List of homicides in Wisconsin

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This is a list of homicides in Wisconsin. This list includes notable homicides committed in the U.S. state of Wisconsin that have a Wikipedia article on the killing, the killer, or the victim. It is divided into three subject areas as follows:

Contents

  1. Multiple homicides – homicides having multiple victims.
  2. Serial killers – persons who murder three or more persons with the incidents taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them
  3. Single homicides – notable homicides involving a single fatality

Among the works dealing with homicides in Wisconsin are Wisconsin Murders by August Derleth and Got Murder? The Shocking Story of Wisconsin's Notorious Killers by Martin Hintz. [1] [2]

Multiple homicides

Listed in chronological order

IncidentLocationDateDeathsDescriptionSources
Taliesin murders Spring Green August 14, 19147Murder of Frank Lloyd Wright's mistress, Mamah Borthwick, and six others by a chef working at the site [3]
Christopher Scarver Portage November 28, 19943Killed Jeffrey Dahmer while in prison, also killed another prisoner at the same time; previously killed a Wisconsin Conservation Corps supervisor in 1990 [4]
Chai Vang Meteor November 21, 20046Deer hunting dispute turned into mass shooting [5]
Terry Ratzmann Brookfield March 12, 20058Mass shooting at Living Church of God [6]
Crandon shooting Crandon October 7, 20077Off-duty sheriff's deputy fatally shot six persons, including his ex-girlfriend, at a post-homecoming party and then committed suicide [7]
Yolanda Brown Milwaukee October 16, 20072R&B singer and record producer fatally shot at recording studio [8]
Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting Oak Creek August 5, 20128Mass shooting at Sikh temple [9]
Azana Spa shooting Brookfield October 21, 20124Estranged husband of worker entered spa in suburban Milwaukee, four killed including the wife and shooter [10]
Aaron Schaffhausen River Falls July 10, 20123Father slit throats of his three daughters (ages 5, 8, and 11) the year after divorce from their mother [11]
Steven Zelich West Allis 2012–20132Former police officer known as the "Wisconsin Suitcase Murderer" [12]
Ashlee Martinson Piehl March 7, 20152Convicted of murdering her mother and stepfather on the day after her 17th birthday
Kidnapping of Jayme Closs Barron October 15, 2018221-year-old broke into house, fatally shot parents, and kidnapped 13-year-old girl for 88 days [13]
Milwaukee brewery shooting MilwaukeeFebruary 26, 20206A 51-year-old worker at Molson Coors brewery fatally shot five coworkers and then committed suicide [14]
Kenosha unrest shooting Kenosha August 25, 2020217-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded another, using an AR-15 rifle; Rittenhouse claimed self-defense and was found not guilty [15]
Waukesha Christmas parade attack Waukesha November 21, 20216Six killed and 62 injured when the perpetrator deliberately hit participants and observers with his SUV at Christmas parade

Serial killers

Listed in chronological order by date of earliest homicide

gypIncidentLocationDateDeathsDescriptionSources
Ed Gein Plainfield 1947–19572–9Known as the "Butcher of Plainfield" [16]
George Lamar Jones Wisconsin, Mississippi1972–19973+Serial killer who lived for a time in Milwaukee
Joseph Paul Franklin Multiple1977–19808–20+White supremacist killer executed 2013 [16]
Walter E. Ellis Milwaukee1986–20078–10+Known as "The Milwaukee North Side Strangler" [16]
Edward Edwards Wisconsin, Ohio1977–19965–15+Six confirmed victims [16]
Jeffrey Dahmer Ohio, Wisconsin1978–199116Known as the "Milwaukee Cannibal" [16]
David Van Dyke Milwaukee1979–19806Burglar who murdered people after tricking them into letting him into their homes [17]
Lorenzo Fayne Wisconsin, Illinois1989–19936Serial killer and rapist who murdered one woman and five children in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois

