Tracy Edwards - The Man Who Led the World to Jeffrey Dahmer's Doorstep - Another Victim Allowed to Slip Through the Cracks of Wisconsin's Broken System!

Okay so y'all probably know about my slight little thing with Jeffrey Dahmer.  Just the other week, on the 20th anniversary of his capture did I write this blog about him and the fact that I thought it was tragic that he had on so many occasions slipped through the system, something which had people actually paid attention to him, he might not have committed the amount of atrocities that he actually did.  It was with great shock then when I read just a week ago, exactly 20 years and one week since Tracy Edwards, the man who was to be Dahmer's 18th victim however had escaped and led the police to Dahmer's apartment leading to his arrest, was himself arrested on a murder charge.  Edwards, living homeless on the streets, had got into a fight with two other homeless men on a bridge and 43 year old Johnny Jordan plunged from the bridge to his death.  Edwards was arrested and is being held.


It has been reported that Edwards has been in trouble with the police a number of times over the years, mostly with relation to drugs.  What shocked me most about this recent tragedy and the fact that Edwards has once again been thrust into the spotlight, is the fact that after the Dahmer trial, he never received counselling or anything to help him deal with his ordeal.  I mean the man had not only come close to death himself at the hands of Dahmer, he was the man who was single handedly responsible for leading the police to one of the most notorious serial killers that not only America, but the world had ever seen.  As I mentioned in my Dahmer blog, it was Edwards accounts of his encounter with Dahmer that inspired Chris Carter to write one of my favourite X Files episodes, Irresistible...an episode that would go on to inspire another of my favourite Chris Carter shows, the Lance Henriksen/Terry O'Quinn led Millenium!

Getting off track though, my point is...after what Tracy Edwards went through from the 22nd July 1991 and onwards with the trial and the mass amount of press and personal invasion, I find it absolutely shocking that there was nobody to actually look out for him!  The state of Wisconsin, and indeed the USA owed him a debt of gratitude and what did he get...left to his own devices!  I don't know what person wouldn't have resorted to at least drinking in Edwards situation.  The thing is, drugs were readily available in the area he lived and easy to get hold of so he ended up with drug problems as well.  When Dr Emily John hired Edwards to feed the homeless at a shelter in 2004 she was shocked to find out that he had never received counselling following the Dahmer trial.  WISN reports. “It did stun me, which is why I hauled him to the Red Cross immediately,” John said.  The nurse who worked with him offered him free sessions and asked him to come back the next week but he never showed.  The thing is, if you ask me, this was already too late for Edwards and it is easier for one to drown out their demons with drink and drugs than to sometimes face up to the problem at hand.  "I don't think a lot of people want to go to therapy to deal with pain. They'd rather self-medicate, and that's what Tracy does, and it leaves him in the street over and over again," John further stated.


At the end of the day, this is a tragedy on top of a whole mound of tragedies, and one that the state of Wisconsin shouldn't look lightly upon.  This is THEIR FAULT!!!  Not giving counselling to a man who had been in Edwards state is fucked up, like beyond fucked up!  Any normal place would have thought that to be the first thing for any victim, let alone the one that led to the capture of one of the most notorious serial killers of all time!  Dahmer slipped through the cracks and looked what happened to him...and all of his victims.  And then Edwards, the one who gets away and leads the police to Dahmer (a man who FYI, the police were completely clueless about his existence in the first place!), ends up leading a miserable life, fueled by drugs and alcohol to help dull out notoriety of being the one that got away...and now he too is facing a murder charge of his own.  It is a sick and twisted world we live in and this is further proof that when victims of crimes are left to slip though the gaping cracks of a fucked up system, they end up on the wrong side of the law themselves...and more people potentially suffer!


I hope that this is not only a wake up call for Tracy Edwards, but more importantly, a wake up call for the state of Wisconsin as to how it fucked up first time round...here's hoping they won't make the same mistake again!

20 Years Today Since Jeffrey Dahmer was Caught!

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of the day that Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested...ending a 13 year killing spree that had started when Jeff was only 18 years old.  By the time he was caught he had killed 17 men.  Had the police officer that had stopped a drunken 18 year old Jeff with the body of Steven Hicks in his car actually looked in the bin bags in the back of the car that Jeff claimed to be clippings from the garden, he might still be alive today.  As would 16 other men!  And I'm pretty sure that officer would be able to live his life with a clearer conscious.

Dahmer was an incredibly troubled young man, and one that slipped through the eyes of the authorities on so many occasions.  People may deem my fascination with Dahmer to be a strange one, but I have always been weirdly fascinated with this man.  After the death of Steven Hicks it would be another nine years before Dahmer would kill again.  Ashamed of the fact that he was gay, he always said that he believed the trigger for the  four year killing spree that led to his imminent arrest, came when a man slipped him a note whilst he was sitting in the library offering him oral sex.  Soon after, after one of his drinking binges, he awoke the next day with the bruised and battered to death body of Steven Tuomi lying next to him.  He had no recollection of the murder and stuffed the body into a suitcase before disposing of it.  

