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LIVING & TRAVEL

5/21-5/28: Auctioning Dahmer's Tools

Jeffrey Dahmer's possessions -- including a drill, four knives, a freezer, a hypodermic needle and pornographic movies -- are up for auction. The proceeds are to go to the families of the victims (who are in favor of the auction), but Milwaukee residents are kicking up a fuss. Is the compensation to the victims' families enough to justify this macabre auction? And what does the auction say about the people who will buy?

Update, May 29, 1996: Reuters reports that the victims' families decided to accept an offer from a Milwaukee civic group that pledged $407,225 to buy Dahmer's belongings, rather than allowing them to be auctioned.

kennyo: Oh, man! My stomach just turned over. This is pushing the boundry of good taste way, way over the edge. It's sad to see how sick society has become. Ken

JackM: Macabre is correct. Burn them.

Slowsh: .....there can be no justifiable compensation for the famillies who have endured such a trauma and loss......i think the auction is total bullshit.......

Kimmy: I think the police should monitor fairly closely anyone who would want to buy so mething of Jeffrey Dahmer's. It's disgusting. They should just burn the stuff.

khill: I believe that what ever compensation there is available the families should get, even if this does mean auctioning the merchandise.

Billzebub: Sure.

Slappy: Are any of Dahmer's kitchen utensils (fork & knife, dishes, pots & pans) available for sale? If so, sign me up!

Vickster: WOW! I doubt the victim's families want anything to do with the money made from this auction. By the way, what's O.J.'s knife going for?

LittleMissNaughty: They do, though -- that's the big debate. The local businessmen _don't_ want the auction to go on, but the victims' families and their lawyers are the ones who _do_ They say they deserve the money. Despite the fact that more than half of Dahmer's victims were never reported as missing.

MrCat: I can't imagine any of the family members of the victims accepting any proceeds from these articles

JeffCameron: Whomever ends up with the porno movies, is truly the sick one. I don't think that it is to Disgusting to sell the rest of the items though..

John Relf: "Look, Margie, I bought the reciprocating saw that Dahmer guy used to cut up all those young men! Whaddya say we cut a hole in the wall there and put in that big bay window you've been talkin' about!" Well, well, you know, it really DOES just come down to money, doesn't it?

jhoward: Disgusting! I guess I could see how some people would want to buy that shit, but I can't believe the families would want the $. They probably don't. Somebody should auction off those dumbshit cops that had a chance to bust Dahmer and didn't. Or how about the neighbors who only wondered about the "funny smells" in the hall.

JoeDan: If people are willing to buy the stuff, I say sell it. Just because an item is in poor taste does not mean that it should be denied to consumers. Keep the economy rolling!

Furie: I agree with what one NY Times reporter said. Pay a fair price for them. Then burn the whole collection.

dorseyh: It says that some people have more money than they need, but, if you can afford to buy a little piece of real "Americana," why not--especially if the benefactors will be the families of the recently digested.

Shazam420: I can't imagine what it must be like, being a living family member of a Dahmer victim, but in a feeble attempt to mentally assume said position, I simply can not comprehend that I would want anything but for a complete razing of the Dahmer property. That is just DIRTY money, and I could never live with it....

LThornton: I think the kind of people who would bid on thes items should have to do so in the presence of the victim's families.

mszippy: I think the public sale of tools that helped to torture and murder sends a message out that desensitizes us to the horror of the crime. Americans, it seems, will do anything, like lower their standards, where money is involved. It disgusts me that people have no shame and will let it be publicly known that they would even want these obscene objects. It's like after seeing years of violence on TV and the movies, we get used to it and forget the reality of it.

mabourn: It should be left up to the families of the victims. If they don't have a problem with it then why should we? ( Personally I think it is sick.)

MADMAC: Weird. Really weird. But hey, it's a free country... What ever blows your dress up, I guess...

berzerko: I think if there are people willing to buy these items, and the families want the money, then the auction should be held. Why be critical of the buyers? It's their business why they want them -- let them do with them as they will (within legal limits obviously).

