Tracy Edwards was 32 years old when he went home with Jeffrey Dahmer one night in 1991 and nearly became the serial killer's 18th victim

On July 22, 1991, 32-year-old Tracy Edwards was drinking with his friends at Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee when a man named Jeffrey Dahmer approached them. After some casual conversation, Dahmer offered to pay the men if they would pose for nude photos. Edwards agreed to go back to Dahmer's apartment with him, but Dahmer had no intention of taking photos of Edwards at all — at least not while he was alive.

Upon entering Dahmer's apartment, Edwards noticed a terrible smell, but Dahmer shrugged it off as a burst sewer pipe that maintenance was working to fix. After the two chatted for several minutes, Dahmer distracted Edwards by pointing out his fish tank, then put a handcuff on his left wrist and pulled a knife on him. Dahmer forced Edwards into the bedroom, where he placed his head on his victim's chest and told him he was going to eat his heart. 

Against all odds, Edwards managed to escape and flag down the police, who arrested his would-be killer that very night. Learn more about the man who nearly became the 18th victim of Jeffrey Dahmer

Meet Tracy Edwards, The Only Man To Escape From Jeffrey Dahmer’s Deadly Clutch

Tracy Edwards was 32 years old when he went home with Jeffrey Dahmer one night in 1991 and nearly became the serial killer's 18th victim — and his life was never the same after.

On the night of July 22, 1991, a Milwaukee patrol car stopped when a handcuffed man flagged the vehicle down on the street in a panic. The man told the officers that his name was Tracy Edwards — and someone had just tried to murder him.
Edwards led police back to the apartment from which he’d fled, and they were hit with a rancid smell when they entered. Upon further investigation, they found preserved human heads, mutilated body parts, and photographs of nude, butchered men.

The apartment belonged to Jeffrey Dahmer, one of history’s most infamous serial killers, and Edwards had just toppled the first domino that would put him behind bars.

But despite leading police to Dahmer’s apartment — and later testifying against the killer in court — Edwards’ life remained forever changed after the encounter. He was unable to return to the life he’d once known, and he was later arrested multiple times for drug possession, theft, property damage, bail jumping — and eventually murder.
Now, Edwards’ name is once again in the spotlight due to his portrayal in Netflix’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, but his current whereabouts remain unknown.
This is his story.

The Night Tracy Edwards Met Jeffrey Dahmer

One evening in the summer of 1991, Tracy Edwards was drinking with his friends at Grand Avenue Mall in Milwaukee when he was approached by a man named Jeffrey Dahmer. The two spent some time chatting and getting to know each other, then Dahmer suddenly propositioned Edwards, inviting him back to his apartment to watch The Exorcist, have a few beers, and perhaps pose for some nude photos in exchange for money.
Enticed by the offer, Edwards followed Dahmer home. But almost immediately, Dahmer’s demeanor changed. Dahmer handcuffed Edwards, held him at knifepoint, and at one point even laid his head on Edwards’ chest and threatened to eat his heart.

For four hours, Tracy Edwards sat handcuffed in Dahmer’s apartment, pleading with the killer to spare him. Dahmer refused, but he had put handcuffs on only one of Edwards’ wrists, and this eventually enabled him to escape and make a break for it.

Edwards fled Dahmer’s home, running down the streets of Milwaukee with the handcuff still dangling from his arm until he came upon a patrol car. Flagging it down, he explained to the officers that Dahmer had tried to murder him, and he led them back to Dahmer’s house.
The officers, however, weren’t prepared for what they would discover.
Inside Dahmer’s home, they found the dismembered body parts of 11 men littered throughout. There were boxes of body parts, torsos hidden away in a barrel of acid, and three human heads stored in the refrigerator.
Tucked away in one drawer, they found photographs Dahmer had taken of his victims at varying stages of undress and mutilation.

Dahmer was arrested, but the story he shared with Edwards was far from over.

Edwards’ Testimony Helps Put Dahmer Away — And Brings Him Unwanted Attention

“He underestimated me,” Edwards said of his escape from Dahmer’s house. “God sent me there to take care of the situation.”
Following Dahmer’s arrest, Tracy Edwards was hailed as a hero — the man who finally brought down the Milwaukee Monster. But as PEOPLE reported, Edwards’ newfound fame did anything but make his life easier.

