James Dean Knox was born on April 4, 1955 in Warsaw, NY; he has an older sister named Cynthia and a son named James Dean Knox III. Twenty four year old Knox was last seen on December 11, 1979 and his Grandmother (who saw him two days prior in her home in the southern part of Warsaw) waited ten days to report him as missing to the authorities. All of his clothes, possessions, and money was left behind.
I found very little information regarding this case on the internet, however this is the only instance where quite a few people from local (Warsaw, NY) Facebook groups reached out to me when I asked for more information, offering me their insight and even what they think may have happened to him. Per his best friend, Jimmy’s mother thinks that her son is in the witness protection program, however he feels that he fell in with the wrong crowd, began experiencing money issues and as a result wound up at the bottom of a well on an abandoned farm in nearby Java. Neither theory seems to have any merit to it.
Knox has blue eyes, dark blonde hair, is 5’11” tall, and weighed 150 pounds at the time of his disappearance; he was last seen wearing a red plaid jacket, blue jeans and black boots. He wore corrective lenses with plastic frames and was suffering from unknown health concerns, which he was apparently pretty upset over. Because of these ongoing issues he was on leave from his POE at the Leroy Machine Company.
Knox lived in the heart of Warsaw on Wyoming Street and frequently ate at a local pizzeria. Before his disappearance he served in the US Navy for roughly one month before being honorably discharged due to medical reasons on May 25, 1979.
Per WIVB both of Knox’s parents and his grandmother have passed away, and his sister still resides in Warsaw. As recently as 2021 New York State Police released a statement about Knox asking that anyone with information related to his disappearance come forward and contact Investigator John Neeley at 585-786-7244, referencing case #3029766. As of June 2024 no trace of Knox has ever been recovered.
Works Cited: 13wham.com/news/local/nysp-continues-to-investigate-warsaw-mans-disappearance-41-years-later charleyproject.org/case/james-dean-knox troopers.ny.gov/missing-knox-james-d
James Knox’s second grade picture from the 1963 Warsaw Elementary School yearbook.James Knox’s fourth grade picture from the 1965 Warsaw Elementary School yearbook.James Knox’s fifth grade picture from the 1966 Warsaw Elementary School yearbook.James Knox’s fifth grade picture from the 1966 Warsaw Elementary School yearbook.James Knox’s freshman year picture from the 1971 Warsaw High School yearbook.One of the more commonly circulated photo’s of Knox, it looks like a mugshot. One of the more commonly circulated photo’s of Knox. The only article I could find about Knox published by The Press and Sun-Bulletin on November 26, 2017.Some weather stats in Warsaw, NY from December 1979. The date Knox was last seen (December 11, 1979) it got as warm as 60 degrees… was he taking advantage of a nice day, went for a walk in the woods then got injured?The temperature in Warsaw, NY the week in December 1979 that Knox was last seen. 35 Wyoming Street in Warsaw, NY where Knox was living at the time he disappeared.In 2019 a Redditor going by the handle of ‘unleashthenuge’ posted this blurb about the disappearance of Knox, it’s a pretty interesting theory.A comment about Knox on his ‘WebSleuths’ page about some of his distinguishing characteristics.James’ sister Cindy’s freshman year picture from the 1967 Warsaw High School yearbook.
When I went to Utah in November 2022 there was one location I was completely unaware existed that I wish I (somehow) knew to include in my list: the supposed ‘Ted Bundy Ritual House’ just outside of SLC in Bountiful. The duplex-style residence is located at 1201 North 200 West, and is said to be ‘just across the street’ from Viewmont High School, which is where Deb Kent was abducted by Bundy on November 8, 1974 after his botched kidnapping attempt of Carol DaRonch just 45 minutes away in Murray. Kent was last seen at roughly 10:30 PM after leaving a showing of ‘The Redhead’ to go and pick up her brother from the nearby Rustic Roller Rink. According to eyewitnesses, there were loud screams heard from the parking lot at roughly the same time that she was last seen, and after the Kents realized that the family car had never left the parking lot they immediately contacted the police.
Before Bundy was executed in January 1989, he confessed to killing then 17 year-old Kent and pointed investigators to where he dumped her body. Upon searching Fairview Canyon later that May the only human remains that search crews located was a patella, which was found among the ten bags of animal bones that were collected. The kneecap was presumed to belong to Debra and was given to her family to hold onto, and it remained unidentified until 2015 when DNA testing confirmed that it belonged to her. After the positive ID the Bountiful PD returned the bone to Belva Kent along with her daughter’s official death certificate.
According to Redditor ‘je-m-en-fiche,’ Bountiful residents that lived in the area referred to it as the ‘Viewmont House’ because of its close proximity to the local high school. Looking into the residence, it’s in no way ‘close’ (in my opinion, anyways) to Viewmont HS, nor should it be considered just across the street (it’s actually 0.2 miles away, and is about a five minute walk). It was featured on the Travel Channel television show Ghost Adventures, ‘starring’ Zak Bagans and his group of cronies (including Aaron Goodwin and Nick Groff), specifically for the limited spin-off mini-series ‘Serial Killer Spirits.’ The episode, titled ’The Ted Bundy Ritual House,’ aired on October 26, 2019, and focused on the abandoned structure that has been uninhabited since a gas leak led to an explosion on July 4, 1997. The show’s creator and ‘lead investigator’ Zak Bagans claims that Bundy took Debra Kent there after abducting her after she left a showing of ‘The Red Head’ to go pick up her brothers from a nearby roller skating rink.
In addition to the TB ritual house, Ghost Adventures did episodes on HH Holmes (he killed a nine year old kid in a house in Irvington, Indiana and the current owner felt that dark and sinister forces had ‘overtaken the property’), Joliet Prison in Illinois (where John Wayne Gacy spent only a small amount of time), and an episode titled ‘Axe Killer Jail,’ where the team investigated a prison in Council Bluffs, IA, where SK Jake Bird was once housed.
Because the events of the episode are so ridiculously absurd, I’m not going to spend much time on a synopsis of it. In a nutshell, it began with some little ginger-haired boy that supposedly lived next door to the house (knowing Bagans it’s probably his own kid) peeing on a log on the front steps (Zak tells one of his cronies to smell it ‘for research,’ and he does), and of course the GA’s crew followed him home and gave him (and his mother) the third degree and told them exactly what they wanted to hear… and the guys ate it up like a piece of fucking cheesecake. When asked how he felt about the house the kid told Bagans that there were ten mean child-aged spirits that lived there and weretrying to kill him and they ‘better not go in there because they might kill you.’
In the beginning of the episode, a one-time resident of the home named Peter Kingston claimed that when they first moved in his family found weird, mysterious satanic symbols drawn on the walls, including various ‘devils signs’ (including a ‘big pentagram’ on the wall) and ‘666’s all over the place.’ At some point during the episode some guy named Vincent (who does not appear to be with Bagans’ crew and I don’t care enough about him to do any additional research) said that when he was in the house prior to the episode he was pushed down the stairs and almost went through the side railings. As the show progresses, the ghost hunters break out all their fancy bullshit equipment meant to detect supernatural activity, and of course everything they do results in some sort of captured phenomenon (I mean, no one would watch it if nothing happened), and plenty of jump scares and ‘sledgehammers of evil’ (Zak’s words, not mine) ensues.
One of the first things the GA team does upon entering the residence is attempt to open a portal on the floor near a pentagram using what Bagans calls a ‘geophone device,’ which he said ‘measures temperature and electromagnetic energy.’ However, according to the website HiggyPop that’ ‘isn’t strictly true. A geophone doesn’t detect heat or electromagnetic energy, as the name suggests it’s to do with geological movement and it actually detects vibration. The gadget Zak is using is called an EDI meter which has several functions built in, including EMF and thermometer as well as a geophone. Ironically the geophone is the one function of the device that Zak is not using.‘
In addition to the ‘geophone’ (that really isn’t a geophone), Bagans used night vision cameras, digital recorders, and a spirit box, which is a device that rapidly scans AM/FM radio frequencies in an attempt to pull paranormal messages out of the static and white noise. Two additional pieces of equipment the team used (that I have also never heard of before) is the Ovilus V (which is a tool that supposedly allows spirits to communicate with the living by selecting words from a internal database using their ‘energy’) and a TriField meter, which measures EMF in the form of radio-frequency, magnetic, and electric fields.
Zak and Aaron used an SLS camera in the upstairs part of the house, which is a device which ‘looks for’ human-like shapes in the darkness and supposedly can capture images in the absence of light that the human eye can’t see. According to the investigators, while using the camera in a hallway they captured what they described as a ‘mind-blowing figure,’ which was shown in the form of a ‘glitching and dancing stickman on the camera’s screen for a brief moment’ (I cannot make this up, they pulled it out of thin air).
After doing some research into the history of the structure, Bagans was wrong: Bundy never could have brought Deb Kent to this house, because it was actually occupied by two different families at the time of her abduction in November 1974. In an interview with KSNV, the Peterson family had five daughters residing there at the time Kent was abducted in November 1974, and ‘people have said that Ted Bundy took women over here and killed them in this house at the time that Debbie Kent got taken. We were living here. Two families were living here and never saw anything like that happen.’ … ‘I think it’s ridiculous because Ted Bundy never came over here. Nothing like that ever happened here.’ Cindy’s mother Rolean did share that she felt the residence was haunted (just not by Ted Bundy), and that the family experienced several strange things during their time in the house: on one occasion they were sitting in a front room and a white ball flew out the wall, seemingly out of nowhere.
Despite Bundy never having any actual ties to their former residence, Mrs. Peterson said that as mother of five young girls she made sure to always keep the doors locked, and ‘it was a really terrifying time for everybody here.’ She also commented that linking Bundy to the old residence only further exploits his victims, and that ‘he was a monster. And I don’t think he should be glorified in any manner at all. If they’re going to tell a story, they need to get their facts straight.’ KUTV out of Salt Lake reached out to Mrs. Belva Kent about the Travel Channel’s episode on the residence and she said that every time a movie or TV special is made about her daughter’s killer her family is forced to relive their pain and that the show only glorified the man that killed Debra.
According to a ‘deseret.com’ article published on July 5, 1997, the duplex went up in flames the day before after gas accumulated underneath the basement ceiling from a leak which caused the explosion (which was most likely ignited after the water heater kicked on). After an assessor was able to investigate the fire it was determined there was nearly $100K worth of damage done to the structure, with the first-floor apartment suffering the majority of it.
According to Redditor ‘OatyBisc,’ ‘I grew up in Bountiful (I even went to Viewmont HS where the abduction happened!) and this house has nothing to do with Ted Bundy other than proximity. I was excited to see an episode from my hometown but there were so many inaccuracies it drove me crazy! Debbie Kent’s body was never found, but they did find a patella at a site where they found bones from other murder victims and a few years ago they verified it was hers through DNA. This was maybe 20 miles or so from Bountiful, not 100 miles. Her headstone is in the city cemetery, but her body is not there. When she disappeared this house was occupied. It only looks bad now. I drive past it occasionally and it’s pretty worn and clearly burnt on the North end, but the fire was much later. It’s a spooky looking house and they have ghost tours there occasionally, but the Ted Bundy angle is a stretch.’ In addition to this, a Redditor going by the handle ‘pengony’ pointed out that when Bagans was told by locals that the house was completely unrelated to Bundy he told them that he didn’t care and was going to film there anyway.
Just as a side note, the episodes IMDB page gives a completely different narrative and outright fabrication of the truth: ‘Zak and the crew investigate an abandoned house in Bountiful, Utah, where locals claim notorious serial killer Ted Bundy murdered one of his victims. Overloaded with satanic rituals and violence, the home is drenched in a dark, sinister energy.’
Now… this isn’t just some old, dilapidated house with a possible (but, not really) link to Ted Bundy: referred to as the ‘Anson Call House,’ the residence was built by a pioneer of the Mormon faith (Anson Call, obviously) in the early days of Bountiful when it was known as Session’s Settlement (or North Canyon). The building, which began as a one-room cabin, was initially constructed in 1855 and the first additions to the home were made two years later when a dining room and kitchen area were built as well as a basement. Over the years a second floor was added, and it eventually turned into the structure you see today (or, before it blew up).
Interestingly enough though, Ted Bundy isn’t the house’s only murderous link: In Adam Call-Roberts blog post titled, ‘Mary & Anson Call: Hosts to a Killer,’ in October of 1857, Anson and Mary Call hosted then Utah Congressman John Doyle Lee overnight, blissfully unaware that just one month prior their guest participated in the ‘Mountain Meadows massacre.’ In September 1857 an emigrant group from Arkansas known as the Baker–Fancher party set up camp in Utah’s Mountain Meadows, which was a staging area in the southern part of the state that was used to get ready for the long crossing of the Mojave Desert by groups that were going west to California.
In the early morning hours of September 7, 1857 a group of Paiute Indian and Mormon militia men that were dressed as Native Americans attacked the circled wagons without warning. The party fought off their aggressors the best they could and the conflict went on for four days; in the process fifteen emigrant men were killed either in battle or while attempting to escape. Congressman Lee didn’t get involved in the dispute until the third day, when he approached the wagon party and convinced them to surrender their possessions and weapons in return for safe passage to nearby Cedar City. The emigrants (who were low on ammunition and supplies) accepted his offer and surrendered, and it was then that roughly 120 people from the Baker–Fancher party were then slaughtered, leaving only 17 small children behind. In 1874, Lee was arrested for leading the massacre: his first trial ended with a hung jury and two years later a second one took place in which the prosecuting attorneys put the blame solely on his shoulders. He was convicted and sentenced to death. On March 23, 1877, Lee was executed by firing squad at the very site of the massacre that took place twenty years before.
In conclusion, there’s a lot of different videos and podcasts on this residence, but one thing is for certain: Ted Bundy had absolutely nothing to do with this house.
A picture of the Anson Call House taken around 1920 with attached ‘milk diet’ sanitarium on the south side of the residence. Photo courtesy of Lewis and Jean Call.The Anson Call house around 1940 after the Sardoni remodel. Photo courtesy of Lewis and Jean Call.Another shot of the Anson Call House, showing the southeast corner. An older shot of the Anson Call House before the fire.The front of Anson Call home showing picket fence and old enclosed brick entrance and balcony.A side view of the house after the 1997 fire.The Anson Call House as it looks today.The entrance to those house, notice the ‘private property’ signs posted everywhere. Photo courtesy of news3lv.com.The side of the Anson Call House in its more recent years. Photo courtesy of The Travel Channel.An aerial view of the Anson Call House. Photo courtesy of The Travel Channel.The houses front porch light. Photo courtesy of news3lv.com. A drawing of the layout of the first floor of the Anson Call House. Photo courtesy of Lewis and Jean Call.The back entrance to the house as it looks today.The best screenshot I could get of the no trespassing sign on the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’Zak Bagans standing in the kitchen of the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of The Travel Channel.A recent view of the kitchen in the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’Another shot of the kitchen in the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’Another shot of the kitchen in the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’A pentagram drawn on the living room floor of the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of The Travel Channel.Some satanic drawings on the first floor walls in the Anson Call House. The GA team used UV flashlights to capture ‘hidden’ messages drawn on the walls of the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of The Travel Channel.Some satanic drawings on the first floor walls in the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of The Travel Channel.One of the living rooms in the duplex in the Anson Call House as it looks today. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’Another shot of one of the living rooms in the duplex in the Anson Call House as it looks today. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’Another shot of some ‘hidden’ messages drawn on the walls of the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of The Travel Channel.Some more ‘hidden’ messages drawn on the walls of the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of The Travel Channel.Some spray painted artwork on the wall in the Anson Call House. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’A bedroom in the Anson Call House as it looks today. Screenshot courtesy of YouTube Channel ‘Lazarus Unknown.’A comment on a Reddit post about the TB Ritual House from the user ‘penogy.’ A comment on a Reddit post about the TB Ritual House from the user ‘Coleyb23.’ A comment on a Reddit post about the TB Ritual House from the user ‘lordglo.’ Deb Kent.Deb Kent’s patella, which remained unidentified until 2015. Photo courtesy of Tiffany Jean.Viewmont High School, located at 120 West 1000 North in Bountiful, UT. Photo taken in November 2022.The parking lot at Viewmont High School where Deb Kent was abducted from.A possible route from the Anson Call House to Viewmont High School in Bountiful, Utah.Anson and Mary Call.A picture of John D. Lee taken in December 1857. Photo courtesy of Adam Call Roberts.A picture of Congressman Lee just prior to his execution sitting next to his own coffin; how dark but appropriate for what he did.
In 2004 a California jury found Scott Peterson guilty of killing his 27-year-old pregnant wife, Laci and their unborn son, Conner after a five-month long trial. Since then, he’s had multiple (failed) attempts at an appeal but was successful in getting his death penalty conviction overturned in favor of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. However his latest attempt (taken up by the Los Angeles Innocence Project) claims that there is untested DNA evidence that is just sitting out there that could help prove that someone else killed Laci and Connor. Prosecutors disagree with him and came up with this 337-page rebuttal opposing his motion for new DNA testing, describing the ‘overwhelming’ case against him that earned him a guilty verdict in the first place.
I always knew John Wayne Gacy created artwork while in prison but I didn’t know Bundy did as well. Referred to as ‘the Ted Bundy Drawings,’ these five pieces of artwork were supposedly sketched by the killer himself, and it’s strongly speculated they depicted images that utilized metaphors as well as allusions and weren’t of his victims. They offer no explanation for his crimes against humanity, but do share some general, very loose commonalities, such as dark and intense eyes, over-exaggerated mouths, and a consistent ‘phallic’ type of shape.
Edward Kemper was first eligible for parole in 1979, and he had additional (unsuccessful) hearings in 1980, 1981, and 1982; he waived his right to stand in front of the board in 1985. Kemper was again denied at his 1988 hearing where he said, ‘society is not ready in any shape or form for me. I can’t fault them for that.’ Once again, he was denied parole in 1991 and 1994, and he waived his right to a hearing in both 1997 and in 2002. He stood in front of the board was in 2007 but was once again denied, and at that time his attorney indicated he was content with remaining in prison. In 2012 he once again waived his right to a hearing, and was denied parole on February 2, 2017. Most recently he was denied parole on July 9, 2024 and his next parole hearing is (tentatively) scheduled for July 2031, when he will be eighty-two-years old
About the decision to keep Kemper incarcerated, Prosecutor Ariadne Symons said, ‘we don’t care how much of a model prisoner he is because of the enormity of his crimes.’
Deborah Lee Tomlinson was born on October 15, 1957 in Bitburg, Germany to Arthur and Sandra (nee Roup) Tomlinson.Arthur Vernon Tomlinson was born on September 22, 1937 in Modesto, California, and Sandra Lee Roup was born on December 31, 1939 in Livingston, Montana. According to the Tomlinson family tree, the couple had three daughters together: Deborah and her twin sisters, Jean and Joyce (b. 1958). At some point they divorced, and Mr. Tomlinson was briefly married again in 1968 (they quickly parted ways; he went on to have a relationship with Sally Morphisand in 1969 they had a son together named Daniel. He got married to Shelley Williams on August 30, 1975 in Orange, CA but their union also didn’t last long, and they split up in February of the following year. Mr. Tomlinson was married for a fourth time, and the couple had a son together. Sandra got remarried to Henry Nelson on May 10, 1963 in Billings, Montana.
After their parents parted ways Deborah, Jean, and Joyce went to live with their father and stepmother in California, and Sandra relocated to Oregon. Because of their parents’ divorce the girls were separated from their mother at a very young age, which Joyce felt prevented them from forming a strong bond because she wasn’t given a chance to raise her own babies.
