Without Fanfare, Viola Drath’s Family Sells Her Personal Possessions

The family of Viola Drath quietly began to sell off her
personal possessions this
past weekend at the Georgetown home where she was murdered in
August 2011. The company
that handled the sale, Donna and Daughter of Bethesda, said
about half the possessions
sold. Others were claimed by family members, and some items
still remain in the house
on Q Street near Wisconsin Avenue. Her husband, Albrecht Muth,
who was charged with
the murder, has been kept under observation

at Saint Elizabeths Hospital while he awaits trial.

Robert “Rocky” Huber, whose family handled the estate sale, says Drath’s daughter,
Fran Drath, contacted them about six weeks ago. “Once we signed the contract she didn’t
come back in the house again,” he says. “She said it was too hard for her. I could
tell there was a lot of sentiment.”

Huber says that the family asked that the sale be handled with a “very low profile”
and that Drath not be identified as the owner of the home. All that was posted on
the website
was the address—3206 Q Street, Northwest—and photos of the possessions, which included
furniture, paintings, china and silver, handbags, jewelry, clothing, and even her
shoes. He says there was a steady stream of interested buyers who visited Friday,
Saturday and Sunday between the hours of 11 and 4. “We didn’t tell anybody what had
happened in the house,” he says. “Some people did ask. I didn’t tell them the whole
story. We said it was owned by an older lady who passed away. One person asked me
point blank, and I avoided the topic.”

Huber says the whole house was open except for the bathroom where Drath was found
dead and an upstairs office. “Those were sealed off,” he says. According to Huber,
Muth’s possessions were removed from the house earlier and “sold at auction per his
request. I didn’t want to deal with him. I stayed away from him. I heard stories from
neighbors and left it at that.” He says there were a few items of Muth’s clothing,
but he could not recall whether they included the military uniforms he liked to wear
around Georgetown, claiming he was a general in the Iraqi army.

Because the family had removed items that they wanted, Huber says, the house was not
fully furnished when the sale began. “In the front bedroom, all that was left was
a desk. Everything else had been cleared out, including the bed. There was a middle
bedroom that appeared to be her room, in that it was very neat and orderly. I think
the front room in the house was his.”

Huber says he didn’t know if the house would now be put on the market. “I spoke with
Fran yesterday, and she was not 100 percent clear what was going to happen to the
property. The house needs some help.”

The items that remain include a Biedermeier sofa with a reserve of $30,000 and a
baby grand piano with a reserve of $2,500. Huber says interested buyers should e-mail him at rockyhuber@mac.com.