Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most infamous serial killers of all time. Although he didn’t begin his killings at this location, the most gruesome of his crimes took place here. The apartment was a small one bedroom located just west of downtown Milwaukee. Dahmer moved to this apartment on May 14, 1990 after living with his grandmother. He had previously murdered Steven Tuomi just two blocks away at the Ambassador Hotel, and he knew the area well. This apartment provided him with more privacy than his grandmother’s house, and was located within walking distance to his favorite gay bars, where he often found his victims.

In the 14 months that Dahmer lived in the apartment, he murdered 12 men. Dahmer would often lure these men back to his apartment with the promise of paying money for sex. After getting a man inside his apartment, he would put sleeping pills into the drink of his victim, rendering them defenseless against Dahmer. Dahmer would often undress his victim, pose them, and take polaroid pictures of them in various sexual positions. Investigators would later claim to find hundreds of photographs of various men among Dahmer’s belongings.

Dahmer killed his victims in various ways, sometimes suffocating them or stabbing them. As he spiraled further into his psychotic behavoir, he bagan to perform experiments on his victims, intending to keep them alive in a catatonic state for as long as possible, so that he could use them as a sex slave. To achieve this, in at least two of his victims he drilled holes in their skulls while they were still alive, and poured various substances into their brains. Substances included hydrochloric acid and boiling water. During one such experiment, Dahmer left his apartment for a short time, and his 14 year old victim managed to escape onto the street and find some good samaritans to call 911. Once the police arrived, Dahmer returned and saw them with his victim. Unfortunately, Dahmer was able to convince them that the boy, who was beaten, bloody, and nude, was simply his boyfriend and he would take care of him. The police released the boy back into Dahmer’s custody, Dahmer later murdered and dismembered the boy.

Dahmer liked to keep pieces of his victims to remember them, especially their bones. He had several skulls and 2 full skeletons of his victims inside of his apartment and had plans to build an altar out of the bones. Dahmer also admitted to eating parts of several of his victims, including their hearts, livers and biceps.

Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested on July 22, 1991 when a handcuffed Tracy Edwards escaped from the apartment and told police that Dahmer had handcuffed him and brandished a knife before Edwards was able to escape. Police went with Edwards back to Dahmer’s apartment to retrieve a key for the handcuffs. Inside the apartment, police found polaroids of bodies in different stages of decay and proceeded to arrest Dahmer. While the arrest was in progress, one officer opened the fridge and found the head of a black male. Police called for backup and started to discover more of the horrors inside the apartment.

Dahmer pled guilty be reason of insanity at his trial, but was ultimately sentenced to life in prison for each of the murders (the death penalty was illegal at the time). In November of 1994 Dahmer was bludgeoned to death by 2 fellow inmates at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.

In November of 1992, the apartment building where Dahmer had committed these atrocities was demolished. It is now an empty lot with no immediate plans to build anything on the spot.