11 Biggest true crime cases in Wisconsin history

From bank robberies to infamous serial killers, Wisconsin is home to some horrific and unforgettable true crime cases. 

With its beautiful state parks, scenic coastline along two Great Lakes, and charming small towns, Wisconsin is a truly lovely place. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t home to some horrific history. The state has seen its fair share of deeply unsettling true crime cases.

From famous serial killers, like Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein, to a bank robbery planned out and committed by arguably the most famous bank robber in the world, there are numerous true crime cases to unpack throughout the state.

Here are some of the most notorious true crime cases in Wisconsin history.

1. Slender Man stabbing

When did it happen?: May 31, 2014

Where did it happen?: Waukesha

During a game of hide-and-seek in Waukesha’s David’s Park, 12-year-olds Anissa Weier and Morgan Geyser stabbed their friend, Payton Leutner, 19 times. Weier and Geyser believed that by murdering Leutner, they would prove the existence of Slender Man—a fictional character that originated as a creepypasta meme, a fictional, horror-related legend that’s shared online.

Leutner survived after she was found by a passing cyclist and endured a six-hour operation. Weier and Geyser were apprehended five hours after the stabbing. Geyser was charged with attempted first-degree homicide, while Weier was charged with attempted second-degree homicide. Both were tried as adults and were found not guilty by reason of insanity. Geyser was sentenced to 40 years to life in a mental institution, but is due to be released to a group home this year, while Weier was sentenced to 25 years to life in a mental institution and was released in 2021.

The stabbing has been the subject of several films, TV shows, and books, including the HBO documentary, “Beware the Slenderman,” which was released in 2016.

2. Murder of Shad Thyrion

When did it happen?: Feb. 21, 2022

Where did it happen?: Green Bay

Green Bay resident Taylor Schabusiness was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10.5 years in 2023, after being found guilty of the murder of her boyfriend, Shad Thyrion.

A year before, on Feb. 21, 2022, Schabusiness picked up Thyrion from his mother’s Green Bay home to go to a friend’s apartment, where they smoked marijuana and reportedly methamphetamine. The couple returned to Thyrion’s mother’s empty house and had sex, during which Schabusiness strangled Thyrion until he began coughing up blood and eventually died. She continued assaulting the corpse for hours after he had died, and then dismembered the corpse.

Thyrion’s mother found his head in a bucket in her basement two days later, and scattered body parts throughout the house during a police investigation. Schabusiness was found at an apartment complex, with her clothes covered in blood, and was arrested. She is currently serving her sentence at Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac.

3. Jeffrey Dahmer murders

When did it happen?: 1978-1991

Where did it happen?: Ohio, Milwaukee, and West Allis

One of Wisconsin’s most infamous criminals is serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who primarily lived in Milwaukee and carried out most of his crimes within the city. The convicted murderer killed and dismembered 17 men and boys over a span of 13 years.

His first victim, Steven Mark Hicks, was killed while hitchhiking to a concert near Dahmer’s family home in Bath, Ohio. He moved in with his grandmother in West Allis, Wisc., and murdered his next victim, Steven Tuomi, in Milwaukee’s Ambassador Hotel.

Dahmer murdered, dismembered, and sometimes cannibalized a majority of his victims at his homes in Milwaukee. He was eventually caught in 1991, after Tracy Edwards escaped from his apartment and flagged down police officers. The serial killer was sentenced to 16 life sentences, without the possibility of parole.

In 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisc.

4. Chandler Halderson murders

When did it happen?: July 2021

Where did it happen?: Dane County

Dane County resident Chandler Halderson called the police on July 7, 2021, to report his parents, Bart and Krista Halderson, missing. Just one day later, while Halderson was being questioned, his father’s remains were found in a wooded area. Less than a week later, his mother’s dismembered legs were found near the Wisconsin River. During the murder investigation, police arrested Halderson and said that he killed his parents after they discovered that he was lying about aspects of his life, including the fact that Halderson was not a student at Madison Area Technical College, where he had said that he was enrolled.

Halderson was convicted on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and providing false information on missing persons. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and is serving his sentence at Dodge Correctional Institution, in Waupun, Wisc.

5. Kidnapping of Jayme Closs

When did it happen?: Oct. 15, 2018

Where did it happen?: Kidnapped in Barron; held in Gordon

For 88 days, 13-year-old Jayme Closs was held captive at a home in Gordon, Wisc., after being kidnapped by 21-year-old Jake Patterson. On Oct. 15, 2018, Patterson broke into the Closs home in Barron, Wisc., and murdered both of Jayme’s parents, James and Denise Closs, before kidnapping the Wisconsin teenager.

Patterson kept Closs in the rural home, 70 miles away from where she was kidnapped, until she escaped on Jan. 10, 2019. Taking an opportunity to leave while Patterson wasn’t at the home, Closs came across a local woman who recognized her from news coverage of the kidnapping. After being admitted to a hospital, Closs was released to the custody of her aunt and received a $25,000 reward from Hormel, the food processing company where her parents worked, for rescuing herself.

Patterson was arrested and found guilty on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of kidnapping. He was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, plus 40 years, and is currently serving his sentence at the Penitentiary of New Mexico.

6. The Bonebreaker Killer

When did it happen?: 1994-1995

Where did it happen?: Baraboo

Joe Clark, a 17-year-old from Baraboo, Wisc., received his nickname “The Bonebreaker Killer” due to his affinity for hearing the noise of bones breaking. In 1995, Clark kidnapped 13-year-old Thadius Phillips out of his Baraboo home. While in captivity, Clark broke Phillips’ ankle, both legs, hip, and shins, and when questioned why he was doing that, responded that he was “fascinated” by the sound of breaking bones.

