If there’s anything that Wisconsin is morbidly famous for it’s our serial killers. Amongst the state’s most notable monsters was Jeffery Dahmer, a socially awkward loner who terrorized the streets of Milwaukee from 1978 through 1991.
A cocktail for disaster – Dahmer’s rough upbringing, early alcohol abuse and mental illnesses are often believed to have contributed to his unspeakable crimes which included the murder and dismemberment of 17 men and boys.
Upon his arrest in 1991, the crime scene discovered by police was unspeakable. Inside Dahmer’s Milwaukee apartment was a blue 57-gallon drum containing human remains, several photographs of deceased victims, a fridge stocked with human hearts and body parts and an altar accompanied by two complete human skeletons and several skulls. The situation was so bizarre that the chief medical examiner said, “It was more like dismantling someone’s museum than an actual crime scene.”
Dahmer’s crimes rattled the area’s LGBTQ community and a candlelight vigil was held to celebrate and heal the Milwaukee community a few weeks after his arrest. Over 400 people attended the event including community leaders, gay rights activists and family members of several of the victims. In November 1992 the Oxford Apartments on North 25th street, where Dahmer carried out most of his murders, were demolished. The site remains a vacant lot, but there are talks of transforming it into a memorial garden or a playground.
As a member of the Milwaukee community, imagining our city as the backdrop of one of humanity’s most horrific crimes is surreal. I struggled with writing this post because in no way do I want to sensationalize what Dahmer did, however, as a local, I have a morbid interest in learning more about the spots where his crimes took place.
For example, The Ambassador Hotel, sits kitty-corner from one of my favorite local music venues, The Rave/Eagles Ballroom. The hotel also happens to be the place where Dahmer took the life of 25-year-old Steven Tuomi in 1987. Just a few days later, Dahmer disposed of Tuomi’s remains using a suitcase that he purchased from the nearby Grand Avenue Mall, a space that is currently undergoing some major renovations. If you journey south, one can stroll the streets of the Walker’s Point neighborhood where Dahmer picked up seven of his 17 victims. Some of the bars that he used to haunt still remain active, even if under a different name.
Dahmer was killed in 1994 by a fellow prison inmate.
To onlookers his crimes feel like a distant memory. But to this city and to the families of his victims, the pain and the damage that Dahmer caused will never be erased.
The Peculiar Adventurer 