Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer born on May 21st 1960 who murdered 17 males between 1978 and 1991. Dahmer primarily murdered African American males. Dahmer would approach these men at many different locations such as malls, gay bars, and bus stops. After Dahmer approached the victim and gained their trust, he would lure them home by promising them sex or money where he would then lace their alcoholic beverages with drugs and then strangle them to death. Dahmer would then continue to engage in sexual activities with their corpses before dismembering them and disposing their bodies. In was not unusual for Dahmer to keep the skulls or genitalia of his victim. Dahmer was also known for taking photos of his victims during various stages of his work to reminisce on his time with that victim after everything was said and done. In 1991, Dahmer was captured and sentenced to 16 life terms to later be killed in prison by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver in 1994.

Pictured above is a young Jeffrey Dahmer

Dahmer had an over all normal childhood but as he got older he became withdrawn and uncommunicative. As Dahmer aged, he began to show little to no interest in any hobbies or sports but rather turned to examining dead animal corpses and drank heavily for fun. Dahmer graduated high school in 1978. Three weeks following his high school graduation, at the age of 18 Dahmer committed his first murder. During that summer Dahmer's parents were going through a divorce so Jeffrey was left alone quite a bit. With so much time on his hands he began to have very dark and horrific thoughts of murdering men and then went on to pick up a hitch hiker named Stephen Hicks and offered him a ride back to his father's house to kick back and have a beer. Upon Hicks leaving, Dahmer struck him in the back of the head with a 10lb. dumbbell. After dismembering the body and dispersing it throughout his yard, he admitted that he killed him simply because he wanted Hicks to stay and spend time with him. After the incident, it was 9 years before Dahmer killed again.  

Pictured above is a middle aged Jeffrey Dahmer

Dahmer went on to enroll in college but later dropped out due to his alcoholism which caused his father to become very angry forcing him to enlist in the army where he served as a combat medic in Germany from 1979-1981. However, Dahmer could not seem to shake his habits which lead to an early discharge from the service that spring sending him back to his home in Ohio. When his father realized that his drinking was still an issue he sent Jeffrey to live with his grandmother in West Allies, Wisconsin. Dahmer went on to kill and rape multiple men in 1985 but only got arrested twice for incidents of indecent exposure in 1982 and 1986.

 

Pictured above is Jeffrey Dahmer's mugshot

Dahmer's trial began on January 30th 1992 and he was indicted on 15 murder charges. Dahmer went on to plead insanity to defend his horrific acts over the years. After a total of a two week long trial, the court ruled him to be sane and sentenced him to 15 counts of murder sentencing him to 15 life terms which is a total of 957 years in prison. In May of that same year, Dahmer entered a guilty plea for his first victim Stephen Hicks which added on his 16th life sentence. Dahmer went on to serve his time at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin. Dahmer went on to feel remorse for his actions and began reading the bible because he started to wish death upon himself. During his time in prison Dahmer was attacked twice. The first incident was meant to slit his throat but he was left with minor wounds. On November 28th, 1994, he was attacked by a fellow inmate in one of the prison showers when Dahmer was found he was still alive but died on the way to the hospital.

Works Cited

 Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, www.biography.com/people/jeffrey-dahmer-92647.

“Jeffrey Dahmer | Crime Library | Serial Killers.” Crime Museum, www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/serial-killers/jeffrey-dahmer/.

Terry, Don. “Jeffrey Dahmer, Multiple Killer, Is Bludgeoned to Death in Prison.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 Nov. 1994, www.nytimes.com/1994/11/29/us/jeffrey-dahmer-multiple-killer-is-bludgeoned-to-death-in-prison.html.