According to most reports online, Deborah Lee Tomlinson disappeared from Creswell, Oregon** on her sixteenth birthday on October 15, 1973.Creswell is an incredibly small town with only one high school, and according to the 1970 census the reported population was made up of a mere 1,199 people (it went up to 5,031 in 2010). Referred to as ‘Debbie’ by family and friends (per Joyce, she hated being called ‘Deb’), Tomlinson had brown eyes, stood at 5’5” tall, and weighed 140 pounds (Joyce felt she may have been slightly heavier); she wore her golden-brown hair at her shoulders and had a ring of moles around her neck. In the initial days following her disappearance investigators strongly believed that she was a runaway,whichmost likely explains why I couldn’t find any newspaper reports or media coverage on her. One of the only other real takeaways I could find regarding her case was that she disappeared with an ‘unidentified teenage friend.’
** After I initially wrote the article on Deborah in April 2024 I was contacted by her sister Jean, and more recently Joyce. Both sisters were kind enough to help fill in some of the gaps in their family background and were able to provide me with some of their thoughts regarding her disappearance. According to Jean, their Aunt Helen told them in more recent years that Deborah had ran away from Eugene, not Creswell, and at one point the family had been contacted by a friend that claimed they had seen her in Santa Rosa, CA with ‘a black guy,’ which was a big deal as their father didn’t approve of people of color (Joyce also said she was there visiting a friend named Lyn). The family member also volunteered that they thought she may have been pregnant at the time as well, but nothing ever came out of that. About this alleged sighting, Joyce doesn’t feel it’s true, as that’s where their grandmother lived and Deborah would never have left the area without paying her a visit, especially if she had been pregnant (the two were especially close).
According to Jean, after their parents split up the girls were raised by their father in California, but because Deborah’s didn’t get along very well with their stepmother she had moved to Oregon to live with their mother (who she also clashed with). She also said that at the time her sister disappeared she seemed mostly happy but had been in a bit of a transition period in her life and may have been under the impression that moving out of state may have resulted in more lenient rules, but that wasn’t the case.
According to Joyce, Debbie was simply acting like any other teenager, doing things like sneaking out at night and smoking: one evening in a quick moment of anger their dad announced that he was pulling a ‘Pontious Pilot’ and was ‘washing his hands of her.’ When she left home Joyce said somehow she knew it would be the last time that she ever saw her, and to this day she struggles with her feelings towards her father about that event. Additionally, she strongly suspects that a missing person’s report was never filed in the days after she was last seen, as she never came across one after contacting local Oregon law enforcement. Because of this, I strongly feel that Debbie didn’t disappear exactly on October 15, 1973, and most likely vanished sometime around it.
Jean shared with me that in the years following her sister’s disappearance neither one of their parents wanted to talk much about her, as it brough up too many painful memories. Because of this she told me that she doesn’t know as much about her as she would like to, but she does know that Debbie loved rock n ’roll music and had gotten caught sneaking out at night several times while she still lived with them in California.
Shortly after Deborah disappeared Joyce told me that their stepbrother had reached out to let her know about a formerly missing woman had been found murdered that happened to have some moles around her neck in a pattern similar to Debbie’s (which she said appeared to be ‘almost like a spaced apart, like a necklace’); it obviously turned out not to be her.
When I asked if perhaps Debbie had run off with a guy, Jean shared with me that was what most likely happened, despite the fact the sisters weren’t allowed to date until they were sixteen. Regarding her feelings on the recent ‘genetic genealogy’ craze and if she thought it could help solve the mystery of what happened to her sister, she said that she has never been contacted by LE about it, however at one point she was told by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children that any records possibly related to Deborah were destroyed in a fire.
In 1984 Joyce and her husband took a road trip with their grandkids to visit their great-grandmother and Hank, and while there her stepfather shared that he caught Debbie sneaking out one night and she had been smoking marijuana. He told them that this freaked him out and he tried to do a ‘scared straight’ type intervention and had reached out to the local county sheriff (who had happened to be a friend of his), who had come to the house and had a conversation with his teenage stepdaughter; Debbie disappeared shortly after that.
At the time Tomlinson disappeared in October 1973, Ted Bundy was living at the Rogers Rooming House on 12th Avenue Northeast in Seattle, and where it was a five-hour drive (one way) from his residence to Eugene/Creswell, we know he had no problem with traveling long distances to look for prey. Despite being in a long term, (supposedly) monogamous relationship with Liz Kendall, while on a business trip with the Republican Party to California in the summer of 1973 he rekindled his romance with one time girlfriend Diane Edwards. Ted’s former flame visited him in Seattle on multiple occasions in the latter part of the year, and the couple at one point were even briefly engaged… but the happy times didn’t last long, and in January 1974 he abruptly and without reason cut off all contact with her.
On top of juggling two women, in September 1973 Ted enrolled in law school at the University of Puget Sound, and according to the ‘TB MultiAgency Investigative Team Report 1992,’ on Monday, October 15, 1973 when Tomlinson disappeared, he was in class. Additionally, at the time he was in between employment: in September 1973 he was the Assistant to the Washington state Republican chairman and remained unemployed until May 3 of the following year when he got a position with the Department of Emergency Services in Olympia.
In addition to Ted Bundy multiple other serial killers roamed the Pacific Northwest in the early to middle 1970’s: the first one (aside from Ted) that popped in my head was Warren Leslie Forrest, a double murderer that has been sentenced to two life terms in prison for the murders of Krysta Blake and Martha Morrison in 1974; he is also considered the prime suspect in at least five additional murders and disappearances going back as far as 1971. He has been in police custody since 1974 and on February 4, 2023 he was convicted on another murder count after DNA linked him to the murder of Martha Morrison.
On June 8, 1961, Portland police received a call from a housewife whose dog had returned home with a human foot in a paper bag, and when detectives went to her home the animal came back with a hand. Upon investigating, LE found several additional body parts around the woman’s neighborhood, and all of the appendages were deemed to be fresh and were completely drained of blood. Police went through local missing people’s reports and came across the file of twenty-three year old Joan Caudle, a housewife and mother of two that had recently been reported missing by her husband (who of course was an immediate suspect).
Joan’s husband told detectives that where she wasn’t normally a big drinker she had been a bit depressed recently because her mother had been sick, therefore there was a chance she had been at a bar having a few. Police then tracked down a barfly that had a string of arrests for public drunkenness and she told them she had been in a bar on the night of June 7 and met a man going by the name Marquette. The pair had seemingly hit it off when a woman approached them and stole his attention away, and when detectives showed the eyewitness a photograph of Joan Caudle, she said that was definitely the same woman from the bar.
Upon his arrest Marquette admitted that he raped and murdered the Portland housewife then he drained her blood, dismembered her body, and left her head to rot in the woods. Despite being found guilty of first degree murder the jury recommended leniency, and Marquette was sentenced to life in prison.After serving only eleven years of his sentence (during which he was described as a model prisoner), he was released on parole in 1973.
Not even two and a half years after Marquette was released on parole in April 1975, a fisherman discovered a mutilated corpse floating in a Willamette River slough in Marion County, Oregon; it had been bled dry and had been dismembered. Detectives determined the remains were those of thirty-seven-year-old Betty Lucille Wilson (one report said she was thirty-five), a North Carolina native who led a life of extreme poverty and had seven children since marrying her abusive husband at the age of 16. At the time she was killed she was living in an abandoned school bus.
While he was confessing to Wilson’s murder, Marquette also shared with detectives that he killed a second woman in a similar fashion sometime in 1974, and he led them to two shallow graves where he had disposed of the bulk of the remains. Unfortunately because the head was never found, there was no way the victim could be identified, and Marquette admitted that he didn’t know who she was. Her identity remains unknown.
Within a five-month period in the latter part of 1973 five young women went missing in Oregon, and three more were found murdered: first was Rita Lorraine Jolly, who disappeared on June 29 while taking a nightly walk in her West Linn neighborhood; her remains have never been found. On July 9, 1973 the body of Laurie Lee Canaday was recovered in the middle of the road at the intersection of Southeast Scott Street and McLoughlin Boulevard in Milwaukee,OR. Next was seventeen-year-old SusanWickersham from Bend on July 11; her body was discovered in January 1976, only five miles south of her hometown; she had suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Additionally, sometime in July 1973 fifteen-year-old Allison Lynn Caufman of Portland died as a result of head injuries after she was shoved from a car moving at a high rate of speed.
On August 20, 1973 twenty-four-year-old Illinois transplant Vicki Lynn Hollar was last seen getting in her black 1965 Volkswagen Beetle (with the running boards removed) after she left her place of employment at the Bon Marché in Eugene, where she had been working as a seamstress for about two weeks. It’s thought that she was headed home to her apartment, as she had plans of meeting up with a friend to attend a party in her neighborhood later that evening (she never showed up). Friends shared with police that she had a habit of picking up hitchhikers; her VW and personal belongings have also never been recovered. Just three days later on August 23, 1973, Gayle LeClair was found stabbed in her apartment in Eugene, OR. The twenty-two year old had recently moved to the area after she got a job at the Eugene City Library.
Just six days after Deborah Tomlinson was reportedly last seen, thirty-two-year-old VirginiaErickson disappeared from Sweet Home on October 21, 1973; although it’s never been proven, evidence points towards her husband being her killer and that it most likely took place while the two were ‘out on a hunting trip.’ Lastly, we have twenty-three-year-old divorcee Suzanne Justis, who went missing on November 5, 1973. From Eugene, Justis had hitchhiked to Portland (despite owning her own car), and had called her mom from a payphone outside of the Veterans Memorial Coliseum to let her know that she would be home the next day to pick up her son from school; she never showed up. Not one case has been solved.
Strangely enough, there was another young woman with the same first and last name as Deborah that had been brutally killed a little over two years after she was last seen in Colorado: nineteen-year-oldDeborah Kathleen Tomlinson was murdered in her apartment complex on Belford Ave in Grand Junction on December 27, 1975. In the days that followed her murder, detectives quickly exhausted all leads and the investigation quickly went cold. Forty-five long years went by. In an article published on December 3, 2020 by the website ‘WesternSlopeNow,’ the Grand Junction PD announced a break in the case: they had partnered with a DNA Technology Company calledParabon to analyze the unknown semen and blood that had been found with the victim at the original 1975 crime scene.
About the process, Parabon’s Chief Genetic Genealogist CeCe Moore said that they analyze ‘the DNA, so we can look at 850,000 genetic markers that will allow us to predict relationships that are distant.’ Also, just as a side note, Moore is the scientist that helped solve the 1971 murder of Roman Catholic schoolteacher Rita Curran out of Vermont (who up until recently was also an unconfirmed Bundy victim). After the samples that were collected from the original 1975 crime scene were processed, Parabon built a family tree using public records in an attempt to identify the unknown person-of-interest, and it was concluded that a man named Jimmy Dean Duncan killed Deborah K. Tomlinson. As ofApril 2024, law enforcement has found no connection between Duncan and Tomlinson, but found that he had a family member that lived close to the college she was attending at the time of her death. Detective Sean Crocker from the Grand Junction Police Department commented that ‘we believe Mr. Duncan visited this relative, and that’s how possibly he could’ve encountered Ms. Tomlinson.’ Jimmy Dean Duncan passed away in 1987.
Arthur Tomlinson died at the age of sixty-four on January 29, 2001 in Las Vegas, NV. Deborah’s mother Sandra Lee Nelson passed away from lung cancer at the age of sixty-three on February 2, 2003, and according to her death certificate, she had been the owner/operator of a café. Sandy’s husband Henry died on March 16, 1994 at the age of 54, most likely in a medical facility in Spokane, WA. Deborah’s brother Daniel Sean Tomlinson died in 2022 at the age of fifty-three in California.
Deborah’s sister Jean retired after almost twenty years in the RV Business in November 2023, and she currently lives in Henderson, Nevada with her husband of almost twenty years, Dave. In 2019 Joyce retired from the Bureau for Child Support Enforcement with the State of West Virginia, and was married to the love of her life until he passed away on May 26, 2003. She currently resides in St Thomas, Pennsylvania. If Deborah was anything like her sisters, she was a kind, compassionate person that would have done a lot of good in this world.
In the years following Deborah’s disappearance the twins remain close, although Jean admitted her disappearance has been incredibly hard on their family. She also confessed that a small part of her always thought her big sister would reach out to one of them when they were adults, after everyone had grown up. More than anything they want closure, and at the very least wish they had a body to properly lay to rest so their sister could be with the rest of their family. Debbie would have been an aunt and great aunt multiple times over, and it’s heartbreaking to think of her never getting to meet either of her brother-in-laws, or nieces and nephews. As of October 2025, Deborah Lee Tomlinson’s case remains open and she would be 68 years old. Joyce said that the family’s DNA is on file with the NCMEC website.
* In October 2025 I finally came across the Tomlinson family’s Ancestry page, which helped give me a lot of background into Deborah’s family life and background. I also updated the article with information from an interview that I did with her sister Jean in February 2025 as well.
A missing persons poster for Deborah.The girls standing with their dad and Aunt Jean, who Joyce said they were all especially fond of; sadly right after this picture was taken she moved to Virginia. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.The three sisters in a picture during their time in the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Chancel Choir that was published in The Rohnert Park Cotati Clarion on June 26, 1968.Deborah (on the far left), Joyce, and Jean. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Some members of the Tomlinson family; it looks like Deborah and her sisters are in the front. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Tomlinson before she disappeared in 1973.What Debbie Tomlinson might have looked like at the age of 53 using age progressing technology, photo released on July 21, 2011.What Debbie Tomlinson might have looked like at the age of 58 using age progressing technology, photo released on June 28, 2016.According to the ‘Ted Bundy MultiAgency Investigative Team Report 1992,’ on October 15, 1973 when Tomlinson disappeared Bundy was supposed to be in class at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. Bundy’s fall 1973 law school schedule from the University of Puget Sound.Bundy’s route from where he lived at the Rogers Rooming house to Creswell, OR.Warren Leslie Forrest.A more recent picture of Warren Leslie Forrest.Warren Leslie Forrest’s van.Richard Laurence Marquette.A list of some other missing girls from Oregon from 1969-78. Tomlinson isn’t even listed.A comment on a Websleuth’s page about Deborah’s disappearance made by Joyce Sparks on October 16, 2013.A comment on a Websleuth’s post about Deborah Tomlinson made by user ‘Caring1.’A Websleuth’s comment on a post about Deborah made by a user named ‘theshadow45’ on August 27, 2017.A Websleuth’s comment on a post about Deborah made by a user named ‘Alleykins’ on August 27, 2017.Deborah Kathleen Tomlinson.An article about the murder of Deborah Kathleen Tomlinson published by The Daily Sentinel on January 14, 1976.The Tomlinson family tree, courtesy of Joyce Tomlinson.Deborah’s grandmother Nora and her father, Arthur. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Deborah’s father, Arthur Vernon Tomlinson. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Deborah’s mother listed in the 1940 census.Arthur Tomlinson from the 1951 Westwego High School yearbook.Deborah’s father listed in some Baptism’s that took place in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1951.An article about Mr. Tomlinson’s time in the military in Great Falls, Montana published in The Malmstrom Minuteman on May 25, 1956.A passport log for Deborah’s mother Sandra dated August 5, 1959.A passport log for Deborah, dated August 5, 1959.A passport log for Deborah’s sister Joyce dated August 5, 1959.A passport log for Deborah’s sister Jean dated August 5, 1959,Arthur Tomlinson in a list of people applying for a marriage license published in The Press Democrat on January 11, 1968.Mr. Tomlinson’s address; according to this, he was employed at Sonoma State Hospital at the time.Arthur Tomlinson and his second wife listed in the CA Divorce Index, 1966-1977.Jean and Joyce Tomlinson. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Some of the Tomlinson family at Jean’s wedding. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Some members of Deborah’s family at Joyce’s wedding. Photo courtesy of the Tomlinson family archives.Mr. Tomlinson’s second wife, Shelley.Henry Nelson’s obituary published in The Montana Standard on March 17, 1994.Deborah’s mothers death certificate.Deborah’s half-brother, Daniel Sean Tomlinson.Deborah’s half-brother, Daniel.Deborah’s baby sisters, Joyce and Jean.Deborah’s sister Jean and her husband, Dave.
Laura Ann Aime was born on August 21, 1957 to James and Shirlene (nee Tolton) Aime in Lehi, Utah. Mr. Aime was born on August 10, 1928 in Fairview, Utah, and after completing high school he joined the US Navy; after getting out of the military he went on to attend the University of Utah. Shirlene was born on April 12, 1934 in Orem, and the couple were married on January 14, 1951. According to the Aime’s marriage certificate, Jim worked as a steelworker for Geneva Steel.Laura was Jim and Shirlene’s second child, and she had four younger sisters (Evelyn, Michelle, Denna, and Tommi lyn) and an older brother named John. Mrs. Aime filed domestic abuse charges against her husband in April 1966, but they must have worked out their issues because they never divorced.
According to her autopsy, Laura had blue eyes, medium length blonde hair, was 5’10” tall, and weighed around 140 pounds. Before Aime dropped out she was a student at North Sanpete High School, and was at one-time a member of the Laurel Class in the Fairview North Ward. She loved animals, and one time a wild deer wandered out of the canyon and she began feeding it, and eventually was able to convince the creature into becoming a family pet. When Laura was eleven she was thrown into a barbed wire fence by her horse, injuring her ring finger, forearm, and upper arm. Jim Aime liked to take his daughter hunting, and she even helped him bag the first prize deer in a Utah hunting contest at the age of ten. Before she was killed Aime somehow seemed to show awareness that she knew her life was going to end soon in a tragic way: Mrs. Aime said one day out of the blue just a few weeks before her daughter died she told her: ‘at my funeral, I don’t want to be buried in a dress.’ Additionally, Evelyn Aime said that her older sister mentioned that she wanted the 1974 Terry Jacks classic, ‘Seasons in the Sun’ to play during the service as well.
Immediately before she disappeared Laura had been staying with her girlfriend Marin Beveridge, who didn’t live far from her childhood home. Despite being raised in a Mormon family, after leaving home she quickly fell in with the latter-day counter-cultural life, and with her long blonde locks and ‘hippie look’ she already had the stereotypical appearance of a runaway. Although the Aimes didn’t care for their daughter’s choice in friends they were just beginning to come to terms with her ‘nomadic’ lifestyle. Often teased about her height, Laura was given nicknames like ‘Wilt the Stilt,’ which greatly upset her, and her Aime’s suspected that the relentless mocking was what made her leave school. She was used to tough work as the family at one time lived in an old farm house in Mount Pleasant, where they kept a plethora of animals, including chickens, cows, peacocks, turkeys, hogs, goats, sheep, dogs and ‘dozens of cats.’ She was also a tomboy (especially during her early years), and she loved playing softball, and played on competitive teams as well as her families LDS ward, even going so far as to winning the 1972 state championship. Growing up, Laura loved horses and was an experienced rider; she even spent several of her teenage years in an all-girls horseback riding club called ‘The Silver Spurs,’ and participated in several competitions with them at different fairs and parades across Utah.
Before she disappeared Laura had been staying with her girlfriend Marin Beveridge, who didn’t live far from her childhood home. Despite being raised in a Mormon family, after leaving home she quickly fell in with the latter-day counter-cultural life, and with her long blonde hair and hippie look she already had the appearance of a runaway. Although the Aimes didn’t care for their daughter’s friends they were just beginning to come to terms with her ‘nomadic’ lifestyle. Often teased about her height, Laura was given nicknames like ‘Wilt the Stilt,’ which greatly upset her, and the Aime’s suspected that the relentless mocking was what made her leave school. Laura was used to tough work as the family at one time lived in an old farm house in Mount Pleasant, where they kept a plethora of animals, including chickens, cows, peacocks, turkeys, hogs, goats, sheep, dogs and ‘dozens of cats.’ She was also a tomboy (especially during her early years), and she loved playing softball, and played on competitive teams as well as her families LDS ward, even going so far as to winning the 1972 state championship. Growing up Laura loved horses and was an experienced rider. She spent several of her teenage years in an all-girls horseback riding club called ‘The Silver Spurs” in SanPete County, and participated in several competitions at different fairs and parades across Utah. Those that knew her remember her as a kind and loving person.
