Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender, who committed the rape, murder, and dismemberment of 17 men and boys from 1978 to 1991. Many of his later murders involved necrophilia, cannibalism, and the permanent preservation of body parts – typically all or part of the skeleton.
Although diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder, Dahmer was found to be legally sane at his trial. Convicted of 15 of the 16 murders he had committed in Wisconsin, Dahmer was sentenced to 15 terms of life imprisonment on February 15, 1992.
Dahmer was born at the Evangelical Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, on May 21, 1960, the first of two sons born to Joyce and Lionel Herbert Dahmer. Dahmer’s mother worked as a teletype machine instructor, and his father was a student at Marquette University, working towards a degree in chemistry. His father was of German and Welsh ancestry, and his mother was of Norwegian and Irish ancestry.
It has been claimed Dahmer was deprived of attention as an infant. Other sources, however, suggest Dahmer was doted upon as an infant and toddler by both parents, although his mother was known to be tense, greedy for both attention and pity, and argumentative with her husband and their neighbors.
As her son entered first grade, Joyce Dahmer began to spend an increasing amount of her time in bed recovering from weakness. Lionel’s university studies kept him away from home much of the time; when he was home, his wife demanded constant attention. She reportedly worked herself into a state of anxiety over trivial matters that were done simply to appease her husband. On one occasion, Joyce Dahmer attempted suicide from an overdose of the Equanil pills to which she had become addicted. Consequently, neither parent devoted much time to their son.
Dahmer had been described as being an “energetic and happy child” until he became notably subdued after undergoing a double hernia surgery, which was performed shortly before his fourth birthday. He recalled his early years of family life as being of “extreme tension” between his parents, whom he observed to be constantly arguing with each other. At elementary school, he was regarded as both quiet and timid by his peers. On his first-grade report card, one teacher described Dahmer as a reserved child whom she sensed felt neglected. This teacher did note this sense of neglect seemed to stem from his mother’s illnesses. Nonetheless, although largely reserved and uncommunicative in grade school, Dahmer did have a small number of friends.
From an early age, Dahmer manifested an interest in animals. Friends later recalled Dahmer initially collected large insects, dragonflies, and butterflies, which he placed inside jars. Later, he collected animal carcasses from the roadside, occasionally accompanied by one or more of his few friends; he dismembered these animals either at home or in an expanse of woodland behind the family home. According to one friend, Dahmer dismembered these animals and stored the parts in jars in the family’s wooden toolshed, always explaining he was curious as to how each animal “fitted together.” In one instance, he decapitated the carcass of a dog before nailing the animal’s body to a tree. He later impaled the skull of this dog upon a stake beside a wooden cross in woodland behind his house. Dahmer’s fascination with dead animals might have begun when, at the age of four, he noted his father removing animal bones from beneath the family home. According to Lionel Dahmer, his son was “oddly thrilled” by the sound the bones made, and instantly developed a fixation for playing with and collecting animal bones. He occasionally searched beneath and around the family home for additional bones. With live animals, he explored their bodies to discover where their bones were located.
Skipping ahead.
On July 22, 1991, Dahmer approached three men with an offer of $100 to accompany him to his apartment to pose for nude photographs, drink beer and simply keep him company. One of the trio, 32-year-old Tracy Edwards, agreed to accompany him to his apartment. Upon entering Dahmer’s apartment, Edwards noted a foul odor and several boxes of hydrochloric acid on the floor, which Dahmer claimed to use for cleaning bricks. After some minor conversation, Edwards responded to Dahmer’s request to turn his head and view his tropical fish, whereupon Dahmer placed a handcuff upon his wrist. When Edwards asked, “What’s happening?” Dahmer unsuccessfully attempted to cuff his wrists together, then told Edwards to accompany him to the bedroom to pose for nude pictures. While inside the bedroom, Edwards noted nude male posters on the wall and a videotape of The Exorcist III was playing; he also noted a blue 57-gallon drum in the corner, from which a strong odor emanated.