After 48 hours, Phillips was able to escape and call 911, and Clark was arrested later that day. While he was holding Phillips captive, Clark admitted that he had other victims, including Chris Steiner, a 14-year-old from Baraboo, who was found dead in the Wisconsin River one year before.

Clark was sentenced to life in prison for intentional homicide and attempted homicide.

7. Murder of Lisa Ann French

When did it happen?: Oct. 31, 1973

Where did it happen?: Fond du Lac

While 9-year-old Lisa Ann French was trick-or-treating on Halloween night in 1973, her neighbor, Gerald Miles Turner, lured her into his home. There, he sexually assaulted and murdered French before discarding her body in a farm field in nearby Taycheedah, Wisc.

After a farmer found French’s body on Nov. 3, Turner was quickly made a suspect in the investigation. After nine months of questioning, he confessed to the murder and sexual assault. On Feb. 4, 1975, Turner was convicted of second-degree murder, enticing a child for immoral purposes, and acts of sexual perversion.

He was sentenced to 38 years and six months in prison. After less than 18 years, Turner was paroled for good behavior in 1992, but was sent back to prison in 1993 after an appeal ruled that his mandatory parole release was miscalculated. He was released on parole again in 1998 but then sentenced to 15 more years in prison in 2003 for violating his parole.

In 2022, a judge ruled against Turner’s release because he is a convicted violent sex offender, and he remains in residency at a high-security mental health facility.

8. Racine bank robbed by John Dillinger 

When did it happen?: Nov. 20, 1933

Where did it happen?: Racine

John Dillinger was no stranger to robbing banks when he stopped by American Bank & Trust in Racine, Wisc. Dillinger, along with his gang, which included up to 14 members, robbed at least 24 banks, as well as four police stations throughout the Midwest. During this crime spree, the gang also killed 10 people, wounded seven more, and successfully pulled off three jailbreaks.

After one of these jailbreaks from the Allen County jail in Lima, Ohio, Dillinger was placed at the top of the FBI’s Most Wanted list—but the gang continued their crime spree. On Nov. 20, 1933, the Dillinger Gang stole $28,000 from the Racine bank. During the bank robbery, teller Harold Graham was shot in the arm, and a responding police officer, Sergeant Wilbur Hansen, was shot twice. The gang escaped by using hostages as shields.

9. Steven Avery and Teresa Hallbach

When did it happen?: Teresa Halbach murdered on Oct. 31, 2005

Where did it happen?: Manitowoc County

One of the most popular recent true crime TV shows is Netflix’s “Making a Murderer.” The show focused on Steven Avery, a resident of Manitowoc County, who was wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and the attempted murder of Penny Beerntsen in 1985. Beerntsen picked Avery out of a photo lineup after she was sexually assaulted while jogging along Lake Michigan. He was released in 2003, but is now back in prison after he was convicted of murdering photographer Teresa Halbach.

Halbach’s last appointment before going missing was with Avery to photograph his sister’s minivan, which he was selling. The photographer’s car was found partially concealed on Avery’s property, and bloodstains inside the car matched Avery’s DNA.

Avery was charged with first-degree murder, and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, was charged as an accessory. The two have fought their convictions in the years since, saying that there was evidence tampering and witness coercion involved in the police investigation.

Avery is currently serving his sentence at Fox Lake Correctional Institute in Fox Lake, Wisc. Dassey is currently incarcerated at Oshkosh Correctional Institution.

10. Murder of Tom Monfils

When did it happen?: Nov. 21, 1992

Where did it happen?: Green Bay

On Nov. 10, 1992, Tom Monfils, an employee at the James River Paper Mill in Green Bay, called police with an anonymous tip to report that his coworker, Keith Kutska, was going to steal an electrical cord from their place of employment. Security at the mill stopped Kutska, but he refused to submit to a search and was then suspended from work for five days. Kutska attempted to figure out who reported him, and police officers sent him a taped recording of the anonymous tip, allowing him to recognize Monfils by voice.

On Nov. 21, Monfils was beaten, and his unconscious body was thrown into the mill’s pulp vat with a 50-pound weight tied around his neck. Monfils’ body was found in the vat two days later.

Six employees at the mill were found guilty of Monfils’ murder: Michael Piaskoski, Dale Basten, Michael Johnson, Michael Hirn, Rey Moore, and Kutska. All six have maintained their innocence, and Monfils’ brother has said that he believes Monfils committed suicide. All six of the convicted men have since been released on parole, including Kutska, who was paroled in 2023.

11. Ed Gein murders

When did it happen?: 1947-1957

Where did it happen?: Plainfield

Over a span of 10 years, Ed Gein killed at least two people (and potentially seven more) and mutilated nine corpses, becoming known as the “Butcher of Plainfield.” The suspected serial killer confessed to two murders: tavern owner Mary Hogan and store owner Bernice Worden, who he claimed he killed because they resembled his mother. He also dug up graves of recently deceased women to create a “woman suit” of the women’s skin, which he would wear to resemble his mother.

Ed Gein’s story has been publicized in books, movies, and music, and he also served as the inspiration for horror villains, including Norman Bates in the book and movie “Psycho,” Leatherface from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” and Buffalo Bill from “Silence of the Lambs.”

Gein died at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in 1984, at the age of 77. He’s buried in a now-unmarked grave in the Plainfield Cemetery.