Dahmer slaying leads list of top stories in '94

Milwaukee Journal, The, Jan 1, 1995

The murder of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage was voted the top Wisconsin news story of 1994 by newspaper and broadcast members of The Associated Press.

Wisconsin's top stories, in order:

1. Dahmer: The man whose murdering of 17 boys and young men shocked the world was killed Nov. 28. Christopher J. Scarver has been charged with killing Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, who was serving a life term for killing his wife, while the three were on a cleaning detail.

2. Cora Jones: Hundreds of people tramped through fields and woods searching for Cora Jones, 12, of Weyauwega after she vanished on Labor Day. Five days later, she was found stabbed and strangled in Langlade County.

Convicted sex offender David Spanbauer, 53, of Oshkosh, was arrested in Appleton in mid-November. He later confessed to murdering three people since being paroled in 1991: Jones; Ronelle Eichstedt, the 10-year-old Ripon girl who disappeared Aug. 23, 1992, while bicycling near her home and also was found in a ditch; and Trudi Jeschke, 21, who was shot to death July 9 at her Appleton home. Spanbauer was sentenced to life terms, with no parole eligibility until 2191, and an additional 403 years on other charges.

3. GOP: The Republicans picked up five seats held by Democrats to gain a majority in the state Assembly, making the upcoming session the first time since 1970 in which the party controls both houses of the Legislature.

4. Oswalds: A father and son were charged with murdering a police officer and trying to kill eight others while attempting to flee a Wales bank robbery. James H. Oswald, 49, of rural Watertown faces a Feb. 13 trial in the April 28 incident. His son, Theodore, 18, is scheduled for trial in April on the same charges. The Oswalds are accused of killing Waukesha police Capt. James Lutz, taking a hostage and crashing a stolen van into a tree before police captured them.

5. Hired killing: Diane Borchardt, 45, a Jefferson teacher's aide, is accused of having three high school students kill her husband, Ruben, in exchange for $600, two cars, her wedding and engagement rings and $20,000 from an insurance policy. He was shot twice April 13.

6. Freeway fire: A minivan carrying a Chicago minister and his family runs over freeway debris in Milwaukee, the gas tank is punctured and the vehicle bursts into flames. Six children are killed.

7. Tommy Thompson: On the heels of a strong economy and promoting an agenda that called for reforms in welfare, education and property taxes, Republican Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, 52, easily beats Democrat Chuck Chvala, a state senator, to win re-election to an unprecedented third four-year term.

8. Property taxes: The Legislature and the governor approve taking about $1 billion in public school operating costs off local property tax rolls by 1997 but do not immediately decide how to do it.

9. Welfare: A bill to eliminate Aid to Families with Dependent Children in Wisconsin by 1999 is passed by lawmakers and signed by Thompson.

10. Tornados: Six tornados touch down in Eau Claire, Adams, Juneau, Green Lake and Polk Counties Aug. 27, killing four people and 192 head of livestock and causing an estimated $9.5 million in damage.