Jeffrey Dahmer

**** Please be aware that this post includes crime scene photos which some readers may find distressing. ****

Jeffrey Dahmer (AKA ‘The Milwaukee Cannibal’) was an infamous serial killer, active between 1978 – 1991. A self confessed necrophile and cannibal, Dahmer preyed on young men of different races, luring them back to his apartment in Milwaukee, where he would then drug, rape, and strangle his victims before dissecting their remains. Dahmer was so good at hiding behind his ‘mask of sanity’ that not even his close neighbours had a clue about the atrocities going on in apartment 213.

Ultimately, Dahmer pleaded guilty to 16 murders and was sentenced to life imprisonment plus ten years – for the first two Milwaukee murders, then life imprisonment plus 70 years for the remaining 13 Milwaukee murders. He was also convicted for a murder committed in Ohio for which he received another life sentence .

Early Years

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 21^st, 1960, to middle class parents Lionel Herbert Dahmer and Joyce Annette Dahmer. Reports vary considerably as to what Dahmer’s childhood was like – whether he was loved or neglected, however, it is known his mother was an attention seeking, highly strung hypochondriac and his father was often absent from home, studying at university. It has been claimed by Lionel that Joyce rarely held her son or showed him any affection as she was preoccupied with germs, in fact not even Dahmer’s Grandparents were allowed to hold him.

When Lionel was home, Dahmer would witness his parents arguing a lot, but other than that his childhood appeared generally unremarkable, certainly in comparison to other serial killers – with no claims of mental or sexual abuse, childhood trauma or head injuries.

“There was no abuse, no physical abuse, no verbal abuse, it was a normal childhood in a good home.”

Jeffrey Dahmer / Dahmer on Dahmer, A serial Killer Speaks

Side Note: Many serial killers tend to share similar childhood experiences, such as suffering from physical and / or a sexual abuse or a major head trauma. However none of this was the case for Dahmer. However, his mother, Joyce, reportedly swallowed many prescription drugs (up to 27 a day!) throughout her pregnancy with Dahmer, which could have easily effected him and his development as a foetus, including:

“Antidepressants, growth hormones and progesterone.”

Dahmer on Dahmer / A serial Killer Speaks

When he was 6 years old, Dahmer’s family moved to Doylestown, Ohio. At this point his father was working as an analytical chemist and dedicated a lot of his time to his work and not much time to his family. By the time Dahmer’s brother, David, was born, in December 1966, Joyce’s mental health had taken a nose dive, she was suffering from severe depression and spent the majority of her time hiding away in bed.

Suffering from depression had taken its toll on Joyce and she tried, unsuccessfully, to commit suicide by taking a large amount of Equanil. As a result of his mothers mental health issues, his fathers increasing absences and the aftermath of a double hernia operation he’d had when he was 4, Dahmer began to change from a happy energetic child to a subdued, quiet, shy boy. Despite this he was able to maintain a few close friendships with some of the children at school, whilst in elementary school at least. When recalling his childhood, Dahmer said;

“When I was a little kid, I was just like anybody else.”

Jeffrey Dahmer

In 1968, when Dahmer was 8 years old, Lionel moved his family to Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio. By this point, Dahmer’s mother was heavily induced on Equanil, laxatives, and sleeping pills daily and wasn’t really present, mentally or physically in the lives of her family anymore.

It was around this age that Dahmer began showing an interest in dead animals, specifically in taxidermy. He initially collected insects, such as butterflies, in jars – as many children do. However, his interests soon turned into a curiosity regarding dead animals. Dahmer began to collect animal carcasses and would dissect and study them, eager to learn their anatomy and how the body parts went together. He was especially enthralled by bones and the sound they made. In one particular ‘serial-killer-in-the-making incident‘, Dahmer dissected a dog carcass which he nailed to a tree – with the skull impaled on a separate stake. He later claimed he did that because he had wanted to do something shocking.

“I was interested in taxidermy, in High School. And experimented with, err, preserving the bones of dogs and things like that. And, err, whether that had anything to do with, with erm, the escalation of the crimes, I don’t know.”

Jeffrey Dahmer / Dahmer on Dahmer

Dahmer’s father was a scientist and he was overjoyed when his young son began showing an interest in science. Lionel thought nothing of it when Dahmer asked him to demonstrate how to bleach bones in order to preserve them. Dahmer used the techniques his father taught him to safely keep his collection of animal bones in jars, which he stored in the garden shed. Of course – he also used the same methods to clean his victim’s bones later on, for a new type of collection.

In his early teens Dahmer briefly dated another teenage boy. Although he’d realised for a while that he was gay, he’d never admitted it to his parents.

By the time Dahmer started at Revere High school, at 14 years old, his social standing amongst his peers had diminished considerably. He had started drinking alcohol during the day, even taking swigs of scotch during school lessons. When questioned about it he would tell class mates it was his ‘medicine’. This behaviour led to him becoming a social outcast, as well as the fact the other kids thought he was extremely weird. In a possible attempt to increase his popularity and make the other kids like him, Dahmer took on the role of the ‘class clown’, often playing pranks on others and portraying himself to be mentally handicapped. Whilst his classmates thought some of his antics (which they called ‘doing a Dahmer’) were amusing, overall it just added to his oddness. In the end, he didn’t care whether they liked him or not and would behave strangely just to wind them up.

After his arrest in 1991, Dahmer confirmed he drank at school because he was trying to drown out the dark sexual fantasies that had begun to invade his thoughts. At just 15 /16 years old, around the time of his first relationship, Dahmer recalled having obsessive, sexual fantasies of complete control and dominance over a submissive male, with the chest and torso area being a particular turn on for him. These fantasies, he claimed, both excited and scared him.

Unsurprisingly, his grades began to suffer and his parents hired a private tutor to help him. It must have helped because in 1978 he managed to graduate from high school with a diploma. Whilst at school, despite being a loner, Dahmer had enjoyed taking part in a few school activities -playing the clarinet, tennis and working on the school newspaper.

Bridget Geiger, the school friend Dahmer took as his date to prom, later stated Dahmer was a shy kid at school who was bullied because of his nerdiness.

Shortly after graduation, Lionel discovered Joyce had been having an affair. On top of what was already a strenuous and unhappy marriage, the two of them mutually agreed to get a divorce. Lionel moved out of the family home shortly after. Dahmer struggled with the divorce and his alcohol consumption increased, despite his parents best efforts of handling it amicably, for the sake of their sons. Unbeknown to Lionel, Joyce also decided to leave the family home and move in with relatives, mere months after her husband left, taking her youngest son David with her. Dahmer, who by this time was 18 years old, was left to live by himself in the family home, with no money and a carton of spoiled milk in the fridge.