Laura Ann Aime was seventeen when she was abducted by Ted Bundy on Halloween night in 1974: the party she was at never really got going, and she left by herself around ten to get some cigarettes. About a half hour later she was picked up by an acquaintance named George Alley, who later told investigators that he dropped her off at The Knotty Pine in Lehi just after midnight (although according to Captain Borax, Browns as it was called by the locals closed at eleven, so perhaps it was closer to 11:00 versus 12:00). Quick Lehi factoid: ‘The Knotty Pine’ as it was once called was referred to as ‘Mo Browns’ because the gentleman that owned it was named Leon Brown and he reportedly had ‘a huge mole on his face’ (very clever). Alley also shared that Aime complained that before he picked her up a bunch of ‘cowboys’ ignored her outstretched thumb and drove right past her. From Browns, Aime again got bored and walked to Robinson Park. She was last seen wearing silver cross shaped earrings, a tan sleeveless turtleneck-style sweater with white horizontal stripes, a Navy Pea coat with a hood, light brown lace up shoes, and blue Levi’s with ‘patches on the rear;’ various sources report her wearing a halter top as well. Laura was wearing a ring with a yellow stone and had a rubber band around her wrist; her nails were adorned with black polish with silver flakes.
Although it’s (mostly) agreed on that Laura was last seen trying to hitchhike, there’s a few different possible narratives when it comes to where she was right before she disappeared. The most common theory I’ve seen is that she attended a house party at a mobile home in the suburbs of nearby Orem; a second says the party was in Lehi. The third possibility is that the party took place at the Knotty Pine Cafe in Lehi… (although there’s a FOURTH that says there was no party at all). BUT… every single one of these possibilities consistently placed her at the Knotty Pine Cafe for some period of time before she left to hitchhike to Robinson Park. One eyewitness came forward and shared with investigators that they saw Laura at the park in American Fork at around midnight, which is the last time that anyone reported seeing her alive. Robinson Park is about a 3.2 mile drive from the (former) Knotty Pine Cafe, and if she did walk it would have taken her roughly an hour (give or take) to do so. Due to the dropping temperatures (dipping as low as 45 °F) and the distance involved, it’s very likely that she tried to hitchhike back to Lehi after she was done hanging out at the park. Did Bundy see her there then pull up and offer her a ride? There’s also a possibility that he spotted Aime from a distance then crept up behind her and blitzed her, much like he did to Nancy Wilcox. As I mentioned earlier, Laura was in regular contact with her family after leaving home, and at first they weren’t too alarmed when they didn’t hear from her and figured it was only a matter of time before she got in contact with them. It wasn’t until Laura didn’t come home for a planned hunting trip with her father that the Aime’s knew that something was seriously wrong, as that wasn’t something she would miss without a good reason. After she disappeared her story didn’t make the news until her remains were discovered (like so many of the other case’s I’ve written about, for example Brenda Joy Baker out of Maple Valley, WA), which may have partially been due to her transient nature and nomadic lifestyle.
The remains of Aime were found less than a month after she vanished on Thanksgiving Day next to a stream in American Fork Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains by two BYU students that were looking for fossils for their Geology class (Raymond Ivins and Christine Shelly). Fearing that the murderer may still have been lurking in the area, the couple immediately went to the nearest ranger station and reported their discovery. Aime’s body was covered in leaves, twigs, and brush;she had been raped, sodomized, beaten then strangled to death with a pair of stockings. According to her autopsy report done by former Utah State Medical Examiner Dr. Serge Moore*, Laura had depressed skull fractures on the left side and back of her head and the necklace she was last seen wearing was tangled up in the pair of nylons that were cinched around her beck. She had numerous facial wounds (almost too many to count), and her body had deep wounds from where it had been dragged. LE deduced that the weapon used to inflict such brutal injuries was most likely either a pry bar or metal crowbar; her face was incredibly swollen and her tongue was hanging from her mouth. Aime had also suffered a vaginal puncture that may have been made by a weapon of some sort (perhaps an ice pick, and some have also wondered if it was a speculum which is what it’s thought Karen Sparks was assaulted with). Tire patterns that were found in the immediate area were said to be a match with Bundy’s Volkswagen Bug. *Just as a side note (per Kevin Sullivan), Dr. Moore never properly investigated either the temperature or the level of snow during the period that Smith and Aime were abducted. After complaints of sloppy work from Utah law enforcement Moore was investigated, and he officially lost his license in 1979after he failed to produce any proof that he graduated from a University in Mexico City.
Laura’s cause of death was listed as multiple head injuries with a skull fracture and strangulation. Also, I do want to point out that I’ve seen the date incorrectly listed as both November 26 and 27th, but according to my research, Thanksgiving Day in 1974 was on the 28th. About the discovery, Ivins said: ‘I looked and I thought, you know, it was a deer or something and … it was a girl … It looked like she had been …she was dead. It was really grotesque. There was blood around her neck and breasts and she was naked and lying on that hill and it was a freak-out and I lost it. I thought maybe the guy was still somewhere around and I just panicked, worrying about my girlfriend . . . and we ran down the trail …Came down and ran right through the creek and got in the car and just drove like a maniac, I guess as fast as I could, down to the ranger station and I reported it.’ Swabs taken from Aime’s vagina and anus showed the presence of non-motile sperm, and blood tests showed no signs of substance use aside from alcohol. In the early stages of the investigation it was suspected that her remains belonged to Debra Kent, who had gone missing from Viewmont High School in Bountiful nineteen days earlier.
Several days before she was killed Laura spoke with her mother on the phone: Mrs. Aime begged her daughter not to hitchhike, and told her that she was afraid that she would meet a fate like that of Melissa Smith from nearby Midvale, who had recently been brutally murdered. She assured her she would be ok and told her mom not to worry; it was the last time they would ever speak. After Laura disappeared Mrs. Aime said that ‘she was missing and she had no purse coat, no nothing. I called the sheriff’s office and they said, ‘What do you want us to do about it?’’ On Sunday, November 3 Shirlene reached out to Judy Olsens’ mom, who was confused by her call, saying ‘isn’t she with you? We haven’t seen her since Thursday when she and Judy and Mark left for the Halloween party?’ Two days later on November 5, 1974 Mrs. Aime called the local police to notify them that her daughter was missing, and when she pleaded with them to look for her she told that there were too many ‘young runaways to pursue each one, and after a couple of weeks I just knew she was dead.’ After the remains of a young woman were discovered on a nearby river bank Shirlene reached out to the sheriff’s for a second time, and was again told ‘there’s no way it’s her, it couldn’t be her’ and that the victim was closer to twenty-five and wasn’t as tall as Laura. However the next morning a story in the newspaper mentioned the young woman was wearing a ‘ring with a green stone,’ which happened to be a peridot, which was Laura’s birthstone. Mrs. Aime immediately ran to look in her daughter’s jewelry box, to see if her peridot ring was still there. It was, however, the rest of the coincidences were just too much for her to bear.
Within an hour both Mr. and Mrs. Aime were on their way to the University of Utah morgue, accompanied by Sheriff Mack Hollet and a copy of Laura’s dental charts.Jim said that she had been beaten so severely that he ‘didn’t even recognize her,’ was only able to positively ID her by the scars on her forearm from the horse injury that I mentioned earlier. When he realized that he was looking at his precious little girl, he let out a loud, gut wrenching wail. Shirlene said that she ‘couldn’t believe it had come from a human being.’ Additionally, the dental records that the Aime’s brought with them further verified that it was Laura. Her autopsy revealed a broken jaw, a fractured skull, bruises and lacerations to her head and shoulders, a deep cut to the back of the head, and injuries to the vagina and anus. The ME determined that she had died on November 20, which was roughly twenty days after she disappeared. Many years after his daughter’s murder, Mr. Aime was driving near the spot where her remains were discovered with a friend, and he shared: ‘my little baby was up there all by herself and there was nothing I could do to help her.’
Captain Borax was able to locate a copy of the Lehi Free Press from the night Laura was abducted, and it was apparently an election period in local county government: Mack Holley was running for Utah County Sheriff, and Noall Wootton was running for County Attorney. Wootton was busy promoting his stance on crime prevention while Sheriff Mack Holley was preoccupied with communicating his belief in strong family values, but both men openly discussed the need for increased protection against the dangers that lurked in the night. Together, Wootton and Holley wrestled with a real, live boogeyman that slithered through the shadows of Lehi and American Fork, but at the same time they had no problems with hiding information away from one another. Mack Holley was known to keep information to himself and refuse to share it, and about him Jerry Thompson said ‘all I kept getting was a runaround, so I basically said, ‘to hell with them.’ As early as December 3, 1974 (which is only six days after Aime was found), retired Utah County Sheriff’s Sergeant Owen Quarnery wrote to the FBI crime lab in DC about the case, saying: ‘The MO is similar in many respects to the Smith case. The victims in both cases were beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled. Also many of the wounds were similar in appearance.’
Despite Laura disappearing on the last day in October it was determined she had only been dead for roughy a week when her body was discovered. According to Kevin Sullivans book ‘The Enigma of Ted Bundy,’ her remains showed a very small decomposition, which strongly hints that her killer may have kept her alive after abducting her. Looking into SLC temperatures during November 1974, it was a relatively warm fall and wasn’t very cold meaning the body wouldn’t have preserved because of low temps.Less than two weeks before Aime disappeared on October 18, 1974 Melissa Anne Smith disappeared from nearby Midvale after leaving a pizza parlor at around 9:30 PM. Nine days later her naked remains were found in a nearby mountainous area, and just like with Aime the only thing found on her body was a cross on a delicate chain necklace. One strange commonality I wanted to point out is that unconfirmed Bundy victim Sandra Weaver was also found the same way.
According to David McGowans book ‘Programmed to Kill,’ Melissa Smith’s body was found almost entirely drained of blood, and revealed a somewhat strange abnormality: like Laura, she had not been murdered immediately and had been kept alive for possibly a week after she was abducted. Additionally, her make-up was applied neatly and none of her nails were broken. Strangely there were no signs of restraints or ligatures, so if she was held against her will before her life was taken, there was next to no signs of it (perhaps he kept her in a locked room of sorts?). Retired Colorado investigator Mike Fisher strongly felt that Bundy brought both Smith and Aime back to his first SLC apartment (located at 565 1st Ave), and further elaborated that on occasion other tenants would hear him going down to the cellar in the middle of the night and making noise.
Sullivan feels that Bundy could have kept Aime alive in two possible scenarios: the first one being he kept her in the basement of his rooming house, which was in the rear of the building and that he could keep locked, and because he was the apartment manager he had a key for the area. The second involves him pulling what he calls a ‘reverse Lynda Ann Healy,’ and he carried her into his room in the middle of the night when no one was awake to see (then down and out again when he disposed of her remains). Thinking about it, carrying the body of a young woman out of your room in the middle of the night sounds awfully bold (even if she was alive), but by that time he had lived there for a few months and had most likely gotten familiar with the behaviors of his fellow tenants. We know he didn’t admit to anything related to Laura Aime during his confessions however he did admit to keeping Deb Kent alive in his residence for a period of time before he took her life, so it’s fairly likely that he did the same with Aime (and Smith). Laura’s autopsy report states that in the middle of November 1974 two or three of her friends told LE they think they got phone calls from her but weren’t 100% certain if it was actually her or not.
In the summer of 1974 Sheriff Mack Holley created Utah County’s first Detective Division, and Laura Aime’s murder was their first investigation. Strangely enough, in an interview between (retired) Chief Investigator for Utah County Brent Bollock and True Crime blogger and creator Captain Borax, Bollock said that (former) Utah County Sheriff Mack Holley never believed that Bundy was responsible for Aimes murder, and even wrote about it in one of his books (which I was unable to locate online). In fact, Holley strongly felt that another man was responsible for her murder, one that was later convicted of killing his girlfriend, even going so far as telling a member of the team of investigating detectives: ‘Bundy had nothing to do with our case, so forget him. That man didn’t do our case. I wish you’d get that through your head.’
A little over a week after Aime disappeared on November 8, 1974, Bundy tried (but failed) to kidnap Carol DaRonch from the Fashion Place Mall on South State Street in Murray. After the 18-year-old telephone operator escaped, Ted quickly realized that he needed a new victim, so he drove roughly 25 miles away to Bountiful and abducted 17 year-old Debra Kent (this will also be important later). The family was attending a showing of ‘The Redhead’ at Viewmont High School that went later than expected and Deb volunteered to take the family car and pick up her two younger brothers at a nearby roller skating rink. On her walk out to the parking lot, Bundy abducted her, then killed her and dumped her body roughly 50 miles away in American Fork Canyon.
In 1977 investigators took a second look into Aime’s murder, and they spoke with her girlfriend Marin Beverige, who positively identified Bundy as an individual that was at Brown’s on the night she disappeared. In fact, Marin’s sister worked at the establishment and even claimed to see Ted pull up and pick up Laura the night she disappeared. Beverige told detectives that she first noticed him one day in September 1974, and remembered that he drove a Volkswagen and told her he was a student at the local university. She also recalled one occasion where she was sitting in the sunshine with Laura and a group of friends near a local high school and the man joined them. When a young guy teased Aime by putting some grass down her halter top, he objected, and ‘this guy came unglued and told him Laura was his. He was really weird.’ Marin said that the attractive young man kept randomly showing up all around Lehi, and always seemed to be looking for Laura. She recalled an event that took place one night at The Knotty Pine, where: ‘he came in and was sitting there talking and I got up…..When Laura said, ‘I’m ready to go,’ this guy said, ‘You can’t. I’m going to rape you.’ Laura just laughed and pushed him away.’’
Beverige informed detectives that she had seen the man on multiple occasions, andone evening he even knocked on her front door and asked to speak to Aime privately. She agreed and after the two went outside to speak alone: ‘Laura was really shook up. But she wouldn’t say what happened.’ About the events surrounding her friend’s disappearance, Marin had a completely different account of what happened that night, one that differed greatly from the one gathered by the Utah County Sheriff’s Department: according to Beverige, her, Laura, and a bunch of their friends had gathered at her house for a Halloween party, and some guys had brought a large amount of vodka and Laura had gotten pretty drunk: ‘It was about midnight or so, and she was pretty well drunk. And she wanted me to walk downtown with her to get some cigarettes.’ She said no, and as Aime walked away into the darkness it was the last time Marin ever saw her friend. ‘Around three or four o’clock some of us went to town to look for her, but we couldn’t find her.’ When Beverige was shown a lineup she immediately picked out Bundy; a female clerk employed at Brown’s picked him out as well. She was also asked to take a polygraph test which she agreed to, and passed.
Mrs. Aime called the early stages of her daughter’s murder investigation ‘damned frustrating,’ and said it was filled with ‘blunders, omissions and political jealousies,’ elaboratingthat two of the detectives working the case were incredibly uncoordinated: ‘one would come and ask me a question, and a couple hours later the other would come and ask me the same thing. Neither of them would tell the other anything.’ On one occasion a political rival of the (then current) sheriff came to speak with the family to ask them questions for his own personal investigation, and because the Utah County Sheriff’s Department was so unwilling to share information the Aimes would frequently receive phone calls from other police agencies, asking for information about their daughters murder. Not satisfied with how local LE were handling Laura’s murder, the Aime’s desperately wanted the experienced homicide detectives in Salt Lake City to help with the investigation, but they were turned down and told by (local) officers, ‘if we can’t solve it, no one else can.’ Mr. and Mrs. Aime felt that Laura’s murder had become somewhat coveted politically, and that whoever was able to solve it ‘could have written their own ticket politically.’ But unfortunately it went unsolved, and months went by without investigators learning anything new, and it wasn’t until August 1975, when a handsome young law student was arrested that everything started to come together, and Ted became the first decent suspect in her murder. It was at that point that a highly skilled investigator became involved in the case, Brent Bullock of the Utah County attorney’s office, who the family was incredibly pleased with, and was impressed and encouraged by his ‘professionalism, his relentless search for evidence, and his questioning of witnesses.’
When Bundy escaped prison for the first time in Aspen on June 7, 1977, Jim Aime ‘exploded in anger,’ and he ‘would have gone down there and searched for him myself, if I could have afforded to lay off work.’ Thankfully the father of five remained home with his family (he still had four daughters at home), but because Shirlene was so afraid for the safety of their other girls he bought her a .38-caliber pistol. As we all know Bundy was recaptured just a few days later on June 13, 1977, but he escaped for a second time later that same year on December 30 from the Garfield County jail in Glenwood Springs. By this time in the year they had ‘hocked’ the weapon as they were reportedly ‘hard-pressed financially,’ and by his second escape Jim had become even more angry and bitter, and said that his wife was ‘just scared to death. She quit her job so she can stay home and watch the kids. She won’t let those girls out of her sight.’
Laura’s murder wasn’t the only time that the Aime family had to deal with the ‘keystone cops:’ After graduating from high school John joined the military and became a radar specialist in the Army, but after his sister was killed it was as if the entire family’s lives fell apart. After leaving the service he began working in construction in Tacoma, and on April 28, 1975 at around 10 PM he reportedly approached a young woman on a street, briefly spoke with her, then physically accosted her. She testified that she was ‘grabbed by Aime and dragged toward a brushy area and that the defendant ran when she fell to the ground and screamed,’ (she also said that he tried to ‘drag her’), and after letting out an ear piercing scream he fled, but a passerby caught him and held him at gunpoint until police arrived. Aime later said that he had no intention of harming or molesting the young woman, and his wife Lynn was completely puzzled by that incident and couldn’t provide any explanation for her husband’s actions. John was taken to jail and investigators began digging into his past; a probation officer wrote: ‘he and his family have suffered as a result of his sister being raped and killed in Utah.’ While in jail in Tacoma Aime got married to a medical technician and an Air Force vet; it was an unusual ceremony that took place without the guards’ knowledge. After a two-day trial in June 1977, he was convicted of a misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to a five-year term at Washington’s Western State Hospital at Steilacoom for the rehabilitation of sex-offenders. For obvious reasons, this devastated both of his parents, and about the incident Mr. Aime said that he ‘was just a scared kid from the country.’
Before Bundy was put to death in Florida, he confessed to killing Laura Ann Aime on January 22, 1989 in a 90-minute confession with (retired) SLC Detective Dennis Couch. The following is an excerpt from Dick Larsen’s ‘The Deliberate Stranger:’ ‘Y’know, there’s always been something about that Laura Aime case, that one in particular, that’s really bothered Theodore. When several case files were given to Bundy in his jail cell, under the discovery procedure …. the first one he went for … and really tore into … was the Aime case…. ‘ When asked about his involvement in Aime’s murder, Ted lowered his head and refused to talk about it. Strangely enough, I’ve heard that he washed some of his victims’ hair and manicured some of their nails as well, but this is the first time I’ve written about a woman that he actually did it to. After Aime’s remains were found, law enforcement determined that her hair had been recently shampooed, making them believe her killer had returned to her corpse on multiple occasions to engage in acts of necrophilia. About this act is a passage from Michaud and Aynesworths book, ‘The Only Living Witness:’ ‘Bundy also indirectly touched on some old mysteries, such as Laura Aime’s freshly-washed hair, and Melissa Smith’s make-up: ‘If you’ve got time,’ he told Hagmaier, ‘they can be anything you want them to be.’’
According to an article published by The Salt Lake Tribune right before Bundy was executed, investigators had to exhume Aime’s remains in order to get another hair sample because the first one they obtained after her remains were initially discovered were misplaced. Jim Aime wept at the mere thought of it, but relented, saying ‘why not? They can’t hurt her any more. It seems like these things just couldn’t happen.’ About her daughter’s disappearance, Mrs. Aime commented that ‘there’s no way of putting it out of your mind…’
According to Ann Rule’s true crime classic, ‘The Stranger Beside Me,’ Laura’ toxicology report came back just over 0.1, which is obviously an indicator of impairment (at least from a legal standpoint), but at the same time wasn’t so extreme or outrageous that she wouldn’t have been able to defend herself (or at the very least scream or try to run away). Now, if she really was kept alive up until a week before her death, and she wasn’t murdered immediately after the Halloween party… Was Bundy plying her with alcohol up until her final moments? Another thing that is jumping out at me as being weird is… if Laura Aime was kept alive until roughly a week before her body was discovered, that would put her murder date sometime in between November 17-20 (roughly, give or take)… Did he somehow keep multiple victims alive at the same time (somewhere)? Were Aime and Deb Kent somehow kept alive together in an unknown location for a period of time? Did he kill the one in front of the other, like with the Lake Sammamish murders of Denise Naslund and Jan Ott?
