Jeffrey Dahmer
Jeffrey Dahmer, often referred to as the "Milwaukee Cannibal," was a notorious American serial killer and sex offender whose crimes spanned from 1978 to 1991. Dahmer's early life was marked by social isolation and a fascination with death and taxidermy, stemming in part from a troubled childhood and family dynamics. His criminal activities began with the murder of a hitchhiker and escalated over the years as he lured numerous men to his home, where he would drug, sexually assault, and ultimately dismember them, often engaging in acts of necrophilia and cannibalism.
Dahmer's apprehension in 1991 came after one of his intended victims escaped and alerted the police, leading to the discovery of gruesome evidence in his apartment. He was subsequently charged with sixteen counts of murder, to which he pleaded guilty by reason of insanity; however, the jury deemed him sane, resulting in a sentence of fifteen consecutive life terms. Dahmer's crimes highlighted significant issues within the criminal justice system, particularly regarding the handling of marginalized communities and the effectiveness of probation. His life and criminal career ended when he was murdered by a fellow inmate in 1994. Dahmer's legacy continues to provoke discussions about morality, mental health, and systemic failures in law enforcement, particularly following renewed public interest driven by media portrayals, including a controversial Netflix series.
Subject Terms
Jeffrey Dahmer
American serial killer
- Born: May 21, 1960
- Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Died: November 28, 1994
- Place of death: Columbia Correctional Institution, Portage, Wisconsin
Major offenses: Murder, cannibalism, and sexual assault
Active: June 18, 1978; November, 1987–July, 1991
Locale: Bath, Ohio; Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Sentence: Fifteen consecutive life sentences; ten years on sixteen counts of murder
Early Life
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (DAH-muhr) had a troubled childhood. He had difficulty making friends and was a loner who was fascinated with death, bodies, flesh, and taxidermy. He had a collection of roadkill and insects preserved in chemicals. Dahmer was also fond of impaling the heads of animals on stakes and mounting the bodies on trees behind his house. By high school, Dahmer had alienated his peers and was shy around female students. He consistently sought attention with his odd behavior and by faking seizures. Dahmer was probably also influenced by the divorce of his parents, Lionel and Joyce. His parents fought over the custody of his younger brother David but not over his custody (mainly because Dahmer was already eighteen and custody was not an issue). Both his father and his mother tried to pressure Dahmer to side with them, pitting Dahmer against each one. His mother eventually received custody of David and moved to Wisconsin, and Lionel moved out of the house shortly thereafter; both effectively abandoned Dahmer.
Criminal Career
On June 18, 1978, Dahmer met eighteen-year-old hitchhiker Stephen Hicks and brought him back to the empty home that Dahmer now occupied. The two engaged in sexual intercourse and afterward, when Hicks tried to leave, Dahmer struck him in the head with a barbell. Dahmer used a sledgehammer to smash Hicks’s body, and then he buried the remains in the woods behind the house.
Although Dahmer committed his first murder in 1978, he did not kill again until 1987. Between 1978 and 1987, Dahmer joined the army, from which he was discharged in 1981 because of his alcohol problem. In 1982, Dahmer moved in with his grandmother near Milwaukee and began going to gay bars and bringing men home with him. Dahmer killed again in 1987, when he picked up Steven Toumi in a gay bar. Dahmer took Toumi to a hotel, where the two men got drunk and lost consciousness. According to Dahmer, when he awoke, Toumi was dead, and Dahmer proceeded to take the body to his grandmother’s house, where he engaged in necrophilia, dismembered the body, and threw the body parts in the trash. Dahmer continued his pattern of meeting men at gay bars; taking them back to his grandmother’s house, where he drugged them; having sex with them (either alive, dead, or both); and then dismembering the body.
Dahmer moved from his grandmother’s house to his own apartment in November, 1988. The next day, he brought a thirteen-year-old boy to his apartment, where he tried to drug the boy with sleeping pills. However, the boy escaped, and Dahmer was arrested the next day for sexual assault, to which he pleaded guilty and was given a sentence of five years’ probation. However, despite this encounter with the law, Dahmer continued killing men.
In March, 1989, Dahmer picked up a twenty-four-year-old Black male, whom he took to his grandmother’s house. There, the two engaged in intercourse, and then Dahmer drugged the man and strangled him. Dahmer disposed of the body but kept the head, boiling it until only the skull remained. As he murdered and dismembered several more men, Dahmer continued this act of keeping a souvenir of his victims. Dahmer eventually transitioned from engaging in necrophilia and collecting skulls and body parts to engaging in cannibalism.
On July 22, 1991, Dahmer picked up another man, Tracy Edwards, whom he took back to his apartment. Edwards managed to escape and was able to notify police. The officers responded to Dahmer’s apartment. They smelled a rancid odor and found pictures of dismembered bodies and skulls and a full human skeleton. Dahmer was finally arrested, and his murderous career ended.
Legal Action and Outcome
After his arrest in 1991, Dahmer pleaded guilty by reason of insanity to the murder charges. The jury found Dahmer sane and guilty on all sixteen counts of murder. Wisconsin did not allow the death penalty, so the judge sentenced Dahmer to fifteen consecutive life sentences plus ten years on all counts. Dahmer was sent to the Columbia Correctional Institution to serve his time. However, on November 28, 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by another inmate.
Impact
Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes were shocking, not only in number but also in what he did with the bodies. Dahmer had confessed to the murders and admitted to necrophilia and cannibalism, but the question of why he committed these crimes remained, fascinating psychologists and criminal investigators. The crimes also had an impact on the justice system itself. Investigators learned of an incident in May, 1991, during which one of Dahmer’s eventual victims escaped from Dahmer, only to be returned to him by the responding officers, who deemed the event “a lover’s quarrel.” The fourteen-year-old boy soon became Dahmer’s twelfth and youngest victim. Police were also criticized for seemingly neglecting the concerns of Milwaukee's marginalized communities, particularly the city's LGBTQ and Black populations. Moreover, Dahmer committed several of his crimes while on probation for his 1988 arrest, calling into question the efficacy of probation and the criminal justice system in general.
Dahmer's crimes and the systemic failures that surrounded them gained renewed attention in 2022 with the release of the Netflix miniseries Dahmer—Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022), which starred American actor Evan Peters as Dahmer. While the show received positive reviews for its acting and production, Dahmer also generated controversy due to its graphic depictions of Dahmer's crimes. This led some people, including some of Dahmer's victims' family members, to criticize the show as exploitative.
Bibliography
Dahmer, Lionel. Father’s Story. Morrow, 1994. Print.
Davis, D. The Milwaukee Murders: Nightmare in Apartment 213, the True Story. St. Martin’s, 1991.
Jaeger, R. W., and M. W. Balousek. Massacre in Milwaukee: The Macabre Case of Jeffrey Dahmer. Waubesa, 1991.
Masters, B. The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer. Hodder, 1993.
Vargas, Ramon Antonio. "Mother of Dahmer Victim Condemns Netflix Series: ‘I Don’t See How They Can Do That’." The Guardian, 10 Oct. 2022, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/oct/10/dahmer-victim-tony-hughes-mother-condemns-netflix-series. Accessed 11 Oct. 2022.