Dahmer then brandished a knife and informed Edwards he intended to take nude pictures of him. In an attempt to appease Dahmer, Edwards unbuttoned his shirt, saying he would allow him to do so if he would remove the handcuffs and put the knife away. In response to this promise, Dahmer simply turned his attention towards the TV; Edwards observed Dahmer rocking back and forth and chanting before turning his attention back to him. Dahmer then pulled out the knife again and placed his head on Edwards’ chest, listened to his heartbeat and, with the knife pressed against his intended victim, informed Edwards he intended to eat his heart. In continuous attempts to prevent Dahmer from attacking him, Edwards repeated he was Dahmer’s friend and he was not going to run away. (Edwards had decided he was going to either jump from a window or run through the unlocked front door upon the next available opportunity.) When Edwards next stated he needed to use the bathroom, he asked if they could sit with a beer in the living room, where there was air conditioning, to which Dahmer consented, and the pair walked to the living room when Edwards exited the bathroom. Inside the living room, Edwards waited until he observed Dahmer have a momentary lapse of concentration before requesting to use the bathroom again. When Edwards rose from the couch, he noted Dahmer was not holding the handcuffs, whereupon Edwards punched him in the face, knocking Dahmer off balance, and ran out the front door.
At 11:30 p.m. on July 22, Edwards flagged down two Milwaukee police officers at the corner of North 25th Street. The officers noted Edwards had a handcuff attached to his wrist, whereupon Edwards explained to the officers a “freak” had placed the handcuffs upon him and asked if the police could remove them. When the officers’ handcuff keys failed to fit that brand of handcuffs, Edwards agreed to accompany the officers to the apartment where Edwards stated he had spent the previous five hours before escaping. When the officers and Edwards arrived at Apartment 213, Dahmer invited the trio inside and acknowledged he had indeed placed the handcuffs upon Edwards, although he offered no explanation as to why he had done so. At this point, Edwards divulged to the officers Dahmer had also brandished a large knife upon him and this had happened in the bedroom. Dahmer made no comment to this revelation, indicating to one of the officers, Rolf Mueller, the key to the handcuffs was in his bedside dresser in the bedroom. As Mueller entered the bedroom, Dahmer attempted to pass Mueller to himself retrieve the key, whereupon the second officer present, Robert Rauth, informed him to “back off.”
In the bedroom, Mueller noted there was indeed a large knife beneath the bed; he also saw an open drawer which, upon closer inspection, contained scores of Polaroid pictures - many of which were of human bodies in various stages of dismemberment. Mueller noted the decor indicated they had been taken in the very apartment in which they were standing. He walked into the living room to show them to his partner, uttering the words, “These are for real.” When Dahmer saw Mueller was holding several of his Polaroids, he fought with the officers in an effort to resist arrest. The officers quickly overpowered him, cuffed his hands behind his back, and called a second squad car for backup. At this point, Mueller opened the refrigerator to reveal the freshly severed head of a black male on the bottom shelf. As Dahmer lay pinned on the floor beneath Rauth, he turned his head towards the officers and muttered the words: “For what I did I should be dead.”
A more detailed search of the apartment, conducted by the Criminal Investigation Bureau, revealed a total of four severed heads in Dahmer’s kitchen. A total of seven skulls – some painted, some bleached – were found in Dahmer’s bedroom and inside a closet. In addition, investigators discovered collected blood drippings upon a tray at the bottom of Dahmer’s refrigerator, plus two human hearts and a portion of arm muscle, each wrapped inside plastic bags upon the shelves. In Dahmer’s freezer, investigators discovered an entire torso, plus a bag of human organs and flesh stuck to the ice at the bottom. Elsewhere in Apartment 213, investigators discovered two entire skeletons, a pair of severed hands, two severed and preserved penises, a mummified scalp and, in the 57-gallon drum, three further dismembered torsos dissolving in the acid solution. A total of 74 Polaroid pictures detailing the dismemberment of Dahmer’s victims were found. In reference to the recovery of body parts and artifacts at 924 North 25th Street, the chief medical examiner later stated: “It was more like dismantling someone’s museum than an actual crime scene.”<2>
CITED REFERENCES
2. Wikipedia contributors, “Jeffrey Dahmer,” Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Dahmer (accessed April 4, 2019).
