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Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer
May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994
Serial killer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer is infamous for the grisly
way he dismembered and cannibalized his many victims.
Police
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin arrested Dahmer on 22 July 1991 while
investigating a man's claim that he had escaped from Dahmer's
apartment. Tracy Edwards, a 32 year-old black man, claimed
Dahmer had invited him home for drinks, then drugged, handcuffed
and threatened him. Investigating officers found evidence of
gruesome crimes in Dahmer's apartment, including a human head in
the refrigerator and human meat in the freezer. Dahmer ended up
confessing to 17 murders committed between 1978 and 1991 (12 of
which occurred in 1990 and 1991). It was quite a story: Dahmer
murdered men and boys, he used their corpses for sexual
gratification, he boiled and painted skulls, he collected
penises and he ate biceps. He entered a plea of "guilty but
insane," but was found guilty and sane by a jury and sentenced
to 957 years in jail, or the equivalent of 15 life terms. While
in prison in Portage, Wisconsin he was beaten to death by
another inmate in 1994.
The Dahmer killings have also been analyzed for a subtext of
racial issues. Dahmer was white, but almost all of his victims
were non-whites. One of his victims, a 14-year-old from Laos
named Konerak Sinthasomphone, escaped from Dahmer's apartment in
Milwaukee on 27 May 1991 and was found by two black teenagers,
who called police on his behalf. Dahmer told the two
investigating officers that Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old
lover; the incoherent ramblings of Sinthasomphone and the
concerns of the teenagers were dismissed in favor of Dahmer's
story. Sinthasomphone became Dahmer's 13th victim shortly
afterward. The incident was seen as an example of how
authorities can be influenced by racial biases. In what some
consider an ironic twist, the inmate who killed Dahmer in prison
was black.
Dahmer's case was in the news again in early 2007, when a Miami
newspaper reported a link between Dahmer and the 1981 murder and
decapitation of six year-old Adam Walsh in Broward County,
Florida. Investigators from the Hollywood (Florida) Police
Department, however, ruled out Dahmer as Walsh's killer.
~~~<"((((((><~~~<"((((((><~~~<"((((((><~~~<"((((((><~~~<"((((((><~~~
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex
offender. Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys – most of whom were of
African or Asian descent – between 1978 and 1991, with the
majority of the murders occurring between 1987 and 1991. His
murders were particularly gruesome, involving rape, torture,
dismemberment, necrophilia and cannibalism. On November 28,
1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by fellow Columbia Correctional
Institution inmate Christopher Scarver with a bar from a weight
machine while on work detail in the prison gym.
Early life
Dahmer was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, to Lionel, an
analytical chemist, and Joyce Dahmer. At age 8 his family moved
to Bath, Ohio, where he attended Revere High School. Dahmer
dissected dead animals as a child, and by his teenage years was
an alcoholic loner.
Dahmer attended Ohio State University, but dropped out after two
terms. Dahmer's father then forced him to enlist in the Army,
where he was to serve for a six-year enlistment; he was
discharged after two, due to his excessive drinking. When the
Army discharged Dahmer in 1981, it provided him with a plane
ticket to anywhere in the country. Dahmer told police he
couldn't go home to face his father, so he headed to Miami
Beach, Florida, because he was "tired of the cold." He spent
most of his time there at a hospital but was kicked out shortly
after for drinking.
In 1982, Dahmer moved in with his grandmother in West Allis,
Wisconsin, where he lived for six years. In August of that year,
he was arrested for exposing himself at a state fair. In
September 1986, he was charged again with public exposure after
two boys accused him of masturbating in public. This time he was
sentenced to a year in prison, of which he served 10 months. In
the summer of 1988, Dahmer's grandmother asked him to move out
due to his late nights and foul smells from the basement. He
then found an apartment on Milwaukee's West side. On September
25, 1988, he was arrested for sexually fondling a 13-year-old
boy in Milwaukee, for which he served 10 months of a one year
sentence in a work release camp. He was required to register as
a sex offender. He convinced the judge that he needed therapy,
and he was released with a five-year probation on good behavior.
Shortly thereafter, he began a string of murders that would end
with his arrest in 1991.
Murders
In the early morning hours of May 30, 1991, 14-year-old Konerak
Sinthasomphone (the younger brother of the boy whom Dahmer had
molested) was discovered on the street, wandering naked, heavily
under the influence of drugs and bleeding from his rectum.
Reports of the boy's injuries varied. Dahmer told police that
Sinthasomphone was his 19-year-old boyfriend, and that they had
an argument while drinking. Against the teenager's protests,
police turned him over to Dahmer. They later reported smelling a
strange scent but did not investigate it. It was later found to
be bodies in the back of his room. Later that night, Dahmer
killed and dismembered Sinthasomphone, keeping his skull as a
souvenir.
John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, the two police officers who
returned Sinthasomphone to Dahmer, were fired from the Milwaukee
Police Department after their actions were widely publicized,
including an audiotape of the officers making homophobic
statements to their dispatcher and cracking jokes about having
reunited the "lovers". The two officers appealed their
termination and were reinstated with back pay. They were named
officers of the year by the police union. Balcerzak would go on
to be elected president of the Milwaukee Police Association in
May 2005.
By the summer of 1991, Dahmer was murdering approximately one
person each week. He killed Matt Turner, on June 30, Jeremiah
Weinberger, on July 5, Oliver Lacy, on July 12, and finally
Joseph Brandehoft, on July 18.
