Times Jeffrey Dahmer Almost Got Caught
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VOICE OVER: Rebecca Brayton
WRITTEN BY: Cassondra Feltus
It's hard to believe that Jeffrey Dahmer was almost caught so many times. For this list, we'll be looking at the several instances when the Milwaukee Cannibal's reign of terror could've been stopped. Our countdown includes when he was Banned from Bathhouses in the Summer of 1986 The Box Incident in Spring of 1989, when Konerak Sinthasomphone Almost Escaped in May of 1991, and more.
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re discussing 10 Times Jeffrey Dahmer Almost Got Caught. For this list, we’ll be looking at the several instances when the Milwaukee Cannibal’s reign of terror could’ve been stopped. What do you think was the closest he came to getting caught? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
In June 1978, Jeffrey Dahmer had just graduated high school. He’d also committed his first murder. Dahmer picked up hitchhiker Steven Hicks and brought him back to his empty house to hang out and have “a few beers.” When Hicks wanted to leave, Dahmer struck him in the head with a dumbbell before ultimately taking his life. After performing disturbing acts on the body, he put his remains in trash bags and intended to take them to the dump. But Ohio police pulled him over for drunk driving while he did so. An officer inquired about the trash bags in the back seat and Dahmer used his parents’ recent divorce as an excuse for driving late at night. He then drove back to scatter the remains behind his home.
While living with his grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Dahmer frequented gay bathhouses and bars in the Milwaukee area. He’s stated that he had consensual sex in the bathhouses but that he didn’t like his partners moving or making demands. Around June 1986, Dahmer started slipping sedatives into his partners’ drinks and performed non-consensual acts while the men were unconscious, a method he would use on future murder victims. One night, he overdrugged someone and paramedics had to be called, and Dahmer was subsequently banned from the bathhouses. Police allegedly followed up on one bathhouse manager’s claims that Dahmer had drugged multiple patrons, but didn’t investigate beyond questioning him.
The first victim Jeffrey Dahmer murdered in Milwaukee was Steven Tuomi in November 1987, though claimed he had no memory of the murder. He brought the young man back to his room at the Ambassador Hotel for the night, but he woke up after a blackout to a deceased Tuomi. He carried the body out of the hotel in a suitcase and a cab driver helped him load the luggage. Because of the bad smell and heaviness, the driver jokingly asked if there was a dead body in there. In his confession, he told investigators that he didn’t respond. However, other sources claim that he laughed and said, “Yeah, something like that.” Either way, this is another example of Dahmer’s ability to deflect and go undetected.
On April 23, 1988, Jeffrey Dahmer found a young man having car trouble and offered to help, taking a cab back to West Allis. Ronald Flowers drank some of the coffee Dahmer laced with sleeping pills. Both of them reportedly heard his grandma call for him but soon Flowers passed out. Not wanting to risk getting caught, Dahmer allegedly left him at County General Hospital. After waking up the next day, Flowers reported to police that he’d been drugged, assaulted, and robbed. Investigators questioned Dahmer at his grandma’s, and he denied the accusations. By this time, Dahmer already had three arrests on his record, including disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, and lewd and lascivious behavior. However, police still believed him over Flowers.
After Jeffrey Dahmer was captured in July 1991, he told investigators about multiple times over the years when he thought he’d been caught. In September 1988, he was arrested after drugging and photographing a minor, the older brother of his future victim Konerak Sinthasomphone. He said the police conducting a search warrant at his apartment after his arrest had missed a human skull Dahmer kept in a drawer. This overlooked evidence could’ve prevented him from having the opportunity to kill Anthony Sears in March 1989. It also would’ve kept him in custody longer than the judge’s sentence in May, which was five years’ probation with one year of work release while staying in the House of Correction.
Jeffrey Dahmer admitted to keeping a mummified head of one of his victims, storing it in a wooden box in his bedroom closet at his grandma’s house. At one time, his father Lionel tried to look inside but he managed to swap out the box’s contents before his dad could see what he was really hiding. In later interviews, Dahmer also claimed to have brought the head to work and put it in his locker. His locker was searched at some point, and the skull was discovered but since he’d already painted it, investigators believed it to be fake (xref).
