Why Wasn't Jeff Dahmer Convicted of Killing Steve Tuomi?

Why did the police say there wasn't any evidence?

Jeff Dahmer “confessed” to 17 homicides but was only convicted of 16. Jeff Dahmer was not convicted of killing Steve Tuomi at the Ambassador Hotel.

Why not?

Was it because Tuomi’s remains were never found? Well, Jeff Dahmer was convicted of killing four men whose remains were also supposedly never found:

1. James Doxtator

2. Richard Guerrero

3. Edward Smith

4. David Thomas

(It is possible to be convicted of murder without a body. Note that some of these murders included witnesses, while others didn’t. There were even cases where a victim turned up alive after the conviction.)

Why were there convictions for all of them apart from Steve Tuomi? As mentioned in the above link, circumstantial and forensic evidence are prominent in such convictions.

Let's explore a couple of Jeff Dahmer’s homicide convictions without a body:

Here are the circumstances and identification in the confession for Eddie Smith:

Jeff Dahmer confession about Eddie Smith

Jeff Dahmer confession about Eddie Smith

Here’s what Jeff Dahmer’s “confession” says about Richard Guerrero:

Jeff Dahmer confession about Richard Guerrero

Note that they are relying on the suspect's confession only here.

Here's the incident report for Steve Tuomi:

Steve Tuomi incident report

Steve Tuomi incident report

Notice that this isn’t Jeff Dahmer’s social security number on the incident report.

Here are a couple of extracts about the circumstances provided in the confession. Jeff Dahmer states he met Steve Tuomi about one week before Thanksgiving in 1987 - this would be around November 20th:

Jeff Dahmer’s confession about Steve Tuomi

This is how Jeff Dahmer identified Steve Tuomi:

How Jeff Dahmer identified Steve Tuomi

What is the difference between this identification and the identification of Eddie Smith and Richard Guerrero?

Here's an extract from USA Today about why Jeff Dahmer was not convicted of killing Steve Tuomi:

Jeff Dahmer was not charged with killing Steve Tuomi

Here's Jeff Dahmer’s signature on the confession:

Consider this…

Why was no investigation carried out into this missing person/homicide confession to back up Jeff's statements about Steve Tuomi? Surely, they could have found some circumstantial evidence, no? Why did the police feel there was no evidence? There were plenty of potential witnesses to call upon - more than for the other missing persons who also had no remains yet resulted in homicide convictions.

Jeff Dahmer says he booked a room at the Ambassador Hotel for two nights…

• Was there evidence of this 2-night booking? Jeff Dahmer mentions in his confession that he had booked rooms at the Ambassador Hotel on previous occasions. Was he a familiar customer?

• There would have been hotel staff, cleaners, guests, and the cab driver; all could be questioned. Did none of them recall seeing these two men?

• The cab driver allegedly even helped to load the suitcase supposedly containing Steve Tuomi’s body into the car. Setting aside the possibility of putting a fully grown man in a suitcase in the first place, this would have weighed around 60 kg if we go with Jeff's estimate of 130 pounds given in the confession. That’s a pretty heavy bag. For comparison, the typical airline maximum weight allowance is 25 kg.

• Jeff Dahmer describes a violent incident. Wouldn’t any guests or staff have heard such a commotion? We can’t even play loud music in a half-decent hotel after hours.

• Jeff Dahmer says that Steve Tuomi was bleeding. Did the housekeeping staff not notice blood on the bedding or elsewhere? What about Jeff's clothing?

• Did the front desk staff at the hotel not notice Jeff's bruised arms and hands when he booked another night? What about the cab driver?

• What about obtaining proof that he purchased the suitcase? According to the confession, they managed to track down his receipt for a 1982 gun purchase.

• Steve Tuomi was reported last seen on September 15, 1987. This article from USA Today and an extract from “first on the scene” crime reporter Anne Schwartz’s book, confirm that missing date:

Excerpt from Anne E. Schwartz’s book about Jeff Dahmer

So Steve Tuomi was reported missing two months before Jeff Dahmer supposedly met him. What happened to him? Why was nobody questioned - friends, colleagues, etc?

All this - and probably more - could have helped back up Jeff Dahmer’s statement and offer circumstantial evidence. So why was none of this followed up?

Note that Steve Tuomi's address was mentioned in Jeff Dahmer’s confession as 1315 N. Cass Street. Here's the ancestry.com listing for that:

Steven W Tuomi - 1988 address

And then Steve Tuomi moves less than 3 miles away to another address. Note the age of this person matches that of the alleged victim:

Steven W Tuomi - address 1989-1991

He was listed as a resident there until 1991. Less than 3 miles away.

Is this why there was no conviction? Steve Tuomi was alive?