Single homicides

IncidentLocationDateDescriptionSources
John McCaffary Kenosha July 23, 1850Convicted of drowning his wife in a cistern, his execution was botched, leading to the abolition of capital punishment in Wisconsin
Little Lord Fauntleroy Waukesha 1921Unsolved murder of young boy found floating in a pond
Arthur "Buddy" Schumacher Wauwatosa 1925Unsolved murder of 8-year-old boy; later the subject of the 2012 book Murder in Wauwatosa: The Mysterious Death of Buddy Schumacher
Jack Zuta Delafield August 1, 1930Organized crime figure fatally shot at a roadhouse
Sterling Hall bombing Madison August 24, 1970Bombing at University of Wisconsin as protest of connections with military research during Vietnam War, a physics researcher was killed and three others injured
Murder of Lisa Ann French Fond du Lac October 31, 19739-year old girl murdered and sexually assaulted by neighbor while trick-or-treating alone
Murder of Christine Schultz Milwaukee May 28, 1981Former Milwaukee police officer convicted for the murder of her husband's ex-wife; she escaped in 1990 in an episode that inspired the slogan "Run, Bambi, Run"
Murder of Amber Creek Burlington 1997-02Teenager who ran away from a youth shelter; suspect convicted of her murder 34 years later
Murder of Traci Hammerberg Grafton December 15, 198418-year-old murdered while walking home from a party; murderer identified 35 years later
Murder of Susan Poupart Lac du Flameau May 20, 1990Unsolved murder of 29-year-old Native American woman
Jesse Anderson MilwaukeeApril 21, 1992Convicted of murdering his wife Barbara Anderson; was then murdered along with Jeffrey Dahmer in prison by Christopher Scarver
Murder of Alfred Kunz Dane March 4, 1998Unsolved murder of a Catholic priest found in church with his throat slit
Death of Julie Jensen Pleasant Prairie December 3, 1998Husband convicted of murdering his wife; conviction later overturned; notable for admission into evidence of a letter written by deceased expressing suspicion of husband's intentions
Murder of Glenn Kopitske Winnebago County July 21, 2003Thrill killing of a bipolar 37-year-old man
Murder of Teresa Halbach
(Steven Avery,
Brendan Dassey)		 Manitowoc County October 31, 2005Photographer murdered by man who hired her to photograph a minivan, later the subject of the Netflix series Making a Murderer
2006 Weston High School shooting Cazenovia September 29, 2006Student fatally shot high school principal
Murder of Cha Vang Green Bay 200730-year-old Hmong man shot and stabbed by James Nichols who had expressed racial animus to Hmong people
Murder of Erika Hill Fitchburg 2007-0215-year-old girl was victim of long term abuse and starvation, then beaten, stabbed and asphyxiated by mother
Murder of Amy Yeary Campbellsport 2008-0818-year-old woman murdered in 2008, body was unidentified for 13 years, aka "Fond du Lac County Jane Doe"
Murder of Hussain Saeed Alnahdi Menomonie October 31, 201624-year-old student from Saudi Arabia beaten to death outside a pizzeria in downtown Menomonie
Killing of Ee Lee MilwaukeeSeptember 19, 2020Woman raped and murdered by two teenage boys on video in front of nine other youths
Killing of Lily Peters Chippewa Falls April 22, 202210-year-old girl raped and murdered, her 14-year-old cousin was arrested and is being tried as an adult
John Pier Roemer New Lisbon June 3, 2022Juneau County judge fatally shot by a man convicted in his court six years earlier
Death of Sade Robinson MilwaukeeApril 1, 202419-year-old woman killed and dismembered.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serial killer</span> Murderer of multiple people

A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a significant period of time between them. The serial killers' psychological gratification is the motivation for the killings, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victims at different points during the murder process. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking, financial gain, and attention seeking, and killings may be executed as such. The victims tend to have things in common such as, demographic profile, appearance, gender or race. The FBI will focus on particular patterns that the serial killers follow throughout their murders. They will then use on the patterns they find for key clues into finding the killer along with their motives. Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer, spree killer, or contract killer, there are overlaps between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christopher Scarver</span> American murderer (born 1969)

Christopher J. Scarver Sr. is an American convicted murderer. He is best known for the 1994 murders of his fellow inmates Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, both convicted murderers, at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. The three inmates were on a work detail together in the prison gymnasium, and had a confrontation while unsupervised. Scarver found a metal bar that he used to beat and fatally injure Dahmer and Anderson. Scarver was convicted and sentenced to two further life sentences for these murders. He had already been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murder of Steve Lohman in 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass murder</span> Act of murdering many people in a short span

Mass murder is the violent crime of killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more persons kill several others.

Consensual homicide refers to a case when one person kills another, with the consent of the person being killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Dillon</span> American serial killer

Thomas Lee Dillon was an American serial killer who shot and killed at least five men in southeastern Ohio, beginning April 1, 1989 and continuing until April 1992. He was nicknamed "Killer" for boasting about shooting hundreds of animals.