In between graduating high school and attending university, Dahmer murdered his first victim, Steven Hicks. (see ‘Victims’ below)

Having completed high school, Lionel insisted his son attend university and personally drove him to Ohio State University for the start of the school year. Dahmer was less than enthusiastic and rather than attend classes he chose to spend his time drinking – up to 2 bottles of whisky a day. With such an expensive addiction, Dahmer often found himself with no money so he came up with a solution – he donated his blood to further finance his drinking. (In the USA donors are paid for their blood donations.)

Dahmer’s room mates at Ohio State University found living with him intolerable. He would be drunk all the time, steal their belongings and at one point piled everyone’s furniture into the corner of the room and smeared pizza all over the walls. They petitioned to have him removed but in the end his grades were so dire (his GPA was 0.45/4.0) that the University and Lionel decided it was best he dropped out after the first semester anyway.

Lionel returned to the family home in January 1979, with his new fiancé Shari, and was horrified to discover his son was living alone in a filthy drunken squalor. Determined to get Dahmer back on track, Lionel instructed his son to enlist in the United States Army where he was sent to Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas, to begin his training as a medical specialist.

Within months, Dahmer was deployed to Baumholder, Germany to serve as a combat medic in the 2nd Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 8th Infantry Division. He started off well but the drinking took hold of him once again and by 1981 he was given an honourable discharge. His superiors felt that Dahmer’s uncontrollable drinking whilst off duty indicated he was unsuitable for a career in the military.

“Beginning Friday afternoon he would drink, pass out, wake up and start again,
he’d be in his own little world”.

Former Army barracks roommate / Murderpedia

Unbeknown to Army officials at the time, Dahmer had allegedly drugged and raped two fellow army soldiers, Preston Davis and Billy Capshaw during his time stationed in Baumholder (See ‘Victim’s’ below)

Dahmer relocated to Florida, where he found employment in a sandwich shop and resided in a small motel room. However, he spent all his wages on alcohol and failed to pay his motel bill, resulting in him being evicted. With little other choice, Dahmer rang his father and asked to return to Ohio. Unfortunately the move back home didn’t work out as Dahmer continued drinking heavily and was arrested for being drunk and disorderly. His father and stepmother tried everything they could think off to get their son to stop drinking and were at the end of their tether. In a last ditch attempt to get him help they sent him to live with his grandmother, Catherine Jemima Hughes, whom Dahmer was very fond of, in West Allis, Wisconsin.

To begin with, his grandmother’s influence appeared to have a positive effect on Dahmer. Although he still drank, he had found decent employment as a phlebotomist and appeared to be becoming more responsible. However, it didn’t last and he lost his job shortly after being arrested in 1982 for indecent exposure after flashing to a crowd at the Wisconsin State Fair Park.

Dahmer later secured himself another job as a mixer at the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory. It was here that he was propositioned by a male colleague who offered to perform oral sex on Dahmer. Although Dahmer declined the offer, it stirred up familiar feelings inside him and he once again began to fantasise about controlling and dominating a fully submissive man. He began to frequent local gay bars and would often pick up one night stands but he grew frustrated with his sexual partners because they kept moving during the sexual act. To combat this ‘inconvenience’ Dahmer began lacing the other men’s alcohol with sedatives. Once they were asleep he would carry out his perverse sexual acts to his hearts content.

In September 1986, Dahmer was arrested once again, this time for lewd and lascivious behaviour. He had been caught masturbating in front of two 12 year old boys. Initially he denied it, claiming he had simply been having a wee and didn’t realise they were there. Eventually he admitted he had been pleasuring himself and was charged with disorderly conduct for which he was sentenced to 1 year probation and ordered to go to counselling.

Just over a year later, in November 1987, (and almost 10 years since he murdered Steven Hicks) Jeffrey Dahmer murdered again in order to act out his sexual fantasies. Only this time he didn’t stop…

VICTIMS

“I’d go to the nightclubs, err, drink, watch the err, the strip tease shows and err, if I didn’t meet anyone at the bars, I’d err, go to the bath clubs and err, meet, meet someone there, offer them money and we’d go back to the apartment, erm, have a few drinks, I’d have the err, the err, sleeping pill mixture already prepared, person would drink it, fall asleep, and err, that’s when they would be strangled.”

Jeffrey Dahmer, explaining his killing ritual / Dahmer on Dahmer

Steven Hicks

After his capture, Dahmer admitted he had killed his first victim, Steven Hicks, 18, within weeks of graduating high school. On June 18th, 1978 in Bath, Ohio, 18 year old Dahmer was driving around when he spotted Hicks on the side of the road, hitchhiking. He had his top off and, as mentioned above, the chest and torso was a particular turn on for Dahmer, so he pulled over and offered Hicks (who was on his way to a rock concert in Lockwood Corners) a lift. Dahmer managed to convince him to come back to his house for some pre-concert drinks. For a while the pair listened to music and consumed vast amounts of alcohol and smoked Marijuana until eventually Hicks announced it was time for him to leave. Dahmer, much like his English counterpart – Dennis Nilsen, was horrified at the thought of being left by his new friend and decided there and then that Hicks would be staying with him, forever.

Dahmer approached Hicks from behind with a 10lb dumbbell and proceeded to bludgeon the teenager over the head with it before strangling him, in order to ensure he was dead. Hicks had become Dahmer’s ultimate fantasy – a completely submissive male which he could do what he liked with. And he did just that, he stripped Hicks naked and explored every inch of his body, especially the torso, feeling every part of it with his bare hands, before masturbating over the lifeless corpse.

“The first killing was not planned. I had had fantasies about picking up a hitchhiker and taking him back to the house and having complete control and dominance over him.”

Jeffrey Dahmer

Dahmer hid Hicks’ body in a drainage pipe behind his parents house temporarily while he figured out his next move. With his history of dissecting animals it should be of no surprise that he decided to do the same with Hicks. After the dismemberment, Dahmer chucked the remains into garbage bags and placed them into the trunk of his father’s car before setting off to the dump to dispose of them, at 3 o’clock in the morning!

His late night escapades aroused the suspicion of a passing police cruiser and they pulled him over for erratic driving. The police gave Dahmer a breathalyser test, which he passed and then questioned him on what he was up to. They even inquired about the trash bags in the trunk, without looking inside them. Dahmer calmly claimed he couldn’t sleep so decided to go for a drive, stopping off at the dump whilst he did so. Accepting his excuse they issued him a ticket and sent him on his way.

Freaked out by his brush with the law, Dahmer headed home and decided to bury the body pieces in a shallow grave on the grounds of his parents property. Weeks later he unearthed the remains to get rid of them once and for all. He removed the rotting flesh, which he dissolved in acid and flushed away any remaining sludge down the toilet. He then used a sledgehammer to crush the bones into small fragments before scattering them in a circle around a ravine in the wooded area behind the house.

Steven Hicks was reported missing by his parents in June 1978. His partial remains were recovered 13 years later in the woods by forensic police after Dahmer confessed to his murder, following his arrest in September, 1991. Hammer marks discovered on a large rock were believed to be where Dahmer smashed up his victim’s bones with the sledgehammer.

