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Owner of Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home speaks out

Chris Butler, the current owner of the Bath Township home, is part of '80s music history as part of The Waitresses.

BATH TOWNSHIP -- The house at 4480 West Bath Road is up for sale.

It has three bedrooms, two baths, a pond in the back and rock formations behind that.

But behind all of that it has a dark history -- as the childhood home of cannibal and murderer Jeffrey Dahmer. His first victim, Steven Hicks, was murdered at the home in June of 1978.

"If you can get past that little problem, you'll have a wonderful place to live," said owner Chris Butler.

We Skyped with Butler on Wednesday from his other home in New Jersey. He says he bought the Bath Township home knowing the history but not because of it.

"The fact that it was Jeffrey Dahmer's house was not an attraction," Butler said. "I am not a ghoul. I am not interested in the super-natural."

This man, who owns a dark piece of Summit County history, also owns a piece of '80s pop culture.

He's the songwriter and guitarist for the band The Waitresses, whose song "I Know What Boys Like," made him famous.

When it comes to the house, the question for him and his real estate agent becomes: Can it sell again for the sixth time since the early '80s?

They both say: "Yes it will" -- with a an asterisk.

PHOTOS | Inside Jeffrey Dahmer's childhood home

"It depends if you're spooked by ghosts, if you're spooked by a murderer? … The house didn't kill anybody," Butler said.

When we first covered the home earlier this week, it quickly became the number one story on WKYC.com and generated national headlines.

The home is currently listed at $295,000. Tours of the house are not being given. The realty company says only serious buyers will be given time.

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