Serial Killer: Jeffrey Dahmer (Part IV)

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 was 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.

Scarver, who was serving a life sentence for a murder committed in 1990, informed authorities he had first attacked Dahmer with the metal bar as he (Dahmer) was cleaning a staff locker room, before attacking Anderson as he (Anderson) cleaned an inmate locker room. According to Scarver, Dahmer did not yell or make any noise as he was attacked. Immediately after attacking both men, Scarver, who was thought to be schizophrenic, returned to his cell and informed a prison guard: "God told me to do it. Jesse Anderson and Jeffrey Dahmer are dead."  Scarver was adamant he had not planned the attacks in advance, although he later divulged to investigators he had concealed the 20-inch iron bar used to kill both men in his clothing shortly before the killings.

Upon learning of his death, Dahmer's mother Joyce Flint responded angrily to the media: "Now is everybody happy? Now that he's bludgeoned to death, is that good enough for everyone?"  The response of the families of Dahmer's victims was mixed, although it appears most were pleased with his death. The district attorney who prosecuted Dahmer cautioned against turning Scarver into a folk hero, noting that Dahmer's death was still murder.  On May 15, 1995, Scarver was sentenced to two additional terms of life imprisonment for the murders of Dahmer and Anderson.

Although Scarver had confessed in 1994 to having concealed the weapon used to kill Dahmer and Anderson in his clothing on the morning of the murders, in 2015, he publicly stated the murders of Dahmer and Anderson had resulted from a confrontation in which one of the two men had poked him (Scarver) in the back as the three had begun their assigned work detail. In this renewed account of events, Scarver claimed that the two had laughed at him when he had turned around in response before Dahmer and Anderson each walked to separate rooms to begin their cleaning duty, with Scarver following Dahmer toward the staff locker room.

Scarver alleges that immediately before murdering Dahmer, he had cornered him, presented a newspaper article detailing Dahmer's crimes, and demanded that Dahmer answer whether the account was true.  Scarver further alleged he had been revolted by Dahmer's crimes and that Dahmer had been openly unrepentant; that Dahmer taunted prison employees and fellow inmates by shaping his prison food into imitations of severed limbs, complete with ketchup to simulate blood spattering; and that prison staff, knowing of Scarver's hatred for Dahmer, had deliberately left the two men unsupervised so that he could kill him.  Furthermore, Scarver stated that Dahmer was so disliked by fellow inmates that he required a personal escort of at least one guard whenever he was out of his cell to prevent inmates from attacking him.

Dahmer had stated in his will he wished for no services to be conducted and that he wished to be cremated.  In September 1995, Dahmer's body was cremated, and his ashes divided between his parents.

Aftermath

Dahmer's estate was awarded to the families of 11 of his victims who had sued for damages. In 1996, Thomas Jacobson, a lawyer representing eight of the families, announced a planned auction of Dahmer's estate. Although victims' relatives stated the motivation was not greed, the announcement sparked controversy.  A civic group, Milwaukee Civic Pride, was quickly established in an effort to raise the funds to purchase and destroy Dahmer's possessions. The group pledged $407,225, including a $100,000 gift by Milwaukee real estate developer Joseph Zilber, for purchase of Dahmer's estate; five of the eight families represented by Jacobson agreed to the terms, and Dahmer's possessions were subsequently destroyed and buried in an undisclosed Illinois landfill.

On August 5, 1991, a candlelight vigil to celebrate and heal the Milwaukee community was attended by more than 400 people. Present at the vigil were community leaders, gay rights activists, and family members of several of Dahmer's victims. Organizers stated the purpose of the vigil was to enable Milwaukeeans to "share their feelings of pain and anger over what happened".

The Oxford Apartments at 924 North 25th Street, where Dahmer had killed 12 of his victims, was demolished in November 1992.  The site is now a vacant lot. Alternate plans to convert the site into either a memorial garden, a playground, or to reconstruct new housing have failed to materialize.

Lionel Dahmer is retired and now lives with his second wife, Shari. Both have refused to change their surname and have professed their love of Jeffrey in spite of his crimes. In 1994, Lionel published a book, A Father's Story, and donated a portion of the proceeds from his book to the victims' families. Most of the families showed support for Lionel and Shari, although three families subsequently sued Lionel Dahmer: two for using their names in the book without obtaining prior consent; and a third family—that of Steven Hicks—filing a wrongful death suit against Lionel Dahmer, Shari, and former wife Joyce, citing parental negligence as the cause of the claim.

