Dahmer victim's family speaks out against planned Dahmer Tour



MILWAUKEE -- Two people who lost a loved one to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer are now trying to stop people from taking the new Jeffrey Dahmer Tour of Milwaukee. Both got very emotional when speaking with FOX6 News Thursday.

The Jeffrey Dahmer Tour offered a Groupon that is now sold out.

Janie Hagen's brother, Richard Guerrero, was the fourth victim of notorious Milwaukee serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. "He was only 21. I have a son that's 21 now. I can only imagine what my mother went through. That was her child. That was her baby," Janie Hagen said.

Hagen says the memories still bring tears to her eyes. "My mind is like a VCR - it just pauses and it rewinds and it always takes me back to that courtroom," Janie Hagen said.

Now, Hagen family members say they're reliving the terror from more than 20 years ago after it was announced a tour will take people on a one-mile walk through the area where Dahmer found his victims. "This is in bad taste. It's not a joke. People lost their lives here," Janie Hagen said.

Raquel Hagen is Richard Guerrero's niece and says she is upset over the emotional distress the tour is causing her mother. "I have to hear my mom be sad and cry about it. It's sickening," Raquel Hagen said.

Amanda Morden is the organizer of the tour, and told FOX6 News Wednesday the one-mile walk starting at Pittsburgh and South 2nd Street is meant to be educational, not disrespectful. "Instead of letting people sensationalize it within themselves, we'd like to provide accurate information. I could not even begin to imagine someone trying to put themselves in the shoes of the victim's families, so understandably, we're trying to be as sensitive as is possible, considering the nature of the topic," Morden said.

Still, the Hagens say the tour, just like t-shirts and graphic novels, is about earning, not learning. The Hagens say they plan to show up for the first tour at 1:00 p.m. this Saturday to protest. "I think it's really just to make their pocket bigger," Raquel Hagen said.

Morden refused an interview offer from FOX6 News Thursday after FOX6 spoke with the Hagens, but told FOX6 News via phone she'll listen to any concerns Dahmer victim family members might have. Morden says though she has not contacted the families, she has looked for a fund for a donation from the tour.

The Hagens say they're unimpressed. "All this is showing is that you don't care. These were people who walked our Milwaukee streets," Janie Hagen said.