10 Creepy Facts About Jeffrey Dahmer
#10: Intended to Build an Altar Out of Remains
During his hours of interviews conducted after his capture in 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer confessed that he planned to use the remains of the victims he collected to make an altar to himself. He detailed his very specific plan via the photographs he took of his victims and in a drawing featuring two full skeletons and several skulls. All was to be arranged on a black table set up in his apartment with a chair facing the shrine, making it a “place for meditation,” which he viewed as an area where he “could feel at home.” However, he was caught before his plans were realized.
#9: Talked His Way Into the White House
Turns out Jeffrey Dahmer was a master manipulator long before he fooled law enforcement. In his graphic novel “My Friend Dahmer”, former Revere High School classmate John “Derf” Backderf recalled a class trip to Washington, D.C. when Dahmer did the unthinkable. The high schooler lied to White House staff in order to meet then-Vice President Walter Mondale. He managed to get himself and his friends a private tour of Mondale’s office. In the film adaptation of the same name, the students meet the VP in person and have a brief conversation. However, in the comic, they see him working in his office. Still, that’s quite the con.
#8: Suspected of Killing Adam Walsh
After he was discharged from the military in March 1981, Dahmer decided to move to Miami, Florida instead of returning home to Ohio. He worked in a deli, but ended up homeless living on the beach and drinking. When news of his crimes came out in 1991, reports came in from witnesses who allegedly saw him at Florida’s Hollywood Mall in July 1981, where little Adam Walsh went missing. Dahmer, however, denied any involvement and there was no evidence tying him to Walsh’s murder. And since he’d just admitted to killing 17 over a span of about 13 years, investigators found it unlikely that he would lie about committing any further crimes. Dahmer killing Walsh is a strange theory, though.
#7: Planned His First Attack at 16
As a teen, Jeffrey Dahmer fantasized about an attractive man he regularly saw jogging by his house everyday. Once his fantasies became too great, he hatched a plan to attack the man and bring him into the woods to commit non-consensual acts. One day, he hid in the bushes with a baseball bat waiting for his target to pass. Fortunately, the man chose not to head out for a jog that day. After this first attempt, Dahmer never tried to attack him again. He cites this incident as his first real pursuit of violence against another person.
#6: Parents Fought Over His Brain
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The bizarre and disturbing nature of his unspeakable crimes made Jeffrey Dahmer a particularly fascinating serial killer. Studying how his mind worked could potentially find an answer as to why he had these violent desires, making him an ideal subject in criminal psychology research. His mother Joyce shared the same view and after his death in November 1994, she wanted his brain donated to scientists at California’s Fresno State University for research purposes. His father Lionel however was against it, wanting to move on from the whole tragedy. The former married couple went to court over the matter, which ultimately resulted in his brain being destroyed.
#5: Received A Lot of Money in Prison
Believe it or not, there are many people in the world who idolize serial killers and Jeffrey Dahmer was no exception. As seen in the Netflix series, he received fan letters with gifts and requests for drawings. And according to Wisconsin’s Columbia Correctional Institution records, Dahmer also managed to save up thousands of dollars while in prison. By March 1994, the inmate had received letters from all over the globe, reportedly racking up more than $12,000 just from donations. While some letters were of the suggestive nature, others reached out wanting to discuss religion, provide support, or just become pen pals.
#4: His Death Parallels His First Murder
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In the early hours of November 28, 1994, Jeffrey Dahmer was cleaning the prison gym when he was killed by fellow Columbia Correctional Institution inmate Christopher Scarver. Another inmate on cleaning duty, convicted murderer Jesse Anderson, met a similar fate. Scarver, also serving a life sentence for murder, reportedly attacked Dahmer with a 20-inch metal bar from a piece of workout equipment. Dahmer died soon after the incident. And, as chance would have it, back in 1978, a teenage Jeffrey Dahmer killed his first victim Steven Hicks with a dumbbell. Now that’s eerie.
#3: Took Home a Fetal Pig
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One of the most widely known facts about Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood is that he had a fascination with the internal organs and bones of dead animals, going as far as collecting roadkill. He kept his collections in a hut by his house, filling it with preserved remains in jars of formaldehyde. The Netflix series shows high school students dissecting fetal pigs in a science class. Afterwards, Dahmer asks permission to take one home to “practice,” which the teacher agrees to. However, the real Dahmer was rumored to have stolen the preserved animal from the classroom, likely as a prank. In a 1994 interview, the convicted murderer admitted to taking a fetal pig home while in high school, confirming everyone’s suspicions.
#2: Tried to Steal a Corpse
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In an effort to resist giving into his murderous compulsions, Jeffrey Dahmer sought out alternative ways to satisfy his dark desires. At one point, he stole a mannequin from a store and brought it home, but it ultimately didn’t work. One particularly macabre idea Dahmer had was to obtain the corpse of a recently deceased male. He saw an obituary in the newspaper for an 18-year-old young man he found attractive. And after attending his funeral, Dahmer tried to dig up his freshly buried grave, but it proved too difficult since the soil had already hardened.
#1: Brought a Head to Work
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In March of 1989, while Dahmer lived with his grandma in West Allis, he went to a bar and convinced Anthony Sears to come home with him. After engaging in intimate acts, Dahmer drugged and beheaded Sears - though the killer claimed that he hadn’t intended to commit a crime before setting out for the evening. Dahmer then kept both Sears’ head and private parts in a box. As if that wasn’t disturbing enough, the criminal stored the box in his locker at the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory, where he worked nights as a mixer. Imagining human remains inside a chocolate factory just turns our stomachs.
