A serial killer memorabilia expert has purchased the “holy grail” of macabre souvenirs and believes it might offer key clues to the murderous acts of Jeffrey Dahmer.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, collector David Adamovich detailed his acquisition of the gold-rimmed Titmus Z87 eyeglasses worn by Dahmer during the 1991 arrest that ended his reign of terror. Adamovich is adding the spectacles to his array of eerie collectibles that includes a piece of Charles Manson’s hair and more than 9,000 writing samples, paintings, and audio files belonging to killers such as Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy.
Adamovich didn’t reveal the price of the glasses but said they came with a certificate of authenticity. “They are real. He was wearing them the night he was arrested,” the New York–based collector said. “He was chopping someone apart in little pieces and who knows what those glasses saw.”
Dahmer is known to have killed and dismembered 17 men and boys from 1978 through 1991, earning the gruesome nickname “the Milwaukee Cannibal.” If Adamovich’s suspicions are correct, the glasses could tell us more about Dahmer’s deeds before he was locked away for good.
The glasses might have blood on them
According to 78-year-old Adamovich, the glasses were taken from Dahmer’s final arrest and can be seen in his mugshot. A court later sentenced Dahmer to 16 life terms in prison, but he was killed by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver in 1994.
A 1982 mug shot of Jeffrey Dahmer Getty Images
The glasses were kept in a case for more than 30 years. Beyond their recognizable frame style, Adamovich quickly noticed another distinctive feature. “What is interesting about them is that if you look closely under the frame and the lens there is a reasonable amount of crud that is all around the glass,” he said. “My guess is that it isn’t chocolate from the chocolate factory—the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory—where Jeffrey Dahmer worked. It is probably a reasonable guess to say it was blood from his victims.”
Adamovich, a professional knife thrower who keeps his memorabilia at an undisclosed location near his home in Freeport, New York, said he plans to take the glasses to a toxicologist to determine the exact contents of the sludge.
In the meantime, he also visited an ophthalmologist who measured their power and lens specs. From this consultation, he learned Dahmer’s right lens was minus-5, minus-1, and 178 degrees on the axis, while the left was minus-4, minus-1, and 2. This suggests Dahmer was nearsighted and used the glasses to improve his vision of faraway objects.
Jeffrey Dahmer in 1992 Getty Images
Adamovich plans to keep the glasses
Although multiple collections purport to have glasses worn by Dahmer—including the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee—Adamovich said most curators have inadequate proof of their authenticity. He insists this isn’t the case with his own pair, and their “provenance is 100 percent airtight.”
He has no intention of selling the glasses because of their historical and educational value regarding Dahmer’s case. He also refuses to try them on himself. “Could you imagine all the evil that was seen through them?” he quipped.
In any case, he’s now the proud owner of one of the most unsettling accessories in true crime history.
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