After this Dahmer went on a sporadic killing spree where he would kill another 15 men, including 14 year old Konerak Sinphasomphone, the brother of a boy he had been arrested for molesting.  The twisted thing about Konerak is that he escaped whilst Dahmer was out, naked, bleeding and bruised though the cops ended up taking the word of the charming Jeff over two African American women who rightfully claimed Konerak was trying to escape from Jeff.  Jeff said he was his boyfriend and that they had just been drinking and had too much too drink.  They took Konerak back to Jeff's apartment, leaving him to his fate at the hand of the disturbed Jeff.  The even more disturbing part about this was that the funky smell that filled their nostrils was the decomposing body of another of Jeff's victims...lying in HIS BEDROOM!!!  This was just another example of how crap the police in Wisconsin actually were.  

It was on the 22nd of July 1991 that Tracy Edwards escaped from Dahmer and brought the police back to his apartment, where they FINALLY clicked on to what was going on.  By that time Jeff had killed 17 men.  At the end of the day though, all he wanted was to be loved.  To find a partner who wouldn't leave him.  He wanted to create a zombie, and attempted on several occasions by drilling a hole in his victims head and pouring acid into it to keep the body 'alive'.  When everything came to trial it wasn't a case of whether or not Jeff was guilty, it was whether he was sane or not!  And at the end of the day the body count was reduced to 15 as they couldn't find evidence of two of the men.  Dahmer was determined sane and got 15 life sentences, which totaled 957 years!  

On the 28th November 1994, fellow inmate Christopher Scarver beat him to death with a broom handle...or at least pretty much to death...Dahmer died from severe head injuries whilst on his way to the hospital.  Christopher Scarver said that God had told him to do it, although whether that is actually true, I doubt we'll ever know. 

At the end of the day this is a tragic story, one that ended in the most horrific of ways.  He was a truly sick man, and unfortunately like so many he, slipped through the cracks of a broken system.  

Fascinated by the story of Jeff, X Files creator Chris Carter (A.K.A. GOD!!!) did an episode based on Jeff entitled Irresistible.  When he submitted the script to the FOX executives they rejected the idea of the Jeff character Donnie Pfaster being a necrophiliac as it was unacceptable for broadcast standards.  The character was then changed to a death fetishist.  Irresistible is one of my all time favourite episodes and it is embodied in Dahmerisms! <3  

For example, Tracy Edwards told police that it was almost like Dahmer shape shifted in some sense, that his face changed....like there was an inner lurking evil behind those eyes.  The character of Donnie Pfaster shape shifted to an image of the devil when he had poor Scully captured.  The cop that is assisting Mulder with the investigation mentions Dahmer - 

People wondered why it took them so long to catch this kid in Milwaukee. Thought someone should have noticed he was killing all those young boys. The truth is, no one ever believed it could happen.

Another story I've heard was that when Nick Chinlund who played Donnie Pfaster (pictured above in character), when he was about to leave his car/trailer or whatever to start filming Irresistible, he heard on the radio that Dahmer had just died.  I so badly want this to be true.  How perfect would that be?  At least if you're a Jeffrey Dahmer/X Files geekazoid!  It is also noted that this episode actually inspired Chris Carter's spin-off show, Millennium!  Again something I would LOVE to be true!   (Edited to add that I spoke to Nick Chinlund about this, and it was indeed true.) 

An Interview with Ron Purtree - A Man Who Lives in Serial Killer Central and is Working on a Web Anthology Entitled The Social Media Massacre! Awesomeness!

One of the first things that I thought when Ron contacted me about The Social Media Massacre, was the fact that he is a Wisconsin based director.  Straight away the “serial killer country” alarm bells start ding a linging, causing a big smile to appear on my ever so nerdtastic face!  Wisconsin is the home to some of the ultimate serial killers, even though one of them only killed two people (some argue he killed more but I don’t believe that!), he still gets that title.  That man would be Ed Gein, the legend behind some of the greatest horror icons of all time, including Norman Bates, Leatherface and the Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs.  Wisconsin is also the home to my ultimate favourite serial killer, a man whom some would say my obsession with, is more than just a little bit disturbing.  Of course I am talking about the one and only Jeffrey Dahmer!  Now this colourful history with some of the quirkier serial killers has got to have an impact on the more imaginative Wisconsonites…right?  How much do you find the stories on your own doorstep influence you as a filmmaker?

I think that Wisconsin has a really deep seeded history of just vile and despicable acts that really needs to be addressed in film the right way. I really, really wish I could say that it's what keeps me coming up with stories as a filmmaker. 

The serial killer nerd in me has got to ask, have you done the tour of all ye olde macabre murder sites?  I know it’s only a vacant lot now but one day I shall visit the scene of 924 North 25th Street, Milwaukee.  And when I win the lottery, I totally intend on buying Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood home!  The Jeremy Renner movie Dahmer (see picture to the right of Jeremy Renner as Dahmer) is one of my all time favourite films.  I also would love to purchase Ed Gein’s property and build some sort of funhouse, haha. 

If I remember correctly, they are having a hard time selling Gein's property so you better hit a number quick. I haven't toured even the vacant lot. That being said I wouldn't be against a quick trip there to see where it all went down.