“I was in college that day, thinking about Hicks. I was drinking and in a weepy sort of mood, and I cried about that.”

Jeffrey Dahmer, recollecting his thoughts about Steven Hicks’ murder.

Preston Davis

Preston Davis was a fellow soldier serving within the medic unit in Baumholder, Germany. He claims Dahmer drugged and raped him in the back of an armoured vehicle after it had broken down whilst out on a field exercise. The attack caused Davis to ‘fall apart’ mentally and he turned to substance and alcohol abuse to try and avoid the memories which haunted him. Eventually, unable to cope with serving alongside Dahmer any longer, Davis left the army for good.

Billy Capshaw

Billy Capshaw, 17, was deployed to Baumholder, Germany, to replace Preston Davis. He shared a room with Dahmer for a year or so and claimed Dahmer raped, tortured and sexually molested him, almost daily. For a long time, Capshaw felt too ashamed to report what was happening to him at the hands of Dahmer but eventually he saw an army doctor who completed a rape kit on him. Capshaw later found out the rape kit had been discard afterwards and nothing came of it, or the allegations Capshaw had made.

Side Note: Dahmer willingly gave a full and detailed confession about the attacks and murders of all his victim’s but he never once mentioned the sexual assaults on Davis and Capshaw. That’s not to say they didn’t happen, but many have speculated the reliability of their accounts based on this.

Steven Tuomi

On November 20, 1987, Dahmer met Steven Tuomi, 24, at a gay bar and they spent the night chatting and drinking heavily. Dahmer was staying at the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee and convinced Tuomi to go back to his room with him. Dahmer later claimed he had no ulterior motive and just wanted a one night stand with Tuomi. To his confusion, when Dahmer awoke the following morning he discovered Tuomi’s lifeless body laying beneath him. Tuomi’s body had been beaten black and blue and it appeared as if his chest had be crushed. Dahmer noted that his own arm and fist was also badly bruised, but he had no recollection of what had happened or what he’d done. Panicked, Dahmer bought a large suitcase and stuffed Tuomi’s lifeless corpse inside it.

Back at his grandmothers house, Dahmer took the body into the basement where he proceeded to masturbate over it before dissecting the head, limbs and torso, just like he had with Hicks’. He filleted Tuomi like a butcher would fillet an animal, chopping the flesh into smaller chunks and chucking them into trash bags. The remaining body parts, mainly bones (not the head), were smashed with a sledgehammer and then put into the same trash bags as the flesh. The whole operation from start to finish apparently only took Dahmer about 2 hours to complete, after which he threw the bags out with the household rubbish.

For the following two weeks, Dahmer kept Tuomi’s severed head but it soon began to decay. In order to preserve it he followed the same bone bleaching techniques he had used growing up. The finished result was a skull which Dahmer was able to use as a masturbating tool, until it became too brittle because the of the bleaching process. Eventually, he smashed the skull into tiny fragments with the sledgehammer and threw them the trash. Dahmer wasn’t too bothered, he’d simply get himself another one.

Despite confessing to Tuomi’s murder, Dahmer couldn’t remember actually killing him and no evidence was found to prove he had either, so detectives were unable to charge him for it. Tuomi’s body has never been found.

Dahmer now had a taste for murder and an even stronger sexual compulsion to dominate unresponsive males.

James Doxtator

James Doxtator, 14, was a male prostitute who had a tragic encounter with Dahmer on January 16^th, 1988. They had met at a bus stop and after chatting for a while Dahmer learned Doxtator was planning on leaving home as he didn’t get on with his stepfather. He offered the young teenager $50 to pose for nude photos, knowing that the money would be very tempting for a young boy in his situation.

The two of them went back to Dahmer’s grandmother’s home and into the cellar, where they engaged in sexual activity. Then he drugged him, just as he had done to some of his previous one night stands, before strangling him to death. Following his usual routine, he masturbated over Doxtator’s lifeless corpse prior to dismembering the body. He threw away the crushed torso, and limbs but kept the head, much like he had with Steven Tuomi’s remains. Again the bleaching process left the skull brittle so a couple of weeks later he smashed it to pieces with his sledgehammer, threw it in the trash and moved on. Doxtator’s mother reported him missing two days later,

Richard Guerrero

Dahmer’s next victim was 22 year old Richard Guerrero who he met outside The Phoenix Gay bar on March 24^th, 1988. Dahmer offered Guerrero $50 in exchange for spending the rest of the night with him. Guerrero, who was bisexual, accepted the offer and returned to Dahmer’s Grandmother’s house with him, unaware of the fate that awaited him. As per Dahmer’s usual M.O, he was drugged and then strangled with a leather strap. Masturbating over the corpse didn’t have the same thrill for Dahmer anymore so he had oral sex with Guerrero’s lifeless body instead, before disposing of him, (within 24 hours) the same way as he had with his other victims. This time however, he retained the skull for several months before trashing it. Guerrero’s father tried everything to find his missing son but it remained a cold case until Dahmer’s confessed to everything after his arrest.

Ronald Flowers

Just under a month later, on April 23^rd 1988, Dahmer was out on the prowl again. He met Ronald Flowers, 25, who fell for his murderous trap and returned home with him. Flowers’ car had broken down outside the 219 club and Dahmer tricked him into returning home with him on the premise of helping him get his car started again. Flowers recalled that on the way back to the West Allis house Dahmer’s mood changed for the worse and he wouldn’t make eye contact.

Fortunately for this young man, Dahmer’s Grandmother returned home just after Dahmer had drugged him. She called out to her Grandson and although he told her he was alone, she could tell he wasn’t. Due of the risk of getting caught, Dahmer decided not to murder this particular victim and once the drugs had taken effect he took him to the County General Hospital, telling Doctors he had found him in a field unconscious.

“He was staring a me in a way that was scary… it was almost like he was waiting for something to happen …. The last thing I saw was the floor and his shoes. It was sheer terror.”

Ronald Flowers / Investigation Discovery

When Flowers awoke 2 days later he discovered Dahmer had robbed him of his jewellery and $200 cash. His underwear was inside out and he had some bruising on his neck. Flowers reported the incident to the police and was able to tell them where Dahmer lived. When the police questioned Dahmer he denied everything, insisting Flowers had been intoxicated and that he’d simply helped him out. His Grandmother backed up his story and the police took it no further.

Three months later Flowers’ friends had to prevent an altercation between him and Dahmer after they bumped into him at the 219 Club again. Thankfully, he was able to avoid another man from going home with the sinister serial killer, probably saving the mans life.

In September 1988, Dahmer’s Grandmother was sick and tired of his behaviour and she felt disrespected by him bringing strange young men back at all hours of the night. On top of all that, the house was beginning to occupy a stench that originated from the basement, where Dahmer spent a lot of his time. She had no clue what the real cause of the smell was. All she knew was she’d had enough and wanted him to leave. Dahmer managed to find himself a little one bedroom apartment, 808 North 24^th Street, which he moved into on September 25^th,1988.

