The Untold Story of Jeffery Dahmer
Early Life
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Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His mother Joyce, a teletype machine instructor, suffered depression and substance use issues. She often fought with her husband, Lionel, whose college studies and work as a chemist kept him away from home. Because of their unraveling marriage, the couple neglected Jeff and his younger brother David. By 1968, the Dahmers lived in Bath Township, Ohio. Young Jeffrey may have already begun to develop an interest in bones and dead animals at this point, eventually leading to his having a collection of both. He stored them in a shed near the house, where he would dissect and preserve them in formaldehyde. While attending Revere High School, Jeffrey Dahmer was the odd one out, and he began drinking alcohol at school. He briefly played tennis and was in the school band, but by 1977, his grades had worsened. Regardless, Dahmer still graduated in May 1978. By then, his parents were in the middle of a messy divorce. His dad stayed at a motel while his mother took David to go live with relatives, leaving Jeff alone at the house. First Murder & Military Service On June 18, 1978, just weeks after graduating, Jeffrey Dahmer picked up hitchhiker Steven Mark Hicks. He enticed the man with beer and the two went back to his empty home. When Hicks tried to leave a few hours later, Dahmer struck him with a dumbbell, knocking him unconscious and strangling him. Hicks’ remains were buried in the backyard, later destroyed by Dahmer. In August, he enrolled at Ohio State University with the intention of majoring in business. However, Dahmer’s issues with alcohol led to failing grades, and he dropped out after just three months. In January 1979, Lionel encouraged his son to enlist in the United States Army. He studied to be a medical specialist at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. And in July, he served as a combat medic in West Germany. But again, his substance use disorder affected his performance, and he was honorably discharged in March 1981. Dahmer returned to live with his dad and stepmom in Ohio. But after being arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct, it was decided he would go live with his paternal grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin, in an effort to get his life on track.
West Allis
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In January 1985, Dahmer started working late shifts at the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory as a mixer. At this time, he also began frequenting the city’s gay bars and bathhouses. But after slipping sleeping pills into his partners’ drinks and getting physical with them while they were unconscious, he was banned from the bathhouses. On Nov. 20, 1987, Dahmer took Steven Walter Tuomi to the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee. While he allegedly only planned to drug him before performing non-consensual acts, Dahmer woke up to find Tuomi deceased and badly beaten. He claimed to have no memory of the crime. In Jan. 1988, Dahmer lured the James Edward Doxtator to his grandmother’s house, offering him $50 to pose for explicit photos. He drugged and strangled him, and two months later, he did something similar to Richard Guerrero. Dahmer wouldn’t kill again until March 1989, when he murdered Anthony Lee Sears. He was the last victim to be killed at the West Allis residence, and the first victim from whom Dahmer kept some remains.
Apartment 213
In May 1990, Jeffrey Dahmer moved into the Oxford Apartments on North 25th Street. That month, he’d lure home Raymond Lamont Smith (otherwise known as Ricky Beeks), drugging him before strangling him. Dahmer continued this pattern with Edward Warren Smith in June, as well as Ernest Marquez Miller and David Courtney Thomas in September. In 1991, Dahmer began killing more frequently, beginning in February with teen Curtis Durrell Straughter, whom he’d met at a bus stop. On April 7, Errol Lindsey became the first victim to undergo Dahmer’s “drilling technique.” In his twisted mind, Dahmer believed he could put Lindsey, and subsequent victims, in a zombie-like state to keep them alive but incapacitated. In May, Jeffrey Dahmer returned from the store to find his latest victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone, had somehow escaped and was wandering around the street with some women. Dahmer convinced the cops that had arrived that he was his boyfriend who’d gotten drunk and wandered out of their home. Unbelievably, police escorted Dahmer and Konerak back to the apartment and left. Had they looked inside the bedroom, they would’ve found the body of Tony Anthony Hughes killed just three days prior. And running Dahmer’s name would’ve shown that he was a registered sex offender on probation for assaulting Konerak’s older brother in 1988. Dahmer was unaware the boys were related. By late June, Dahmer started killing almost once a week. He met two men in Chicago — Matt Cleveland Turner on June 30, and Jeremiah Benjamin Weinberger on July 5 — persuading both to come with him to Milwaukee. Ten days later, bodybuilder Oliver Joseph Lacy met the same fate, as did his last victim, Joseph Arthur Bradehoft four days after that.
Capture & Confession
On July 22, 1991, Tracy Edwards escaped Dahmer’s apartment after he’d been handcuffed on one wrist and threatened with a knife. Edwards caught the attention of police, who went up to apartment 213 to retrieve the key to the handcuffs. But what they found was a horrific crime scene with human remains, explicit photos of several victims, a 57-gallon drum, and much more. In custody, Dahmer readily confessed to 17 murders, including his first in Ohio. He admitted to investigators that he engaged in both sexual criminal acts and cannibalism. As a possible sign of remorse, he was instrumental in helping police identify all of his victims.
Conviction & Death
Jeffrey Dahmer, dubbed the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was officially charged with four counts of first-degree murder on July 25, 1991. This would become a total of 15 counts by his January 1992 trial. Dahmer was not charged with the murder of Tuomi, or with the attempted murder of Edwards. Dahmer pleaded guilty to all counts, and by February, experts had determined that he was legally sane when committing the murders. Though several medical professionals have diagnosed him with a slew of disorders, including borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a dependence on alcohol. In mid-February, Jeffrey Dahmer was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to 15 life terms at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin. In May, he was extradited to Ohio and received a 16th term of life imprisonment for the murder of Steven Hicks. Dahmer was killed on November 28, 1994, by fellow inmate and convicted murderer Christopher Scarver, who attacked him and another inmate with a metal bar from the prison weight room.
In the Media
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Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most talked about serial killers in history, and there are countless books, documentaries, and other various media covering his life and crimes. In 2002, Jeremy Renner gave a chilling performance as the titular murderer in “Dahmer.” Years later, former Disney star Ross Lynch played him as a teenager in “My Friend Dahmer,” based on graphic novel of the same name, written by an old classmate of Dahmer’s. Netflix has two major projects coming to the platform in Fall 2022, starting on Sept. 21 with Ryan Murphy’s “DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” starring Emmy winner Evan Peters. On Oct. 7, the docuseries “Conversations with A Killer,” which previously covered Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, returns for a third season with “The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes.”
