5 that "Joe-Joe" McAndrew, 23, stabbed his father, mother, and twin brother with a Samurai-style sword, police said.

McAndrew told officers an attacker killed "person named brother . . . mother . . . father." Charged with three murders, he is in the county prison undergoing psychiatric evaluation, officials said.

Mary Jane Barrett, a trust and estates attorney based in Center City, said the auction of items in the wake of a crime was highly unusual.

In 30 years of performing estate work, the McAndrew case is the first she has handled that followed a major crime, Barrett said.

Al Lecoff, a Slosberg employee, said the auction would focus on the family's vehicles, house, and the home's contents. He said all signs of violence were gone.

Lecoff said the family's relatives chose an estate auction because it would liquidate the victims' assets quickly. The family declined to comment.

"Under the circumstances, rather than have the real estate sold through a Realtor - the estate would be agonizing with every offer - it's much better if we put it up for auction," Lecoff said.

He said Slosberg workers met with the victims' relatives on Aug. 8 at the house. The group sorted the contents of the home, picking out items for sale.

"All the sentimental pictures and personal items have been removed. ... But there's quite a bit left," Lecoff said. An inventory of the merchandise is posted at www.bssauction.com.

The killing of Joseph C. McAndrew, 70, a retired teacher; his wife, Susan C. McAndrew, 64, who worked for the Yellow Pages; and James D. McAndrew, 23, a Pennsylvania State University graduate and brother of the accused, rocked the community in Upper Merion Township last March.

Since then, little has happened at the house. But early in August, an auction sign went up in the front yard.

Lecoff said the auction company was used to dealing with estates assigned by Orphans' Court or Bankruptcy Court, but the McAndrew sale was different.

"This in particular is somewhat delicate, but nevertheless, the job has to get done," he said.

Barrett said she was appointed by the county register of wills to administer the estate of Susan McAndrew, who died without a will.

The only existing will is for Joseph McAndrew, Barrett said.

"The attorneys will work out where the proceeds of the sale will go," she said. Under the law, the perpetrator of a crime may not profit from the sale of a victim's assets.

Barrett said that although she never knew the family, she found it sad that belongings accumulated over a lifetime were up for sale.

"There's a lot of clutter in that house; they've lived there for a long, long time," Barrett said.