FOND DU LAC, Wisconsin (WDJT) -- A 47-year-old Fond du Lac County man has been charged with felony stalking after investigators say a yearslong pattern of unwanted contact led them to a rural home containing serial killer memorabilia, skeletal remains and disturbing writings about the woman he is accused of stalking.
Benjamin C. Larson is charged with one count of stalking, a Class I felony. If convicted, he faces up to 3½ years in prison, a US$10,000 fine or both.
According to a criminal complaint, the woman contacted law enforcement July 31 and reported concerning behaviour from Larson dating back to 2013.
The woman told investigators she dated Larson for about two months in 2013 after meeting him through mutual friends. At the time, she lived in Madison and Larson lived in Fond du Lac. She described the relationship as intense and said Larson expressed an obsession with Ed Gein, death and gore. The relationship ended after Larson allegedly called her and said he was suicidal with a gun to his head.
The woman moved to Canada later that year and did not give Larson her new address. She said Larson subsequently sent several letters to her mother’s home in Madison and continued trying to contact her in the years that followed.
In a 15-page email sent in 2015, Larson allegedly told the woman he had tattooed “their symbol” and her initials on his body and wrote extensively about his inability to let go of their relationship.
“My will to care about you is just too strong. I simply don’t let go, and I don’t forget,” Larson allegedly wrote.
The complaint says Larson also told the woman he had kept numerous items from their brief relationship, including letters, an earring he said was still tangled with her hair, a pressed flower, cards and a voicemail.
The woman told investigators the unwanted contact intensified again in 2025.
In November, she received a handwritten card from Larson at her business office in Dane County. Larson allegedly acknowledged that she did not want to speak with him but wrote that he would continue trying to reach her until she responded, including potentially calling or “just knock[ing] on your door someday.”
A month later, the woman received another card at her home address. The “Nightmare Before Christmas”-style card featured the phrase “Season’s Creeping” and included a letter in which Larson allegedly wrote about wandering around Madison and possibly encountering her.
“That would be a memorable encounter, surely... I’ll keep my eyes open,” Larson allegedly wrote.
The complaint says Larson ended the letter by referring to the woman’s husband and child by name. The woman told investigators that was especially distressing because she and her husband had been careful not to post information about their child on social media, and she did not know how Larson obtained her home address.
Larson also allegedly filed complaints against the woman, who works as a therapist, with professional licensing boards. The woman told police Larson had never been her client. In one complaint, Larson allegedly accused her of refusing to provide “closure” over the relationship, which had ended more than a decade earlier.
The woman told officers through tears that she “just wants this to stop” and said she feared what Larson might do next, including what could happen to her child. She later told detectives she “just wanted to disappear,” because that had been the only way Larson stopped contacting her.
Investigators executed a search warrant Aug. 14 at Larson’s Fond du Lac County residence, where authorities reported finding an extensive collection of items related to murders, serial killers and the woman.
At the bottom of the basement stairs, investigators reported seeing a grave rubbing bearing the name “Edward Gein.” Inside the basement were glass shelves containing memorabilia connected to several notorious killers, including 10 binders labelled “Edward Gein Book,” items purportedly from Gein’s grave or home and .22-caliber cartridges displayed with a sign claiming they were the same type used by the Zodiac Killer.
Investigators also reported finding a jar accompanied by a sign claiming it contained a piece of John Wayne Gacy’s brain, a mummy and bottles labelled with names including arsenic, strychnine, cyanide and ricin. The complaint does not establish whether those labels accurately identified the objects or substances.
Authorities also reported finding skeletal remains in a glass casket, a skull displayed in a glass case and additional skulls on shelves.
The Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office said an anthropologist conducted an initial examination of the remains and determined many are likely ancient Native American remains. Authorities said additional testing is needed to determine more about their origin.
Investigators also searched a padlocked room in the basement after a passcode Larson provided did not work and officers forced their way inside.
Authorities described the room as a bedroom containing a lifelike silicone doll and what appeared to be a painting of a nude woman resembling the alleged stalking victim. Papers bearing the woman’s name were also found on the bed.
One note allegedly described a plan to send letters under another person’s name and mail them from a different area to prevent the woman from immediately recognizing their origin. The writer also discussed heating the letters and envelopes to destroy fingerprints and DNA.
Investigators reported finding five skulls and part of another skull on shelves in the room, two large bones arranged in the shape of a cross and what appeared to be a human jawbone on a dresser.
They also found a tote and garbage bag containing numerous items allegedly connected to the woman, including letters, pressed flowers, bottles and a clay head investigators said appeared to depict her.
Among the books discovered was one about a woman stalked for 13 years before being kidnapped and held in a soundproof storage container. Other books dealt with private investigation, finding information about people and the psychology of stalking.
Investigators also recovered a 25-page collection of writings that repeatedly referenced the woman, her husband and their child.
In one passage, the writer expressed anger over the woman’s life with her family and wrote about wanting “to take their skulls.”
Assistant District Attorney David Olson highlighted that passage during a court hearing.
“The defendant discusses aching to take the skulls of the person, who again in context, is the victim and her partner,” Olson said.
Another passage described traveling to the woman’s home at night while dressed in black with gloves and a mask. The writer described circling the block, sitting outside the home with the vehicle’s lights and engine turned off and holding a machete while watching the house.
The writer also described approaching the property, taking bags of garbage and wanting to experience the feeling again. The passage characterized the behaviour as “creepy, strange, stalker-ish, potentially dangerous,” but said it did not bother the writer.
Larson’s attorney, Sara Christensen, emphasized during the hearing that the allegations have not been proven and questioned whether the writings reflected events that actually occurred.
“We don’t know if there is anything that connects those writings to being an actual event or if they are just writings,” Christensen said.
Christensen also said Larson has no prior criminal history, has lived in the same home for more than 20 years and has known his wife for more than 25 years.
The judge described the allegations as “very disturbing,” while noting that they remain allegations.
“It’s not normal behaviour for a rational person that’s alleged here,” the judge said. “I understand they’re just allegations.”
Larson was given a $15,000 cash bond. Court records show he posted the bond and was released from custody.
He is scheduled to return to court Sept. 11.
By Adam Rife
