Jeffrey Dahmer, the infamous serial killer, is without a doubt one of modern history’s most notorious and abhorrent killers. Between 1978 and 1991, he killed 17 men and boys. His heinous killings included rape, dismemberment, cannibalism, and necrophilia. One of Dahmer’s quotes is as follows:
The only motive that there ever was to completely control a person; a person I found physically attractive. And keep them with me as long as possible, even if it meant just keeping a part of them.
Dahmer during his interrogations
The murders earned Dahmer the moniker “Milwaukee Cannibal and Milwaukee Monster.” Dahmer was arrested by police in his Milwaukee apartment in 1991 and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Jeffrey Dahmer Childhood
Jeffrey Dahmer was born in 1960 and had a typical childhood. At the age of four, he developed an interest in animals and was fascinated by how they interacted. Jeffrey’s father, Lionel Dahmer, encouraged it because he saw his son’s interest in chemistry and biology, and with his scientific background, he showed Jeffery how to preserve them.
Dahmer began drinking at a young age and even attended classes while drunk in high school at times. When Jeffrey was 14, he realised he was gay and used to hide in the bushes to watch male joggers.
Dahmer intended to make his first victim a male jogger unconscious with a baseball bat so he could sexually violate him, but on the day he decided to carry out his fantasy, his intended victim did not appear.
Dahmer’s first victim
Prior to his graduation, Dahmer was struggling with his homosexual desires. After being home all day drinking, Dahmer went out to get some supplies, where he picked up a hitchhiker, who was on his way to a rock concert in Cleveland and was his first victim, Steven Hicks.
Both were of the same age, so it didn’t raise any suspicion on Jeffrey’s part, which convinced him to go to his home for some drinks.
When Steven called it quits and said he needed to leave, Dahmer didn’t take it well and hit him with a dumbbell before strangling him with the dumbbell’s bar. Dahmer then satisfied his sexual desires with the corpse before dissolving it in acid. Any bones that did not dissolve properly were smashed into pieces with a sledgehammer and thrown in the woods behind his house.
Dahmer’s drinking problems persisted, leading to his discharge from the army in 1981. During his 2-year service in the army, two soldiers testified to being raped by Jeffery. One of the soldiers claimed that Jeffrey drugged and raped him repeatedly in Germany over a 17-month period.
Dahmer was sentenced to one year probation for indecent exposure in front of two to twelve-year-old boys in 1982, for which he initially admitted the charges but later denied, claiming that he was urinating, and was ordered to undergo counseling in 1986.
Jeffrey Dahmer — From a sex offender to Serial Killer
Jeffrey Dahmer waited for his second victim for 9 years. Steven Tuomi, his second victim, was murdered in September 1987. Dahmer picked him up from a bar, and they checked into a hotel where Dahmer drugged Steven and claimed in interrogations that he had no memory of murdering Steven.
After the murder in 1987, it was difficult for him to control his demons. Dahmer’s killing spree accelerated in 1988, 1989, and 1990, with two victims in 1988, one in 1989, and four in 1990.
After killing the victims, he bleached their heads and genitals, preserved them with scientific precision, and occasionally ate them.
Dahmer lured a 13-year-old boy back to his flat after moving to his new apartment, offering the boy $50 to pose naked for photographs.
Fortunately, the boy escaped, and Jeffrey was arrested the next day for drugging and sexually assaulting a minor, and he was convicted of second-degree sexual assault about 4 months later. The sentence for this crime was delayed until May, and he was forced to return to his grandmother’s apartment.
In May 1991, Dahmer had a lucky escape when one of his victims almost escaped.
One who could’ve been saved from Dahmer
Dahmer’s victim was Konerak Sinthasomphone, who was coincidentally the brother of Keison, who became his victim 3 years ago. Sadly, he didn’t recognize his brother’s killer as they were assured by the police that the killer’s punishment would be severe.
On May 27, 1991, a neighbor called 911 to report seeing a bleeding and naked boy run from Dahmer’s apartment. Officer Balcerzak and his partner, Joseph Gabrish, were dispatched and took Dahmer’s word that “the boy was his 19-year-old lover, and they got drunk and had an argument and started fighting.”