Despite the way she was killed was very similar to Bundy’s MO and she fit the physical description of one of his victims,he initially denied any responsibility for Aime’s murder and refused to talk about her when he was questioned. However, (most likely) in an attempt to delay his execution in the days leading up to his death Ted finally confessed to the murder of Laura Ann Aime.
Mr. Aime died at the age of 59 on November 26, 1987. It appears that in 1980 Shirlene Aime adopted her granddaughter Danika, who was given the middle name of Laura after the aunt that she never had the chance to meet. Mrs. Aime died on November 1, 2011 in Reno, Nevada at the age of 77. Laura’s only brother John died at the age of 56 on November 29, 2010 in Gunnison, Utah but itappears that all of her sisters are still alive. Because it’s’ strongly suspected that Bundy kept her alive for a period of time after abducting her, the Aime family chose to list ‘November 1974’ as her official date of death on her gravestone.
Laura Ann Aime. Her mother said she had ‘hell inside her’ after watching her ride her shining blue Arabian horse at top speed.Laura Ann Aime.Laura Aime.Laura Ann Aime.Laura Aime, blowing a bubble.A group picture from Laura’s time at North Sanpete High School; Laura is in the back row on the far right.Laura in a group photo.Photo courtesy of OddStops.The Aime’s residence. Photo courtesy of ‘Crimes Forgotten by Time.’ Investigators at the site where two students found the remains of Laura Ann Aime. Photo courtesy of OddStops.Investigators at the site where two students found the remains of Laura Ann Aime. Photo courtesy of OddStops.Investigators at the site where two students found the remains of Laura Ann Aime. Photo courtesy of ‘Ted Bundy: I was trying to Think like an Elk.’Investigators at American Fork Canyon carrying out the remains of Laura Aime.A labeled aerial map of the dump site of Laura Aime in American Fork Canyon. The yellow line shows the trail the students took when they found her remains. Photo courtesy of OddStops.A labeled map of where Robinson Park is located compared to the dump site of Laura Aime in American Fork Canyon. A chart of the average temperatures in SLC in November 1974 when Laura was missing and possibly being kept alive somewhere.Aime’s gravesite at the Fairview Cemetery in Utah.Where ‘The Knotty Pine’ once stood in Lehi, UT, in the left hand side of the building. Picture taken in November 2022.Where ‘The Knotty Pine’ once stood in Lehi, UT. Picture taken in November 2022.Laura walked down this street the night she disappeared to go to the Knotty Pine. Photo courtesy of Captain Borax. An old advertisement for the Knotty Pine Cafe. Photo courtesy of Captain Borax.William S. Robinson Park in American Fork, Utah. Picture taken in November 2022.William S. Robinson Park in American Fork, Utah. Picture taken in November 2022.William S. Robinson Park in American Fork, Utah. Picture taken in November 2022.A statue at William S. Robinson Park in American Fork, Utah. Picture taken in November 2022.The entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.The entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.The entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.A building at the entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.A gate at the entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.A sign for the Timpanogos Cave at the entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.A sign for the Uinta National Forest at the entrance the American Fork Canyon. Picture taken in November 2022.This white SUV is where the PD coordinates took me from the OddStops website. This white SUV is where the PD coordinates took me from the OddStops website. Former Utah County Attorney, Noall T. Wootton. Photo courtesy of Captain Borax.An article about an antler contest that Mr. Aime won, published by The Pyramid on November 8, 1968.A picture of Mr. Aime with his award winning buck. Photo courtesy of Captain Borax.An newspaper blurb mentioning some of the Aime sisters, published by The Pyramid on September 9, 1971.A newspaper blurb mentioning some of the Aime girls, published by The Pyramid on June 8, 1972.An article about the murder of Laura Aime. An article about the murder of Laura Aime. An undated article about the murder of Laura Aime. An undated article about the murder of Laura Aime. An undated article about the disappearance of Laura Aime.Part one of an article on Aime published by The Deseret News on November 28, 1974.Part two of an article on Aime published by The Deseret News on November 28, 1974.An article on Aime published by The Idaho Statesman on November 29, 1974.An article about the disappearance of Laura Aime published by The Daily Herald on November 29, 1974.Part one of an article about the disappearance of Laura Aime published by The Daily Herald on November 29, 1974.Part two of an article about the disappearance of Laura Aime published by The Daily Herald on November 29, 1974.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Daily Sitka Sentinel on November 29, 1974.An article about the disappearance of Laura Aime published by The Deseret News on November 30, 1974. An article about Laura Aime published by The Daily Herald on December 1, 1974.An article about Laura Aime published by The Daily Herald on December 3, 1974.An article about Laura Aime published by The Spanish Pyramid on December 5, 1974.An article about the disappearance of Laura Aime published by The Deseret News on December 7, 1974.An article about Aime published by The Deseret News on December 9, 1974.An article about Aime published by The Deseret News on February 7, 1975.An article about Aime published by The Del Rio News Herald on March 14, 1975.An article about Aime published by The Salt Lake Tribune on March 15, 1975.An article about Aime published by The Daily Herald on March 21, 1975.An article mentioning Aime published by The Eugene Register-Guard on April 24, 1975.An article mentioning Aime published by The Bulletin on October 3, 1975.An article mentioning Aime published by The Spokesman-Review on October 3, 1975.An article mentioning Aime published by The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner on October 4, 1975.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Spokane Chronicle on October 22, 1975.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Kitsap Sun on October 31, 1975.An article about Bundy being freed on bail that mentions Laura Aime published by The Ogden Standard-Examiner on November 21, 1975.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Daily Herald on November 21, 1975.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Spokesman-Review on March 4, 1976.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Deseret News on September 9, 1977.An article about Bundy mentioning Laura Aime published by The Deseret News on December 16, 1977.An article mentioning Aime published by The Deseret News on April 3, 1978.An article mentioning Aime published by The Evening Independent on July 25, 1979.An article mentioning Aime published by The Deseret News on February 14, 1983.Part one of an article mentioning Aime published before Bundy was executed by The Daily Herald on January 5, 1989.Part two of an article mentioning Aime published before Bundy was executed by The Daily Herald on January 5, 1989.An article mentioning Laura Aime published just before Bundy was executed on January 22, 1989.An article mentioning Laura Aime after Bundy was executed published by The Deseret News Tribune on February 28, 1989.
A funeral card for Aime. Courtesy of Captain Borax.Laura Aime’s obituary published by The Daily Tribune on December 1, 1974.
Laura Aime’s obituary published by The Spanish Fork Press on December 4, 1974.Another obituary for Aime.A thank you to the local community from the Aime family regarding their kindness surrounding Laura being killed published by The Pyramid on December 26, 1974.Page one of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page two of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page three of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page four of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page five of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page six of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page seven of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page eight of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.Page nine of Laura Aime’s autopsy report. Document courtesy of Erin Banks/CrimePiper.James and his sister, Evelyn Aime.James and Shirlene Aime’s application for a marriage license.James and Shirlene’s marriage certificate.James and Shirlene Aime’s marriage certificate.A newspaper blurb about a domestic incident featuring the Aime’s published by The Daily Herald on April 29, 1966.James Aime’s WWII registration card.The second part of James Aime’s WWII registration card.John Aime.John Aime.Mrs. Aime and her family when she was a kid.Mrs. Aime. Photo courtesy of Ancestry.Shirlene Aime (left). Photo courtesy of Ancestry.Evelyn Aime from the 1977 American Fork High School yearbook.Michelle Aime from the 1977 American Fork High School yearbook.Michelle Aime from the 1978 American Fork High School yearbook.An article about Laura’s brother published by The News Tribune on May 1, 1977.An article about Laura’s brother published by The News Tribune on June 17, 1977.An article mentioning Aime published by The Orem-Geneva Times on August 7, 1980.A notice about Mrs. Aime adopting her granddaughter published in The Orem-Geneva Times on August 21, 1980.Mrs. Aime with the granddaughter she adopted, Danika.James Aime’s obituary published in The Daily Herald on November 29, 1987.A note about James Aime’s memorial service published in The Daily Herald on November 29, 1987.A screenshot of Evelyn Aime from an interview she did with Captain Borax, whose real name is Chris Mortenson. I keep calling him Captain Borax as if its the name his parents gave him that’s listed on his birth certificate.Marin Beverige.A screenshot of Sheriff Mack Holley’s published memoirs, ‘From the Journal of Sheriff Mack Holley, Utah County Sheriff’s Department Events, 1960 to 1985, BYU Basketball, Football, Personal Observations,’ published on January 1, 1986.
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; he was the oldest of two boys, and had a little brother named David (born on December 18, 1966). Joyce was born on February 7, 1936 in Columbus, Wisconsin and Lionel was born on July 29, 1936 in Milwaukee. In Jeffrey’s younger years his father was a chemistry student at Marquette University, and helater worked as a research scientist;Joyce was a teletype machine instructor. It’s been reported that Mrs. Dahmer was a hypochondriacthat was often greedy for attention, and multiple sources have claimed that Jeffrey was deprived of attention as an infant due to her intense struggle with mental illness and depression… Others however, suggest that he was generally adored and doted on throughout his entire childhood by both of his parents.
As little Jeffrey grew into toddlerhood his mother was beginning to spend more and more time in bed, and by the time he was in first grade his father was mostly absent, as he was away at school. One time Joyce attempted suicide by taking too much of one of her medications called Equanil, which is prescribed to help treat symptoms of anxiety and nervousness. As an adult Jeff said that from a very young age he was ‘unsure of the solidity of the family,’ and that he recalled a large amount of tension in the family home, as well as many fights between his parents in his formative years.
In his early years, Dahmer was a normal, ‘energetic, and happy child,’ but hebecame visibly subdued after having a double hernia surgery right before his fourth birthday. While in elementary school, little Jeffrey was a timid, quiet child that had few friends, and one of his teachers remembered seeing early signs of abandonment due to Mr. Dahmer’s glaring absence (as well as his mother’s severe mental health issues). It didn’t help that Joyce’s condition got even worse when she became pregnant with David, and after hisbrother was born Jeff became even more withdrawn, and the family’s fairly-frequent moves didn’t help him establish roots either. The same year David was born Mr. Dahmer graduated from college and got a job as an analytical chemist in Akron, Ohio.
From a young age, Jeff was interested in studying and preserving animal bones, and learned how to clean and preserve them. His fascination may have started at the age of four, when he saw his dad removing animal bones from beneath the family home. According to Lionel, his son was ‘oddly thrilled’ by the soundthey made and became preoccupied with bones,initially calling them his ‘fiddlesticks.’ On occasion Jeff would search underneath and around his family home looking for more animal bones, and would often explore the bodies of living creatures to help map out where certain ones were located. In May of 1968 the Dahmer’s moved to Bath Township in Ohio, which was the family’s third house in only two years. The residence stood on one and a half acres of thick trees and woods, complete with a small hut that was only a short jaunt from the home.
During dinner two years after his interest in bones began Jeff asked his dad what would happen if the bones from the chicken they were eating were placed in bleach. Lionel was pleased with what he thought at the time was scientific curiosity, and showed him how to preserve animal bones using bleach, and Jeffrey started incorporating these preservation skills into his collecting techniques. Later that same year, Joyce started taking more than the prescribed daily dose of her sleeping meds, laxatives, and Equanil, which only further alienated her family. Dahmer also started collecting the remains of dead animals (including roadkill), which he would then dissect and bury next to the hut on the family’s property, and on occasion he would place the skull on top of homemade crosses. According to one of Dahmer’s few friends, he shared with them that he was curious as to how animals ‘fit together,’ and on one occasion in 1975 he beheaded the carcass of a dog he found (just by chance) before he nailed its body to a treethen impaled its skull on a stick behind his house. Then later, as a ‘prank,’ he later invited a friend to look at what he did.
As a young child Jeffrey collected large insects, as well as the skulls of small animals that he expertly preserved in formaldehyde. In October of 1966 the Dahmer’s moved to Doylestown, Ohio and as a teenager Jeff was incredibly disengaged with his peers, and didn’t have very many friends. In later interviews he said that his strong interest in murder and necrophilia began around the age of fourteen, and it seems it was the end of his parents’ marriage and their bitter divorce that helped make him turn his desires into actions. Immediately beginning in his freshman year at Revere High School, Dahmer was seen as an outcast, and had started drinking beer and hard liquor at the age of fourteen, oftentimes concealing his booze inside his coat. When a school mate asked why he was drinking scotch during an early morning history class, he just shrugged his shoulders and told him the alcohol was his ‘medicine.’ Despite being mostly quiet and unwilling to communicate, during Jeffrey’sfreshman year he was seen as polite and highly intelligent by teachers even though he earned only average grades. Fun Serial Killer Fact #1: during his time in secondary school he played competitive tennis and briefly played in the band.
By the time he reached puberty, Jeff realized he was homosexual, a fact he initially attempted to hide from his parents. During his early teen years he had a short relationship with another boy around his age (although the two never engaged in sexual intercourse). By Jeff’s own admission he had started fantasizing about controlling and dominating a completely submissive male partner in his early to mid-teens, and his masturbatory fantasies slowly evolved to him focusing on chests and torsos, which became interwoven with the idea of human dissection. Around the age of sixteen Jeff developed a fantasy of rendering unconscious a male jogger that he found attractive then making sexual use of his body. He even made an attempt to hide in some bushes with a baseball bat in an attempt to kidnap the man, but (lucky for him) he didn’t happen to pass by that particular day. After his arrest Jeff later admitted that this was his first actual attempt to attack a victim.
Even though he was mostly seen as quiet,Dahmer was considered by his peers and teachers to be a class clown that frequently staged pranks, which earned him a catch phrase: ‘doing a Dahmer.’ These ‘pranks’ included ‘bleating’ and faking epileptic seizures or cerebral palsy at both school and local stores, and on occasion he would perform these antics for cash so that he could buy alcohol. By 1977 Dahmer’s grades had plummeted and his concerned parents hired him a private tutor; this resulted in only limited success. In that same year in a desperate attempt to save their marriage, Lionel and Joyce started marriage counseling, but despite this they continued to fight constantly. When Mr. Dahmer discovered his wife had participated in a short affair in September 1977, they finally decided to divorce, telling both of their sons that they wished to do so ‘amicably.’ Lionel moved out of the family home in early 1978, and despite the best of intentions the process of their separating quickly became increasingly hateful and acrimonious.
By the time of Dahmer’s first murder at the age of eighteen his alcohol consumption had completely spun out of control. A few weeks before he graduated one of his teachers observed him sitting by the school parking lot, drinking several beers. When they threatened to report him, Jeff told them he was experiencing ‘a lot of problems’ at home and that the school’s guidance counselor was aware of them. That spring, Joyce (breaking a court order) moved out of the family home with David and relocated to Chippewa Falls, to stay with family (without informing her ex-husband); Jeff had just turned eighteen and stayed behind. His parents’ divorce was finalized on July 24, 1978, and Mrs. Dahmer was awarded custody of their younger son as well as alimony.
Jeffrey committed his first murder three weeks after he graduated from high school on June 18, 1978:eighteen-year-old hitchhiker, Steven Hicks. He lured the young man (who had been hitchhiking to a rock concert at Chippewa Lake Park) to his house with the promise of ‘a few beers,’ and according to Jeff the sight of the bare-chested young man pulled at his deepest, darkest sexual desires. Unfortunately when the young man began talking about women he immediately knew that any passes he made would be rejected, and after several hours of chatting he told Jeffrey that he ‘wanted to leave.’ Now, this was the exact opposite of what he wanted to hear, so he bludgeoned Hicks to death with a 10-pound dumbbell. Dahmer later confessed that he hit his victim from behind twice as he was sitting in a chair, and when he quickly was rendered unconscious, strangled him to death with the bar of the dumbbell. He then took the young man’s clothes off before he ran his hands along his chest then stood over his remains and masturbated. A few hours after the murder Jeff dragged the remains to his basement, and the following day dissected his body; he later buried it in a shallow grave in his backyard. Several weeks later Dahmer dug up Hick’s corpse and stripped the flesh off his bones then dissolved it in acid before flushing the solution down the toilet. He crushed the bones with a sledgehammer then scattered them in the woods behind his home, and tossed Hicks’ necklace as well as the knife he used to dismember him off of the West Bath Road bridge and into the Cuyahoga River. Six weeks after this murder Lionel (along with his new fiancé) stopped by his former home, where they found Jeff living by himself.
After graduating from high school in August 1978 Dahmer went on to attend Ohio State University, where he planned on majoring in business but dropped out after only one quarter. He failed the majority of his courses, including Classical Civilizations, Administrative Science, and Introduction to Anthropology; the only class he did well in was Riflery, where he earned a B−. At the end of his only attempt at higher learning his GPA was a 0.45. On one occasion Lionel surprised his son with a visit only to find his dorm room a mess and was filled with empty liquor bottles. Despite the fact that he paid for two terms in advance, Jeff dropped out of school after just three months, and with no real plans for his life Mr. Dahmer insisted that his son join the military, and he enlisted in the Army in late December 1978 (I’ve also seen it listed as January 1979).
Dahmer was sent to basic training at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabamabefore beginning his training as a medical specialist at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX. On one occasion he was reprimanded for being drunk while stationed in Fort Sam Houston, which resulted in his entire platoon being punished, earning him a brutal beating from his fellow recruits. After training was completed Dahmer was sent to Baumholder, West Germany on July 13, 1979 and he served as a combat medic in the 2nd Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. Reportedly during Jeff’s first year of military service he was an average or slightly above average’ soldier, and it’s speculated that his worsening alcohol abuse affected his performance and he was deemed to be ‘unsuitable for military service’ and in March 1981 he was discharged from the Army. Because Dahmer’s superior officers didn’t feel that any of the issues he had in the military would be applicable to civilian life, he received an honorable discharge.
On March 24, 1981 Jeffrey was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for a military debriefing and afterwards was given a plane ticket for anywhere in the country. He chose Miami Beach in Florida because he was ‘tired of the cold’ and wanted to see if he could make it completely on his own. Dahmer also told investigators during his confession that he felt like he couldn’t go home to face his dad. While in Florida, Jeff found employment at a sandwich shop, and spent most of his money on booze. He was quickly evicted from the motel he was staying due to non-payment, and at first he spent his nights on the beach as he kept working at the delicatessen buthe eventually reached out to Lionel in September and asked if he could come back to Ohio.
After Dahmer’s atrocities came to light, investigators in Germany looked into any possible links between him and any homicides that took place while he was stationed there, and it was eventually determined that he did not commit any murders while serving in the Army overseas. After returning to Ohio he lived with Lionel and his stepmother, and upon moving in he insisted on being given chores to help keep him busy while he was looking for a job. While at home Jeffrey continued to drink heavily, and two weeks after returning home he was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct; he was given a suspended 10-day jail sentence and was fined $60.
Mr. Dahmer attempted to wean his son off alcohol but was unsuccessful, and in December 1981 Jeffrey was sent to live with his grandmother Catherine in West Allis, Wisconsin. Lionel’s mother was a retired elementary school teacher (specifically history), and she was the only member of the family that Jeff was affectionate with, and his parents hoped that a combination of her influence and the change of location might help convince Jeffrey to quit drinking, find a job, and be a contributing member of society. Initially this arrangement worked out beautifully: he accompanied his grandmother to church on Sunday’s and helped her around the house and yard, all while trying to find employment. He also was mindful of (most of) her rules (despite continuing to smoke and drink), and in early 1982 he got a position as a phlebotomist at the Milwaukee Blood Plasma Center, a job he kept for ten months before eventually getting laid off. After this Jeff remained unemployed for over two years, during which he lived off of whatever spare cash Catherine was able to part with. Unfortunately, old problems reared their ugly head and on August 8, 1982 Dahmer was arrested for indecent exposure at the Wisconsin State Fair Park when he was observed exposing himself ‘on the south side of the Coliseum in which 25 people were present including women and children.’ He was convicted and fined $50 plus court costs.