Joyce Flint died of cancer in November 2000. Prior to her death, she had attempted suicide on at least one occasion.  Jeffrey's younger brother, David, changed his surname and lives in anonymity.

Known murder victims

Jeffrey Dahmer is known to have killed 17 young men between 1978 and 1991. Of these victims, 12 were killed in his North 25th Street apartment. Three further victims were murdered and dismembered at his grandmother's West Allis residence, with his first and second victims being murdered at his parents' home in Bath, Ohio, and at the Ambassador Hotel in Wisconsin respectively. A total of 14 of Dahmer's victims were from various ethnic minority backgrounds, with nine victims being black. Dahmer was adamant that the race of his victims was incidental to him and that it was the body form of a potential victim that attracted his attention.

Most of Dahmer's victims were killed by strangulation after being drugged with sedatives, although his first victim was killed by a combination of bludgeoning and strangulation and his second victim was battered to death, with one further victim killed in 1990, Ernest Miller, dying of a combination of shock and blood loss due to his carotid artery being cut.  Many of Dahmer's victims killed in 1991 had holes bored into their skulls through which Dahmer injected hydrochloric acid or, later, boiling water, directly into the brain in an attempt to induce a permanent, submissive, unresistant state. On at least three occasions, this proved fatal although on none of these occasions was this Dahmer's intention.

1978

June 18: Steven Mark Hicks, 18. Last seen hitchhiking to a rock concert in Chippewa Lake Park in Bath, Ohio.  By Dahmer's admission, what caught his attention to Steven Hicks hitchhiking was the fact that the youth was bare-chested. He was bludgeoned with a dumbbell and strangled to death with this instrument before being dismembered. Remains pulverized and scattered in woodland behind Dahmer's childhood home.

1987

November 20: Steven Walter Tuomi, 25. Killed in a rented room at the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee. Dahmer claimed to have no memory of murdering Tuomi, yet stated he must have battered him to death in a drunken stupor. His body was dismembered in the basement of Dahmer's grandmother's house and the remains discarded in the trash. No remains were ever found.

1988

January 16: James Edward Doxtator, 14. Met Dahmer outside a gay bar in Wisconsin. Doxtator was lured to West Allis on the pretext of earning $50 for posing for nude pictures. Dahmer strangled Doxtator and kept his body in the basement for a week before dismembering him and discarding the remains in the trash. No remains were ever found.

March 24: Richard Guerrero, 22. Drugged and strangled in Dahmer's bedroom at West Allis. Dahmer dismembered Guerrero's corpse in the basement, dissolved the flesh in acid and disposed of the bones in the trash. He bleached and retained the skull for several months before disposing of it.  No remains were ever found.

1989

March 25: Anthony Lee Sears, 24. Sears was the last victim to be drugged and strangled at Dahmer's grandmother's residence; he was also the first victim from whom Dahmer permanently retained any body parts.  His preserved skull and genitals were found in a filing cabinet at 924 North 25th Street following Dahmer's arrest in 1991.

1990

May 20: Raymond Lamont Smith (also known as Ricky Beeks), 32.  The first victim to be killed at Dahmer's North 25th Street apartment. Smith was a male sex worker whom Dahmer encountered at a tavern. Dahmer gave Smith a drink laced with sleeping pills and then strangled him on his kitchen floor.  His skull was spray-painted and retained.

June 14: Edward Warren Smith, 27.  A known acquaintance of Dahmer who was last seen in his company at a party.   Dahmer acidified Smith's skeleton; his skull was destroyed unintentionally when placed in the oven in an effort to remove moisture.  No remains were ever found.

September 2: Ernest Marquez Miller, 22. Miller was a dance student whom Dahmer encountered outside a bookstore. According to Dahmer, he was especially attracted to Miller's physique. He was killed by having his carotid artery severed before being dismembered in the bathtub, with Dahmer storing his entire skeleton in the bottom drawer of a filing cabinet and his heart, biceps, and portions of his legs in the freezer for later consumption.