Konerak, who was fluent in English, was unable to communicate in his drugged and brain-injured state. Dahmer found the boy and convinced the police officer that the boy was his 19-year-old lover.
The police officer said that he had agonized over how he might have prevented the boy’s death.”God as my witness, I just didn’t dump a little boy in the hands of a murderer. That’s not what happened,” the officer, Joseph T. Gabrish as told to The Milwaukee Journal in a story published.
As soon as the police left, Dahmer killed the boy and proceeded with his usual rituals. If the officers had conducted a basic search 5 lives would’ve been saved and they would find the body of his 12th victim, Tony Hughes.
Before getting arrested Dahmer killed 4 more men and his tally stopped at 17, with 16 in West Allis and Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and one victim in Ohio — all between 1978 and 1991.
The end of Jeffrey Dahmer
Dahmer was set to strike again only 2 days after his last killing. This time his victim was a 32-year-old, African American man, Tracy Edwards. Dahmer picked him from a bar and took him to his room where he would perform his routine, but Tracy somehow managed to escape Dahmer’s apartment.
The one that got away from Dahmer
Tracy Edwards was able to flag down two police officers and led them to Dahmer, Tracy who still had handcuffs dangling from his wrist, told officers that a “weird dude” had drugged and tried to kill him but somehow he escaped.
When the officers arrived at Dahmer’s apartment they found the knife that Dahmer was trying to kill Tracy with and when the officer went into his bedroom the game was over for Dahmer.
They found piles of polaroid photographs of his victims, purposely posed in hideous positions.
Crime Scene: Jeffrey Dahmer’s refrigerator
After arriving, police officers started searching Dahmer’s apartment, they found Polaroid photographs of his victims positioned hideously, and a fresh severed human head in his refrigerator, this was just the beginning of horrors, 7 preserved skulls some of them painted and some of them bleached
In the refrigerator, investigators collected two human hearts and a portion of the arm muscle, a bag of human organs and flesh stuck at the bottom and an entire torso.
Two skeletons, a pair of severed hands, two severed and preserved genitals and a mummified scale were recovered Dahmer’s apartment.
It’s hard for me to believe that a human being could have done what I’ve done, but I know that I did it.
Jeffrey Dahmer during his interrogation.
The Horror of Jeffrey Dahmer
No one has ever come face to face with as prolific and heinous as Jeffrey Dahmer and nothing could have prepared Patrick Kennedy and Patrick Murphy who interrogated him for what they were about to hear.
Throughout his interrogation, he waived his right to have a lawyer present and told that he would confess it all.
“I created this horror and it only makes sense i do everything to put an end to it”
Jeffrey Dahmer
Dahmer made complete confessions and he described all the details of his murders including necrophilia and cannibalism.
In an attempt to create sex slaves Dahmer drilled holes into the head of his victims and filled their head with bleach, though the experiment was unsuccessful and both of his victims died.
Dahmer was interviewed for 60 hours and when asked about what compelled him to do such things he replied “It was my way of remembering their appearance, their physical beauty, I also wanted to keep, if I couldn’t keep them with me whole at least I could keep their skeletons “
Dahmer also revealed that most of his victims were unconscious before their murder although some had died as a result of having acid and boiling water injected into their brain
Later he pleaded guilty by virtue of insanity, his defense tried to bring his behavior into factor but nothing can account for the horrible killings he did.
Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 16 life terms in prison in 1991. 3 years later Jeffrey Dahmer was killed along with Jesse Anderson by his fellow prison inmate Christopher Scarver.
Scarver said he found Dahmer disturbing with the crimes he was charged and the fact that Dahmer used to fashion severed limbs from prison food to annoy other inmates.
Lionel Dahmer released a book later “A father’s story”, not about his son Jeffrey, but where he failed as a father.
Jeffrey Dahmer Movie
Over the years Jeffrey Dahmer has been used as a reference for psychopaths and cannibals. My Friend Dahmer was based on the life story of Jeffrey Dahmer.
There have been several references in the movies, such as the scene from Get Out.
Now that you’ve read about Jeffrey Dahmer, read how What he said when asked to him about the killing? or read about The serial killer who fought his own case but couldn’t escape himself from Electrical Chair — Ted Bundy. You might also like Jaffery Dahmer Quotes.
