Jeffrey Dahmer

I’m sure most of us have heard about the infamous killer, Jeffrey Dahmer. If you haven’t be prepared, it’s about to get pretty gruesome, just a little trigger warning.

Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21st, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He had a pretty good childhood, but as he grew older he started to withdraw and become uncommunicative. One of his hobbies consisted of examining animal carcasses and extreme alcoholism.  Now, this was all when he was in high school, but this didn’t stop him from graduating in 1978.

His first murder was committed when he was just 18 years old. His parents got divorced a week before the murder causing Jeffrey to spiral. His first victim, Stephen Hicks, was a hitchhiker. Jeffrey picked him up and offered to take him back to his father’s house and to drink alcohol. He agreed and went back to the house. Time flew, and Hicks decided he wanted to leave, but before he could Jeffrey hit him in the back of the head with a 10 pound dumbbell. Jeffrey then dissected, dissolved, pulverized, and scattered the unrecognizable parts of Stephen Hicks throughout his back yard.

9 years would pass until the next person he kills. During those 9 years Jeffrey’s father forced him to enlist in the army where he served as a combat medic in Germany from 1979 to 1981. His alcoholism still continued becoming even more severe. He was later discharged from the army. Around 1985, Jeffrey would frequent gay bathhouses. There he would drug men and rape them while they were unconscious.

His second victim was Steven Tuomi who he killed in 1987. Jeffrey picked him up from a bar and they went back to their hotel room. Steven and Jeffrey were drinking heavily that night, and by the time Jeffrey woke up the next morning, Steven’s beaten body was laying on the hotel floor.

Two more victims were killed in 1988, one in 1989, and four in 1990. During this time Jeffrey would lure men from bars then he would drug, rape, and strangle his victims. He committed acts of necrophilia with the victims he murdered. He would then dismember his victims while taking photographs of the process. He would keep “trophies” of his victims by keeping their skulls and genitals for display and would use the retaining parts for consumption.

Jeffrey Dahmer would continue to kill one person each week by the summer of 1991. While committing these murders he would find more gruesome ways to make them suffer. He would drill holes into the victim’s skulls and inject hydrochloric acid or boiling water into their brains.

Jeffrey would finally get caught on July 22nd, 1991. Tracy Edwards was lured into his home with the promise of being paid for his company. He was forced into the bedroom by Jeffrey with a knife, but was able to escape during the struggle. He flagged down a police car, and that’s when Dahmer’s apartment was infiltrated by police. They found pictures of dead bodies and dismembered limbs. They also found a severed head in the refrigerator, 3 more severed heads throughout the apartment, photographs of victims, and more human remains in his refrigerator.

He was sentenced to 15 life terms in prison, a total of 957 years in prison.

My Review:

I think Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most interesting serial killers. From a psychological perspective he is very interesting to study. The way his mind works is fascinating, yet horrifying. I remember I had to do a report on him during my sophomore year of high school. The project was to analyze how he ended up the way he did. He was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder. If you’re a crime guru and enjoy learning about serial killers, then Jeffrey Dahmer is definitely a person you should learn about.

Image sources:

Adams, C. (2016, February 17). Feb. 17th, 1992: Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer sentenced. CBS News. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-this-day-february-17th-1992-serial-killer-jeffrey-dahmer-sentenced/

Leah. (2020, July 9). Jeffrey Dahmer: Homosexuality, insanity, or neglect? Medium. Retrieved September 8, 2022, from https://badbunnypubs.medium.com/jeffrey-dahmer-guilty-insane-or-the-perfect-storm-6cecf4f95e7f