The Owner of Jeffrey Dahmer’s Childhood Home ‘Looked for Bones in the Yard’

Netflix’s series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, examines Jeffrey Dahmer’s many murders. The show opens with Dahmer’s last attempted murder in his apartment, which ultimately resulted in his arrest. But before he lived in his apartment, he killed someone in his childhood home. So, where was Jeffrey Dahmer’s home he grew up in, and who owns it now? Here’s what to know about the person who bought the house and how they “looked for bones in the yard.”

Jeffrey Dahmer killed someone in his childhood home

Those who’ve researched Jeffrey Dahmer are quite familiar with his apartment, but the serial killer also killed someone in the home he grew up in. So, where is Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home?

According to Distractify, Dahmer grew up in Akron, Ohio. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but his family moved to Akron in 1968, when Jeffrey was about 8 years old. Jeffrey killed a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks in the house in 1978 as a high school grad.

“I always knew that it was wrong. The first killing was not planned,” Jeffrey Dahmer told Inside Edition, according to Distractify. “I was coming back from the shopping mall back in ’78. I’d had fantasies about picking up a hitchhiker and taking him back to the house and having complete dominance and control over him.”

Who owns Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home? Here’s what the owner said about looking for bones

Jeffrey Dahmer’s family no longer live in his childhood home. So, who owns it now?

Observer spoke to Chris Butler, the owner of the Dahmer home, in 2018. Butler is a musician and formed The Waitresses in 1978. He purchased the Dahmer house in 2005 without having any idea of its backstory ahead of time. “The agent was — well, I don’t want to say he was shrewd, but he didn’t tell me right away, let’s put it that way,” Butler explained. “They let me fall in love with the house first, and then came … the phone call. … It took my breath away for about 24 hours, and then I thought, wow, I’ve got to do this.”

Despite the history, Butler noted the house “had a great vibe,” and he doesn’t believe in ghosts. With that said, he poked around for human remains when he bought the place. “I looked for bones in the yard until I read about how thorough the detectives had been,” he explained. “They basically put every piece of dirt through a sieve. The crawl space is definitely creepy, though. Apparently, it lit up like Christmas when they sprayed that luminol stuff on the walls.”

Is the house for sale?

So, is Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home currently up for grabs? According to Telegram & Gazette, the house was up for sale in 2014 and was first listed in 2012 before getting pulled from the market. It’s unclear if the house remains up for sale in 2022.

Chris Butler told Observer he has no regrets about purchasing the property despite the expense. “No regrets about the Dahmer business, and I love this place,” he noted. “I’ve moved so much in my life, I can’t envision moving again. I’m 68, I’m just tired of packing s*** up. A wonderful thing about the house is that everything I collected and previously had to keep in storage just shoehorned in beautifully. I guess the train stops here.”

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