Arrest
On July 22, 1991, Dahmer lured another man, Tracy (Traci)
Edwards, into his home. According to the would-be victim, Dahmer
struggled with Edwards in order to handcuff him. Edwards escaped
and alerted a police car, with the handcuffs still hanging from
one hand. Edwards led police back to Dahmer's apartment, where
Dahmer at first acted friendly to the officers, only to turn on
them when he realized that they suspected something was wrong.
As one officer subdued Dahmer, the other searched the house and
uncovered multiple photographs of murdered victims and human
remains, including three severed heads and penises. A further
search of the apartment revealed more evidence, including
photographs of victims and human remains in his refrigerator.
The story of Dahmer's arrest and the inventory in his apartment,
which was apartment number 213, quickly gained notoriety:
several corpses were stored in acid-filled vats, severed heads
were found in his refrigerator, and implements for the
construction of an altar of candles and human skulls were found
in his closet. Accusations soon surfaced that Dahmer had
practiced necrophilia, and cannibalism. In trial he confessed to
attempting a form of trepanation in order to create so-called
"zombies."
Trial
Jeffrey Dahmer was officially indicted on 17 murder charges,
which were reduced to 15. The murder cases were already so
notorious that the authorities never bothered to charge him in
the attempted murder of Edwards. His trial began in January
1992. With evidence overwhelmingly against him, Dahmer pleaded
not guilty by reason of insanity. The court found Dahmer sane
and guilty on 15 counts of murder and sentenced him to 15 life
terms, totalling 957 years in prison. At his sentencing hearing,
Dahmer expressed remorse for his actions, also saying that he
wished for his own death.
Imprisonment and death
Dahmer served his time at the Columbia Correctional Institution
in Portage, Wisconsin, where he ultimately declared himself a
born-again Christian. This conversion occurred after viewing
evangelical material sent to him by his father. A local
preacher, Roy Ratcliff, met with Dahmer and agreed to baptize
him.
After attending a church service in the prison chapel, an inmate
tried to slash Dahmer's throat with a razor blade. Dahmer
escaped the incident with superficial wounds.
On November 28, 1994, Dahmer and another inmate named Jesse
Anderson were beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher
Scarver with a bar from a weight machine while on work detail in
the prison gym. Dahmer died from severe head trauma in the
ambulance while en route to the hospital.
Aftermath
After the murders, the Oxford Apartments at 924 North 25th
Street were demolished; the site is now a vacant lot. Plans to
convert the site into a memorial garden failed to materialize.
Lionel Dahmer published a book in 1994, A Father's Story, and
donated a portion of the proceeds from his book to the victims
and their families. Most of the families showed support for
Lionel Dahmer and his wife, Shari. He has retired and resides
with his wife in Medina County, Ohio. He consults on the
creation-evolution controversy occasionally, and his wife was a
member of the board of the Medina County Ohio Horseman's
Council. Both continue to carry the name Dahmer and say they
love Jeffrey despite his crimes. Lionel Dahmer's first wife,
Joyce (Flint), died of cancer in 2000 at the age of 64. She was
later buried in Atlanta, Georgia. Dahmer's younger brother David
changed his last name and lives in anonymity.
Dahmer's estate was awarded to the families of 11 of Dahmer's
victims who had sued for damages. In 1996, Thomas Jacobson, the
lawyer representing eight of the families, announced a planned
auction of Dahmer's estate to raise up to $1 million, sparking
controversy. A civic group, Milwaukee Civic Pride, was quickly
established in an effort to raise the funds to purchase and
destroy Dahmer's possessions. The group pledged $407,225
including a $100,000 gift by Milwaukee real estate developer
Joseph Zilber for purchase of Dahmer's estate; five of the eight
families represented by Jacobson agreed to the terms and
Dahmer's possessions were destroyed.
In January 2007, evidence surfaced potentially linking Dahmer to
Adam Walsh's 1981 abduction and murder in Florida. Freelance
writer Arthur Jay Harris began to investigate the case in 2002,
finding evidence that suggested Dahmer was in the same mall
where Adam was killed and may have had access to a blue van. His
findings were supported by New Times columnist Bob Norman, who
checked out the Harris investigation and also came to believe
that Dahmer was the chief suspect. Most recently, ABC's
Primetime featured the theory in a half-hour segment, airing
Harris' findings to a national audience. However, Adam's father,
John Walsh, believes that another serial killer, Ottis Toole,
committed the crime. When interviewed about Adam Walsh in the
early 1990s, Dahmer repeatedly denied involvement in the crime.
Known victims
Name
Age Date of death
Stephen Hicks
19 18 June 1978
Steven Tuomi
26 15 Sept 1987
Jamie Doxtator
14 01 Jan 1988
Richard Guerrero
25 24 March 1988
Anthony Sears
24 25 March 1989
Eddie Smith
36 06 June 1990
Ricky Beeks
27 15 July 1990
Ernest Miller
22 09 September 1990
David Thomas
23 09 September 1990
Curtis Straughter
19 02 February 1991
Errol Lindsey
19 04 April 1991
Tony Hughes
31 24 May 1991
Konerak Sinthasomphone 14 27 May 27 1991
Matt Turner
20 30 June 30, 1991
Jeremiah Weinberger 23
05 July 5, 1991
Oliver Lacy
23 12 July 1991
Joseph Bradehoft
25 18 July 1991
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This web page was last updated on:
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