The Christian Science Monitor said in its report that on late Wednesday, a Fulton County Superior Court judge in Georgia decided that the coveted items in the late civil rights legend Rev Martin Luther King Jr's estate should be in the court's possession until the feud between his children has been resolved.
Judge Robert McBurney said that MLK's well-worn "traveling" Bible, which is currently in a bank lockbox after it was used to sworn in Barack Obama as a second-term US President, and the 1964 Nobel Prize should be in his keeping. McBurney reportedly said that he will be keeping the key to the lockbox. The whereabouts of the Nobel Prize are unknown.
Miss King told Forbes in an earlier interview, "They have pretty much been in the same location for several years. The Bible as you know at one point ... was on display at the King Center before President Obama requested the use of daddy's Bible, or should I say one of his Bibles.... It was actually signed by President Obama either the day of or the day after the Inauguration and returned to Atlanta. Obviously it was not put back on display at that particular time."
The brothers had long been demanding their sister to turn over the items to the estate, of which they are the executors. Bernice's legal camp, on the other hand, are reportedly debating whether the items should be turned over.
Bernice King had long argued that the items of their late father are sacred and should not be auctioned off, CS Monitor said. Her brothers, Dexter King and Martin Luther King III, are reportedly keen to sell the items to keep the the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Change financially stable.
CS Monitor said auction experts believed that the contested items could fetch over $10 million, which was the market price of an original US Constitution originally owned by the George Washington.
It has been known that the King family has kept the legacy of their late father as a lucrative asset, charging fees for the use of his famous speeches and name. On the other hand, a wedge has been driven between family members over money matters and power within the estate in the last few years. CS Monitor said.