Somsack Sinthasomphone

Literally the very next day after he’d moved into his new home, Dahmer lured a 13 year old boy, Somsack Sinthasomphone, back to his flat on the premise of taking nude photographs, which he’d offered $50 for. Once back at his apartment Dahmer made the boy drink a cup of coffee that he’d laced with drugs. He undid the boy’s clothing and began to fondle him, telling the youth that he wanted more than just photographs.

As well as the sexual intentions, Dahmer had also wanted to listen to his stomach and had laid his head on Sinthasomphone so that he could do so. At the first opportunity Sinthasomphone made his escape, passing out from the drugged coffee pretty much as soon as he got to the safety of his own home. His father took him to the hospital who diagnosed an overdose and called the police. Sinthasomphone told the police everything and Dahmer was arrested whilst working a shift at the Ambrosia Chocolate factory.

Lionel hired Dahmer an attorney, Gerald Boyle, who arranged for Dahmer to be assessed by psychiatrist. They reported back that Dahmer was suffering from alienation, impulsiveness and at one point even schizophrenia was mentioned. The court wasn’t fooled and he was convicted in January 1989 of second-degree sexual assault and of enticing a child for immoral purposes. He was due to be sentenced in May 1989. Tragically, it wasn’t the last time the Sinthasomphone family and Dahmer’s paths would cross.

Whilst he awaited sentencing, Dahmer was a very busy man. He moved back in with his Grandmother in March 1989 and committed another murder just days later.

Anthony Sears

Dahmer and Anthony Sears, 24, met at a gay bar called La Cage. It was March 25^th, 1989 and Dahmer was out to have a good time. He later informed police that he hadn’t gone out with the intention of killing anybody on this particular night. However, as the night was coming to an end, Sears, who had a girlfriend but identified as bisexual, struck up a conversation with him and, despite Sears’ friend warning against it, the two of them went back to Dahmer’s Grandmother’s home where they had consensual oral sex. Afterwards, Dahmer drugged Sears and then strangled him to death.

It wasn’t until the following morning that Dahmer began to dispose of Sears’ corpse. In a change to his usual M.O routine, Dahmer put Sears into the bathtub and began to dismember him in there. He decapitated the head first before unsuccessfully attempting to flay the dead man, (removing the skin as one whole, intact piece) in a move similar to something Ed Gein would have done.

When that didn’t work, he resorted to his normal process of stripping the flesh into pieces and crushing up the bones before throwing all the bits into the bin. He did deviate slightly by keeping the head and the genitalia. He preserved both body parts in acetone, eventually storing them in a carry case that he kept in his locker at work.

“I could completely control a person—a person that I found physically attractive, and keep them with me as long as possible, even if it meant just keeping a part of them.”

Jeffrey Dahmer

When Sears’ friends realised he hadn’t returned home to feed his pets for a few days they reported him missing and gave a full statement and description of Dahmer to the police but the investigation went no further.

Dahmer’s sentencing for the second-degree sexual assault charge and for enticing a child for immoral purposes was carried out on May 23rd 1989. He was given 12 months in a house of correction and five years probation but was permitted work release in order to keep his job. He was also placed on the sex offender register.

Upon his release Dahmer moved back in with his Grandmother again until May 1990 when he moved into his own apartment – Apartment 213, 924 North 25th Street, in Milwaukee. He took with him his most prized possession, Sears’ preserved head and genitals. The Oxford apartments were in a rough, high-crime neighbourhood, but it was cheap and close to his work. It was here that Dahmer killed a further 12 men.

Raymond Smith

Dahmer killed Raymond Smith, 32, on May 20^th 1990. He offered Smith, a male prostitute who also went by the name Ricky Beeks, $50 in exchange for sex. Once back at his new apartment, Dahmer drugged him with 7 sleeping tablets and then strangled him with his own bare hands.

The very next day Dahmer went out and purchased a polaroid camera which he used to photograph Smith in various suggestive sexual poses. Afterwards he dismembered Smith in the bath before boiling his body parts in soilex – a “highly alkaline built detergent” that rendered them into a jelly-like-substance.

The rest of the bones (with the exception of the skull) was eroded in a container full of acid. Dahmer kept Smith’s skull to add to his collection, spray painting it grey before showcasing it beside Anthony Sears’ skull on a black towel inside a metal cabinet.

“I separated the joints, the arm joints, the leg joints, and had to do two boilings. I think I used four boxes of Soilex for each one, put in the upper portion of the body and boiled that for about two hours and then the lower portion for another two hours. The Soilex removes all the flesh, turns it into a jelly like-like substance and it just rinses off. Then I laid the clean bones in a light bleach solution, left them there for a day and spread them out on either newspaper or cloth and let them dry for about a week in the bedroom.”

Jeffrey Dahmer on how he dismembered and boiled his victim’s remains

Dahmer had planned (and designed) an altar in which to showcase his various skull and skeleton collection. The metal cabinet with Raymond Smith’s and Anthony Sears’ skulls inside appeared to be the beginning of him putting his plans into fruition.

“I even went so far as planning on setting up an altar with the 10 different skulls and skeletons.”

Jeffrey Dahmer

A week later, Dahmer was all set to kill his next victim but the drinks got muddled up and in a good old dose of karma he ended up drinking the wrong one, drugging himself in the process. When he awoke the following morning he discovered his would-be-victim had done a runner, stealing some of his clothing, $300, and a watch.

Edward Smith

Undeterred, Dahmer set about finding his next victim on June 24th 1990, at the Phoenix bar. Edward Smith, (Eddie) 27, wanted to be famous, he wanted to be a star. When Dahmer heard about this he informed Smith that he had contacts in the movie business and could help him get into acting.

Smith was putty in his hands and coupled with the fact the pair had been previously acquainted, Dahmer had no problem enticing him back to his apartment. Once there, Dahmer drugged and strangled Smith and in a change to his usual killing routine, he placed Smith’s dismembered body into the freezer in an attempt to lose the moisture from the skeleton. .

During the process of dismembering Smith’s body, Dahmer took photos with his polaroid camera so he could revisit the memories in the future. Several months later, Dahmer was disappointed to find out his experiment with the freezer didn’t work so he disposed of the body in a vat of acid. He retained the skull, which he tried to ‘oven dry’ but this just caused the skull to explode. When explaining this to the police, Dahmer told them he felt ‘rotten‘ about Edward Smith’s murder. Not because he had killed an innocent man but because he didn’t get to keep any of his body afterwards.

Henry Smith, Edward’s brother, desperately searched for him for months and would hang around outside the Phoenix bar handing out missing posters and asking passers-by if they’d seen Edward or knew anything about his disappearance.