In January 1985 Dahmer got a job as a mixer at the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory, where he worked third shift from 11 PM to 7 AM, six nights per week; he had a set schedule, and had Saturday nights off. Right after he started this position he had a run in at the West Allis Public Library, where he was propositioned by another man while reading who gave Jeffrey a piece of paper with an offer of fellatio. Although he did ignore him the event only stirred up familiar feelings of desire as well as fantasies of control and dominance, and after this event he began to visit the local gay scene, including bars, bathhouses, and bookstores. It’s also around this time that he stole a male mannequin, which he briefly used for sexual reasons until his grandma found it in a closet and forced him to get rid of it.
By late 1985, Dahmer had begun to frequent local bathhouses (which he felt were ‘relaxing’), but was growing increasingly irritated and frustrated during his encounters due to his partners’ moving, elaborating that: ‘I trained myself to view people as objects of pleasure instead of as people.’ It was because of this that in June 1986 he began giving his victims crushed up sleeping pills dissolved in liquor, then waited for them to pass out before he performed various sexual acts on their completely still, nearly lifeless bodies. To convince his physicians to keep him supplied with an adequate amount of this pharmaceutical, Jeff told them that he worked overnights and needed the medication to help him adjust to his new lifestyle. After roughly twelve reported instances of Dahmer acting inappropriately with other members, the bathhouses’ revoked his membership and he was forced to use hotel rooms to keep up with his habit.
It was around this time that Dahmer read an article in a local newspaper about an upcoming funeral of an 18-year-old male, and got the idea to steal his corpse and take it home (WTF?). He confessed that he went to the cemetery and attempted to dig up the remains but found the ground to be too hard and abandoned this particular project. On September 8, 1986 Jeff was arrested for lewd and lascivious behavior for masturbating in front of two 12-year-old boys near the Kinnickinnic River. At first he told police that he was simply urinating and had no idea there was anyone else around, but he quickly caved and admitted to what he did. The charge was changed to disorderly conduct andon March 10, 1987 he was sentenced to one year of probation and had to undergo mental health counseling.
On November 20, 1987 Dahmer encountered Steven Tuomo at a bar and convinced him to come back to the Ambassador Hotel with him, where he had rented a room for the evening. According to Jeff, he had no intention of killing the 25-year-old, and only intended to drug him then lie next to him and ‘explore his body.’ When he woke up the next morning he discovered that Tuomi was in bed next to him, and his chest was ‘crushed in,’ and was covered in ‘black and blue’ bruises. Dried blood was seeping out of his mouth, and Dahmer quickly noticed that his fists and one forearm were also covered in deep purple bruises. He later confessed that he had no recollection of killing the young man, and ‘could not believe this had happened.’
Jeffrey then went out and bought a large suitcase, which he used to take Tuomi’s remains out of the hotel room and to his grandmother’s house. One week later, he cut off Tuomi’s head, arms, and legs then fileted the bones off his body before cutting his flesh into small, easy to handle chunks. Dahmer then placed the skin inside plastic garbage bags then wrapped the bones inside a sheet and pounded them into dust with a sledgehammer. The entire dismemberment process took him approximately two hours and he got rid of everything except for the young mans head; he masturbated on the corpse before disposing of the remains. After having the head for roughly two weeks, Jeffrey boiled it in a mixture of bleach and Soilax (an alkaline industrial detergent) in hopes of preserving the skull, but it eventually became too brittle and he was forced to destroy it. He later admitted that after this particular event his ‘obsession with killing went into full swing’ and he ‘didn’t even try to stop it after that.’ Dahmer killed two more victims at Catherine’s house before she made him move out in 1988. She said that she had no knowledge of her grandson’s crimes but finally had enough of his drinking, his habit to bring young men home, and the horrible smells that started seeping from her basement.
In September 1988 Dahmer moved into his own apartment, a one-bedroom located at 808 North 24th Street in Milwaukee, and just two days after moving in he lured a 13-year-old Laotian boy to his residence by telling him that he wanted to take naked pictures of him.This act resulted in charges of second-degree sexual assault as well as sexual exploitation. Jeffrey pleaded guilty and said that to him the young victim looked much older, and while he was awaiting sentencing he once again put his grandmothers basement to use: in March 1989 he lured, drugged, strangled, sodomized, photographed, dismembered, and disposed of Anthony Sears. Dahmer found the aspiring model particularly attractive, and after his arrest he confessed that he didn’t want to ’lose him,’ and because of this he preserved a select few of his body parts, even going so far as to mummifying his head and genitals.
In May 1989 while on trial for child molestation, Dahmer was the very definition of sorrow, arguing poignantly in his own defense that he had seen the ‘error of his ways’ and even marked the event as a ‘turning point in his life.’ His counsel told the court that his young client needed treatment, not jail time, and to this the judge agreed: he handed down a one-year prison sentence with a day pass (of sorts), which allowed him to leave and go to work during the day on the condition that he returned to the prison at night. After his release he was also given five-years of probation. Dahmer was granted an early release after serving only 10 months of his sentence; when released he briefly lived with Catherine.
Over the next two years Dahmer would go onto murder twelve more young men. After his short stint in prison his next victim was Raymond Smith, a prostitute that Jeffrey lured to his home for sex. He gave the young man a drink laced with sleeping pills thenstrangled him to death; Jeff then took pictures of him in suggestive positions beforedismembering him. When he murdered his next victim (Edward Smith) he accidentally destroyed his skull while trying to dry it out in the oven, which made it blow up. Dahmer later told LE that he felt ‘rotten’ about this particular murder because he was unable to keep any ‘mementos’ from his body, which to him felt like a real waste.
As Jeff progressed with his hobby he began developing rituals, and started experimenting with different chemicals and eating the flesh of his victims. Healso attempted lobotomies, and drilled into the skull of Errol Lindsey while he was still alive and injected him with muriatic acid (which is another term for hydrochloric acid), which is a colorless solution with a very particular and pungent aroma that is technically classified as a ‘strong acid.’ He hoped this would put his victim into a permanent submissive state, but he woke up halfway through and said, ‘I have a headache; what time is it?’ After that, Jeffrey gave up in his attempt and strangled him to death.
A neighbor in Jeffrey’s building named Sandra Smith called the police on May 27, 1991 and told them that there was a young boy of Asian descent that was running around naked in the streets. Despite the fourteen-year-old being incoherent when officers arrived on the scene, they took Dahmer for his word that the boy was his lover and was 19-years-old. The cops, not wanting to get involved in a homosexual domestic dispute, simply escorted the two home. When arriving at Jeffrey’s apartment one of the officers ‘peeked his head around in the bedroom but didn’t really take a good look,’ then left after telling him to ‘take care’ of the boy. After they left, Dahmer injected hydrochloric acid into his brain, killing him. If the police even bothered conducting even a basic search of the residence they would have discovered the body of Tony Hughes.
Between 1978 and 1991 Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer took the lives of 17 boys and young men. When choosing his victims he was careful to choose men on the ‘fringes of society,’ that were borderline criminal or ‘runaways,’ which helped make their disappearance less noticeable which helped to reduce his chance of getting caught. During the murder process Dahmer would frequently stop what he was doing and take Polaroids of his victims so he could relive the experience over and over again.
On July 22, 1991 Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer’s rampage through the streets of Milwaukee ended when he was arrested after two police officers were led to his home after picking up his latest intended (escaped) victim, Tracy Edwards. The 32-year-old black man was wandering the streets with handcuffs hanging from his wrist, and officers decided to investigate his claims that a ‘weird dude’ had drugged then restrained him (God, finally). When they got to Dahmer’s apartment he calmly offered to get the keys for the cuffs, and Edwards claimed that the knife he threatened him with was in the bedroom. When the officer went in to look for it he noticed numerous Polaroids of dead bodies lying around, and after he was apprehended and brought into custody he softly muttered: ‘for what I did, I should be dead.’ As investigators searched his apartment they found a head in his refrigerator, three more in the freezer, as well as various additional horrors, including preserved skulls, and jars with formaldehyde-soaked genitalia. During interviews Dahmer said that he planned to build a private altar made out of the skulls of his victims’ (complete with globe lights and incense), which he hoped would be ‘a place where I could feel at home.’
After his arrest in Wisconsin, the Summit County Sheriffs as well as the (local) Bath Township PD combed the property of the Dahmer family’s former home, and unearthed hundreds of bone fragments in the wooded area behind the residence (located at 4480 West Bath Road), specifically a vertebra and two molars of his first victim (Steven Hicks). Jeff was charged for his murder three days later.
Dahmer’s trial of the century began in January 1992, and given that the majority of his victims were black there was a great deal of racial tensions surrounding it, therefore strict security measures were taken, including an eight-foot wall of bulletproof glass separating him from the public. The fact that there was only a single black juror only seemed to make matters worse. Even though he confessed to the atrocities during interviews with police, Dahmer pleaded not guilty to all charges in the beginning… but he eventually changed his plea to ‘guilty by virtue of insanity.’ Hisdefense argued that his gruesome behavior was proof that only someone that was insane would be able to commit such atrocious acts,but thankfully the jury believed the prosecution’s assertion that Jeff was completely aware that what he did was evil, but he chose to do it anyway.
On February 15, 1992 after only ten hours of deliberating, a jury of his peers found Jeffrey Dahmer guilty (and sane) on all counts. He was sentenced to fifteen consecutive life terms in prison, with a 16th one tacked on later that May. It’s been reported that he adjusted well to his new life at the Columbia Correctional Institution, and despite initially being kept away from the general population he was able to convince the jail administration to let him slowly integrate more with other inmates. He found religion in the form of books and photos sent to him by Lionel, and he was even given special permission by the prison to be baptized by a local pastor.
One day for his work assignment Jeffrey was instructed to work with two other inmates: convicted murderers Christopher Scarver and Jesse Anderson. After being left alone by guards to finish their work, Scarver brutally beat both men with a metal rod he swiped from the prison’s weight room, and on November 28, 1994 Dahmer was pronounced dead after roughly one hour; Anderson passed away a few days later. Right after the murders occurred a guard came out and publicly stated that Scarver (a suspected schizophrenic) said that ‘God told me to do it.’ After Jeff’s murder Scarver was bounced around from prison to prison, and eventually landed up in the Centennial Correctional Facility in Colorado, where he remains to this day; he is currently 59 years old. In 2012 an agent representing the killer announced that he planned on writing a tell-all book about how he killed Jeffrey Dahmer; as of March 2024 that book remains unpublished.
In 2015 Christopher Scarver did an interview with The New York Post about why he killed his two fellow inmates. He told them that he wasdisturbed not only by Dahmer’s crimes but also because he had a habit of creating ‘severed limbs’ out of prison food as a way to antagonize his fellow inmates. After being ‘taunted’ by both of his victims during their work detail, Scarver said that he confronted Jeffrey about what he did before beating him and the second inmate to death. Healso claimed that prison guards allowed the murders to happen because they left the three men alone together.
Joyce Dahmer passed away on November 27, 2000 at the age of 64 in Fresno, CA. Lionel and Shari Dahmer lived in Seville, Ohio until their deaths: Shari passed away on January 13, 2023, and Lionel died eleven months later from a heart attack on December 5, 2023. Jeff’s little brother David is still alive, but doesn’t seem to go out in public very much (or at all, really). I did find some recent pictures of him from the one time he recently ventured out and about, but the way they were taken I’m not including them here because it feels very intrusive and invasive.
Joyce Dahmer with a baby Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Lionel, Joyce and a young Jeff. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Lionel and a baby Jeff. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Lionel, Joyce and a baby Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Joyce and baby Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Lionel and a young Jeff. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Another shot of Lionel and a young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.A young Jeffrey Dahmer. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.An early shot of the Dahmers. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.A screenshot of Lionel and a young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Another screenshot of Lionel and a young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.A screenshot of a young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.A young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Jeffrey with his mom and baby brother David. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Jeffrey giving David a kiss. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Jeff and his dad on a bike. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A B&W shot of a young Jeff. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Another B&W shot of a young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.A young Dahmer standing next to a flower. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A screenshot of little Jeffrey Dahmer at an amusement park. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Little Jeffrey holding the family dog. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Jeff holding his dog. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A picture of Joyce, Lionel, and Joyce. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A young Jeffrey, playing. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A young Jeffrey. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Jeff, Lionel, and David Dahmer. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A B&W shot of the Dahmer family. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A young Jeff. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Jeffrey and David Dahmer. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.A young Jeffrey Dahmer. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A young Jeffrey in a swimming pool. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Jeffrey Dahmer in a swimming pool. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A teenage Jeffrey Dahmer.A teenage Jeffrey Dahmer from his time at Revere High School.The Dahmer’s sitting around their kitchen table. Photo courtesy of Netflix (I apologize for the poor quality, it was the only one I could find).Dahmer in a photo for NHS, which he did not belong to. He would frequently sneak into yearbook photos for clubs and organizations he didn’t belong to. Dahmer is blacked out in a NHS picture he snuck into.Jeffrey Dahmer from the 1978 Revere High School yearbook.Dahmer making a face. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Dahmer with a schoolmate from Revere High School.Photo courtesy of Netflix.Dahmer at prom, with his date. Apparently during the event Dahmer left and went to McDonald’s. Photo courtesy of ‘Maniac Nanny.’Jeffrey Dahmer on the day of his graduation from Revere High School. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Jeffrey Dahmer with his father on the day of his high school graduation. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Jeffrey, Lionel, and David Dahmer. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Jeffrey Dahmer. Photo courtesy of Netflix.There’s a few pictures of Dahmer floating that are supposedly from his days in the military that are bogus, this is apparently one of the few that exist. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A photo of Dahmer passed out during his time in Germany. He’s drinking Thunderbird brand wine, which apparently is super cheap.Jeff and Lionel. I’m not sure who the woman is. Photo courtesy of the Dahmer family archives.Jeffrey, Lionel, and David Dahmer. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Jeffrey Dahmer in a screen grab from an (infamous) old video recording. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Dahmer walking into court after his arrest. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A shot of Dahmer being escorted into court. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A shot of Dahmer during his trial. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Lionel and Jeff doing an interview. Photo courtesy of MSNBC.Lionel and Jeff during Jeff’s time in prison. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Jeffrey Dahmer in a booking shot from Bath, Ohio in 1981. Photo courtesy of Agence France-Presse Handout.Jeffrey Dahmer in a booking shot from August 1982. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department.Dahmer’s 1991 mugshotJeff while in prison. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia. Another view of the Oxford Apartments at 924 North 25th Street where Dahmer lived and committed a large amount of his murders. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.The flag flying at half-staff outside the Oxford Apartments after Dahmer was arrested. Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.A photo of the hallway outside of Dahmer’s apartment. Screenshot courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of the hallway outside of Dahmer’s apartment. Screenshot courtesy of Netflix.Dahmer’s former neighbor Pamela Bass stands outside his apartment. Photo courtesy of Oxygen.A shot of Dahmer’s apartment door after his 1991 arrest. Screenshot courtesy of Netflix.The layout of Dahmer’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Redditor ‘Sunny86JD.’A shot inside Dahmer’s bedroom, including his dresser and TV. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Department.A shot inside Dahmer’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A shot inside Dahmer’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of Redditor ‘Sunny86JD.’Another shot inside Dahmer’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Dahmer’s drawer full of Polaroids. Notice the needle, which was involved in his ‘experiments.’ Photo courtesy of Netflix.Jeffrey Dahmer’s living room in his apartment. If you look in the top corner, near the ceiling you’ll notice a camera. Apparently Dahmer spent close to $1,000 for a security system (he installed extra locks on his doors as well). Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.The other side of Dahmer’s living room (notice his infamous smelly fish tank he said was responsible for the bad smell in his apartment). Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Another shot of Dahmer’s living room. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A shot of Dahmer’s bathroom (it looks like its attached to his living room). Photo courtesy of Netflix.A shot of Dahmer’s apartment. Photo courtesy of A&E.A shot of Dahmer’s toilet inside of his loo. Photo courtesy of TMJ4.Tools Dahmer used to dismember his victims. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Police Department.Some additional tools Dahmer used to dismember his victims. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Police Department.A shot of the inside of Dahmer’s closet. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Police Department.A shot of Dahmer’s kitchen. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Police Department.The freezer and boxes of acid in Dahmer’s kitchen. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Police Department.A different perspective in Dahmer’s kitchen. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A freezer in Dahmer’s kitchen. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Two skulls found in Jeffrey’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia. Three skulls inside the top drawer of Dahmers bedside filing cabinet.The full skeleton of Ernest Miller located in the bottom drawer of Dahmer’s bedside filling cabinet.Two skulls inside a cardboard box inside Dahmer’s bedroom.Some Polaroids that investigators found inside of a laptop cover inside of the cardboard box.Some skulls found in Dahmer’s apartment. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department. Plastic bags that contained human remains, including two heads, the body of Oliver Lacey, and an assortment of body pats.A closet in Jeffrey’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A close-up of some items found in a closet in Jeffrey’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A close-up of some items found in a closet in Jeffrey’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A vat of acid Dahmer used to dissolved bones. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Police DepartmentA giant pot Dahmer used to dissolved bones. Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.A picture of Dahmer’s freezer in his apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A picture of Dahmer’s refrigerator in his apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A picture of Dahmer’s refrigerator door in his apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A skull found in Dahmer’s apartment. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Some miscellaneous body parts of some of Dahmer’s victims. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Police bringing Dahmer’s bed out of his apartment. Screen grab courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.LE bringing the gigantic vat of acid out of Jeff’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.Police bringing items out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.Police bringing items out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.Police bringing items out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.Police bringing items out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of TMJ4.LE taking evidence out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of Netflix.LE taking evidence out of Dahmer’s apartment and putting it into an official vehicle. Screen grab courtesy of Netflix.LE taking evidence out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of Netflix.LE taking evidence out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of Netflix.Technicians wearing hazmat suits lower Dahmer’s freezer down the stairs at his apartment building in 1991. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Another shot of techs lowering Dahmer’s freezer down the stairs at his apartment. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Technicians wearing hazmat suits lower a vat of acid down the stairs at Dahmer’s apartment building in 1991. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Technicians securing items taken out of Dahmer’s apartment on official police transport vehicles. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.The boxes of acid being taken out of Dahmer’s apartment after his arrest in 1991. Photo courtesy of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.Some of the vehicles used to take items out of Dahmer’s apartment. Screen grab courtesy of the Milwaukee Police Department.LE looking around the outside of Dahmer’s apartment building after his arrest in 1991. Screen grab courtesy of TMJ4.LE looking around the outside of Dahmer’s apartment building after his arrest in 1991. Screen grab courtesy of TMJ4.A police photographer taking pictures of some bones that were found in the back of a building across the alley from the apartment building where Dahmer resided. It could not be determined at the time whether they were human (I believe they were eventually determined to be unrelated to his case). Photo courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.After combing through Dahmer’s apartment investigators went through the dumpster in the back of his apartment building. Photo courtesy of TMJ4.Investigators looking at a bone found in a dumpster located in the back of Dahmer’s apartment building. Photo courtesy of TMJ4.After combing through Dahmer’s apartment investigators went through the garbage located in the back of his apartment building. Photo courtesy of TMJ4.The apartment where Jeffrey Dahmer once resided was torn down in 1992.The lot where Dahmer’s apartment once stood. Some of Dahmer’s Polaroids. Photo courtesy of ‘Maniac Nanny.’Dahmer victim, Ricky Beeks.A post-mortem Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia. A post-mortem, handcuffed Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia. A post-mortem shot of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’A post-mortem shot of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’Another post-mortem shot of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’Another post-mortem shot of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’Another post-mortem shot of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’Another post-mortem shot of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’The beginning of Dahmer’s dissection of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia. The more advanced stages of Dahmer’s dissection of Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia. SOne body parts of Dahmer victim, Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’Dahmer victim, Ricky Beeks. Photo courtesy of ‘NairaLand.’The ME standing with some of the remains found at Dahmer’s apartment. The Summit County Sheriff’s Department looking through the area behind Dahmer’s childhood home. Photo courtesy of Supernaught. Another shot of the Summit County Sheriff’s Department looking through the area behind Dahmer’s childhood home. Photo courtesy of Supernaught. A local kid reading a note on the door at the home of Catherine Dahmer, which is located on South 57th Street in West Allis. The handwritten note asks that the family be left alone, and mentioned that they have been receiving prank calls. Photo courtesy of Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.The Ambrosia candy company, where Dahmer briefly worked. The bathroom where Jeffrey Dahmer was killed. Photo courtesy of Redditor ”DogaCascio.’The bathroom where Jeffrey Dahmer was killed. Photo courtesy of Redditor ”DogaCascio.’The bathroom where Jeffrey Dahmer was killed. Photo courtesy of Redditor ”DogaCascio.’The bathroom where Jeffrey Dahmer was killed. Photo courtesy of Redditor ”DogaCascio.’The remains of Jeffrey Dahmer. On November 28, 1994 he was bludgeoned to death by convicted killer Christopher Scarver. Photo courtesy of Redditor ‘Frikydraws.’The remains of Jeffrey Dahmer. Photo courtesy of Redditor ‘Frikydraws.’Dahmer’s autopsy photo. Courtesy of Redditor ‘Frikydraws.’Another post-mortem shot of Dahmer. Jeff’s name listed in the Wisconsin death index from 1979 through 1997.f Dahmer’s brain. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Another shot of Dahmer’s brain in a jar. It was eventually cremated, per his wishes. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A super cryptic drawing of an altar than Dahmer had planned to create at one point. Courtesy of Murderpedia.A map drawn by Jeffrey Dahmer. Courtesy of Murderpedia.A younger picture of Joyce Dahmer.A blurb about Joyce Dahmer, published in the LA Times published on December 6, 2000.A picture of Lionel Dahmer from the 1958 University of Wisconsin–Madison yearbook.David Dahmer from the 1982 Revere High School yearbook.Dahmer killer, Christopher Scarver. Jesse Anderson.
