It’s hard to fathom, but murderers often lead lives that are eerily similar to our own. They have jobs. They have families. And they have homes.
But what does the house of a cold-blooded killer look like?
It can vary as much as the murderers themselves.
Jeffrey Dahmer strangled and dismembered many of his victims inside his urban Milwaukee apartment in the Oxford Apartments in the late 1980s. The complex was razed in 1992.
Ed Gein, the “Butcher of Plainfield,” kept the body of one of his victims in his isolated farmhouse, along with skulls, chairs made with human skin, stuffed faces mounted on the walls and other home décor made with body parts. In 1958, a year after police made the gruesome discovery in Gein’s “house of horrors,” the home was destroyed by a fire. It was later bulldozed.
Serial killer John Wayne Gacy murdered all of his known 33 victims throughout the 1970s in his suburban Chicago home, burying most of them on his property, including his crawl space. The ranch home was demolished in 1979 after the search for the bodies and the property was given a new address. A new home was built and last sold in 2004.
The Amityville, New York, home in which Ronald DeFeo Jr. murdered his parents and four siblings in 1974 is still standing and sold for $1.4 million in 2023.
A&E True Crime dives deeper into three other infamous houses where blood has been shed.
Erik and Lyle Menendez
What They Did: Children of affluence, Erik and Lyle (18 and 21 years old, respectively), shot and killed their parents Jose and Mary Louise Menendez on the night of August 20, 1989, while the couple watched television.
Address: 722 North Elm Drive, Beverley Hills, California
Role of the Home: After Erik and Lyle killed their parents, the Menendez mansion was seen as more than just the scene of the crime. According to prosecutors, it was the motive itself.
A villa of more than 9,000 square feet, the 7 bedroom/9 bathroom house sits on half an acre and features a swimming pool, billiards room and a two-story standalone guesthouse. And it was one piece of the Menendez brothers’ inheritance. Before it became a crime scene, it had been the home of both Elton John and Prince, among others.
But the author Steve Lehto, whose book American Murder Houses details the history of several such houses, including the Menendez’s, says the murders were as gruesome as the house was lavish.
“This was an extremely horrific crime scene,” Lehto tells A&E True Crime, noting that the police referred to it as “overkill.”
According to forensic experts, the brothers shotgunned their father to death, went outside to reload and came back in to finish off their mother. Afterward, the brothers went on a spending spree, buying three Rolex watches among other purchases. That brought investigative attention their way; eventually they confessed.
After multiple trials, they were found guilty of the murders and each sentenced to consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
In October 2024, the Los Angeles District Attorney filed a motion recommending that the brothers be resentenced due to new evidence regarding possible sexual abuse at the hands of their father. A hearing to determine whether an L.A. Superior Court judge will, in fact, resentence them, has yet to happen as of press time. However, it’s possible the brothers could be paroled.
Joel Rifkin
What He Did: One of the most prolific serial killers in New York’s history, Joel Rifkin strangled to death at least nine (and as many as 17) women between 1989 and 1993. His spree came to an end when police found the body of 22-year-old Tiffany Bresciani in the back of his truck after he was pulled over for not having a license plate.
Address: 1492 Garden Street, East Meadow, New York
Role of the Home: Rifkin, who was 34 years old at the time of his arrest, lived in a two-story house with his mother and sister. And that home was the central location for much of Rifkin’s bloodshed.
In his first several murders, Rifkin waited until his mother was out of town on a business trip, then brought his victims home where he murdered and dismembered them.
He kept bodies in the garage, says Eugene Corcoran, who was a Lieutenant with the New York State Police and a lead investigator in Rifkin’s case.
“He had moved [his last victim] a couple of times—from his mother’s vehicle to his own truck to the garage—with a wheelbarrow,” Corcoran tells A&E True Crimes. As such, there was a lot of the victim’s blood in the garage.
But however gruesome that evidence was, Corcoran says the most disturbing discoveries were in Rifkin’s bedroom upstairs.
“It was filthy in that bedroom,” Corcoran tells A&E True Crime. “The house was fairly well kept, but that room…it was like a hoarder’s room. Everything was disheveled and dirty. As was he.”
There, amid the filth and debris, Corcoran’s team found Rifkin’s trophies: victims’ drivers licenses, underwear, bras and other such items.
But despite the fact that they were all living under the same roof, Corcoran says that the New York State police found no evidence connecting his mother or adult sister to the homicides.
“It was highly unusual… The nature of the family makeup was that nobody went into his room. The rest of the house was fairly well kept.”
James Ruppert
What He Did: Using three handguns and a rifle, James Ruppert killed his mother, as well as his older brother, Leonard; Leonard’s wife, Alma; and Leonard and Alma’s eight children, aged 4 to 17, on Easter Sunday, March 30, 1975.
Address: 635 Minor Avenue, Hamilton, Ohio
Role of the House: Like Rifkin, Ruppert was an adult who never moved out from his mother’s home. But he was also deeply envious of his brother, Lehto says. Whereas James Ruppert was unemployed, Leonard Ruppert was a successful electrical engineer. And Leonard had also married one of James’ ex-girlfriends.
On Easter, the 12 family members crammed into the two-bedroom, 1,000-square-foot household.
The shooting was immediately precipitated by Leonard asking James about his car, which James later said he perceived as judgmental according to the Associated Press. He killed the three other adults and three of the children in the kitchen, then entered the living room where he killed the other five kids.
“This murder always struck me as too many people in a small house,” Lehto says.
As of press time, the home still stands. In 2014, the homeowner told a local news station that there are bloodstains still visible underneath the floorboards.
Related Features:
What’s Next for the Menendez Brothers?
Ed Gein: The Skin-Suit-Wearing Serial Killer Who Inspired Psycho’s Norman Bates
Did Joel Rifkin’s Childhood Turn Him Into a Serial Killer?
Jeffrey Dahmer’s Childhood: A Pail of Animal Bones Was His Toy Rattle
