A collector bought the ‘holy grail’ of infamous glasses… and they could hold a clue to a horrific murder

A Long Island man who is the curator of murderabilia from some of America’s most notorious serial killers just snatched up what he calls ‘the holy grail of serial killer collecting.’

The one-of-a-kind item is the metal gold rimmed glasses worn by Jeffrey Dahmer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, that he wore during his July 1991 arrest.

Dahmer, 34, murdered and mutilated seventeen boys and men during the late 1970s’ through the early 1990s’. Some of his prey were victims of necrophilia and cannibalism.

In February 1992, less than a year after his capture, he was sentenced to 15 counts of murder in the first degree and life in prison. Two years later, he was bludgeoned to death by an inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institute in Portage, Wisconsin. 

Last month, David Adamovich, Ed.D. owner of Serial Killer Murderabilia, acquired the vintage Titmus Z87 5-1/2 General style glasses, that Dahmer wore during his sick reign of terror.

He explained the thrill to the Daily Mail when the seller, whom he did not identify but described as ‘a very reliable source,’ called him about the glasses. I said to her, ‘you have what?’ Then I told her ‘I want those.’ 

The rare item was bought by Adamovich for an undisclosed amount.

‘These have not been passed through multiple hands. The provenance is 100 percent airtight that those are Jeffrey Dahmer glasses,’ he said almost giddy.

‘They have been sitting in the case for over 30 years and through a series of lucky events I was able to purchase them.’

The glasses are now part of Adamovich’s treasure trove of serial killer memorabilia – that includes 9,000 letters and writings, artwork, hair samples, jailhouse interviews on audio from more than 100 murderers including Charles Manson, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, among others.

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon at his Freeport home Adamovich spoke about his vast collection, as he held the glasses up to the light and shared what he saw.

‘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.’

To determine what the grime and dirt on the spectacles are, the curator plans to have a toxicologist look at them.

‘If it is blood and not chocolate,’ he added, ‘it does make interesting dinner conversation.’  

Interested to find out more about the glasses, he told DailyMail.com that he went to a local eye glass shop merely ‘out of curiosity.’ 

‘I was wondering how blind Jeffrey was without his glasses,’ he said.

He appeared amused when he recalled how ‘creeped’ out the ophthalmologist was when he was told where the glasses were from and then showed him a photo of Dahmer’s booking photo where he is pictured wearing the glasses.

The ophthalmologist reaction, he recalled was: ‘No way!’ and Adamovich responded, ‘Yes, way!’ 

He later found out that Dahmer’s right eye was minus five, minus one and 178 and his left eye was minus four, minus one and two.’

‘For someone who understands eyeglasses those numbers mean something – how near or farsighted or how blind he is with or without them.’

Studying the numbers, he said: ‘This seems to imply that was he was nearsighted and used them for distance. A nearsighted prescription will feature a number with a minus symbol in the sphere box.’ 

When asked if he ever tried on the glasses, Adamovich quipped. ‘No. Do I intend to? No!’ 

The question, he said, is one he often gets asked.

 ‘I am not putting them on them. Could you imagine all the evil that was seen through them.’

Adamovich explained that the glasses came with a letter of authenticity.

‘There are several other alleged pairs of Dahmer glasses that have been advertised as part of various collections, but most if not all, have unproven authenticity,’ he shared with DailyMail.com that is also on his website.

‘Very few items are as symbolic of a serial killer as these vintage Titmus General style glasses burned in history’s mind as the iconic image of Dahmer,’ he said.

He referred to a pair of glasses on display at the Serial Killer Exhibit that claim to be Dahmer’s, but Adamovich finds it questionable, which he explains further on his website.

‘The pair in the Serial Killer Display are noticeably different than those shown in the Dahmer booking photo from July 24, 1991.  The upper horizontal bar and nose bridge do not match the glasses worn by Dahmer in the photo.’

He states that The Serial Killer Exhibition should provide adequate  documentation to support the claims of authenticity if they wish to continue exhibiting the glasses as part of their collection.’ 

Holding up the glasses, he said, ‘look they are his. They are real. He was wearing them the night he was arrested. He was chopping someone apart in little pieces and who knows what those glasses saw.’ 

For now, he doesn’t plan on selling them to the highest bidder – instead he is adding it to his voluminous collection.

‘I did not buy them to flip them. I bought them for the historical and educational value as it relates to Dahmer’s case. I am in it to tell the story,’ said the curator, 78.

Part of that story is when Dahmer was sentenced and sent to the Wisconsin prison, he had to surrender his metal-framed glasses and was given plastic frames.

 The 6ft. tall blue-eyed blonde-haired Dahmer, who at a glance looked like the boy next door, was demonic.

Over a 13-year-period, he lured men, one victim was as young as 14, back to his home with the promise of money if he could take nude photographs of them. 

Most of the men were young, gay African American men. 

Dahmer would drug his victims before strangling and dismemberng them. In some cases he would have have sex with their dead corpses and cannibalize their bodies.

Tracy Edwards was one of Dahmer’s victims, who managed to escape and later helped the police with his capture. 

On the night of July 22, 1991 Milwaukee Police Department patrol units saw a man that was partially clothed stumbling down the road near an apartment building on North 25th Street, according to the FBI.

The young victim had a handcuff dangling from his wrist. He told police that he had been inside the apartment building and was threatened with a knife. 

When police went into the apartment they made the truly horrifying discovery when they found body parts in Dahmer’s refrigerator. The FBI said there were remains of eleven victims.

Dahmer was arrested on July 22, 1991.

After his arrest, he confessed to committing more than a dozen murders that included the torture and mutilation of his victims and the abuse of their corpses.

At his 1992 trial, he entered a plea of guilty but insane, jurors found him sane and he was sentenced to 15 consecutive life sentences.

Dahmer, who grew up in the Midwest and served in the U.S. Army was stationed in Germany. He had also had lived in Ohio, and Florida, and at one point investigators were trying to link him to other unsolved murders. 

In 1994, while serving his sentence in a Wisconsin prison, Dahmer was bludgeoned to death by a fellow inmate named Christopher Scarver, 55, who is serving three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. 

True crime fanatics continue to be fascinated with the cannibal killer.

In 2022, Netflix launched the true crime drama, ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,’ directed by Ryan Murphy. It was one of the most watched shows on the streaming platform.

According to IndieWire, the show garnered a staggering 196.2 million only hours when it made its debut during its first week of availability.