Infamous American Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer

 The Milwaukee Cannibal better known as Jeffrey Dahmer was an infamous American serial killer who raped, murdered, and dismembered seventeen boys from 1978 to 1991. Many of his later murders involved cannibalism, permanent preservation of body parts, and necrophilia. Through Jeffery Dahmers vicious actions, he sparked fear in American lives for thirteen years.

Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. His parents described him as a normal child, however his teachers wondered if Jeffery was neglected at home because he was a reserved and mute child. Jeffery was unpurposefully neglected as a young child. His father was earning a chemistry degree and his mother suffered from a mental illness. Jeffrey had a fascination with animal bones and how they fit together. He discovered his obsession when “[He] was helping his father clear animal remains from under the house and Jeffrey was ‘oddly thrilled’ by the sound of the bones dropping into the metal bucket” (Biography Of Jeffrey Dahmer). This influenced Jeffery because he later started collecting the bones and began searching ditches and the streets for roadkill. He would dismember the bodies and would store the various body parts in the family's shed. His father even taught him the proper way to clean and preserve his collection.

In 1968, he was sexaually molested by his neighbor which influenced his psychological damage along with his parents aggressive arguments. At the age of sixteen, Jeffery began experiencing sexual compulsions for boys and having sexual fantasies which involved submission, violence, and death. He began drinking as a way to distract himself from these fantasies. He had a fantasy about raping a jogger he saw regularly, but never went through with it. At the end of high school, Dahmer’s parents’ finally got divorced. Jeffery was eighteen at the time, so his parents only fought for the custody of David and made jeffery feel unloved. After graduation, Dahmer found his first victim. Steven Hicks was on the way to a rock concert when he encountered Dahmer. After talking Dahmer, he persuaded Hicks to come back to Dahmer's house to hang out and drink before the concert. After a few hours of hanging out when Hicks was ready to leave, Dahmer wacked him in the head with a 10 lb. dumbbell and strangled him till he stopped moving. Then while Hicks was unconscious, “He then masturbated over his body, moved him to the crawl space under the house and dissected his body before burying it in a shallow grave.” (Crime Museum). This was his first murder and he was able to see the rush he got from it and experienced his sexual fantasies that he had dreamed of. Weeks later, Dahmer dug up Hicks’ body, he skineed the flesh from his bones and dissolved it in acid. He smashed Hicks’ bones with a hammer and buried them separately throughout the woods behind his house. Finally, Dahmer’s father came back in his life and moved in with him and got him to enroll in college. Dahmer only spent three months at Ohio State University before having to drop out. In 1979, he joined the U.S. Army. Dahmer served as a combat medic, but his performance fell through due to his drinking. After being discharged, “ At least two soldiers later attested Dahmer raped them while in the service, one repeatedly over the course of 17 months and the other once after Dahmer drugged him.” (Jeffrey Dahmer Biography). Jeffrey could not control his fantasies and had to act on them. He risked his job in the army to commit the rape of those two men.

In 1987, Dahmer killed his second victim Steven Tuomi. They checked into a hotel and drank heavily. The next morning Dahmer woke up to discover Tuomi’s dead body. In a panic, Dahmer bought a suitcase to move Tuomi’s remains to his basement. In the basement, “He dismembered and masturbated on the corpse before disposing of the remains.” (Jeffrey Dahmer Biography). He once again dismembered and masturbated over the victims dead body which would soon turn into one of his rituals he did with every other victim. That September of 1989, Dahmer had a lucky escape. An encounter with a 13-year-old boy resulted in charges of sexual exploitation and second-degree sexual assault. He was found guilty, claiming that the boy had appeared older. While awaiting his sentence for his sexual assault case, Dahmer again went on the hunt for another victim. When he finally found the perfect man he took a slightly different approach, “ He lured, drugged, strangled, sodomized, photographed, dismembered and disposed of Anthony Sears, an aspiring model.”(Crime Museum”). He added new parts to his killing ritual. This was the first time he sotomized and photographed his victims. He began to get bored with his rituals and decided to add new exciting parts to his routine.

Dahmer began killing one person each week by the summer of 1991. He made it his mission to his victims into “zombies” to act submissive sexual partners. After all of his research, “ He used many different techniques, such as drilling holes into their skull and injecting hydrochloric acid or boiling water into their brains. He had many ways he tortured his victims even after they were dead. He never reached his goal of creating a zombie but that still never stopped the murders. He ended up killing,raping, and dismembering 17 men.

After he was caught his trial began on January 30, 1992 and Dahmer filed a plea of guilty but insane. Then on February 15, he was found him sane and responsible for his actions. He was charged with 15 consecutive life sentences,requiring Dahmer to serve a minimum of 936 years. The families of the victims refused to stay quiet. They were present and vocal at Jeffreys trials. One family member of a victim said, 'Did you ever stop to think that this was someone's son? Did you ever stop to think that this is someone's brother, nephew, uncle, cousin, grandson, or just someone's friend,' (Adams). Another family member of a different victim said 'Jeffrey, I hate you!'(Adams). These quotes all show how he affected the families of the victims. How he took there son, nephew, grandson away from their families. It showed how angry the families were while they were face to face with the killer. He destroyed them, but they would make sure he paid for the damage he did.

Jeffrey Dahmer will forever remain in the back of Americans minds as the cannibalistic serial killer. There are many documentaries, books, and articles about Jeffrey Dahmer. He is was of the most infamous serial killers, “ Dahmer has instilled fear in the eyes of many, spawned hatred in certain groups, and has even made his mark in the entertainment industry. He was even brought up in the news thirteen years after his death in prison” (Purell). Many films have been made about him and people will forever be confused on why he did what he did. In his trial, the families of his victims had a lot to say to him and hate him for obvious reasons. He will always be relevant as the serial killer that kept body parts of his victims as trophies, tried to create zombies using acid, and he would rape the victims when they were alive and once again after he murdered them. In the end He died in prison in 1994 by a being murdered by a fellow inmate.

Jeffrey Dahmer's vicious actions made males in America fear their lives for thirteen years. He was a disturbed man who killed innocent men and did torturous things to their bodies and enjoyed it. Jeffrey Dahmer will always be relevant when the topic of homicide is brought up.