Murders of Wisconsin

Jeffery Dahmer

Known as the Milwaukee Monster, Jeffrey Dahmer is the most famous murderer from Wisconsin. He is the one person in this book, that I'm sure most everybody has heard something about. The singer Kesha, has even mentioned him in one of her songs. But, how much do you really know about this man?

His reign of terror extended for almost thirteen years, starting in June of 1978 before he was caught after attempting to murder 32-year-old Tracy Edwards.

Dahmer had approached Edwards and two of his friends, offering one hundred dollars to go back to Dahmer's apartment and keep him company among other things. Edwards accepted the offer but, his friends wisely refused.

Once at Dahmer's home, Edwards noticed a foul smell and several containers of hydrochloric acid on the floor. When asked, Dahmer claimed to be using the chemicals to clean bricks. Naturally, Edwards was suspicious but, he didn't push the issue.

After a few minutes of casual conversation, Edwards turned around to look at Dahmer's tropical fish. This was a mistake because, while Edwards' back was turned, Dahmer placed a handcuff on one of Edwards' wrists.

As you can imagine, Edwards was very alarmed. Because of this, Dahmer failed to place the handcuffs on Edwards' other wrist. Then, Dahmer proceeded to take Edwards into the bedroom, informing him that he was to pose for nude pictures. There were pictures of nude males on the walls of the room, as well as a 57-gallon drum from which a foul odor was emanating. Then he saw that Dahmer had a knife.

Attempting to placate Dahmer, Edwards started to unbutton his shirt saying that he would let Dahmer take pictures of him if he removed the handcuffs and put the knife down. Dahmer ignored the request and turned away from Edwards and began rocking back and forth while chanting.

When Dahmer returned his attention to Edwards, he placed his ear on Edwards' chest and listened to his heartbeat. Then, with the knife pressed to the intended victim, he informed Edwards that he planned to eat his heart.

Then Edwards said that he had to use the bathroom, and asked if they could share another beer in the living room where there was air conditioning. Dahmer agreed and, when Edwards exited the bathroom, the two of them went to the living room. Once in the living room, Edwards waited until it appeared like Dahmer had a lapse of judgment and asked once more to go to the bathroom.

As Edwards rose from the couch, he noticed that Dahmer was not holding onto the handcuffs. So, he punched Dahmer and ran for it.

It wasn't until 11:30 pm of the same day that Edwards was able to flag down two Milwaukee police officers on North 25th Street.

The officers attempted to remove the handcuffs, but the keys didn't fit that particular brand. So, in order to get them off, Edwards agreed to go with the officers back to Dahmer's apartment, where he had spent the past five hours attempting to escape.

When they arrived at the apartment, Dahmer invited them inside. He said that the keys to the handcuffs were in his bedroom, but one of the officers refuse to allow Dahmer go into the bedroom because it was then that Edwards revealed that Dahmer had also threatened him with a knife.

One of the officers, Officer Mueller, went to inspect the bedroom, while Officer Rauth watched Dahmer.

Inside the bedroom, Mueller did, in fact, find a large knife but, he also found many polaroid pictures of partially dismembered. When he saw that the decor in the photos matched that of the room, Mueller was alarmed to realize that the photos were legit.

He returned to the living room to show his partner the photos but, as soon as Dahmer saw them, he attempted to run and fought against the officers as they arrested him.

While doing a further investigation of Dahmer's apartment, Mueller found the severed head of an African American male in Dahmer's refrigerator.

Later, when the Criminal Investigation Bureau did a complete search of Dahmer's apartment, they found a total of four severed heads, as well as seven skulls, two human hearts, an entire torso, two entire skeletons, two pairs of severed hands, a mummified scalp, and within the 57 gallon drum, three more torsos. It is believed that Dahmer killed a total of 17 people.

Early the next day, Dahmer was questioned by Detective Kennedy and Detective Murphy where he confessed to the murders.

Dahmer didn't want a lawyer in the room as he confessed, saying, "it only makes sense I do everything to put an end to it."

He willingly admitted to killing 16 boys in the state of Wisconsin, as well as one boy in Ohio.

Most of the victims were unconscious at the time of death but, a few died from boiling water or acid being injected into their brain. Dahmer also claims to have no memory of the murder of the Steven Tuomi but, thinks that, while drunk, he saw the boy's exposed chest and attempted to rip his heart out.

Almost all of the murders he committed in Wisconsin followed a very specific ritual. First, he would pose the bodies in suggestive ways and photograph them. Then he would dismember the bodies in his bathtub. First removing the organs, then suspending the torso so it could drain of blood. He then pared the flesh from the bones, which were usually later pulverized or acidified.

When the Detectives asked why he kept some of the skulls and two full skeletons, Dahmer explained that he had been planning to build a private altar to himself. "It was a place I could feel at home."

On July 25, 1991, only three days after the attempted murder of Tracy Edwards, Dahmer was charged with four counts of murder. By August of the same year, he was charged with eleven additional murders. However, he was not charged with the attempted murder of Tracy Edwards, nor the murder of Steven Tuomi.

The actual trial occurred on January 30, 1992, where he pleaded guilty but insane. This caused the main issue debated at the trial to be whether or not Dahmer suffered from a mental disorder or not.

The prosecution argued that any disorders he might have wouldn't deprive him of the ability to appreciate the criminality of his conduct or cause him to be unable to resist his impulses.

On the other side, the defense argued that Dahmer suffered from a mental disease and was driven by impulses and obsessions that he was unable to control.

After two long weeks, people all across Wisconsin listened into the local news channels to hear the verdict.

The court ruled that Dahmer was sane and not suffering from any disorders at the times of the murders. He was officially charged with the fifteen Wisconsin murders and sent to prison for the rest of his life.

He was imprisoned in the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.

In order to keep him safe, the officials placed him in Solitary confinement for a full year. After which, they placed him in a lower security cell block.

On November 28, 8:10 am, almost two years after the attempted murder of Tracy Edwards, Dahmer was murdered in the showers by Christopher Scarver.

Some may call Scarver a hero for ending Dahmer, but in the end, the number of murders in the world stayed the same. Well, not exactly. Scarver also killed Jesse Anderson, a murderer from Illinois. To be fair, Scarver was believed to be schizophrenic.

Scarver was charged with an additional two counts of murder.

In the end, the man who caused so much pain and suffering left this world. A life wasted bringing an end to others.