During Dahmer’s Trial, Edward Smith’s sister, Theresa Smith, told reporters

″It’s never going to be behind us, we’re going to have to live with it every day, sleep with it, eat with it.″

Theresa Smith / AP News

Luis Pinet

Luis Pinet, 15, was another ‘fortunate‘ victim of Dahmer’s. Fortunate – because he survived. Dahmer met Pinet at the 219 Club on July 6^th, 1990, when Pinet was employed to do maintenance on the building. Dahmer struck up a conversation with the teenager and offered him a $200 in exchange for nude photographs and sex. They arranged for the rendezvous to take place in the near future.

However, when the time came, Dahmer had no sleeping tablets left in which to drug Pinet with so he resorted to whacking him around the head with a mallet instead. Pinet managed to escape but in a bizarre turn around, he returned to ask Dahmer for some money for the bus fare, since he hadn’t paid him the $200. Dahmer started to attack Pinet who fought back and was able to over power Dahmer.

Despite being attacked by him twice, Pinet remained at Dahmer’s and even allowed him to secure his hands up behind his back. When Pinet got free of the restraints, Dahmer threatened him with a knife. Still Pinet didn’t leave, instead opting to spend the night talking with Dahmer until the following morning. When they parted ways, Pinet promised not to tell a soul about what had happened. In return, Dahmer paid for him to get home.

Pinet immediately went to the police and reported what had happened but because his recollection of events wasn’t consistent each time he told it they didn’t believe him and the incident was never never investigated. Pinet ended up being a witness for the prosecution during Dahmer’s trial.

Ernest Miller

Ernest Miller, 23, and Jeffrey Dahmer had a chance encounter outside of a bookstore in the early hours of September 2^nd, 1990. Dahmer offered Miller $50 to listen to his stomach and heart, a weird request but Miller accepted non the less and the two of them returned to Dahmer’s apartment together. Dahmer tried to turn the situation sexual but was rebuffed by Miller who informed him he’d have to pay extra for sexual favours. Dahmer had no intention of paying anything and drugged Miller’s drink. The issue Dahmer faced was that he only had two sleeping tablets left and he was concerned they wouldn’t be enough to subdue his victim enough.

For the first time since the killings began, Dahmer deviated from the manner in which he killed his victim. Because of the sleeping tablet situation he had to think of another way to incapacitate him. He picked up the knife which he usually dismembered his victims with and slashed Miller across the throat, slicing into his carotid artery. Within minutes Miller was dead, having bled to death.

Dahmer proceeded to arrange Miller’s dead body into various poses and snap photographs with his polaroid camera, before dismembering him in the bathtub. During his police interviews he claimed he kept kissing and talking to Miller’s decapitated head whilst he dissected the remainder of the corpse.

At some point during the dissection, Dahmer decided to retain some select pieces of Miller’s body parts, including the heart, biceps and some skin from his leg, with the full intention of consuming them as soon as he was able to. In the meantime, he stored them in his fridge wrapped in a plastic bag. Dahmer had officially placed a foot into the world of cannibalism.

“I was branching out, that’s when the cannibalism started, eating of the heart and the arm muscle. It was a way of making me feel that they were a part of me. At first it was just curiosity, and then it became compulsive.”

Jeffrey Dahmer / Oxygen

The skeleton was boiled in his Soilex concoction until all the flesh and organs had become like jelly and he was able to rinse them off. He then processed the bones in his original bleach bath solution and allowed them to air dry. Miller’s head was eventually painted and sealed with enamel.

Ernest Miller’s Skeleton was later discovered by police in Dahmer’s apartment.

David Thomas

On September 24th 1990, Dahmer met David Thomas ,22, at the Grand Avenue Mall, in Milwaukee. The two of them got chatting and at the first suitable opportunity Dahmer invited Thomas back to his apartment for casual drinks, with an added bonus of cash in exchange for some nude photographs.

As per usual, Dahmer drugged his victim but decided he didn’t fancy Thomas after all. He later recalled to police that he found himself in quite a predicament because if he let Thomas wake up then he could end up back in jail, but as he wasn’t sexually attracted to him, killing him seemed a bit of a waste. Deciding there was no other option, Dahmer killed and dismembered Thomas but opted not to keep any of his remains as a souvenir.

David Thomas’ mother, Inez Thomas, spoke out during Dahmer’s sentencing hearing:

“You know, I don’t understand how a person could really harm a person and to say that, well I did this because because he wasn’t my type… And I just feel like this man should never be able to walk the face of the earth or be able to harm anyone else again “

Inez Thomas / Victim Impact Statement

Dahmer didn’t murder anyone until the following year after he killed Thomas. But it wasn’t through lack of trying. He had simply been unsuccessful at convincing anyone to go home with him.

Curtis Straughter

Curtis Straughter, 17, met Dahmer on February 17^th 1991, at a bus stop near Marquette University. He willingly accompanied Dahmer back to his apartment on the promise of sexual intercourse but had also agreed to pose for nude photographs, in exchange for cash.

Once back at Dahmer’s apartment, Straughter was drugged and his hands were cuffed behind his back. Dahmer then strangled him with a leather strap before proceeding to clean up the bones and rid himself of the other bodily remains as per his usual methods. Dahmer opted to keep Straughter’s skull (unpainted), hands and genitals for his collection and also so he could interact with the remains in the future. He documented the dismemberment and cleaning process with his polaroid camera. Evidence which was later retained by the police.

Curtis Straughter’s mother, Dorothy Straughter, read her victim impact statement directly to Dahmer, in court:

“You took my 17 year old son away from me. I’ll never get a chance to tell him that I that I loved him”

Dorothy Straughter / Victim Impact Statement

Errol Lindsey

On April 7th 1991, Dahmer observed Errol Lindsey, 19, as he was going. about his day. Lindsey was getting a key cut when Dahmer approached him. After striking up a conversation, Dahmer invited Lindsey back to his apartment. Lindsey, who wasn’t gay, accepted Dahmer’s invite, for whatever reason and returned home with him.

Once there, Dahmer drugged Lindsey before attempting something new on his victim. He wanted to see if he could subdue the man by drilling a hole 2-3 inches into his skull and injecting hydrochloric acid directly into his brain. He hoped it would keep Lindsey alive but render him completely submissive and able to be dominated. However, it didn’t work as Dahmer had anticipated and Lindsey actually awoke, stating he had a headache.

Disappointed, Dahmer drugged Lindsey again and this time resorted to his old and faithful killing practice of strangulation. Dahmer tried to encompass his inner Ed Gein again and attempted to flay Lindsey’s body, this time keeping it in a solution of salty cold water for several weeks. Once again, this didn’t work and it spoiled the skin. Dahmer then dismembered him in much the same way as he had all his other murder victims but kept the skull for his growing collection.

During Dahmer’s sentencing, Errol Lindsey’s sister, Rita Isbell, screamed at the man who killed her brother:  

“Jeffrey, I hate you!”