In early May 1991, 28-year-old Dean Vaughn, a resident on the third floor of the Oxford Apartments, was found strangled to death. Police questioned other residents, including Jeffrey Dahmer. The Milwaukee Cold Case website states that two neighbors did see Vaughn with an “unknown subject” shortly before his death. Dahmer denied any involvement in the murder, though Vaughn did fit his victimology and M.O. — a young African-American male who was strangled. He later told investigators that the officers asked to come inside his apartment and he was nervous because he had a dead body in his bedroom. However, they ultimately didn’t even go inside. As of 2022, Dean Vaughn’s murder is still unsolved.
Perhaps the most widely known incident of Dahmer evading capture is the night of May 27, 1991, when Milwaukee police failed to save an escaped victim. Several young women saw an incoherent and dazed Konerak Sinthasomphone stumbling near the Oxford Apartments and called the police. Officers Joseph Gabrish and John Balcerzak said that nothing seemed suspicious, and Dahmer assured them that this was his drunk boyfriend. Running Dahmer’s name through the system would’ve shown that he was a registered sex offender on probation, previously convicted of enticing a minor for immoral purposes, Konerak’s older brother. The Sinthasomphone family believed the man who harmed their son was in jail. Gabrish and Balcerzak escorted Dahmer and Konerak back to the apartment. The young man was killed shortly after.
During Jeffrey Dahmer’s insanity trial, clinical psychologist Judith Becker spoke about an escaped victim, referred to by the initials L.P. due to him being underaged. The victim, a teenage Hispanic male, supposedly met him when he was waiting tables. The two went back to Dahmer’s apartment for photos. But not having any sleeping pills to drug the young man, he hit him in the back of his head with a rubber mallet. However, he was still conscious and retaliated. And believing he wouldn’t win the struggle, Dahmer let him leave the apartment. The victim reportedly told police about what happened but, once again, they never followed up.
When Jeffrey Dahmer lived in West Allis, his grandma regularly complained about awful smells coming from the basement and he told her it was from his taxidermy. Years later at the Oxford Apartments, several residents complained to the building manager, Sopa Princewill, about the foul smells and strange noises coming from Apartment 213. But Dahmer repeatedly made excuses, like that his freezer broke and meat spoiled or there was dead fish that were still in the tank. Searching his place would’ve found human remains all around the apartment, and in some cases actual dead bodies.
Stopped by Police in Ohio
June 1978In June 1978, Jeffrey Dahmer had just graduated high school. He’d also committed his first murder. Dahmer picked up hitchhiker Steven Hicks and brought him back to his empty house to hang out and have “a few beers.” When Hicks wanted to leave, Dahmer struck him in the head with a dumbbell before ultimately taking his life. After performing disturbing acts on the body, he put his remains in trash bags and intended to take them to the dump. But Ohio police pulled him over for drunk driving while he did so. An officer inquired about the trash bags in the back seat and Dahmer used his parents’ recent divorce as an excuse for driving late at night. He then drove back to scatter the remains behind his home.
Banned from Bathhouses
Summer 1986While living with his grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin, Jeffrey Dahmer frequented gay bathhouses and bars in the Milwaukee area. He’s stated that he had consensual sex in the bathhouses but that he didn’t like his partners moving or making demands. Around June 1986, Dahmer started slipping sedatives into his partners’ drinks and performed non-consensual acts while the men were unconscious, a method he would use on future murder victims. One night, he overdrugged someone and paramedics had to be called, and Dahmer was subsequently banned from the bathhouses. Police allegedly followed up on one bathhouse manager’s claims that Dahmer had drugged multiple patrons, but didn’t investigate beyond questioning him.
The Suitcase
November 1987The first victim Jeffrey Dahmer murdered in Milwaukee was Steven Tuomi in November 1987, though claimed he had no memory of the murder. He brought the young man back to his room at the Ambassador Hotel for the night, but he woke up after a blackout to a deceased Tuomi. He carried the body out of the hotel in a suitcase and a cab driver helped him load the luggage. Because of the bad smell and heaviness, the driver jokingly asked if there was a dead body in there. In his confession, he told investigators that he didn’t respond. However, other sources claim that he laughed and said, “Yeah, something like that.” Either way, this is another example of Dahmer’s ability to deflect and go undetected.
