Jesse Anderson

For other people named Jesse Anderson, see Jesse Anderson (disambiguation).

Jesse M. Anderson
Born	Jesse Michael Anderson May 1957 Alton, Illinois, U.S.
Died	November 30, 1994 (aged 37) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Occupation	Landscaping contractor
Criminal status	Deceased
Spouse(s)	Debra Ann Eickert (1980-1984) Barbara E. Lynch (March 30, 1985 - April 23, 1992)
Conviction(s)	Murder
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment with no chance of parole for 60 years

Jesse Michael Anderson (May 1957 – November 30, 1994) was a convicted American murderer who was himself murdered in prison, along with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.

Early life and education

Anderson was raised in Alton, Illinois. When Anderson was a teenager, his father died of a heart attack and his mother remarried. He attended Alton High School and graduated in 1975. In 1984, he graduated with a degree in Business Administration from Elmhurst College. On March 30, 1985, he married Barbara E. Lynch in Chicago.

Prior to his arrest for murder, the Andersons lived in Cedarburg, Wisconsin, with their three young children. He was treasurer of the Lions Club and did volunteer work at the Divine Word Catholic Church.

Killing of his wife

On April 21, 1992, the Anderson couple went to a movie and dinner at a T.G.I. Friday's outside the Northridge Mall in northwest 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. On the other hand, Barbara went into a coma and died from her wounds two days later.

Jesse Anderson blamed two African-American men for attacking him and his wife. Anderson presented police with a Los Angeles Clippers 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 which was used to murder Barbara was sold to Anderson only a few weeks earlier. Police stated that the store was the only one in Milwaukee that sold that type of knife. On April 29, just eight days after the killing, Anderson was charged with murder. On August 13, he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 60 years.

Death

Anderson and Jeffrey Dahmer were left unattended while cleaning a restroom at the prison gymnasium with fellow inmate Christopher Scarver. Scarver reported that he was "disgusted" by a newspaper report detailing Dahmer's crimes. 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 in the head. He then tracked down Anderson and bludgeoned him as well. Dahmer died en route to the hospital and Anderson died two days later, when doctors at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison removed him from life support.

See also

• Charles Stuart

Further reading

• Davis, Donald A. The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare.
• Mayo, Mike. American Murder: Criminals, Crimes and the Media. p. 96

External links

• "Inmate Bludgeoned with Jeffrey Dahmer on Work Detail Dies" - The New York Times
• "Dahmer Slain in Prison. Anderson Seriously Hurt in Same Attack" - The Milwaukee Journal