For many observers of this year’s presidential election the theme is psychosis, and there will be no better way to celebrate that motif during July’s Republican National Convention in Cleveland than a stay in the site of famed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s first murder.
The Akron Beacon Journal reports that approved housing provider for the event Howard Hanna is listing the reputed cannibal’s suburban Akron childhood home for $8,000 during the week of the convention, which runs from July 18-21. The house is where in 1978 Dahmer is believed to have killed and strew the remains of Steven Hicks, the first of 17 victims he murdered during a spree that lasted until 1991.
The Beacon Journal claims the home’s history is plainly visible on its listing, but any mention of the house’s horrifying legacy appeared to be absent upon a check of the Howard Hanna site.
The listing simply read, “Mid-century modern home with a true park-like setting. Smoking and animals okay. Close to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Montrose shopping. Easy access to I-77 highway.”
That kind of access to Interstate 77 is insane enough on its own.
Over 13 years, Dahmer not only took the 17 lives, he also committed acts of molestation, necrophilia and cannibalism, performing crude experiments on some victims, who were most often drawn from the fringes of society. He was finally sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms in 1992, and was murdered in prison less than three years later.
The Bath Township home’s occupant throughout the rest of the year, according to the Beacon Journal, is Chris Butler, the songwriter behind “I Know What Boys Like,” released by his band, The Waitresses, in 1982.