Ronald Flowers Reports Dahmer to the Police
April 1988On April 23, 1988, Jeffrey Dahmer found a young man having car trouble and offered to help, taking a cab back to West Allis. Ronald Flowers drank some of the coffee Dahmer laced with sleeping pills. Both of them reportedly heard his grandma call for him but soon Flowers passed out. Not wanting to risk getting caught, Dahmer allegedly left him at County General Hospital. After waking up the next day, Flowers reported to police that he’d been drugged, assaulted, and robbed. Investigators questioned Dahmer at his grandma’s, and he denied the accusations. By this time, Dahmer already had three arrests on his record, including disorderly conduct, indecent exposure, and lewd and lascivious behavior. However, police still believed him over Flowers.
Arrest & Search Warrant
September 1988After Jeffrey Dahmer was captured in July 1991, he told investigators about multiple times over the years when he thought he’d been caught. In September 1988, he was arrested after drugging and photographing a minor, the older brother of his future victim Konerak Sinthasomphone. He said the police conducting a search warrant at his apartment after his arrest had missed a human skull Dahmer kept in a drawer. This overlooked evidence could’ve prevented him from having the opportunity to kill Anthony Sears in March 1989. It also would’ve kept him in custody longer than the judge’s sentence in May, which was five years’ probation with one year of work release while staying in the House of Correction.
The Box Incident
Spring 1989Jeffrey Dahmer admitted to keeping a mummified head of one of his victims, storing it in a wooden box in his bedroom closet at his grandma’s house. At one time, his father Lionel tried to look inside but he managed to swap out the box’s contents before his dad could see what he was really hiding. In later interviews, Dahmer also claimed to have brought the head to work and put it in his locker. His locker was searched at some point, and the skull was discovered but since he’d already painted it, investigators believed it to be fake (xref).
Questioned about Dean Vaughn
May 1991In early May 1991, 28-year-old Dean Vaughn, a resident on the third floor of the Oxford Apartments, was found strangled to death. Police questioned other residents, including Jeffrey Dahmer. The Milwaukee Cold Case website states that two neighbors did see Vaughn with an “unknown subject” shortly before his death. Dahmer denied any involvement in the murder, though Vaughn did fit his victimology and M.O. — a young African-American male who was strangled. He later told investigators that the officers asked to come inside his apartment and he was nervous because he had a dead body in his bedroom. However, they ultimately didn’t even go inside. As of 2022, Dean Vaughn’s murder is still unsolved.
Konerak Sinthasomphone Almost Escaped
May 1991Perhaps the most widely known incident of Dahmer evading capture is the night of May 27, 1991, when Milwaukee police failed to save an escaped victim. Several young women saw an incoherent and dazed Konerak Sinthasomphone stumbling near the Oxford Apartments and called the police. Officers Joseph Gabrish and John Balcerzak said that nothing seemed suspicious, and Dahmer assured them that this was his drunk boyfriend. Running Dahmer’s name through the system would’ve shown that he was a registered sex offender on probation, previously convicted of enticing a minor for immoral purposes, Konerak’s older brother. The Sinthasomphone family believed the man who harmed their son was in jail. Gabrish and Balcerzak escorted Dahmer and Konerak back to the apartment. The young man was killed shortly after.
Another Would-Be Victim Goes to the Police
June 1990During Jeffrey Dahmer’s insanity trial, clinical psychologist Judith Becker spoke about an escaped victim, referred to by the initials L.P. due to him being underaged. The victim, a teenage Hispanic male, supposedly met him when he was waiting tables. The two went back to Dahmer’s apartment for photos. But not having any sleeping pills to drug the young man, he hit him in the back of his head with a rubber mallet. However, he was still conscious and retaliated. And believing he wouldn’t win the struggle, Dahmer let him leave the apartment. The victim reportedly told police about what happened but, once again, they never followed up.
Numerous Complaints from Neighbors
1990-91When Jeffrey Dahmer lived in West Allis, his grandma regularly complained about awful smells coming from the basement and he told her it was from his taxidermy. Years later at the Oxford Apartments, several residents complained to the building manager, Sopa Princewill, about the foul smells and strange noises coming from Apartment 213. But Dahmer repeatedly made excuses, like that his freezer broke and meat spoiled or there was dead fish that were still in the tank. Searching his place would’ve found human remains all around the apartment, and in some cases actual dead bodies.