September 24: David Courtney Thomas, 22. Encountered Dahmer near the Grand Avenue Mall; he was lured to Dahmer's apartment on the promise of money for posing nude. Once a laced drink had rendered Thomas unconscious, Dahmer decided he "wasn't my type." Nonetheless, Dahmer strangled Thomas, taking Polaroid photos of the dismemberment process. No remains were ever found.

1991

February 18: Curtis Durrell Straughter, 17. Approached by Dahmer as he waited at a bus stop near Marquette University. Dahmer lured Straughter to his apartment, where the youth was drugged, and then handcuffed and strangled before being dismembered in the bathtub. His skull, hands, and genitals were retained.

April 7: Errol Lindsey, 19. The first victim upon whom Dahmer practiced what he later described to investigators as to his "drilling technique," a procedure in which he drilled holes into the victim's skull, through which he injected hydrochloric acid into the brain. According to Dahmer, Lindsey awoke after this practice, after which he was again rendered unconscious with a drink laced with sedatives, then strangled to death. Dahmer flayed Lindsey's body and retained the skin for several weeks.  His skull was found following Dahmer's arrest.

May 24: Tony Anthony Hughes, 31. Hughes was a deaf-mute whom Dahmer lured to his apartment upon the promise of posing nude for photographs. As Hughes was deaf, he and Dahmer communicated using handwritten notes. He was strangled and his body left on Dahmer's bedroom floor for three days before being dismembered, with Dahmer photographing the dismemberment process. His skull was retained and identified from dental records.

 May 27: Konerak Sinthasomphone, 14. The younger brother of the boy Dahmer had assaulted in 1988. Sinthasomphone was drugged and had hydrochloric acid injected into his brain before Dahmer left the youth unattended as he left the apartment to purchase beer. When he returned, he discovered Sinthasomphone naked and disoriented in the street, with three distressed young women attempting to assist him. When police arrived, Dahmer persuaded them he and Sinthasomphone were lovers and that the youth was simply intoxicated. When the police left Sinthasomphone with Dahmer in his apartment, Dahmer again injected hydrochloric acid into Sinthasomphone's brain, and this proved fatal. His head was retained in the freezer and his body dismembered.

June 30: Matt Cleveland Turner, 20. On June 30, Dahmer attended the Chicago Pride Parade. At a bus stop, he encountered a 20-year-old named Matt Turner and persuaded him to accompany him to Milwaukee to pose for a photoshoot. Turner was drugged, strangled, and then dismembered in the bathtub. His head and internal organs were put in the freezer and his torso subsequently placed in the 57-gallon drum Dahmer purchased on July 12.

 July 5: Jeremiah B. Weinberger, 23. Met Dahmer at a gay bar in Chicago and agreed to accompany him to Milwaukee for the weekend. Dahmer drilled through Weinberger's skull and injected boiling water into the cavity. He later recalled Weinberger's death to be exceptional, as he was the only victim who died with his eyes open.   Weinberger's decapitated body was kept in the bathtub for a week before being dismembered; his torso was placed in the 57-gallon drum.

 July 15: Oliver Joseph Lacy, 24. A bodybuilding enthusiast whom Dahmer enticed to his apartment on the promise of money for posing for photographs. Lacy was drugged and strangled with a leather strap before being decapitated, with his head and heart being placed in the refrigerator.  His skeleton was retained to adorn one side of the private shrine of skulls and skeletons Dahmer was in the process of creating when arrested one week later.

July 19: Joseph Arthur Bradehoft, 25. Dahmer's last victim. Bradehoft was a father of three children from Minnesota who was looking for work in Milwaukee at the time of his murder.  He was left on Dahmer's bed for two days following his murder before, on July 21, being decapitated. His head was placed in the refrigerator and his torso in the 57-gallon drum.

In media

Film

The Secret Life: Jeffrey Dahmer was released in 1993 and stars Carl Crew as Dahmer.

The biographical film Dahmer was released in 2002. It stars Jeremy Renner in the title role and co-stars Bruce Davison as Dahmer's father, Lionel.

Raising Jeffrey Dahmer was released in 2006. Revolving around the reactions of Dahmer's parents following his arrest in 1991, it stars Rusty Sneary as Dahmer and co-stars Scott Cordes as Lionel.

