Jeffrey Dahmer (2024)

Background

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 21, 1960 to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. Lionel worked long hours in his laboratory while Joyce worked as a teletype machine instructor. Both parents constantly fought all through Jeffrey's childhood into his adulthood.

When Jeffrey was three, he was diagnosed with a double hernia that would require surgery. He was not told what the operation would involve, which left Jeffrey feeling exposed. This scarred him for life and may be a reason why he was so messed up (mentally).

When he was eight, Jeffrey was sexually molested by the neighbor boy.

At age ten, he began to experiment with dead animals. Jeffrey found an interest in decapitating rodents, bleaching chicken bones with acid, and nailing a dog's carcass to a tree while mounting it's head on a stick. Surprisingly, his parents thought this was just a normal "boy thing."

In high school, he was dependent on alcohol and drank EVERY day. This eventually led him to being kicked out of the navy.

In 1978, his parents had officially split up, leaving his parents to pick who Jeffrey would live with. He ended up staying by himself, left alone with his horrific fantasies.

What he did

When both of his parent's left him, Jeffrey was left alone. Until he went to live with his grandmother, where the majority of the crimes took place. He murdered, raped, dismembered, and practiced necrophilia and cannibalism on his 17 male victims. After he was kicked out of the navy, he was arrested for indecent exposure. A year later, he was arrested again for urinating in public.

Murders

Jeffrey's first murder was a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks. He picked him up, took him home for a drink and small talk. Jeffrey had a fear of people in his life leaving him (like his parents did). When Hicks tried to leave, Dahmer crushed his skull with a barbell, strangled him to death, and cut up his body. Dahmer then buried the pieces of the body and waited for the bones to be "clean" so he could crush and scatter them.

Next, Jeffrey started going to a gay bar to find men to "pick up." He met a man and both of them went to a hotel where they got drunk, had sex, and passed out. When Dahmer woke up, the other man had blood dripping from his mouth and was dead. So what did he do? He shoved the dead body into a suitcase so he could take it to his grandmothers, dismember the body, and dispose of it.

A year later: Dahmer killed another man he had met at the gay bar. When he killed this man, Dahmer ended up keeping the man's skull as a "prize".

He then went on a killing spree where twelve more men were murdered.

Close call!

In 1991, Dahmer was almost caught. Two women called the cops after seeing Dahmer chasing after a bleeding, naked teenage boy through an ally. When the cops arrived, he used his persuasion skills to get the boy back into his custody. Dahmer had said he and the boy were gay lovers who were simply having an argument.

The One That Got Away

On July 22, 1991, Jeffrey invited Tracy Edwards to his apartment for a few drinks. Jeffrey was really enjoying Edwards's company and decided to let him live a little longer than some of his other victims. Little did he know... THIS WAS A BAD IDEA!!!

When Dahmer attempted to handcuff Tracy, he fought back. Tracy ended up stunning Dahmer with a punch to the face and a kick in the stomach. The punch allowed Tracy to escape after clawing and prying at the locks. Jeffrey wasn't far behind him. When Tracy was finally outside, he noticed a police car and ran to it.

The policeman, Tracy, and Jeffrey all went to the apartment to see what was going on. In the apartment, the policeman found the remains of 11 bodies.

What they found

In the drawers of the bedroom dresser, they were crammed full of Polaroids of his victims and their body parts. There were many more terrifying things within Dahmer's apartment. In the freezer, the cops found three human heads and organs (lungs, a heart, intestines, kidneys, and livers).

Seven skulls and five complete skeletons were also found around Dahmer's apartment. There were also miscellaneous remains: fragments of bones, decomposing hands, and sexual organs in a crock-pot. Several bottles of acid, chloroform, and formaldehyde were found to have helped Dahmer kill his victims.

Trial

On August 22, 1991 Dahmer was charged with 15 murders. His trial was scheduled to begin on January 30, 1992 where he attempted to plea guilty by insanity. But two weeks later, the jury found him to be sane and capable of understanding his actions. Jeffrey was charged with 15 life sentences, which is equivalent to 936 years in prison. At the end of the trial, Dahmer mentioned he would rather take the death sentence than go to prison.

In Prison

In, prison, Dahmer was offered protection by officers, but he declined despite the many threats against his life. On July 3, 1992, a convict attempted to slit Dahmer's throat with in the prison's chapel. Dahmer walked away with only a few cuts and scratches. Shockingly, he did not want to press charges against the convict. Five months later, Christopher Scarver grabbed an iron bar and successfully attempted to smash Dahmer 's skull. He was killed instantly.

Organized or Disorganized?

Jeffrey was likely an organized killer because he put a little thought into his murders. He only preyed on males, whether that be at the gay bars, malls, or picking them up at bus stops. He also knew exactly when to kill his victims so they wouldn't escape. Dahmer had a plan to dispose of the body and what to do with the parts that weren't so easy to dispose of.

WHat Could Have Been Done:

Jeffrey's parents should have thought a little more about the strange things he did as a child (killing animals). The "small" crimes he also committed should have been taken more seriously and placed him on the registered sex offenders list. That surely would have let the cops find Dahmer a little faster. The police also should have noticed a pattern in where the victims were disappearing to possibly have caught Jeffrey in the act.

Tendencies

Jeffrey had an emotional and scary childhood which caused him to be withdrawn from others and society. People with emotional childhoods also tend to be withdrawn from others. Some people who have had a messed up or rough childhood do tend to be a bit different, but not going as far as killing people.

Did You Know?

Were you aware that Jeffrey had a twitter account? Here are some of the things he's tweeted over the past few years:

• "You gonna eat that?"
• "Hot sauce goes with everything. Pizza, sandwiches, people, wings, etc."
• "About to hop on a plane. I hope I have enough leg room. And by leg room I mean enough room for the severed legs I have with me."
• "I still play the 'I got your nose' game, but I take it a little too serious..."
• "The soft spot on a babies head is for the straw."
• "The funny bone isn't actually funny, it's delicious!"
• "#2012TaughtMe that people still taste delicious."
• "Chilling with my girl Casey Anthony. She kills 'em, I eat 'em #GrusomeTwosome"
• "Still waiting for my call to host my own cooking show..."
• "#MistakesBoysMake Coming back to my apartment..."
• "I got kicked out of a funeral for wearing a bib."

Sources

http://twistedminds.creativescapism.com/most-notorious/jeffrey-dahmer/jd-trial/

http://www.biography.com/people/jeffrey-dahmer-9264755

http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/jeffrey-dahmer/