“I tried to, err, keep the person alive by inducing a zombie like state, erm, by err, injecting first a dilute acid solution into their brain, or hot water, and it never did completely work. “

Jeffrey Dahmer

Tony Hughes

Jeffrey Dahmer and Tony Hughes, 31, encountered each other on May 24^th, 1991, at one of Dahmer’s favourite haunts, the 219 club. Hughes was deaf and could not speak so the pair, who had allegedly known each other for years, communicated via written messages. Dahmer offered Hughes his go to $50 in exchange for Hughes posing for nude photographs. He was drugged and strangled but Dahmer didn’t conduct in any sexual activity with his corpse.

Hughes’ body was kept in Dahmer’s bedroom for days and was still there, bloated and decomposing, when Dahmer brought back his next victim. He was ultimately dismembered alongside the Konerak Sinthasomphone. His skull was discovered by police after Dahmer was arrested.

When giving her victim impact statement to the court, Shirley Hughes, Tony Hughes’ mother said:

“I would like to say to Jeffrey Dahmer that he don’t know the pain, the hurt, the loss and the mental state that he had put our family in.”

Shirley Hughes / Victim Impact statement

The problem Dahmer faced, having killed so many men, was the same issue Nilsen had faced. The discomposing smell from the rotten remains of his victim’s had began to reek.

Other Oxford apartment dwellers had complained to the building manager, Sopa Princewill, about the stench which they had determined was coming from Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment, number 213. Every time he approached Dahmer regarding the smell he was able to give an explanation such as – his freezer had broken and the meat inside had spoiled and / or his many fish had died and him not cleaning them out quick enough was the reason behind the stink.

Unfortunately, Princewill accepted the excuses which helped enable Dahmer to go on and commit what was probably the most tragic murder, regarding the circumstances, of them all.

Konerak Sinthasomphone 

Konerak Sinthasomphone, 14, was the younger brother of one of Dahmer’s surviving victims – Somsack Sinthasomphone, whom Dahmer had been imprisoned for molesting back in 1988. At the time Dahmer was unaware of the relationship between the two brothers.

On May 26^th 1991, Dahmer approached Konerak Sinthasomphone on Wisconsin Avenue and enticed him back to his apartment with the promise of money in exchange for nude photos. Sinthasomphone actually did pose for a couple of semi nude photographs before succumbing to the sleeping drugs which had laced his drink. Whilst subdued, Dahmer performed oral sex on the young lad before re-attempting his experiment of drilling a hole in the boys head and injecting hydrochloric acid into the frontal lobe of his brain.

Dahmer later claimed he had at one point taken the semi conscious Sinthasomphone into the bedroom where the teenager witnessed the bloated corpse of Tony Hughes. He registered no reaction, likely due to the amount of drugs in his system and the hydrochloric acid which had been injected into his brain. When Sinthasomphone was once again unconscious, Dahmer laid beside him for a while before deciding it was an ideal time to go into town for a few beers, leaving Sinthasomphone in his apartment alone.

At some point, whilst Dahmer was out, Sinthasomphone had awoken and stumbled out of the apartment. He was found wondering around naked, beaten, bruised and in an intoxicated haze by three woman – Tina Spivey, Nicole Childress, and Sandra Smith. Sinthasomphone was bleeding from his rectum and the woman tried to speak with him but due to the drugs Dahmer had given him, he was unable to communicate properly.

As Dahmer returned from the bar, he encountered the women with Sinthasomphone and informed them he would handle the situation from there. Sinthasomphone however tried to get away from Dahmer and fought him off whenever he approached him. Concerned about the youth, one of the women called 911. The 911 phone call went as follows;

Woman: ” Okay., hi, erm, I’m on 25th and State and there is this young man. He is butt naked…He has been beaten up. He is very bruised up. He can’t stand up. He is butt naked. He has no clothes on. He is really hurt. I got no coat on. I just seen him. He needs some help.”

Operator: “Where’s he at?”

 Woman: “25th and State. The corner of 25th and State.”

horrorobsessive.com

Responding police officers, Joseph Gabrish and John Balcerzak arrived at the scene shortly after and Dahmer instantly put on a relaxed charade, informing them that it was simply a drunken lovers tiff between himself and his 19 year old boyfriend. (Sinthasomphone was only 14!) He assured the officers that Sinthasomphone always behaved like this when he was intoxicated and that he was especially worse that evening because he’d been consuming Jack Daniels Whiskey all night.

The women were incredulous to what they were hearing and pointed out to the officers some of Sinthasomphone’s more serious injuries – bleeding from his rectum, blood on his testicles and the fact he looked as if he’d been severely beaten up. Not to mention the way he kept trying to get away from Dahmer.

Officers Gabrish and Balcerzak, shockingly, expressed that they could see no injuries beside a mere scrape to his knee. The women were reprimanded by the officers who told them in no uncertain terms to “shut the hell up, butt out and to not interfere.”

The Milwaukee fire department also attended the scene and provided a yellow blanket in which to cover Sinthasomphone with. They felt he needed medical treatment but were dismissed by Gabrish and Balcerzak and ordered to leave.

Another officer, Richard Porubcan, arrived and together with Gabrish and Balcerzak, he accompanied Dahmer back to the apartment. Dahmer produced the semi-naked polaroid photos he had taken of Sinthasomphone earlier that night to ‘prove’ they were ‘lovers’. Whilst at the apartment, all the officers somehow failed to see and smell the decomposing, bloated corpse of Tony Hughes despite even looking in th.e bedroom.

Believing Dahmer’s account of events they determined it was nothing more than a domestic dispute and left, telling Dahmer to “take good care” of Sinthasomphone” as they departed.

No sooner had the officers left, Dahmer injected a fatal dose of hydrochloric acid into Sinthasomphone’s brain. The following day he dismembered both Hughes and Sinthasomphone, taking the day off work to do so. On this occasion he kept both of his victim’s skulls.

A few days later, Nicole Childress, one of the three women that had tried to help that fateful night, saw an article in the Milwaukee Sentinel newspaper about a missing boy. She instantly recognised it was Konerak Sinthasomphone and immediately called the police. It just so happened that the officer who answered her call was one of the officers who’d attended that night and he informed her the matter had been resolved. It certainly had, just not in the way they thought.

It was later discovered that after concluding the ‘incident’, the attending police officers had called into the police department, with the following call being recorded:

“The intoxicated Asian naked male (laughter in background) was returned to his sober boyfriend (more laughter in background).”

horrorobsessive.com

Side Note: After Dahmer’s arrest, the details surrounding Sinthasomphone’s murder became known and officers Balcerzak and Gabrish were fired, following disciplinary action, from the Milwaukee police department for there handling of the situation. And rightly so. The department were also sued for a vast amount of money. However, both officers were reinstated in 1994, with Balcerzak going on to become the President of the Milwaukee police committee from 2005 -2009.

