The shirt worn by the concierge who came to John Lennon's aid the night he was murdered has sold for over $42,500.
On the night of Dec. 8, 1980, the ex-Beatles frontman was shot by Mark David Chapman as he exited his limo outside the Dakota.
At 10:50 p.m., Lennon stumbled into the lobby of his Upper West Side building uttering, "I'm shot," having been wounded twice in the back and once in the shoulder.
Concierge Jay Hastings rushed to his side and tried to bandage the wounds, eventually using his jacket to cover the severity of the singer's wounds.
Lennon would unfortunately succumb to his injuries that night.
The life and death of John Lennon
Recently, Hastings decided to place the shirt along with items that were given to him by Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono up for auction.
The lot that sold to a private U.S. collector included the blood-stained shirt, a 1978 Thanksgiving card that was signed by Lennon, Ono and their son Sean, a signed copy of "Double Fantasy" and a thank you note from Ono dated two weeks after Lennon's death to staff of the Dakota for their support.
While for some people this is a rather morbid auction, Heritage Auctions sees the bigger picture.
"The shirt was only included to aid in the authenticity of the lot and was previously mentioned in the January 1981 issue of Rolling Stone Magazine," said Giles Moon, consignment director for entertainment and music for Heritage Auctions. "Speculation that Hastings is trying to exploit Lennon's death is false."
Moon said Hastings kept the shirt but did not talk about it much.
"He felt now, it was the right time to finally auction the items and give collectors an opportunity to enjoy more of John Lennon," Moon said.
Although the shirt is a unique piece of history, Heritage Auctions insists the biggest item in the lot is actually a signed promotional copy of Lennon's last album, "Double Fantasy," that reads, "To Jay Love John Lennon and Yoko Ono," released only 21 days before Lennon's murder.