Jesse Michael Anderson (May 3, 1957 – November 30, 1994) was an American convicted murderer. He was murdered, alongside the serial killer

Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismemberment, dismembered seventeen men and boys ...

, by fellow inmate and convicted murderer

Christopher Scarver Christopher J. Scarver Sr. (born July 6, 1969) is an American convicted triple-murderer who is best-known for murdering his fellow inmates Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer, and Jesse Anderson, a murderer, at the Columbia Correctional Instituti ...

at the Columbia Correctional Institution in 1994.

Early life

Anderson was raised in

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. It is a p ...

. When he was a teenager, his father died of a heart attack and his mother remarried. He attended

Alton High School Alton may refer to: People *Alton (given name) *Alton (surname) Places Australia * Alton National Park, Queensland * Alton, Queensland, a town in the Shire of Balonne Canada * Alton, Ontario * Alton, Nova Scotia New Zealand * Alton, New Zealan ...

and graduated in 1975. In 1980, Anderson married Debra Ann Eickert and divorced in 1984. Also in 1984, he graduated with a degree in Business Administration from

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July 1, 2020. Hist ...

. On March 30, 1985, he married Barbara E. Lynch in Chicago, Illinois. Prior to his arrest for murder, the Andersons lived in

Cedarburg, Wisconsin Cedarburg is a city in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located about north of Milwaukee and in close proximity to Interstate 43, it is a suburban community in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The city incorporated in 1885, and a ...

, with their three young children. He was treasurer of the

Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquartere ...

and did volunteer work at the Divine Word Catholic Church.

Murder of Barbara Anderson

On April 21, 1992, the Anderson couple went to a movie and dinner at a T.G.I. Fridays outside the

Northridge Mall Northridge Mall is a shopping mall in Salinas, California, the largest in Monterey County. Located off Highway 101 near Boronda Road and North Main Street in the northern part of the city, the single-story structure encompasses of retail space. ...

in northwest

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

. After dinner, Jesse stabbed Barbara five times in the face and head, and then stabbed himself four times in the chest, though most of his wounds were superficial. Barbara went into a coma and died from her wounds two days later. Anderson blamed two black men for attacking him and his wife. He presented police with a

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

basketball cap he claimed to have knocked off the head of one of the assailants. When details of the crime were made public, a university student told police Anderson had purchased the hat from him a few days earlier. According to employees at a military surplus store, the red-handled fishing knife that was used to murder Barbara was sold to Anderson a few weeks earlier. Police stated that the store was the only one in Milwaukee that sold that type of knife. On April 29, Anderson was charged with murder. On August 13, he was found guilty and sentenced to

life in prison Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term. Crimes for ...

with the possibility of

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

after 60 years.

Death

On the morning of November 28, 1994, while imprisoned at Columbia Correctional Institution, Anderson and serial killer

were left unattended while cleaning a restroom at the prison gymnasium with fellow inmate

. Scarver reported that he was "disgusted" by a newspaper report detailing Dahmer's crimes against black people, and had previously pleaded an insanity defense at his 1992 trial; when asked by a psychiatrist whether he thought his sentence was just, he replied, "Nothing white people do is just". In a 2015 blog post, Scarver disputed some of these statements. After a confrontation with Dahmer and Anderson, Scarver retrieved a steel bar from the weight room, followed Dahmer to the locker room, and struck him on the head. He then tracked down Anderson and bludgeoned him as well. Dahmer was declared dead about one hour after the attack, and Anderson died two days later when doctors at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

removed him from life support.

References

External links

- ''The New York Times''
"Dahmer Slain in Prison. Anderson Seriously Hurt in Same Attack"
- ''The Milwaukee Journal'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Jesse 1957 births 1994 deaths 1992 murders in the United States 1994 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American people convicted of murder American people who died in prison custody American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Deaths by beating in the United States Elmhurst College alumni Jeffrey Dahmer People convicted of murder by Wisconsin People from Alton, Illinois People from Cedarburg, Wisconsin People from Wisconsin People murdered in Wisconsin Prisoners murdered in custody Prisoners who died in Wisconsin detention Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Wisconsin Racial hoaxes Uxoricides Crime in Milwaukee Crime in Wisconsin Criminals from Wisconsin Criminals from Illinois Murdered criminals

Early life

Murder of Barbara Anderson

Death

See also

References

Further reading

External links