Matt Turner

Dahmer’s next victim was 20 year old Matt Turner. Having met at a bus stop in Chicago on June 30th 1991, Dahmer managed to convince Turner into returning to Milwaukee with him under the pretence of being a professional photographer.

Turner believed he was attending a photoshoot to help Dahmer with his portfolio, but in reality he was being lured to death at Dahmer’s Oxford apartment. When they arrived, Dahmer offered him a drink which he laced with sleeping tablets and then waited patiently for them to take effect. As soon as Turner fell unconscious Dahmer strangled him to death before beginning his clean up ritual.

This time, however, Dahmer decided he wanted to change things up a bit. Just like many Serial killers, his MO was evolving and he needed ‘more’ in order to feel the sexual gratification he got from the killings. This time, after the dismembering process was complete, Dahmer decided to retain Turner’s skull and his internal organs, which he kept in the freezer, to be eaten at a later time.

Sadly, Matt Turner was never reported by anybody as being a missing person.

Jeremiah Weinberger

Less than a week later, On July 5th, 1991, Dahmer selected his next victim. Whilst at ‘Carol’s Bar’ in Chicago, Dahmer spotted Jeremiah Weinberger, 23. Having initiated the conversation, Dahmer invited Weinberger to spend the weekend with him at his apartment in Milwaukee. Naively, Weinberger agreed and returned home with him where he was drugged.

This time though, rather than strangle his victim he opted to inject him, with boiling hot water, through a hole he’d drilled in his skull, directly into his brain. It had the very effect Dahmer had been hoping for. Weinberger had become almost zombie like, walking, using the bathroom but very dazed and groggy. Dahmer finally had a fully submissive, controllable, living victim that he could dominate.

However, the drugs and ‘brain injection’ began to wear off, so in order to keep Weinberger in the state he wanted him in, Dahmer administered more sleeping tablets and another injection of the boiling hot water into his brain. This time it was fatal, by the next morning Weinberger was dead.

When Weinberger failed to return home, his friend, Ted Jones, (who had been with him at Carol’s bar the night he met Dahmer) was able to give a full description of the man Weinberger had gone to Milwaukee with and even helped police produce a composite sketch of him.

Oliver Lacy

Oliver Lacy, 24, met Dahmer on July 15th, 1991, on the corner of 27th and Kilbourn. Lacy became another victim of Dahmer’s that fell for his $50 in exchange for nude photographs scam, returning with him to the Oxford apartment. Lacy, who was engaged to be married to his long term girlfriend, and Dahmer, engaged in consensual sexual activities until Lacy succumbed to the drugs Dahmer had slipped into his drink.

He planned to keep Lacy unconscious for quite a while by using chloroform but was unsuccessful in doing so. In the end he decided to kill Lacy, sooner rather than later. After strangling him he had sex with Lacy’s dead body before calling in sick at work to allow him the time to kill and dismember Lacy and his previous two victims – Matt Turner and Jeremiah Weinberger.

Dahmer was granted the day off as absence but was then promptly suspended the day after due to the amount of time of he’d had in such a short space of time. After the dismemberment was complete, Dahmer placed Lacy’s Head, heart and skeleton into the freezer, alongside the various remains of his other victims.

On July 19th 1991, The Ambrosia Chocolate Factory informed Dahmer that he was fired. Dahmer didn’t particularly care. His compulsion to control and dominate another human was now so profound it had taken over his life. That very night he went out on the town, with the full intention of finding someone to take his sadistic pleasure out on .

Joseph Bradehoft

Whilst out searching for his next victim on July 19th, 1991, Dahmer encountered Joseph Bradehoft, 25, at a bus stop in Milwaukee. Bradehoft had recently separated from his wife whom he had 3 children with. Originally from Illinois, Bradehoft had come to Milwaukee to stay with his brother whilst searching for employment, so that he could support his estranged family financially.

Dahmer spotted Bradehoft and struck up a conversation with him, eventually offering him $50 to return home with him. Fatefully Bradehoft accepted. Almost as soon as they arrived back at Dahmer’s apartment he was given a drink laced with sleeping tablets. Eventually the drowsiness overcame him and he slipped into unconsciousness.

Dahmer then strangled Bradehoft but decided not to dismember him straight away. He wanted to enjoy his victim first. Dahmer kept Bradehoft’s corpse in his bed, loosely covered by a sheet for two days, during which time he would engage in sexual activity with the dead man’s body.

On day two, when he pulled back the sheets, Dahmer was annoyed to discover maggots wriggling freely all over Bradehoft’s head. He dismembered the corpse that very day, cleaned up the head and placed it in his refrigerator, along with the various other body parts. Bradehoft’s torso and limbs were placed into a vat of acid along with the remains of Matt Turner and Oliver Lacy.

Joseph Bradehoft was Dahmer’s last murder victim. During an emotional victim impact statement, Donald Bradehoft, Joseph Bradehoft’s brother, told Dahmer;

“I hope you go to hell”

Donald Bradehoft

Tracy Edwards

On July 22nd, 1991, Dahmer was out on the town again when he approached three men, offering them $100 to return home with him and keep him company. Tracy Edwards, 32, was the only one who accepted the offer.

Back at Dahmer’s apartment, Edwards instantly noticed a foul stench emanating from every room and he couldn’t help but notice several boxes of hydrochloric acid piled on the floor. When questioned about it, Dahmer calmly explained the smell was coming from a broken sewer pipe and that he used the acid for cleaning bricks.

Edwards was dubious about the meek excuse but continued with the small talk, during which, Dahmer pointed to his fish tank and encouraged Edwards to look at it. As he did so, Dahmer handcuffed one of Edwards’ wrists and attempted to cuff the other, but Edwards resisted. With one cuff still attached to his wrist, Edwards was led into Dahmer’s bedroom, where he noted the smell was even worse. Looking around he saw a large vat (which unbeknown to Edwards, contained some of Dahmer’s other victims) and a T.V. with the exorcist III playing to nobody in particular.

Dahmer informed Edwards that he wanted him to pose nude whilst he took photographs on his polaroid camera. Edwards was still a bit confused as to what was going on but it all became very clear when Dahmer began brandishing a knife.

Terrified of the knife wielding maniac in front of him, Edwards decided to play along, to try an appease Dahmer, so he began to remove his shirt, telling Dahmer he’d be more than willing to pose for him but only if he uncuffed him. At this point Dahmer appeared to lose interest and turned his attention to the T.V instead, chanting something under his breath as he rocked back and forth.

After a while, Dahmer returned his attention back to Edwards, placing his head on Edwards’ chest casually informed him that he planned on eating his heart.

Cleverly, Edwards played along, convincing Dahmer they were frien.ds. He asked if they could sit and enjoy some beers together in the air-conditioned front room. Dahmer allowed this and it gave Edwards the chance he needed to escape.