He made an appearance at Dahmer’s 1992 trial, testifying against the killer and telling the court that the traumatic experience had ruined his life.
He described his night in Dahmer’s home, and that testimony ultimately played a role in Dahmer receiving 15 consecutive life sentences. With his face in newspapers countrywide and the national attention surrounding Dahmer’s trial, Edwards essentially became a household name.
Unfortunately, that recognition came at a cost. Police in Mississippi recognized Edwards’ face and connected him to the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl in the state. They extradited Edwards in order to charge him with the crime.

Edwards later returned to Milwaukee and sued the city police for $5 million for not following up on the numerous tips that had come in about Dahmer before July 1991 — but the lawsuit was thrown out of court.

A later class action suit that awarded restitution to the family members of Dahmer’s victims also curiously left Edwards out.
“My guess is he wanted no part of it,” Edwards’ lawyer Paul Ksicinski said. “He didn’t want anything to remind him of what had happened. It was just too much… I mean, his life was completely destroyed.”

How One Night With Dahmer Ruined Tracy Edwards’ Life

Following Dahmer’s arrest, trial, and ultimately his death, Tracy Edwards’ string of bad luck continued. Upon returning to Milwaukee, he struggled to hold down a job or find a stable home, spending most of his time in and out of different homeless shelters.
According to Ksicinski, to cope with the trauma, Edwards “abused drugs and drank alcohol excessively. He had no home. He just drifted from place to place.”

Almost 20 years to the day after he escaped Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment, Tracy Edwards was accused of pushing a man to his death off a bridge.

Reports show that Edwards was homeless from 2002 on, and he racked up a litany of charges involving drug possession, bail jumping, and theft, among others. He lived on the unnoticed outskirts of society until one event in 2011 brought him back into the public eye.
Tracy Edwards was arrested on July 26, 2011, after he was accused of helping someone throw another man off a Milwaukee bridge.
Ksicinski later said, however, “We always took the position that he did not throw anyone over. This was, in fact, a friend of his. They were all homeless, and they were, unfortunately, abusing alcohol. He was trying to pull him back off the bridge. The people who had seen it didn’t really have, in our viewpoint, the best ability to see what had happened.”

Milwaukee County Police DepartmentKsicinski last saw Tracy Edwards in 2015 after he spent more than a year behind bars. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Ultimately, Edwards was charged with homicide, but he later pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of aiding a felon, landing him a sentence of a year and a half. He served his time, but he has since disappeared from public view.
“He called Dahmer the devil,” Ksicinski said. “He never sought any kind of psychological or psychiatric treatment for what happened to him. Instead, he chose to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs on the street… Tracy didn’t ask to be a victim of Dahmer’s… People suffer incredibly traumatic events, and it’s different for every person in terms of how they handle it.”
Actor Shaun Brown, who portrays Edwards in Netflix’s Monster, later tweeted his support for Tracy Edwards, writing, “I have so much love for Tracy Edwards… Empathy and awareness can create heaven on Earth if we allow it.”
Ultimately, it would be unfair to call Edwards a “near-victim” of Dahmer. He wasn’t among the 17 men and boys who Jeffrey Dahmer killed, but his life was forever altered, and ultimately ruined, because of Dahmer.

Tracy Edwards is still a victim.
After learning about how Tracy Edwards helped put Jeffrey Dahmer, learn about Dahmer’s father Lionel and mother Joyce. Then, read the story of Tyria Moore, who cooperated with police to put her murderous girlfriend behind bars.

A staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2022, Austin Harvey has also had work published with Discover Magazine, Giddy, and Lucid, covering topics including history, and sociology. He has published more than 1,000 pieces, largely covering modern history and archaeology. He is a co-host of the History Uncovered podcast as well as a co-host and founder of the Conspiracy Realists podcast. He holds a Bachelor's degree from Point Park University. He is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of expertise include modern American history and the ancient Near East. In an editing career spanning 17 years, he previously served as managing editor of Elmore Magazine in New York City for seven years.