Have you ever considerd actually filming at one of the Wisconsin’s murderesque scenes?  If so which one would you pick and why? You’ve said that you live pretty darn close to the where it all went down with Mr Dahmer, that’s so freakin’ cool, you have no idea how jealous I am of you.  Have you ever thought about doing a Jeffrey Dahmer and the Chocolate Factory short?  Actually to understand my reference there, you have to answer my next question first!  (Pictured right - the most handsome Jeffrey Dahmer) 

I have not tried filming there but it would have to be at the Gein property (see picture below - although house no longer stands, it's just the land), just because I don't think I'd run into as much trouble as I would filming where Dahmer was, and no I have not thought about that short haha.

Have you heard the Macabre album Dahmer??  If not, look it up now, it is a work of awesome genius! ;)  Once you have heard it you will want to share with all your friends too, trust me!

I know what you are talking about, but I haven't gotten around to listening to it.

What/Who inspired you to become a filmmaker and just how early did you catch the movie making bug?

Very early. I remember seeing Return of the Jedi when I was little and I totally wanted to know how they did that when I was still very young. Who inspired me to actually take up the camera was John Carpenter and Halloween. It inspired me to do it, but then George A Romero and Robert Rodriguez taught me that it was possible to work on a nothing budget. 

Are you any other genres or is horror where you find yourself most comfortable?  I mean, I love all sorts of films but I always find myself automatically levitating towards horror, be it in a rental store, a DVD shop, online on things like Love Film/Netflix…I just always go for horror first!  Are you the same?

I do find more comfort in horror, sure. It's like home for me. However, I'm not against doing other genre's at all. I really think I have my "Leaving Las Vegas" in me somewhere. 

What was the first short you did for The Social Media Massacre?  The first one I watched was A Hollywood Ending which I totally dug!  The guy was really cute too! :P  I find the premise fascinating, I mean after the whole German cannibal incident where he advertised for someone to eat online, it opened up this whole new medium for serial killers and murderers!  The same goes for all these people that meet someone online and then end up getting the chop chop!  What is it about this that fascinates you so much?

That was the first short that we filmed for Social Media Massacre. It was actually more inspired by William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily". If you aren't familiar with that story I highly suggest you read it. You'll see the parallels right away. 

Okay so from speaking to you, I have found out that the cute guy I was just referring too from A Hollywood Ending is Shaun, a character that you want to build on.  Do you want to tell us a little bit about this character and the way forward you’d like to go with him?

The actor in A Hollywood Ending is Charlie Bussian. There is a feature somewhere at some point that we are going to do based on that episode, but there are scheduling conflicts that keep us from getting it done.  I really can't go into too much detail about whats going to happen, safe to say it will be VERY unsettling. 

Have you ever seen the movie Serial Killing 101 or Serial Killing for Dummies (depends what country you are in, they like to change the name!)?  In this movie, for some class in school our protagonist has to tell the teacher what he wants to be when he grows up…it’s some sort of class essay/project.  Anyhoo, he says that he wants to be a serial killer and goes about deciding how his is going to take up this profession, haha.  He even gets this chick (the adorable Lisa Loeb) proposing to be his first victim!  What it turns out though, is there is actually a real life serial killer roaming the town killing people and he has to find out who it is.  I personally love the film, it’s super quirky and has some great parts in it, including a hardware store clerk played by Corey Feldman who helps our main guy pick out all sorts of awesome killing devices! ;)

This is actually the first time that I have heard of it, but now I have to see it. MTV made me have a crush on Lisa Loeb. And to address her, I will stay....

So anyway, the question I was originally going to ask before going on my Serial Killing 101 rant was that when you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?  And how close are you to that profession now!

I always wanted to entertain people. In one form or another. I think I'm pretty damn close to that now. 

What is the most shocking movie that you have ever seen?  What one really got under your skin and refused to budge?  Mine was Martyrs.  I don’t know what it is about that movie, perhaps I was hormonal at the time, fuck knows!  There was just something about it; I just wanted it to end!  And it wasn’t because it was bad, it wasn’t, it was amazing.  It’s the kind of thing I’d usually love but I can’t say I’m in a hurry to watch it again!  So yes, as a maker of movies that you fully intend to get under peoples skins, what really freaks you out?

ALIEN PREY. It just got under my skin in the kind of way that wasn't scary, it was just THAT bad. In doing research about the film I found out that they did things to the actors that would make Hitchcock and John Ford blush. I wouldn't put anyone through what they went through to make such a HORRIBLE movie. 

 

And lastly, you’ve got the feature film of The Social Media Massacre to do, is there anything else that you are working on right now?  What can we expect to see from wicked creeptastic self in the near future?

Yes! I have a few shorts that I am working on in one fashion or another that aren't related to Social Media Massacre. There are more episodes coming out that I'm not directing, so it's freeing me up to boost the creep factor in other areas. I'm currently in what you would call pre-production on a short called "Just Keep Running" which is a focus on how no matter what we do, we can't outrun our fates. For the most part though, folks can find out whats going on with me at Twitter. I'm @ronpurtee ;)

You can also follow Ron on Facebook.