John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 to John Stanley and Marion (nee Robinson) Gacy in Chicago, Illinois; he was one of three children and had two sisters, Joanne and Karen. Mr. Gacy was born on June 20, 1900 in Chicago, and John’s Mother was born on May 4, 1908 in Racine, WI. As a child, the sickly Gacy was reportedly close with his mom and sisters but had a poor relationship with his alcoholic father, who was verbally and physically abusive and reportedly beat him regularly. He was hospitalized in 1957 for a burst appendix, and when he was eleven was hit in the head with a swing. As a result of the injury he suffered from seizures and blackouts until the age of sixteen, when a doctor diagnosed him with a blood clot on the brain; the condition was corrected with medication. John Stanley made it clear that he thought his son was faking his illness in an attempt to garner attention and sympathy, and strangely enough his conditions were never formally diagnosed (although his mother and two sisters never doubted him). In 1949, Mr. Gacy was told that John and another boy had been caught sexually molesting a young girl, and he whipped him with a razor strop. Later the same year, a friend of the Gacy family began molesting John in his truck; he never told his father about it as he was afraid that he might somehow be blamed for it.
Despite dropping out of high school his senior year, Gacy still managed to have a fairly successful life: in April 1962 he moved to Las Vegas, where he briefly worked for an ambulance company before moving on to employment in a mortuary. John worked there as an attendant for roughly three months, watching morticians preserve bodies and at times serving as a pallbearer. He slept in the embalming room on a cot, and later confessed that one night while alone he got into a coffin with the body of a teenage male inside. He had a few “intimate moments” with the corpse before going into a state of shock. After this, Gacy returned home to Chicago and enrolled in classes at Northwestern Business College. After finishing his studies, he got a job as a shoe salesman at the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company, and in 1964 he was transferred to a store in Springfield, IL where he met bookkeeper Marlynn Myers. The two were wed in September 1964 and had two children together: a son and a daughter. While living in Springfield Gacy became active in the Waterloo Jaycees, and in 1965 became the chapter’s vice-president. Just in case anyone was curious (I kept hearing about the organization in Netflix’s ‘Conversations with a Killer’ and had no idea what it was), the Jaycees are a civic organization for individuals between the ages of 18 and 40. It provides leadership training and its areas of emphasis are business development, management skills, individual training, community service, and international connections.
In 1966 Gacy began his career managing three KFC’s in Waterloo, Iowa owned by his FIL. He said he enjoyed the first few years of marriage but compared it to constantly being in church… big surprise: it didn’t last long, and the couple divorced after he was arrested for sodomyin December 1968 (which was illegal in Iowa until 1976). John was sentenced to ten years at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, and after his arrest Marlynn took the children andleft; the last time Gacy saw them was in 1968.
After serving only eighteen months in prison Gacy was granted parole on June 18, 1970 on the condition he serve a year of probation. As a part of his release he had to move back to Chicago and reside with his mother, and shortly after they bought the infamous murder house located at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue. On February 12, 1971 John was arrested again for reckless conduct and aggravated sexual battery, but the charges were dropped after the victim attempted to blackmail him. In 1971, he established his construction company, ‘PDM Contractors’ (short for ‘Painting, Decorating, and Maintenance’), and with the ‘OK’ of his PO worked nights on side gigs while maintaining his day job as a cook. At first he only took on smaller jobs like minor repair work, but he later expanded to include bigger projects like landscaping, remodeling, and interior design. In August 1971 he got engaged to a divorced mother of two that he briefly dated in high school named Carole Hoff. The couple quickly moved in together (along with her two daughters, Tammy and April) and were married on July 1, 1972; Gacy’s mother moved out shortly before their nuptials.
In 1973, Gacy traveled to Florida with one of his teenage employees to take a look at a piece of property he had recently bought; while there, he raped the young man in their shared hotel room. After returning home to Chicago, the youth drove to John’s house and beat him up in his front yard; he told his wife that he had been attacked after refusing to pay him for a poor painting job. In the middle of the same year, Gacy quit his FT job as a cook so he could fully commit to his construction business. By early 1975 he had shared with his second bride that he was bisexual, and after they had sex on Mother’s Day he informed her that it would be ‘the last time’ he did that with her. After that John started spending most of his time away from the family home, returning early in the morning with the excuse that he had been working late or was preoccupied with ‘business meetings.’ It was also around this time that Carole started to notice her husband was sneaking teenage boys in and out of their garage in the early morning hours of the day. She also found wallets and ID’s amongst his belongings as well as gay pornography, and when she attempted to talk to him about it he told her that it was ‘none of her business.’ By October 1975 Carole had enough of her husband’s shenanigans and after a big blow-up asked him for a divorce, which he agreed to; despite this, she continued to live with him until February 1976 (with his blessing). On March 2, 1976 the couple’s divorce was finalized.
In addition to Gacy’s booming personal business in March 1977 he became a supervisor for a firm specializing in the remodeling of drugstores called PE Systems (remember this tidbit for later), and between the two there were occasions where he was working sixteen hours a day. By 1978, his construction company alone was bringing in over $200,000 annually. Thanks to John’s membership at a nearby Moose Club in late 1975 he became affiliated with a group that called themselves the ‘Jolly Joker Clown Club;’ an organization that regularly entertained sickly children and participated in parades, parties, and other public fundraising events. As he got more and more into clowning, Gacy developed costumes and makeup for different characters such as ‘Pogo’ and ’Patches,’ and described Pogo as a ‘happy clown,’ whereas the latter had a ‘more serious’ side. When performing, John rarely made money and in interviews during his later life he shared that being a clown allowed him to ‘regress into childhood.’
Many of Gacy’s employees were local high school students and men that tended to be on the youngerside. He frequently would proposition them for sex, and traded sexual favors in return for the use of his vehicles, money, or advancement of employment. John also made it known that he owned guns, and on one occasion said: ‘do you know how easy it would be to get one of my guns and kill you, and how easy it would be to get rid of the body?’ After his first stint in prison he became active in the local Democratic Party, and after giving them use of his employees to clean their headquarters (at no charge) he was rewarded with an invite to serve on the Norwood Park Township Street lighting committee, which eventually helped him obtain the title of precinct captain. In addition to being active in local politics in 1975 he was made the director of Chicago’s yearly Polish Constitution Day Parade, and it was directly because of his work with the organization that helped him meet the (former) First Lady, Rosalynn Carter. It’s worth noting, in their pictures together Gacy is wearing a pin with a ‘S’ on it, which gave its wearer a special security clearance with the US Secret Service.
After his intended victim was successfully inside his home, Gacy’s typical MO was to give them alcohol and illicit substances in an attempt to gain their trust. He would then pull out handcuffs and tell them he wanted to ‘show them a magic trick,’ sometimes as part of a routine that began with cuffing his own hands behind his back. After a bit of fussing he would eventually uncuff himself (thanks to a hidden key), and when finished he would offer to show the young man how to perform the illusion. Once they were subdued, John would then procede to assault, torture, and rape them. He would also inflict various acts of torture onto the men, including burning them with cigars, violating them with foreign objects (after sodomizing them), and making them pretend to be a horse while he sat on their backs and rode them (while pulling on homemade ‘reins’ he strung around their necks… WTF?). Gacy frequently bound his victims’ ankles together with the help of a two-by-four, complete with handcuffs attached at both ends. He also taunted most of the young men while he was murdering them, and partly drowned several of them in his bathtub before repeatedly bringing them back to life (only to kill them again).
The Killer Clown typically killed his young victims using what he called his ‘rope trick:’ he put a tourniquet made out of a rope around their neck and using a hammer handle progressively made it tighter and tighter. Additionally, several of his young victims died by asphyxiation from cloth gags stuffed down their throats. Gacy typically kept their remains underneath his bed for up to twenty-four hours before moving them to the crawl space underneath the house. On occasion, he would pour quicklime on them in order to speed up the rate of decomp. Looking into it, quicklime (or calcium carbonate) has been used for centuries to help break down human remains. Strangely enough, Gacy took some of his victims out to his garage and embalmed them before they were disposed of underneath his house.
On the afternoon of December 11, 1978, Gacy went to the Nisson Pharmacy in Des Plaines, to talk about a potential remodeling deal with its owner, Phil Torf. While there he met 15-year-old PT employee Robert Piest, and made a point of mentioning that his firm frequently hired teenage boys at far more than what he was making at the pharmacy. Shortly after John left, Mrs. Piest arrived to bring her son home, but he asked her to wait and said ‘some contractor wants to talk to me about a job.’ He walked away from her at 9:00 PM, saying he’d be right back but never returned; by 10 PM, he was dead. When Rob never came home, his family quickly filed a missing person report with the Des Plaines PD. Torf told them Gacy was the contractor his young employee had most likely left his store to speak with, and a quick look into his criminal background showed an outstanding battery charge as well as his Iowa imprisonment. The evening after Piest disappeared three Des Plaines police officers visited Gacy at his home and questioned him about the missing boy; he said he never offered Rob a job and promised to come in later that evening to make an official statement, and that he was unable to go then because his uncle had just passed away. John got to the station around 3:20 AM completely covered in mud, telling detectives he had recently been involved in a car accident.
Suspecting Gacy might be holding the young man, Des Plaines police got a search warrant for his residence on December 13, which revealed several suspicious items (including ropes, sex toys, and handcuffs). He was quickly becoming friendly with the detectives that were in charge of his surveillance, and by December 16 he was regularly inviting them to join him for meals and drinks (both in bars and at his home).
By December 18, Gacy was starting to crack and was showing visible signs of strain from the constant police surveillance. That afternoon, he drove to his lawyers’ office to file a $750,000 civil suit against the Des Plaines PD demanding that they stop their monitoring of him. Later that same day, LE found a photo receipt from the Nisson Pharmacy was found in his kitchen that was traced back to a colleague of Robs named Kimberly Byers, who told them she had borrowed his blue parka earlier in the evening and had put it in his pocket before returning it. The following day Gacy’s lawyers filed the civil suit, and Cook County detectives started compiling information for a second search warrant for his residence. Later that afternoon, he invited the surveillance team inside his home, and as one of them distracted him the other walked into his room in an (unsuccessful) attempt to get the serial number on the back of his Motorola TV that they suspected belonged to one of his victims (John Szyc). While one of the detectives was using Gacy’s restroom, he noticed a very particular odor coming out of his heating duct that he strongly suspected was rotting corpses. The first time the residence was searched it had been cold, and the officers had failed to notice it.
On the evening of December 20, Gacy went to his attorney’s office for a scheduled meeting, most likely to talk about the progress of the civil suit. When arriving he seemed to be visibly nervous and immediately gulped down two cups of whiskey provided by his lawyer, Sam Amirante. By then Amirante was having serious doubts about his client’s innocence, and it was then that he threw down a copy of The Daily Herald and said: ‘you said you had something new to tell me! Something important!’ John picked up the paper, pointed at the front page story about Piest and dramatically announced, ‘this boy is dead. He’s dead. He’s in a river.’ He then proceeded to give a rambling, hours-long drunken confession claiming that he had ‘been the judge, jury, and executioner of many, many people,’ and that he now wanted to be the same for himself. Gacy also volunteered that he had killed ‘at least thirty’ young men, most of which he dismissed simply as ‘male prostitutes,’ ‘hustlers,’ and ‘liars,’ and said that sometimes he would wake up and discover ‘dead, strangled kids’ with their hands handcuffed behind their backs.
Mid-way during his rambling John passed out. When he woke up a couple of hours later he told his lawyer that he couldn’t talk about the night before, and said ‘I can’t think about this right now. I’ve got things to do’ then left. Gacy later said that his memories of his last day of freedom were ‘hazy,’ and that he knew his arrest was only a matter of time and that he intended to drive around and visit his friends and say his last goodbyes. After leaving, John went to a nearby gas station where he handed off a small baggie of marijuana to an attendant, who immediately gave it to the surveillance officers. He said that Gacy told him, ‘the end is coming (for me). These guys are going to kill me.’ John then drove to the home of Ronald Rhode, a friend and fellow contractor, hugged him then burst into tears while sobbing, ‘I’ve been a bad boy. I killed thirty people, give or take a few.’ From there, he left and drove to former employee David Cram’s home to meet with him and Michael Rossi, and as he drove down the expressway, surveillance officers noted he was holding a rosary to his chin and appeared to be praying.
When investigators heard from the surveillance officers that Gacy was showing increasingly erratic behavior, they became fearful that he may have become suicidal and decided to arrest him on a possession charge (for the weed) in order to put him in their custody. On the night of Gacy’s civil hearing a second search warrant for his residence was granted at 4:30 PM, and when he was informed of their plans to dig up his crawl space to search for Rob Piest’s body he confessed that he killed the boy in self-defense and buried him under his garage. When police and evidence technicians arrived at John’s home they found he had unplugged his sump pump, which flooded the crawl space. After they replaced it and the water drained away, evidence technician Daniel Genty began digging, and within minutes he uncovered a human arm bone as well as rotted flesh. According to Tim Cahill’s novel, ‘Buried Dreams:’ ‘in the northeast corner of the crawl space under John Gacy’s house, the officers found puddles, all swarming with thin red worms. There, two feet from the north wall, they uncovered what appeared to be a knee bone. The flesh was so desiccated that at first they thought is was blue-jean material.’
After Gacy was told that investigators had found remains underneath his house and he was now facing homicide charges, he told them that he wanted to ‘clear the air:’ on December 22, 1978 John Wayne Gacy confessed to murdering roughly thirty young men. He referred to a few of his victims by name, butclaimed not to know the majority of them and volunteered that they were all teenage prostitutes or runaways. Gacy also claimed he only dug five of the graves underneath his house, and that his employees dug the remaining ones so that he would have then ‘available.’ In January 1979 he claimed to have plans to further destroy evidence by covering the entire crawl space with concrete.
Gacy murdered at least thirty-three boys and young men between 1972 and 1978, twenty-six of whom he buried in the crawl space of his house. His victims included young men that he knew as well as random individuals he lured from Bughouse Square, the nearby Greyhound Bus Station, or off the streets with the promise of a job, booze/drugs, or cash for sexual favors. Some were grabbed by force, while others were conned into trusting him. After Cook County LE tore apart his residence they investigated a five-unit apartment building in Chicago about four miles away (located at 6114 West Miami Avenue), where he worked as a maintenance man for many years (apparently his mother even lived there at one point). He also told investigators that in 1978 he dumped five of his victims into the Des Plaines River after running out of room in his crawl space, one of which he believed landed on a barge (it is worth noting that only four were ever found). Interesting fact: on more than one occasion the ‘Killer Clown’ committed what he referred to as ‘doubles,’ or two murders in one night.
On March 13, 1980 John Wayne Gacy was sentenced to death; he was executed by lethal injection at the age of 52 on May 10, 1994 at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois. Marion Gacy died on December 14, 1989 and John’s older sister Joanne died on March 23, 2007.