M.S.: This is the first I've heard of this one! How appalling!! I think that this sort of thing symptomatic of the disintegration of our society. Why... just the other day I took my wife and kids to the Bronx Zoo. It was a real zoo, let me tell you! The animals were more civilized than the people. This country is in deep doo doo if we don't do something and pronto!!

TBlackmore: SICK

Frizee: I guess that this auction will be a big hit in the cannibal circles.

MadMax: America is the land of freedom: everyone can do everything as long as it doesn't disturb others. But this is brutality!

Psychadelic: No. I hate to think that society has sunk so low as to sell possesions of a cannibal just to make his family feel better! Who would want to buy the knife probably used to cut someone up anyway? The person who does truely needs help. And a hypodermic needle?? Burn the items, keep them as evidence, bury them, but for God's sake don't sell them! Of course his family is in favor of it, they get to keep the money from it. Money often blinds people's judgement, as I think it has in this case.

pie: There can be no justification for such a sick and twisted auction. I pity the victims who died at the hands of this wacko not only for being killed but for having relatives who would want to profit from it.

SteveDallas: I really can't fathom the willingness of the families of the victims to see this auction take place. The thought that they can be satisfied with a pittance of money for the tools used by a perverse, psychotic, pathetic piece of shit who preyed upon the young. The reports of this must be either false or complete fabrications. The tools should be destroyed and buried where they will never be found again. If the reports are true, I pray for their souls because they are betraying the memory of their loved ones for a few pieces of silver. I hope they can live with themselves after they collect their blood money. I remember the trial, where the sister of one of the victims raged at Dahmer in hysteria because of the horror of what he had done to her brother. I cannot imagine she would want anything having to do with Dahmer, much less the glorification of his acts. That would be along the same lines as wanting to have one of the ovens from a Nazi concentration camp, or the shower head they used to gas the Jews. The people who wish to own these tools should look deep into themselves to find what they are missing that would compel them to desire such an evil item. Do they wish to live vicariously as Dahmer, or as the young men he slew? Why would these people want to try to feel those emotions? God Bless this world, for it is in great need of it.

werebeast: I feel that the tools should be destroyed, no amount of money is ever going to replace the family members that they lost. Anyone willing to purchase these items need to get a complete psychological evaluation. This is also sending out a message that Dahmer was some kind of hero that his tools are worth collecting. Whats next, the Unabombers auction?

Persuter: Who the hell are we to question what the families want to do with the money? I do not think it is sick. If the families want some money as recompensation, however small, then by God let them sell them. Why are we telling them how to feel when they are the ones whose children, siblings, or parents have been chopped up? I say, if they decide to sell, it is really their perogative. To the person who suggested watching the people who bought them, some still believe that America is a free country and if I want to buy Jeffrey Dahmer's bone saw then I should be able to do it without having to be watched. Besides, it would definitely make an interesting conversation piece.

cwnnf: Gouls are what they are, the tools should be destroyed. Anyone who wants them is sick. No money can make up for the grief those families have suffered.

pinkas: This is as insane as the original act and really sheds light on what money will make even the victims do. Only a nut case would want to support and own something like that; what do you say to your kid? "Look Jimmy, Jeffrey's ice cream/head scooper." I felt just as strongly about selling Jack Ruby's gun; the stuff should be publicly melted like burning the tusks of killed elephants.

izbee: They should auction it off....get rid of that guys death toys....I doubt the state wants to keep it.

rot: No, I think there are better ways to get money to compensate the victim's families.

TomSlick: Well what jeffery dahmer did was dispicable but I also favor selling to those who want to purchase the items & either give the money to the families or...give it to a non-profit org who helps people who have been thru that hell & back! Their is probably lots of wacko's who'd love to have things in their possestion (of couse I think those who dropped those big bucks on JFK's stuff was just a macabe!)

KMorrison: Sick, sick, sick.

Colestock: Jeffrey Dahmer's stuff should be buried with him. There are a lot of sick people in this world, including the ones who would buy these implements. The families have lost their loved ones; a little money from such an auction can't bring them back or repair any financial damages these losses have already wreaked. Let the victims and their families rest in peace in their own ways and bury this guy once and for all WITH HIS TOOLS.