Internet homicide, also called internet assassination, refers to killing in which victim and perpetrator met online, in some cases having known each other previously only through the Internet. Also Internet killer is an appellation found in media reports for a person who broadcasts the crime of murder online or who murders a victim met through the Internet. Depending on the venue used, other terms used in the media are Internet chat room killer, Craigslist killer, Facebook serial killer. Internet homicide can also be part of an Internet suicide pact or consensual homicide. Some commentators believe that reports on these homicides have overemphasized their connection to the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter E. Ellis</span> American serial killer and rapist

Walter Earl Ellis, known as The Milwaukee North Side Strangler, was an American serial killer who raped and strangled at least seven women in the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin between 1986 and 2007. Until May 2009, the killings were considered to be independent of one another, but were then linked together via DNA profiling. Ellis was arrested as a suspect on September 7, 2009, and convicted for the seven murders in February 2011, receiving seven consecutive life sentences without the chance of parole.

Parabon NanoLabs, Inc. is a company based in Reston, Virginia, that develops nanopharmaceuticals and provides DNA phenotyping services for law enforcement organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samuel Little</span> American serial killer (1940–2020)

Samuel Little was an American serial killer who confessed to murdering 93 people, nearly all women, between 1970 and 2005. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)'s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) has confirmed Little's involvement in at least 60 of the 93 confessed murders, the largest number of confirmed victims for any serial killer in United States history.

<i>Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes</i> American docuseries on Netflix

Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes is an American documentary that premiered on Netflix on January 24, 2019, the 30th anniversary of Bundy's execution. Created and directed by Joe Berlinger, the four episodes ranging from 51 to 74 minutes long were sourced from over 100 hours of interviews and archival footage of serial killer Ted Bundy, as well as interviews with his friends, surviving victims, and the law enforcement members who worked on his case.

George Lamar Jones was an American serial killer who killed at least three women in Mississippi and Wisconsin from 1972 to 1997, with his latter murders occurring at the same time as those of Walter E. Ellis, another unrelated serial killer. For his respective crimes, Jones was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, remaining behind bars until his death in 2012.

References

  1. ↑ August Derleth (1968). Wisconsin Murders. Mycroft & Moran.
  2. ↑ Martin Hintz (2007). Got Murder? The Shocking Story of Wisconsin's Notorious Killers. Trails Books. ISBN   978-1-931599-96-2.
  3. ↑ William R. Drennan (2008). Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN   978-0-299-22214-7.
  4. ↑ Jamie Schram (April 28, 2015). "Why I killed Jeffrey Dahmer". New York Post. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Vang trial disturbing on many level". Winona Post. August 16, 2021. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Church, Police Probe 7 Murders". CBS News. March 14, 2005. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Friend: Wis. deputy's shooting rampage started after he was called a 'worthless pig'". The Goshen News. Associated Press. October 9, 2007. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Cold case heats up Police may have suspect murders of R&B singer, producer; "If this is true, it'll be a big relief"". Fox 6 Now Milwaukee. July 12, 2016. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  9. ↑ Rob Mentzer (July 28, 2022). "Wisconsin's Sikh community a decade after fatal temple shooting". NPR. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  10. ↑ Madeline Anderson (October 21, 2017). "Azana Salon & Spa marks 5 years since gunmen killed 3, injured 4 others". Fox 6 Milwaukee. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Mom remembers 3 daughters, a decade after their brutal murders by father". Star Tribune. July 8, 2022. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Steven Zelich arrested in connection with Wisconsin suitcase bodies case". 7 Eyewitness News. Archived from the original on June 27, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ Natalie Brophy, Andy Thompson (January 7, 2021). "Two years after teenager Jayme Clooss escaped from captivity, her case remains a source of hope for missing children". Post Crescent. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  14. ↑ "A gun collector's paranoia, a wrong suspect and the role of racism. What the Molson Coors mass shooting records reveal". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. November 25, 2000. Archived from the original on March 26, 2023. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  15. ↑ Becky Sullivan (November 19, 2021). "Kyle Rittenhouse is acquitted of all charges in the trial over killing 2 in Kenosha". NPR. Archived from the original on June 18, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 "Six serial killers who left deep scars on Wisconsin". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Van Dyke given longest term in state history". Wausau Daily Herald . March 6, 1981. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
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