Gacy at roughly the age of three in 1945.Gacy as a child. Photo courtesy of Biography.A young JWG standing in front of a car. Photo courtesy of Biography.A young JWG. Photo courtesy of Biography.A young John Wayne Gacy with his second dog, Prince.A young JWG posing with the scout group he joined as an adolescent; he is on the bottom row, second from the right. Photo courtesy of Biography.A young John Wayne Gacy is to the far left. Photo courtesy of Barry Boschelli (Gacy’s childhood friend).The Gacy family posing with some of the Boschelli’s. Photo courtesy of Barry Boschelli.Another picture of Gacy as a child. Photo courtesy of Altered Dimensions Paranormal.A young JWG wearing a fancy hat. Photo courtesy of Biography.A young Gacy (in the middle wearing the dark suit). Photo courtesy of Boschelli.Some members of the Gacy family; John Stanley is on the far right, and John is in the middle with no shirt on. Photo courtesy of Biography.John in a vehicle. Photo courtesy of Biography.A young Gacy at a gathering, on the far right. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy with one of his sisters. Photo courtesy of Biography.Another pic of a young JWG wearig a suit. A adolescent Gacy. Photo courtesy of Biography.JWG. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy is on the far left.A young Gacy with one of his sisters. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A younger JWG.Gacy at the age of eighteen, dressed in his uniform for the local civil defense squad. Photo courtesy of the Tumblr account, ‘true-crime-xgirlx.’Another picture of Gacy in his uniform for the local civil defense squad.Gacy standing with Miss Illinois. Another shot of Gacy with Miss. Illinois.John in his chef’s uniform.Another John in his chef’s uniform.Gacy taste testing a dish in his chef’s uniform.An action shot of John dressed in his chef’s uniform. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG’s first wife, Marlynn Myers. Photo courtesy of Biography.John on (I think) one of his sisters wedding day. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy and Marlynn on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG and his first wife, Marlynn . Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy and Marlynn at some sort of banquet. Photo courtesy of Netflix. Gacy and Marlynn posing with one of their children. Photo courtesy of Biography.Marlynn Lee Myers.A shot of Gacy with his father holding his young son. Photo courtesy of Biography.A shot of Gacy playing with his young son. Photo courtesy of Biography.A shot of a younger JWG. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy with a bunch of men possibly some other JC’s; he is the second one in on the left (do I have to keep doing this? We all know who JWG is).A dapper JWG. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy singing in prison after his first arrest. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy worked as the ‘first chef’ during his first stint in prison. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy married his second wife, Carole Hoff on June 1, 1972. She had two little girls, Tammy and April.John with his second wife and Mom on his wedding day.Gacy and his second wife on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Netflix.John and Carole on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy feeding his second wife cake on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy giving his new wife a kiss. Photo courtesy of Biography.John and Carole on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A picture of Gacy’s and Carole on their wedding day. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of John and Carole, this time posing with some money. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy and his second wife. Photo courtesy of Biography.John and Carole. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy and his second wife Carole posing with her two daughters; the couple eventually divorced on March 2, 1976. Photo courtesy of Netflix.John and Carole. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy and his second wife. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of John and Carole with one of her daughters. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG is on the man on the far left. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A shot of an invite for a party the Gacy’s threw. Photo courtesy of Netflix. John in Carole, dressed in cowboy hats. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy with his second wife Carole in the same home where he hid his victims. Photo courtesy of Netflix.John and Carole. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy hard at work for PDM Contractors. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy is on the right. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy at some sort of political event. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy at a party standing with a friend. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy at a JC event. Photo courtesy of Biography.Another shot of Gacy at a JC event. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy at a JC event. Photo courtesy of Biography.Another shot of Gacy at a JC event. Photo courtesy of Biography.Another shot of Gacy at a JC event (he’s the second from the left). Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy at a JC event (he’s right in the middle). Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy standing on a balcony. Photo courtesy of Biography.Gacy in his days as a contractor. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy posing with friends. I couldn’t find much on this picture if anyone knows more about it please let me know.Gacy and what looks like his sister. Weird.Gacy hosted a bicentennial party on July 4, 1976. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune. His former business associate, Jim Van Vorous is on his right.Gacy (far right) regularly held dress-up parties to throw suspicious neighbors off his scent. Photo courtesy of Rafael Tovar and The Sun.Another shot of Gacy dressed up at a party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy dressed up at a party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy dressed up for a party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy at a party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A commonly used photo of John Wayne Gacy.A young John and his mom.Gacy enjoying a meal with his mother.Gacy with a fake sheriffs badge on at a party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG at a party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG at what looks like another costume party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG at another party. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy at a parade for a Democratic event. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy at a parade, for a Democratic event. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy posing with former first lady Rosalynn Carter on May 6, 1978. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.Another shot of Gacy with Mrs. Carter. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.An older picture of Gacy and an unnamed man before his second arrest. Another shot of Gacy. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG before his second arrest. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A stock pic of Gacy from 1978. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.A picture of Gacy that was smuggled out of jail by a guard, published by The Chicago tribune in 1978.An older Gacy on death row. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A picture of Gacy holding one of his paintings he dubbed ‘Pennywise The Clown;’ it was taken just five weeks before his execution. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Gacy during his time on death row. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Gacy in his cell. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Supposedly this is a photo of Gacy awaiting execution. Photo courtesy of finwise.edu.Gacy dressed as Pogo. Another photo of Gacy dressed as Pogo the Clown.Gacy dressed as Pogo.Another photo of Gacy dressed as Pogo the Clown.Another shot of Pogo.A B&W shot of Gacy as Pogo, courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.A younger John Stanley Gacy. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of a younger John Stanley Gacy. Photo courtesy of Netflix.John’s parents.John’s sister Joanne on Oprah. She died in 2007.John Wayne Gacy’s card for the ‘Democratic Precinct Captain’ of Norwood Park Township. Courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.John Wayne Gacy’s business card for his personal business, ‘PDM Contractors.’ Courtesy of Newsweek.Gacy loved flashy belt buckles and frequently wore one with his initials. Photo courtesy of Rafael Tovar and The Sun.Gacy kept items belonging to his victims that he considered ‘mementos’ that he often looked at. Photo courtesy of Rafael Tovar and The Sun.Police found necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry belonging to Gacy’s victims. Photo courtesy of Rafael Tovar and The Sun.Some garters and keys belonging to Gacy’s victims.John Gacy’s clown shoes. Photo courtesy of finwise.edu.Gacy was indicted for 33 murders of young boys and men; these are his victims. Notice some remain unnamed to this day, March 2024. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.A B&W shot of John Wayne Gacy’s completely intact house located at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in Chicago, Illinois.A photo taken on March 19, 1979 showing that certain portions of Gacy’s property in Norwood Park Township have been completely picked through and demolished by members of LE. Photo courtesy of Walter Kale from The Chicago Tribune.A picture of Gacy’s tiki-themed bar in his living room. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.The other side of Gacy’s living room. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.A different angle of Gacy’s living room. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.JWG’s kitchen, untouched. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.JWG’s kitchen counter, untouched. Photo courtesy of Biography.Another shot of JWG’s kitchen, in color. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG’s bathroom, untouched. One of the detectives that was tasked with trailing Gacy used it one day and when the heat kicked on he immediately recognized the smell of human decomp. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.One side of Gacy’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.Another shot of Gacy’s bedroom. Photo courtesy of Cook County Court.Another bed in Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Biography.A picture inside of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Netflix.The main hallway in Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Biography.A poster related to Gacy’s contracting company, ‘PDM Contractors.’ Photo courtesy of Netflix.Information related to Gacy’s contracting company, ‘PDM Contractors.’ Photo courtesy of Netflix.Members of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department carrying a piece of floor out of Gacy’s home.Members of LE carrying equipment into Gacy’s residence to remove the bodies of his victims. Investigators bringing out another body from Gacy’s house. Another body being taken out of Gacy’s house. Another body being taken out of Gacy’s house.A body is recovered from John Wayne Gacy’s house in 1979 and transferred to a sheriff’s van. Photo courtesy of Sally Good from The Chicago Tribune.Another body being taken out of Gacy’s house.Another one of Gacy’s victims being taken out of his house.Cook County investigators carrying another body out of Gacy’s house. Members of Cook County LE putting one of Gacy’s victims in the back of a vehicle to be further studied.Police standing in Gacy’s garage. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Investigators opening up Gacy’s garage. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Members of the Cook County Sherrif’s Department removing the floorboards in Gacy’s kitchen in either late 1978 or early 1979. Photo courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.Members of LE looking through Gacy’s crawl space in either late 1978 or early 1979. Photo courtesy of Netflix.The kitchen cabinets and partially tore up floorboards in Gacy’s kitchen. Photo courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.After realizing the full extend of Gacy’s atrocities, investigators eventually had to tear up the floors in his house. Photo courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.A technician cuts carpet in Gacy’s home in either late 1978 or early 1979. Photo courtesy of Cook County.The crawl space underneath Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of tCook County.Another shot of the crawl space underneath JWG’s house. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Another shot underneath Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Numbered stakes show where the remains of Gacy’s victims were discovered in the crawl space underneath his house. Photo courtesy of Tribune News Services.Grids were marked as the crawl space was excavated circa late 1978 or early 1979. Police found the bodies of twenty-nine young men were recovered on his property, and four more were found in Illinois rivers. Photo courtesy of the Cook County Court.A shot of Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Some bones found in JWG’s crawl space.A member of Cook County LE in the crawl space under JWG’s home.A member of Cook County LE in JWG’s home. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE in the crawl space under JWG’s home. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE in the crawl space under JWG’s home. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE in the crawl space under JWG’s home. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE in the crawl space under JWG’s home. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators in Gacy’s residence. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A technician digging in Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators at JWG’s house. Photo courtesy of Cook County.The hallway of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators tearing apart Gacy’s floorboards. Photo courtesy of Cook County.The early stages of the Gacy investigation, when his house was mostly intact. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators at JWG’s house. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Underneath the floors at Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators going through Gacy’s house after his arrest. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators dismantling Gacy’s kitchen floors. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators tearing apart Gacy’s floorboards. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators tearing apart Gacy’s residence. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators tearing apart Gacy’s residence. Photo courtesy of Cook County.LE were forced to remove the floors in Gacy’s house in order to access victims’ bodies. Photo courtesy of Rafael Tovar.A crime scene technician from Cook County digging in Gacy’s basement. Photo courtesy of Cook County.LE excavating the crawl space underneath Gacy’s home in either late 1978 or early 1979. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Investigators digging through Gacy’s basement. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE underneath Gacy’s homes looking for the remains of his victims. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of LE underneath Gacy’s homes looking for the remains of his victims. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A member of Cook County LE underneath Gacy’s homes looking for the remains of his victims. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Cook County investigators going through the crawl space under JWG’s home.A member of LE underneath Gacy’s homes looking for the remains of his victims. Photo courtesy of Cook CountyA member of Cook County LE underneath Gacy’s homes looking for the remains of his victims. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE looking through the bones of one of Gacy’s victims. Photo courtesy of Cook County.One of the skeletons found in Gacy’s crawl space.Another shot of one of the skeletons found underneath JWG’s house. Rafael Tovar remembers stumbling across two left femurs. Photo courtesy of Rafael Tovar.A member of Cook County LE standing up in Gacy’s crawl space, as the floorboards above were removed. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE puling a body out of Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A member of Cook County LE puling a body out of Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A Investigators going through evidence found in Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Cook County.A picture of Gacy’s crawl space; I apologize for the text in the middle, it was the only copy I could find. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A picture of Gacy’s crawl space; I apologize for the text in the middle, it was the only copy I could find. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Evidence identification marker number eight. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Another view of evidence identification marker number eight. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Evidence identification marker number twelve. Photo courtesy of Supernaught.Evidence identification marker number fifteen. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Evidence identification marker number sixteen. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Evidence identification marker number seveteen. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Evidence identification marker number twenty. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A pieced together skeleton found under JWG’s house. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Investigators looking into JWG’s crawl space.The entrance to Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Cook County.The entrance to Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Cook County.The frame of Gacy’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.Work continues on removing mud from JWG’s crawl space. Photo taken on on January 5, 1979, courtesy of The Chicago Sun-Times Collection.A member of Cook County LE looking through the bones of one of Gacy’s victims. Photo courtesy of Cook County.Members of Cook County LE removing mud from the crawl space underneath Gacy’s house. Photo taken on on January 5, 1979, courtesy of The Chicago Sun-Times Collection.Investigators taking another body out of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Investigators taking another body out of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.Investigators carring out the remains of a body found beneath the garage floor on JWG’s property. Photo taken on on December 22, 1978, courtesy of Karen Engstrom from The Chicago Tribune.Investigators taking another body out of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.A blurry shot of investigators taking another body out of JWG’s house. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.Evidence techs from the the Cook County Sheriff’s Department taking out of one of the bodies that were found underneath JWG’s property. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.Investigators and evidence techs taking another body out of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Sun-Times.Sheriff’s officers carry bodies to the county morgue from Gacy’s house. Photo taken on December 22, 1978, courtesy of Quentin C. Dodt from The Chicago Tribune.Investigators carrying out the remains of a body found in JWG’s crawl space.The 28th body that was taken out of Gacy’s property in Norwood Park as members of LE transferred it to a sheriff’s van. Photo taken on on March 9, 1979, courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.A shot of Cook County LE putting one of Gacy’s victims into a transport vehicle. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG’s front yard, (almost) completely empty of Cook County investigators and evidence technicians.Remains found in Gacy’s crawlspace. Photo courtesy of Netflix.More remains found in Gacy’s crawlspace. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another picture of remains found in Gacy’s crawlspace. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A body pulled out of JWG’s crawl space. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Multiple remains uncovered in JWG’s house.(Retired) Cook County Chief ME Robert Stein examines the case tag of victim number eighteen on December 29, 1978 in a crypt set aside specifically for Gacy victims. Photo courtesy of Gerald West from The Chicago Tribune.Cook County employees demolishing Gacy’s home.Workers demolish Gacy’s house in April 1979. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.The house had to be knocked down the inside was gutted in the search for bodies. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.The ruins of Gacy’s one-time home. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.The shell of JWG’s former home. Photo courtesy of Daily Mail.The demolition of Gacy’s house. Photo courtesy of Netflix.The lot where Gacy’s house once stood. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A barren plot of land where the home of John Wayne Gacy once stood. Photo courtesy of Bettmann Archive.The house that was built in the lot where Gacy’s house once stood. The Channahon Fire Department searching for bodies in the Des Plaines River. Photo taken on December 23, 1978, courtesy of Frank Hanes from The Chicago Tribune.In addition to Gacy’s house, after police honed in on him they investigated this five-unit apartment building located at 6114 West Miami Avenue in Chicago. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.On November 23, 1998 technicians from the Cook County Sheriff’s Department began preliminary work on a possible excavation at an apartment building in the Northwest Side of Chicago in search of as many as five additional victims of JWG. Photo courtesy of The Associated Press.The yard of the apartment building where Gacy’s mother once lived, and at one time he did some construction work there. This information regarding the location was released by retired Chicago police detective and PI Bill Dorsch in late 1998. Dorsch said he had seen Gacy carrying a shovel near the general area at about three in the morning one day in 1975. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Technicians use radar to scan beneath the parking lot at the apartment complex where Gacy once cared for. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Gacy’s car sitting in his driveway. Photo courtesy of Netflix.The back of John Wayne Gacy’s muddy Oldsmobile. Photo courtesy of Netflix.JWG’s contracting van. Photo courtesy of Netflix. The back of JWG’s contracting van. Photo courtesy of Netflix. A picture of the gas station where Gacy passed off the marijuana. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Another shot of the gas station where Gacy passed off the marijuana. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A photo of JWG after his first arrest for sodomy in 1968.A mugshot from Gacy’s 1968 arrest for sodomy in Waterloo, Iowa.Gacy’s mugshot taken on December 21, 1978 at the Des Plaines Police Department. Photo courtesy of the Des Plaines PD.John Wayne Gacy being transported from the Des Plaines Police Station to a hospital on December 23, 1978. Photo courtesy of William Yates from The Chicago Tribune.At the Des Plaines police station, John Wayne Gacy covers his face with his manacled hands as he emerged after an all-night questioning session on December 22, 1978. Photo courtesy of Roy Hall from The Chicago Tribune.Gacy being put in a squad car at the Des Plaines Police Station to be transported to a hospital. Photo taken on December 23, 1978, courtesy of William Yates from The Chicago Tribune.Police floor plans showing location of bodies found in Gacy’s home. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A hand drawn diagram by Gacy of where he buried the bodies of his victims in the crawl space underneath his home. Photo courtesy of Erin Hooley from The Chicago Tribune.A floor plan drawn by Gacy pointing out the locations of his victims. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.A picture from the memorial service for the nine (then) unidentified victims of Gacy; of that, five remain. Photo taken on June 12, 1981, courtesy of The Berkshire Eagle.The service was held at a cemetery in Hillside, IL on June 12, 1981. The remains will be buried in nine different cemeteries in hopes of preventing a potential tourist attraction. Photo courtesy of The Berkshire Eagle.Items found in the home of JWG. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Some of the ‘tools’ Gacy used in his murders. Photo courtesy of Netflix.A ligature used by Gacy. Photo courtesy of Erin Hooley from The Chicago Tribune.A pair of handcuffs belonging to John Wayne Gacy. Photo courtesy of Erin Hooley from The Chicago Tribune.A blue nylon jacket belonging to Robert Piest that was found in Gacy’s home. Photo courtesy of Erin Hooley from The Chicago Tribune.Porn found in Gacy’s house after his arrest. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.Some of the pornography themed literature found in Gacy’s house after his arrest. Photo courtesy of Netflix.Some more of the pornography themed literature found in Gacy’s house after his arrest. Photo courtesy of Netflix.One of John Wayne Gacy’s paintings, a ‘self-portrait.’ Photo courtesy of Steve Eichner and WireImage.Original Artwork by JWG. Photo courtesy of Steve Eichner and WireImage.Original Artwork by JWG. Photo courtesy of Steve Eichner and WireImage.Another one of Gacy’s paintings.Gacy’s paints.Technicians from the Cook County Sheriff’s examining containers holding some remains of the unidentified victims of JWG in June 2011. For many years they were kept at the Cook County’s ME’s office and in 2009 were buried in a paupers’ grave. After they obtained a court order, investigators dug up a wooden crate at Homewood Memorial Gardens in June 2011 that contained eight smaller, pail-shaped boxes, each holding a victim’s jaw bones and their teeth. Photo courtesy of The Chicago Tribune.An obituary for John’s sister, published on March 24, 2007.
Leichia M. Reilly was born on October 5, 1963 in West Seneca, NY to Patrick and Suzanne (nee Sharrow) Reilly. Patrick Frances Reilly was born on September 2, 1937 in Buffalo, and Suzanne was born on July 27, 1939 in Lackawanna. The couple were married on August 19, 1961 and had three children together: Brian, Leichia, and Denise. Her first name pronounced ‘Lee-sha,’ Ms. Reilly was raised in a Roman Catholic family in Lockport, NY; her dad was in the banking field, and retired from Marine Midland Bank as a Regional Executive Vice President. A strong student, Leichia excelled at academics and especially loved art, literature, and writing. After graduating from Mount Mercy Academy in 1982 she went on to attend Buffalo State College, and at the time of her disappearance was employed as a server at a pizzeria. She had dreams of one day becoming a writer, and many of her paintings and artwork were on display in the Reilly family home for many years after she disappeared.
Leichia was 5’5, weighed 120 pounds, had brown eyes and dark hair she wore short. She had freckles on her face, moles dotted across her chest, arms, and back and a large scar on her left knee; she also had pierced ears. Reilly was last seen wearing a black waist-length coat with red trim, a sleeveless charcoal-colored cotton jumpsuit with an elastic waistband, a round-necked sweater with multiple colors (including purple and red), and perforated ‘medical grade’ shoes with medium sized heels; she was using a red purse with a shoulder strap. Described by those that loved her as ‘vibrant and full of life,’ Leichia loved art, writing, and books. Like most 21-year-olds, she also enjoyed hanging out with her friends, and enjoyed going to local bars and hangouts like The Pierce Arrow Restaurant, which is where she was last seen before she vanished off the face of the earth. On the frigid, snowy evening of January 30, 1985 Leichia went out dancing with an unnamed girlfriend, and according to eyewitnesses the two danced, had a few drinks, and mingled with other bar patrons.When her friend wanted to leave, Reilly told her to go on without her, and said that she would catch a ride home with someone else. Multiple people reported to investigators that they saw her leaving the establishment at around 3 AM in the company of a white man driving a blue Chevrolet Camaro, an off duty NYS Trooper that she just met named Daniel Rose. Leichia was never seen or heard from again.
There is always the possibility that the young woman may have decided to go home with a guy from the bar that night, especially since she sent her friend home without her…. But according to her family and friends, that was completely out of character for Leichia. Later on in the early morning hours of Thursday, January 31 Mr. and Mrs. Reilly became concerned after their daughter hadn’t returned home, and: ‘in her whole life, Leichia had never been away from our home for any extended period without letting us know where she was. I knew immediately that next morning that something was wrong.’ Reilly didn’t show up for a job interview she was excited about on Friday, February 1st, and didn’t report to the pizzeria for her scheduled shift the following day. Leichia’s distraught Father contacted the West Seneca police and reported her as missing, and they immediately launched an investigation into her disappearance.
A five-year veteran of the NYS Troopers, 28-year-old Rose told investigators that he arrived at the bar at around 11 PM and began drinking with several friends, including Robb Riddick, a one-time running back with the Buffalo Bills. Go Bills. Recently, a reporter reached out to Riddick regarding Reilly’s disappearance, and he told them that he ‘remembers that night well’ because of its tragic outcome. Regarding Rose as a suspect, Riddick said ‘Danny, I considered him my best friend at that time. I know they were investigating Danny for months after that. One time, I went to his place and saw an unmarked police car parked nearby. The police followed me as I left. The police later told me they were tapping my phone for a while, trying to get information about Danny.’ The former NFL player said he is ‘certain’ he remembers his friend leaving the bar with Reilly around 3 AM and if he told investigators that he didn’t it was ‘a lie:’ ‘I saw him leave with her, and other people who were with us saw the same thing. Danny told me, ‘we’ll be right back.’’ The officer came back to the bar by himself roughly 55 minutes to an hour later and immediately went into the men’s bathroom. Investigators spoke with additional, unnamed witnesses that also reported that they saw Rose walk out of the bar with Reilly on the night she disappeared.
