List of homicides in Wisconsin
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:
- Multiple homicides – homicides having multiple victims.
- 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
- 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
[edit]Listed in chronological order
| Incident | Location | Date | Deaths | Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taliesin murders | Spring Green | August 14, 1914 | 7 | Murder of Frank Lloyd Wright's mistress, Mamah Borthwick, and six others by a chef working at the site | [3] |
| Christopher Scarver | Portage | November 28, 1994 | 3 | Killed 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, 2004 | 6 | Deer hunting dispute turned into mass shooting | [5] |
| Terry Ratzmann | Brookfield | March 12, 2005 | 8 | Mass shooting at Living Church of God | [6] |
| Crandon shooting | Crandon | October 7, 2007 | 7 | Off-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, 2007 | 2 | R&B singer and record producer fatally shot at recording studio | [8] |
| Wisconsin Sikh temple shooting | Oak Creek | August 5, 2012 | 8 | Mass shooting at Sikh temple | [9] |
| Azana Spa shooting | Brookfield | October 21, 2012 | 4 | Estranged husband of worker entered spa in suburban Milwaukee, four killed including the wife and shooter | [10] |
| Aaron Schaffhausen | River Falls | July 10, 2012 | 3 | Father slit throats of his three daughters (ages 5, 8, and 11) the year after divorce from their mother | [11] |
| Steven Zelich | West Allis | 2012–2013 | 2 | Former police officer known as the "Wisconsin Suitcase Murderer" | [12] |
| Ashlee Martinson | Piehl | March 7, 2015 | 2 | Convicted of murdering her mother and stepfather on the day after her 17th birthday | |
| Kidnapping of Jayme Closs | Barron | October 15, 2018 | 2 | 21-year-old broke into house, fatally shot parents, and kidnapped 13-year-old girl for 88 days | [13] |
| Milwaukee brewery shooting | Milwaukee | February 26, 2020 | 6 | A 51-year-old worker at Molson Coors brewery fatally shot five coworkers and then committed suicide | [14] |
| Kenosha unrest shooting | Kenosha | August 25, 2020 | 2 | 17-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, 2021 | 6 | Six killed and 62 injured when the perpetrator deliberately hit participants and observers with his SUV at Christmas parade | |
| Nelsonville triple murder | Nelsonville | April 2009 | 3 | Shane Kettner, 36, killed his girlfriend and her two children in their Nelsonville home. He was found by police with a surviving six-month-old child who, along with parts of the home, had been doused with gasoline. |
Serial killers
[edit]Listed in chronological order by date of earliest homicide
| gypIncident | Location | Date | Deaths | Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ed Gein | Plainfield | 1947–1957 | 2–9 | Known as the "Butcher of Plainfield" | [16] |
| George Lamar Jones | Wisconsin, Mississippi | 1972–1997 | 3+ | Serial killer who lived for a time in Milwaukee | |
| Joseph Paul Franklin | Multiple | 1977–1980 | 8–20+ | White supremacist killer executed 2013 | [16] |
| Walter E. Ellis | Milwaukee | 1986–2007 | 8–10+ | Known as "The Milwaukee North Side Strangler" | [16] |
| Edward Edwards | Wisconsin, Ohio | 1977–1996 | 5–15+ | Six confirmed victims | [16] |
| Jeffrey Dahmer | Ohio, Wisconsin | 1978–1991 | 16 | Known as the "Milwaukee Cannibal" | [16] |
| David Van Dyke | Milwaukee | 1979–1980 | 6 | Burglar who murdered people after tricking them into letting him into their homes | [17] |
| Lorenzo Fayne | Wisconsin, Illinois | 1989–1993 | 6 | Serial killer and rapist who murdered one woman and five children in the states of Wisconsin and Illinois |
Single homicides
[edit]| Incident | Location | Date | Description | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| John McCaffary | Kenosha | July 23, 1850 | Convicted of drowning his wife in a cistern, his execution was botched, leading to the abolition of capital punishment in Wisconsin | |
| Little Lord Fauntleroy | Waukesha | 1921 | Unsolved murder of young boy found floating in a pond | |
| Arthur "Buddy" Schumacher | Wauwatosa | 1925 | Unsolved 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, 1930 | Organized crime figure fatally shot at a roadhouse | |
| Sterling Hall bombing | Madison | August 24, 1970 | Bombing 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, 1973 | 9-year old girl murdered and sexually assaulted by neighbor while trick-or-treating alone | |
| Murder of Christine Schultz | Milwaukee | May 28, 1981 | Former 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 | 1997-02 | Teenager who ran away from a youth shelter; suspect convicted of her murder 34 years later | |
| Murder of Traci Hammerberg | Grafton | December 15, 1984 | 18-year-old murdered while walking home from a party; murderer identified 35 years later | |
| Murder of Susan Poupart | Lac du Flameau | May 20, 1990 | Unsolved murder of 29-year-old Native American woman | |
| Jesse Anderson | Milwaukee | April 21, 1992 | Convicted 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, 1998 | Unsolved murder of a Catholic priest found in church with his throat slit | |
| Death of Julie Jensen | Pleasant Prairie | December 3, 1998 | Husband 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, 2003 | Thrill killing of a bipolar 37-year-old man | |
| Murder of Teresa Halbach (Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey) |
Manitowoc County | October 31, 2005 | Photographer 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, 2006 | Student fatally shot high school principal | |
| Murder of Cha Vang | Green Bay | 2007 | 30-year-old Hmong man shot and stabbed by James Nichols who had expressed racial animus to Hmong people | |
| Murder of Erika Hill | Fitchburg | 2007-02 | 15-year-old girl was victim of long term abuse and starvation, then beaten, stabbed and asphyxiated by mother | |
| Murder of Amy Yeary | Campbellsport | 2008-08 | 18-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, 2016 | 24-year-old student from Saudi Arabia beaten to death outside a pizzeria in downtown Menomonie | |
| Killing of Ee Lee | Milwaukee | September 19, 2020 | Woman raped and murdered by two teenage boys on video in front of nine other youths | |
| Murder of Shad Thyrion | Green Bay | February 21, 2022 | 24-year-old American man killed during sexual intercourse and then dismembered. | |
| Killing of Lily Peters | Chippewa Falls | April 22, 2022 | 10-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, 2022 | Juneau County judge fatally shot by a man convicted in his court six years earlier | |
| Death of Sade Robinson | Milwaukee | April 1, 2024 | 19-year-old woman killed and dismembered. |
References
[edit]- ^ August Derleth (1968). Wisconsin Murders. Mycroft & Moran.
- ^ Martin Hintz (2007). Got Murder? The Shocking Story of Wisconsin's Notorious Killers. Trails Books. ISBN 978-1-931599-96-2.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Vang trial disturbing on many level". Winona Post. August 16, 2021. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
- ^ "Church, Police Probe 7 Murders". CBS News. March 14, 2005. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 24, 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e "Six serial killers who left deep scars on Wisconsin". Wisconsin State Journal. Archived from the original on October 24, 2022. Retrieved October 23, 2022.
- ^ "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.