In 2012, an independent documentary, The Jeffrey Dahmer Files, premiered at the South by Southwest festival. It features interviews with Dahmer's former neighbor, Pamela Bass, as well as Detective Patrick Kennedy, and the city medical examiner Jeffrey Jentzen.

The Marc Meyers-directed the film, My Friend Dahmer, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 25, 2017.  Based on the graphic novel by John Backderf, the film stars Ross Lynch as Dahmer and chronicles his high school years and the events leading up to his first murder.

Books

Backderf, Derf (2012). My Friend Dahmer. Abrams Comic Arts. ISBN 978-1-4197-0217-4.

Dahmer, Dr. Lionel (1994). A Father's Story. William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-688-12156-3.

Davis, Donald (1991). The Jeffrey Dahmer Story: An American Nightmare. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-312-92840-7.

Dvorchak, Robert J.; Holewa, Lisa (1992). Milwaukee Massacre: Jeffrey Dahmer and the Milwaukee Murders. ISBN 978-0-7090-5003-2.

Ewing, Charles Patrick; McCann, Joseph T. (2006). Minds on Trial: Great Cases in Law and Psychology. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-518176-0.

Haycock, Dean A. (2014). Murderous Minds: Exploring the Criminal Psychopathic Brain: Neurological Imaging and the Manifestation of Evil. ISBN 978-1-60598-498-8.

Masters, Brian (1993). The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-59194-9.

Norris, Dr. Joel (1992). Jeffrey Dahmer. Constable Limited. ISBN 978-0-09-472060-2.

Ratcliff, Rev. Roy; Adams, Lindy (2006). Dark Journey, Deep Grace: Jeffrey Dahmer's Story of Faith. Leafwood Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9767790-2-5.

Schwartz, Anne E. (1992). The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough. Citadel. ISBN 978-1-55972-117-2.

Television

The Trial of Jeffrey Dahmer was released in 1992. Directed by Elkan Allan, this documentary largely focuses upon testimony delivered at Dahmer's first trial. The documentary concludes with Dahmer's addressing Judge Laurence Gram following his conviction.

The Investigation Discovery channel has also broadcast a documentary focusing upon Dahmer within its documentary series, Most Evil. This documentary features excerpts of Dahmer's 1994 interview with Stone Phillips and was the first broadcast in August 2006.

HLN has broadcast an episode focusing upon Dahmer's crimes as part of its investigative series, How it Really Happened. This episode, titled The Strange Case of Jeffrey Dahmer, was originally aired on March 31, 2017.

The digital cable and satellite television channel, Oxygen, broadcast the two-part documentary, Dahmer on Dahmer: A Serial Killer Speaks, in November 2017. Produced and directed by Matthew Watts, the program features interviews with, among others, Dahmer's father, stepmother, former classmates, psychiatrists who testified at his trial, and a homicide detective involved in the investigation.

Netflix Series "Dark Tourist" Season 1, Episode 3. Jul 20, 2018.

Theater

The Law of Remains (1992) by experimental writer and director Reza Abdoh uses the techniques of Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty to depict the life and crimes of Dahmer.

Zombie (2008) by actor and writer Bill Connington, based on the novel of the same name by Joyce Carol Oates, uses Dahmer as the model for the central character.

Notes

It has been suggested, in a 2002 paper by Silva, Ferrari and Leong published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, that Dahmer may have suffered from Asperger syndrome.

Shortly after moving into 924 North 25th Street, Dahmer purchased granite spray-paint from an art store. Having removed all flesh from Sears' head, he used this substance to spray-paint the skull and Sears' genitals. Dahmer also retained Sears' scalp.

Having left Sinthasomphone in the company of Dahmer, the patrol unit which had responded to the women's 911 call then radioed their dispatch unit. Above evident laughter from one or more of his colleagues, one officer informed his dispatch unit: "Intoxicated, Asian, naked male was returned to his sober boyfriend, My partner [is] going to get deloused at the station.

Despite Dahmer's insistence, the race of his victims was incidental to him; some theorize the majority of his murders may have held a racial motive.   Alternatively, his victim selection may have simply been a result of his living in an ethnically mixed area and the demographics of the districts of Milwaukee and Chicago where he typically selected his victims.