According to retired West Seneca Police Captain James Unger, ‘we have a decent timeline of when she was there, when she left, and then essentially after that, there is no sighting of her after that.’ Paul Schwartzmeyer told investigators that he spent the night at Rose’s apartment in Lackawanna the night of Reilly’s disappearance but said that his friend left shortly after they got there to ‘go to some girl’s house.’ When Schwartzmeyer woke up the next morning at around 10:00 AM, Rose told him that the girl he planned on visiting wasn’t home and that the woman he had left the bar with the night before was ‘some blonde’ but wasn’t Reilly. Daniel Rose was let go from the NYS Troopers for poor ‘job performance’ and ‘bad behavior’ related to ‘unrelated charges’ after Reilly disappeared (I’ve seen it reported as taking place two weeks, ten weeks, and a year afterwards). In an interview with The Buffalo News, the retired Director of Public Information for the NYS Police Lieutenant Michael Wright said that Rose had been ‘relieved of duty’ and was no longer employed with them. When asked why he had been terminated and if it had anything to do with Reilly’s disappearance he declined to comment.
The day after Reilly disappeared Rose called into work sick; when questioned by investigators about what he did that day he refused to answer. After the state police were notified of Reilly’s disappearance he was taken off road patrol and was put on desk duty ‘pending further investigation.’ Retired West Seneca Detective Edward A. Tyzcka worked on Reilly’s case for sixteen years, and he pointed out that just a few days after she vanished Rose hired a top defense attorney (the late Harold J. Boreanaz) to represent him and brought the lawyer with him to his interview. ‘That would make you think, well, here’s a guy who could help us. He saw the person we were looking for, why would he not help us?’ … ‘Once he got represented by a lawyer, that put a kibosh on anything we could do.’ Investigators from West Seneca waited two weeks after Reilly disappeared to speak with Rose, and on February 14, 1985 he told investigators that on the evening she disappeared he had been out drinking with buddies and he spoke to several women, including Reilly. During the interview Rose shared he was ‘consistently drinking’ and estimated that he spoke to ‘between six and 10 young women’ that evening. When investigators showed him a picture of Reilly, he said he met her for the first time that night but only spoke with her briefly. He also said that at about 3:00 AM he went out to the parking lot with a young woman named Cathy for about twenty minutes, and specified that it wasn’t with Reilly. Rose told detectives that he didn’t know what happened to Leichia or who she even was, and after giving his initial statement he refused to speak to them again and cooperate any further.
Convinced that Reilly was dead, investigators spent thousands of combined man hours looking for her body, using everything from cadaver dogs to helicopters to aid in their efforts. Beginning on February 4, 1986 and ending on the 26th (in an attempt to be completely accurate, I’ve seen it reported as taking place from the 5th to the 27th), investigators dug through the Chaffee Landfill (located at 10860 Olean Road) during a brutal winter storm after receiving a tip that her body had been disposed of there in a dumpster. The search resulted in nothing.
Even when he was employed with the NYS Troopers Daniel Rose had problems behaving himself and being a law-abiding citizen: inApril 1982 he stood trial after being charged with third degree assault after getting into an altercation with Bradford Burnham at a Lyons Police station after he arrested him at a nearby bar. Apparently Rose and a girlfriend met another trooper and his wife out at The Tom Jones club for a night of drinking, and he was off duty at the time of the altercation. Reportedly nineteen-year-old Burnham was making ‘obscene references to the Newark Police Department, and a shouting match ensued.’ He was arrested by Rose for harassment and resisting arrest and was taken to the local police substation for booking. Burnham said that the officer ‘hit him on the head without provocation as he stepped out of a patrol car near the Lyons police station.’ Additionally, while at the station Lyons LE left the trooper alone with the suspect, and after hearing a scuffle they returned and found him on the floor with blood on his face: Rose had struck him in the head. After reviewing the case, the grand jury dismissed the original charges against Burnham and instead returned an indictment against Daniel Rose. When the case was brought to trial a verdict was made after a Wayne County Jury deliberated for only two hours: he was found not guilty. It was a unanimous decision and Rose was able to keep his job as a NYS Trooper.
After losing his job with the NYS Police Rose briefly operated a pizza parlor in Lackawanna called The Big Cheese. In the early 1990’s he eventually got a new position as a bricklayer, and after branches from Niagara Falls, Buffalo, Rochester, Ithaca and the Southern Tier were merged into one the Bricklayers Local 3 was created; Rose worked his way up to the position of union president. He also has had his fair share of criminal charges, including multiple drunk driving arrests in 1998, 2006, and 2009. In addition to DWI’s in April of 1998 he was involved in a two-car accident in the Town of Wheatfield, and was charged with obstructing governmental administration after Niagara County Sheriff’s deputies said that he became belligerent following the collision and kicked an officer; Rose also threatened him and his family. His license was revoked for six months, hewas ordered to spend 16 days on a county work program, and he was fined $940. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and was directed to appear before a victim-impact panel of relatives of people that were killed in alcohol-related car accidents. In addition to numerous drunk driving arrests, it’s also been reported that he has a lengthy history of abuse toward women.
In March 1985 retired Erie County DA Richard Arkara announced that authorities would be offering a ten thousand dollar reward for information leading to the discovery of the missing woman or the arrest of her suspected killer. Unfortunately, this offer didn’t really go anywhere nor did it seem to encourage anyone that may have been privy to any information about Reilly’s disappearance to come forward. The investigation continued, however without anything substantial coming in there was little detectives could do to advance it and quickly Leichia Reilly faded from the headlines. Days turned to weeks, weeks to months, and months to years… and the case eventually went cold.
Mr. Reilly spoke very highly of the West Seneca police regarding all of their hard work and dedication in trying to solve his daughters case. Although the Reilly’s mostly preferred to stay out of the limelight, Patrick stepped up as the family’s public representative and when asked about Leichia’s disappearance said: ‘I want justice, not sympathy. I’m convinced that we have a psychotic killer who is loose in this community and it greatly distresses me that he could kill again. I know what my family has gone through, I don’t want anybody else to go through that.’ He went on to say that his family had been incapable of enjoying anything since Leichia disappeared, and: ‘intellectually, we know that Leichia has been killed, but emotionally it’s difficult to accept imagine having an incapacity for joy that’s what we have in Leichia’s case. We’ve all been robbed of her potential, in my biased subjective judgment. She was a special person, a very forgiving soul.’ Mr. Reilly also told the media that he felt all of the evidence pointed towards one individual and he hoped that anyone that had any information regarding what may have happened to his daughter would come forward and end the horrifying situation his family found themselves in.
Retired West Seneca Detective Raymond Slade told the media that even though they lacked evidence he fully believed that Reilly had been murdered the night she disappeared and her killer had managed to successfully dispose of her body in a still unknown location. By July of 1985 investigators were still unable to find any real physical evidence in relation to what may have happened to her, and despite hundreds of hours spent investigating the case, they were unable to produce any solid leads in relation to the missing woman. Since Reilly disappeared, West Seneca police have interviewed and polygraphed over 200 of her friends, family, acquaintances, and coworkers, and unfortunately it didn’t result in much helpful information that aided them in their investigation. Police even met with a self-proclaimed psychic from New Jersey, who had reportedly been helpful in other missing persons investigations. In the weeks after she vanished, Detective Tyzcka said the department spent hundreds of combined man hours searching wooded areas, dumpsters, bodies of water, and fields for any trace of her remains. In an interview before his retirement Tyzcka also said that the inability of LE to find the young woman’s body was one of the ‘most frustrating mysteries of his career.’
Multiple members of West Seneca LE said they were ‘99 percent sure’ that Reilly died of foul play the night she disappeared, and that whoever killed her also hid her body. Lieutenant Kevin Baranowski shared with The Buffalo News that: ‘nobody has ever heard from Leichia since she disappeared that night, but we cannot be 100 percent sure that she’s deceased because we never found her body.’ … ‘I am just going to say what our department has stated right along about Daniel Rose… as far as we can determine, he was the last person seen with Leichia on the night she disappeared.’ Although Rose declined to speak to the media directly, his attorney Robert L. Boreanaz shared that he had nothing to do with Reilly’s disappearance or death and that his client is ‘an innocent man. He’s never been charged because there’s no evidence against him, because he didn’t do it. Every district attorney who has been in office over the past 35 years has passed on this case because there is no case, the evidence is not there.’ In Boreanaz’s eyes, none of the witness statements or additional information found by police makes Rose a legitimate suspect, and ‘their witnesses were people who were drinking at a bar in the early morning hours, in the 1980’s, when people weren’t as careful as they are now, because of the enforcement of DWI laws.’ The attorney declined to answer why his client was fired by NYS Police but did say that ‘it had absolutely nothing to do with this matter in West Seneca.’ According to West Seneca police documents, the state agency was heavily involved in the early stages of the investigation but less so as it advanced. Like with the Bundy cases in the early to mid-1970’s, we’ve all seen how rival police agencies frequently (and purposefully) failed to share information and cooperate with one another. A part of me believes that Rose’s status as a member of law enforcement may have interfered with the investigation, at least in the beginning. I mean, the fact they waited two full weeks before interviewing him is pretty significant, in my opinion. I’m sure it took them some time to get their ducks in a row and track him down, but still… that’s a lot of time.
To me, the fact that Rose was a lifelong resident of NYS and patrolled the area for his employment suggests that he was pretty familiar with the area, and would have most likely known plenty of places where he could have disposed of a dead body. I would think he was also at the very least fairly well-versed in the law as well: I know that in 2024 to be a Trooper in New York state you ‘must have completed 60 college credit hours at an accredited college or university’ and had to take a civil service exam as well.
In a 1989 interview with the Buffalo News, retired West Seneca Detective Captain Jack Slade pointed out that Lake Erie was frozen over and there was more than two feet of snow covering the ground on the night Reilly disappeared, which would have further complicated any attempt to dispose of a body. There’s a variety of different wooded areas and waterways in WNY, such as Cazenovia Creek, 18-Mile Creek, and Cayuga Creek (as well as several others), all of which are major tributaries that feed into Lake Erie. About the case Captain Unger said that they ‘do get tips sporadically throughout every year, and we do follow up on them. Unfortunately, to this point nothing has panned out. Not having a body makes it very difficult for prosecution, and secondly, and maybe even more importantly, is that there could be potential evidence that would be on or near her body which could link us to a suspect.’ According to West Seneca Lieutenant Kevin Baranowski, as recently as 2017 investigators searched a local area after getting a tip on where Reilly’s remains might be. He declined to disclose that location, saying ‘I don’t want the killer to know where we looked.’
Reilly’s disappearance continues to be a great source of pain for those that knew and loved her, including her longtime friend and neighbor Jo’Ann Derry-Bernardo. In an interview with The Buffalo News, Bernardo said: ‘we grew up right across the street from each other. Leichia was a special person. I think about her all the time. Leichia was a very creative, very literate and funny person. She was a bright, sweet, spiritual person. I can’t imagine anyone being evil enough to want to hurt her. Her family was devastated’ … ‘I think Leichia would have settled down with someone who loved her, had a couple of kids and would have written two or three books by now.’
As of February 2024 the body of Leichia Reilly has never been recovered, and Daniel Rose has never been charged in relation to the case. He is now 66, retired, and lives in Niagara County. Erie County District Attorney Kevin Dillon told The Buffalo News that Reilly’s case had never been presented to a grand jury due to the fact that there was not enough evidence to show them, mostly due to the fact that they never found her body. Reilly’s disappearance is still listed as active by both the NYS Police and the West Seneca Police Departments. After his daughter disappeared Mr. Reilly became a fierce advocate in her case, and always felt that she was killed after refusing Daniel Rose’s sexual advances. Despite there being no evidence to help back up this theory, authorities agree that Ms. Reilly most likely met her demise through some form of foul play. About the individual that is responsible for the death of his daughter, Mr. Reilly said ‘I don’t even hate the man. What I’m interested in is truth and justice.’ …’I am absolutely convinced she’s dead.’ … ‘It’s profound, it robs your life of the capacity for joy.’ After retiring he spent his golden years serving on numerous charitable boards, which helped the Western New York areas poor and developmentally disabled populations. Unfortunately, he died on July 13, 2016 at the age of 78 before his daughter’s killer was brought to justice.Suzanne Reilly passed away on February 12, 2021. In my opinion, investigators were most likely unable to find the ‘smoking gun’ that was necessary to make a conviction stick, and let’s keep in mind that her disappearance took place in ‘pre-DNA’ days, and the little evidence investigators did have was circumstantial.
Daniel D. Rose is still considered a suspect in Reilly’s case, and Lieutenant Baranowski said that detectives would ‘love’ to sit down and talk to him again sometime and that ‘there are gaps in his story, and we’d like to discuss the gaps with him.’ Investigators did admit that they have some physical evidence related to the case butrefuse to reveal what exactly they have. Captain Unger said that ‘we have been in contact with, you know, state labs, federal labs, trying to see if what we have in evidence could potentially be used with the new technology. And at this point, there hasn’t been a breakthrough for what we have. But we’re hoping that in the near future, that there will be.’ About the case being solved one day Unger said ‘I certainly hope that, you know, even though Leichia’s parents have passed, she still has living relatives, and we just hope that we can give the family some sort of closure of this case.’ Reilly’s brother, sister and other surviving family members are still desperate for answers as to what happened to her, and they are still pushing to make her case a more active investigation. About Mr. Reilly, Detective Tyzcka said that ‘he was a real gentleman, and really broken up about what happened. I never got to call him up and say, we finally made an arrest. He never got closure. I feel bad about that to this day.’
About Reilly’s disappearance, Webslueths’ user ‘WNYer’ said that: ‘Maybe he hid her within an hour of the Pierce Arrow Club, and returned throughout the night (as he did leave his home again THAT night the friend staying with him at the time said) and the next day when he called off of work to finish disposing of her body. Obviously his background in Law Enforcement helped him achieve covering his tracks. They searched the landfill based on a tip she had been put in a dumpster at 7-11. The landfills are huge places and even the best Department could miss something. Perfect place to cover any foul smells bc they already stink. Or there’s the possibility of him having used lye or a fire to finish covering his tracks. Very hard to say where Leichia is and it breaks my heart her Father was never able to give her the proper burial he wanted so badly before passing. I’ll be doing my best to generate tips in the coming year because I’m sure in Niagara County or not, he’s far less intimidating to most people these days than he was back then.’
It’s worth noting, in recent years there have been a couple of local homicide convictions in WNY that were made without a body: on February 13, 1984 thirty-one year old Mark Seifert of West Seneca disappeared after being lured to a deserted country road in Machias. Although his body was never recovered, blood and tissue was found at the scene and in 1987 his brother William was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison after a jury convicted him of murder. To this day Seifert’s body has never been recovered. In 2003 46 year old Town of Tonawanda resident Michael Thuman was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison for the shooting death of sixteen year old Duane Talmon Jr. on October 30, 1974. Investigators said the murder took place after a marijuana deal went bad, and although Talmon’s body was never recovered Thuman gave police a statement in which he admitted to the slaying. Erie County DA John J. Flynn said he recently spoke to investigators in his department regarding Reilly’s disappearance, and he said that he would not hesitate to pursue charges if new evidence was ever uncovered, but ‘unfortunately, whenever a body cannot be found, that makes it that much more difficult to solve. The deceased body provides us with cause and manner of death evidence. On many occasions, there is DNA evidence from the body. All those potential pieces of evidence are not present when we don’t have a body.’
On January 1, 2014 writer and self-proclaimed numerologist/’graphologist’ Linda Crystal published a book titled ‘Leichia Reilly, Your Family Is Waiting: The Disappearance of Leichia Reilly’ (yes, that’s the actual name). In it, Crystal writes about what she suspected may have happened to Reilly from the viewpoint of a ‘forensic astrologist.’ Not willing to spend the $4.01 on what I’m sure is a piece of hot garbage, Amazon pretty much told me all I needed to know about the text: the five reviews averaged out to 1.8/5 stars, and the general consensus seemed to be that ‘it was mostly about the writer and her ability to use horoscopes to solve murders. The title was deceiving. Not too much about the Leichia Reilly investigation.’
If Leichia Reilly were still alive in February 2024 she would be sixty years old. Anyone that has information that could be helpful in solving her case should contact either the New York State Police at 716-343-2200 or the West Seneca Police Department at 716-674-2280.
Leichia Reilly.Leichia Reilly in a group photo; it was one of only two pictures that I was able to find of her.Leichia Reilly’s missing persons poster.A brief rundown of some facts related to Reilly’s disappearance.An article about Daniel Rose being probed for Reilly’s disappearance published by The Buffalo News on February 14, 1985.An article about the disappearance of Leichia Reilly published by The Buffalo News on July 31, 1985.An article about the disappearance of Leichia Reilly published by The Buffalo News on February 6, 1986.An article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on February 6, 1986.A short article about the disappearance of Leichia Reilly published by The Buffalo News on February 27, 1986.Part one of an article about Leichia Reilly published by The Buffalo News on March 16, 1986.Part two of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on March 16, 1986.An article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on March 21, 1986.Part one of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on January 30, 1989.Part two of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on January 30, 1989.An article about Leichia Reilly published by The Buffalo News on January 30, 1991.An article mentioning Reilly published by The Buffalo News on May 31, 1994.An article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on January 31, 1995.Part one of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on July 5, 2003.Part two of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on July 5, 2003.Part one of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on January 24, 2020.Part two of an article about Reilly published by The Buffalo News on January 24, 2020.A matchbook for the former Pierce Arrow in West Seneca, NY.The former Pierce Arrow Restaurant, most recently ‘The Vault.’ In late 2019 the New York Liquor Authority shut them down after the state found to have ‘trends of violence.’ It soon will be home to a Dollar General.A sign for ‘The Vault.’ The temperatures from January 31, 1985 in nearby Cheektowaga NY. Graph courtesy of wunderground.com.Daniel Rose’s senior picture from the Father Baker Victory High School yearbook.A picture of Daniel Rose from Reilly’s missing persons poster.A picture of Daniel Rose in relation to his time at the BAC Local Union #3.An article about Rose being charged with assault during his time as a NYS Trooper published by The Democrat and Chronicle on April 8, 1982.An article about Rose’s assault trial published by The Democrat and Chronicle on June 17, 1982.Part one of an article about Rose testifying in his own defense published by The Democrat and Chronicle on June 19, 1982.Part two of an article about Rose testifying in his own defense in his 1982 trial published by The Democrat and Chronicle on June 19, 1982.An article about Rose being found not guilty published by The Democrat and Chronicle on June 22, 1982.An article mentioning Rose from his days as a NYS Trooper published by The Buffalo News on April 12, 1984.An article about Rose being assaulted published in The Buffalo News on June 6, 1984.A help-wanted advertisement for the restaurant Rose briefly worked at called ‘The Big Cheese’ published in The Buffalo News on June 2, 1989.The Buffalo News on November 9, 2003.A blurb about Rose being charged with a felony DWI in The Star-Gazette on February 17, 2006.A blurb mentioning Daniel Rose being charged with a felony DWI in The Star-Gazette on July 5, 2007.A blurb mentioning some activity regarding Rose’s activities in the Local 3 Bricklayers Union published in The Buffalo News on March 8, 2010.An article about Patrick Reilly being elected as an officer for Marine Midland Bank published in The Buffalo News on June 14, 1971.Patrick Reilly’s obituary published on The James W. Cannan Funeral Home website.An obituary for Suzanne Reilly published by The Buffalo News on February 14, 2021.An interesting theory from a Redditor about the disappearance of Leichia Reilly… sadly I can’t even give credit to the writer because they deleted their account.A Redditor going by the name of ‘Electronic-Fee-4273’ left this story about an encounter she had with Daniel Rose on a post about the disappearance of Ms. Reilly. What a scary experience.Robb Riddick’s 1988 Topps trading card from his time as a Buffalo Bill.
Another Bundy Blog. 