At the first opportunity he turned on Dahmer, punching him in the face. Dahmer was caught off guard and lost his balance. By the time he’d recovered himself it was too late, Edwards had escaped, with the handcuffs still attached to one of his wrists.

Edwards ran out into the night and was fortunate enough to catch the attention of two police officers, Rolf Mueller and Robert Rauth. He told them a freak with a knife had handcuffed him and he pleaded with them to get the cuffs off. Although they tried, their attempts were unsuccessful as their keys didn’t fit. They informed him the only person who could unlock them was the person who had cuffed him in the first place.

The police officers accompanied Edwards back to Dahmer’s apartment, where he (Dahmer) confirmed he had indeed placed the cuffs on Edwards, but he offered no explanation as to why.

Side Note: Tracy Edwards went on to have multiple drug related run-ins with the law before being charged with murder himself in 2011 after he was accused of throwing a man over a bridge to his death. Edwards pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of aiding a felon and was sentenced to one and a half years in prison and two years of extended supervision.

Arrest, Trial and Punishment

Having Confirmed Dahmer was the one who’d cuffed Edwards, one of the officers entered the apartment to retrieve the key, which Dahmer had told him was in the bedroom. There, the officer spotted the knife Dahmer had been threatening Edwards with only minutes before. As he glanced around the bedroom he noticed a bedside drawer was open. Upon looking inside the drawer the officer was horrified to discover Jeffrey Dahmer’s collection of polaroid photographs, containing documented evidence of the murders and dismemberments of his victims.

The officer immediately showed the photographs to his partner, questioning the authenticity of the pictures. Dahmer, realising his heinous crimes had been discovered, by the police no less, tried to make an escape but was tackled to the floor and handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of murder. Whilst waiting for back up, Mueller searched the rest of the apartment where he discovered a freshly decapitated head in Dahmer’s refrigerator.

When The Milwaukee Criminal Investigators conducted a further search of Dahmer’s apartment they discovered 7 skulls – some of which had been painted as well as 2 hearts, arm muscles, a carrier bag containing various human organs, 2 skeletons, (belonging to Miller and Lacy) 2 hands, 2 penises, one whole torso and 3 partial torsos. In total they found 74 polaroid photographs documenting the murders and dismemberment of Dahmer’s various victims.

“It was more like dismantling someone’s museum than an actual crime scene,”

Jeff Jentzen / Medicine at Michigan

Homicide detectives, Patrick Kennedy and Dennis Murphy, interviewed Dahmer for many hours following his arrest, over 60 hours in fact. He refused a lawyer and co-operated fully with the police. By the end he had confessed to the the murders of 17 young men.

He also confessed to engaging in necrophilia as well as performing sexual acts with their various body parts and organs whilst he dissected them. Further to that, he confessed to cannibalism, telling detectives he had eaten the hearts, livers, biceps and thighs of several of his victims, usually after tenderising them, seasoning them with salt and pepper and flavouring with various condiments. He described the human meat as having a beefy flavour and being quite chewy.

Nancy Glass: “Do you ever think about your Victims?”

Jeffrey Dahmer: “Err, I’ve often wondered why I haven’t had, err, more, more dreams or nightmares about what I’ve done.”

Jeffrey Dahmer / Dahmer on Dahmer

Ultimately, Dahmer was charged with 15 counts of first degree murder in Milwaukee and one count of first degree murder in Ohio. He wasn’t charged with the murder of Tuomi as he couldn’t remember actually killing him and there was no physical evidence to prove he had either. Because he pleaded guilty but insane, a trial was still held to determine if he had any mental or personality disorders which compelled him to kill.

On February 15th 1992, following the trial, which lasted 2 weeks, the jury ruled that Dahmer was sane and had been so at the time of the murders. He was sentenced two days later to life imprisonment plus ten years – for the first two Milwaukee murders, then life imprisonment plus 70 years for the remaining 13 murders. He was later convicted in Ohio and sentenced to another life imprisonment for the murder of Steven Hicks.

“Yes, I always had that sense it was wrong. I don’t think anybody can kill somebody and think that it’s right.”

Jeffrey Dahmer

Dahmer was incarcerated in the Columbia Correctional Institution where he spent the first year in solitary confinement, for his own safety. After the first year he was moved to a less secure unit within the prison which enabled him to get a daily job cleaning the prison toilets.

He’d requested a bible and declared himself a born again Christian, going as far as to be baptised by minister Roy Ratcliff in the prison whirlpool. At his new unit, Dahmer enjoyed the weekly church services and would often sit and reflect in the prison chapel afterwards.

On July 3rd, 1994, during one of Dahmer’s moments of reflection, he was approached by Osvaldo Durruthy who attempted to slash his throat. His wounds were not serious but Dahmer accepted that he was likely to be attacked again by an inmate due to the severity of his crimes. And he was right because on November 28th, 1994, Christopher Scarver bludgeoned Dahmer to death with a 20 inch metal bar, whilst he had been cleaning the prison staff locker rooms.

A fellow inmate, Jesse Anderson, was also attacked. The two men were rushed to hospital but Dahmer died within an hour of arriving and Anderson died two days later. When explaining why he attacked had them, Scarver kept changing his story, sometimes he would say:

“God told me to do it.”

Other times he claimed it had been because Dahmer and Anderson had poked at him and laughed. Another time he said he had cornered Dahmer and confronted him over the despicable and revolting crimes he had committed and that Dahmer had been taunting the other prisoners by shaping his food into severed limbs, with ketchup made to look like blood. However, because he had concealed the weapon in his clothing before heading to cleaning duty, it is more likely the murders had been pre meditated. Scarver received two life sentences on top of the sentence he was already serving, for the murders of Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson.

Regardless of the crimes committed by their son, Lionel and Shari Dahmer continued to visit Dahmer regularly in prison up until his death, upon which they stated they forgave him and would continue to love him, always. The magnitude of it all became too much for Joyce who attempted suicide once again. The attempt was unsuccessful and she ultimately passed away from cancer in 2000. Lionel and Shari kept the Dahmer surname but David, Dahmer’s brother, changed his name in order to live anonymously.

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• Richard Ricardo Ramirez: https://richardricardoramirez.tumblr.com/post/143011835449/jeffrey-dahmer-crime-scene-photos
• Crime Viral: https://crimeviral.com/2021/07/inside-jeffrey-dahmers-apartment-of-horrors/
• Crime Mag: https://www.thecrimemag.com/a-curious-look-inside-jeffrey-dahmers-apartment/
• FDL Reporter: https://eu.fdlreporter.com/story/news/2019/05/07/wisconsin-prisons-brendan-dassey-jeffrey-dahmer-among-infamous-inmates-columbia-correctional-portage/3630678002/
• Authour David Boiani: https://www.authordavidboiani.com/serial-killers/jeffery-dahmer/
• Nairaland: https://www.nairaland.com/5921798/serial-killers-reveal-10-jeffery