Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was an American serial killer, sex offender, and cannibal who committed the murder of 17 men and boys from 1978-1991.

Early Years
Dahmer was born May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first of two sons of Joyce Annette and Lionel Herbert Dahmer, a Marquette University chemistry student. Lionel Dahmer was of German and Welsh ancestry, and Joyce Dahmer was of Norwegian and Irish ancestry.

It has been claimed that Dahmer was deprived of attention as an infant. Other sources, however, suggest that Dahmer was generally 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 Dahmer entered first grade, Joyce began to spend an increasing amount of 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—a hypochondriac who suffered from depression—demanded constant attention. She reportedly worked herself into a state of anxiety over trivial matters simply to appease her husband. She once attempted suicide with Equanil. Consequently, neither parent devoted much time to their son.

Dahmer had been an "energetic and happy child" but became notably subdued after double hernia surgery shortly before his fourth birthday. He recalled extreme tension and arguments between his parents during his early years. At elementary school, Dahmer was regarded as quiet and timid; one teacher said she sensed he felt neglected because of his mother's illnesses. Nonetheless, in grade school, Dahmer did have a small number of friends.

From an early age, Dahmer manifested an interest in dead animals. He initially collected large insects, such as dragonflies and butterflies, in jars. Later he collected animal carcasses from the roadside, occasionally accompanied by one or more friends; he dismembered these animals either at home or in nearby woodland. According to one friend, Dahmer dismembered these animals and stored the parts in jars in the family's toolshed, explaining that he was curious as to how animals "fitted together".

In one instance, Dahmer decapitated the carcass of a dog before nailing the body to a tree and impaling the skull on a stake beside a wooden cross in woods near his house. His fascination with dead animals might have begun when, at the age of four, he saw his father removing animal bones from beneath the family home. According to Lionel, Dahmer was "oddly thrilled" by the sound the bones made, and became preoccupied with animal bones. He occasionally searched beneath and around the family home for additional bones, and explored the bodies of live animals to discover where their bones were located.

In October 1966, the family moved to Doylestown, Ohio. When Joyce gave birth in December, Jeffrey was allowed to choose the name of his new baby brother; he chose the name David. The same year, Lionel earned his degree and started work as an analytical chemist in nearby Akron, Ohio.

In 1968, the family moved to Bath Township, Ohio. Two years later, during a chicken dinner, Dahmer asked Lionel what would happen if chicken bones were placed in bleach. Lionel, pleased by Dahmer's curiosity, demonstrated how to safely bleach and preserve animal bones. Dahmer incorporated these techniques into his bone collecting.

Murders

 * Stephen Hicks, 18: June 1978
 * Steven Tuomi, 26: September 1987
 * Jamie Doxtator, 14: October 1987
 * Richard Guerrero, 25: March 1988
 * Anthony Sears, 24: February 1989
 * Eddie Smith, 36: June 1990
 * Ricky Beeks, 27: July 1990
 * Ernest Miller, 22: September 1990
 * David Thomas, 23: September 1990
 * Curtis Straughter, 16: February 1991
 * Errol Lindsey, 19: April 1991
 * Tony Hughes, 31: May 24, 1991
 * Konerak Sinthasomphone, 14: May 27, 1991
 * Matt Turner, 20: June 30, 1991
 * Jeremiah Weinberger, 23: July 5, 1991
 * Oliver Lacy, 23: July 12, 1991
 * Joseph Bradeholt, 25: July 19, 1991

Imprisonment
Upon sentencing, Dahmer was transferred to the Columbia Correctional Institution. For the first year of his incarceration, Dahmer was placed in solitary confinement due to concerns for his physical safety should he come into contact with fellow inmates. With Dahmer's consent, after one year in solitary confinement, he was transferred to a less secure unit, where he was assigned a two-hour daily work detail cleaning the toilet block. Shortly after completing his lengthy confessions in 1991, Dahmer had requested to Detective Murphy that he be given a copy of the Bible. This request was granted and Dahmer gradually devoted himself to Christianity and became a born-again Christian. On his father's urging, he also read creationist books from the Institute for Creation Research. In May 1994, Dahmer was baptized by Roy Ratcliff, a minister in the Church of Christ and a graduate of Oklahoma Christian University, in the prison whirlpool.

Death
On the morning of November 28, 1994, Dahmer left his cell to conduct his assigned work detail. Accompanying him were two fellow inmates: Jesse Anderson and Christopher Scarver. The trio were left unsupervised in the showers of the prison gym for approximately 20 minutes. At approximately 8:10 a.m. Dahmer was discovered on the floor of the bathrooms of the gym suffering from extreme head and facial wounds; he had been severely bludgeoned about the head and face with a 20-inch (51 cm) metal bar. His head had also been repeatedly struck against the wall in the assault. Although Dahmer was still alive and was rushed to a nearby hospital, he was pronounced dead one hour later. Anderson had also been beaten with the same instrument, and died two days later from his wounds