FROM WIKI

Childhood

Dahmer was born May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,^[9] the first of two sons of Joyce Annette (née Flint; February 7, 1936 – November 27, 2000), a teletype machine instructor,^[8] and Lionel Herbert Dahmer (born July 29, 1936), a Marquette University chemistry student and later a research chemist.^[10] Lionel Dahmer is of German and Welsh ancestry,^[11] and Joyce Dahmer was of Norwegian and Irish ancestry.^[12] Some sources report Dahmer was deprived of attention as an infant.^[13] Other sources, however, suggest that Dahmer was generally doted on 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.^[14]

As Dahmer entered first grade, 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 and spent an increasing amount of time in bed.^[15] On one occasion, she is known to have attempted suicide with Equanil.^[15] Consequently, neither parent devoted much time to their son, who later recollected that, from an early age, he felt "unsure of the solidity of the family",^[16] recalling extreme tension and numerous arguments between his parents during his early years.^[17]

Dahmer had been an "energetic and happy child" but became notably subdued after double hernia surgery shortly before his fourth birthday.^[18][19] At elementary school, Dahmer was regarded as quiet and timid; one teacher later recollected she detected early signs of abandonment^[20] in Dahmer due to his father's absence and mother's illnesses, the symptoms of which increased when she became pregnant with her second child.^[21] Nonetheless, in elementary school, Dahmer did have a small number of friends.^[22]

In October 1966, the family moved to Doylestown, Ohio.^[23] When Joyce gave birth in December, Dahmer was allowed to choose the name of his new baby brother; he chose the name David.^[24] The same year, Lionel earned his degree^[25] and started work as an analytical chemist in nearby Akron, Ohio.^[26]

From an early age, Dahmer manifested an interest in dead animals. His fascination with dead animals may 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, which he initially called his "fiddlesticks". 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.^[15]

In 1968, the family moved to Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio.^{[n 2]} This address was their third in two years, and the Dahmers' sixth address since marriage.^{[28][n 3]} The home stood in one and a half acres of woodland, with a small hut only a short walk from the house where Dahmer began collecting large insects such as dragonflies and moths and the skeletons of small animals such as chipmunks and squirrels.^[29] Some of these remains were preserved in jars of formaldehyde and stowed within the hut.^[30]

Two years later, during a chicken dinner, Dahmer asked Lionel what would happen if the chicken bones were placed in bleach.^[31] Lionel, pleased by what he believed to be his son's scientific curiosity, demonstrated how to safely bleach and preserve animal bones. Dahmer incorporated these preserving techniques into his bone collecting, and also began collecting dead animals—including roadkill^[32]—which he would dissect and bury beside the hut, with the skulls occasionally placed atop makeshift crosses.^[33] According to one friend, Dahmer explained to him that he was curious as to how animals "fit together".^[34] In one instance in 1975, Dahmer decapitated the carcass of a dog before nailing the body to a tree and impaling the skull upon a stick in the woodland behind his house.^[35] As "a prank", he later invited a friend to view the display, claiming he had discovered the remains by chance.^[36]

The same year Lionel taught his son how to preserve animal bones, Joyce began increasing her daily consumption of Equanil, laxatives, and sleeping pills, further minimizing her tangible contact with her husband and children.^[31]

Adolescence and high school

From his freshman year at Revere High School, Dahmer was seen as an outcast.^{[n 4]} By the age of 14, he had begun drinking beer and hard alcohol in daylight hours,^[38] frequently concealing his liquor inside the jacket he wore to school.^[32][39] He is known to have mentioned to one classmate who inquired why he was drinking Scotch in a morning history class that the alcohol he consumed was "my medicine".^[40][41] Although largely uncommunicative, in his freshman year, Dahmer was seen by staff as polite and highly intelligent but with average grades.^[30] He was a keen tennis player and played briefly in the high school band.^[42]

When he reached puberty, Dahmer discovered he was gay;^[43] he did not tell his parents. In his early teens, he had a brief relationship with another teenage boy, although they never had intercourse.^[44] By Dahmer's later admission, he began fantasizing about dominating and controlling a completely submissive male partner in his early to mid-teens, and his masturbatory fantasies gradually evolved to his focusing on chests and torsos. These fantasies gradually became intertwined with dissection.^[45] When he was about 16, Dahmer conceived a fantasy of rendering unconscious a particular male jogger he found attractive, and then making sexual use of his body. On one occasion Dahmer concealed himself in bushes with a baseball bat to lie in wait for this man; however, he did not pass by on that particular day. Dahmer later admitted this was his first attempt to attack and render an individual submissive to him.^[45]

Dahmer, pictured in the 1978 Revere High School yearbook, Reverie

Among his peers at RHS, Dahmer became something of a class clown who often staged pranks,^[46] which became known as "Doing a Dahmer"; these included bleating and simulating epileptic seizures or cerebral palsy^[47] at school and local stores.^[48] On occasion, Dahmer would perform these antics for money to purchase alcohol.^[49]

By 1977, Dahmer's grades had declined.^[50] His parents hired a private tutor, with limited success. The same year, in an attempt to save their marriage, his parents attended counseling sessions. They continued to quarrel frequently. When Lionel discovered Joyce had engaged in a brief affair in September 1977, they both decided to divorce, telling their sons they wished to do so amicably. Lionel moved out of the house in early 1978, temporarily residing in a motel on North Cleveland Massillon Road.^[51][52]

In May 1978, Dahmer graduated from high school. A few weeks before his graduation, one of his teachers observed Dahmer sitting close to the school parking lot, drinking several cans of beer.^[53] When the teacher threatened to report the matter, Dahmer informed him he was experiencing "a lot of problems" at home and that the school's guidance counselor was aware of them. That spring, Joyce and David moved out of the family home to live with relatives in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.^[54][55] Dahmer had just turned 18 and remained in the family home.^[56] Dahmer's parents' divorce was finalized on July 24, 1978. Joyce was awarded custody of her younger son and alimony payments.^[57]

Late teens and early 20s: first murder

Murder of Steven Hicks

Steven Mark Hicks

Dahmer committed his first murder in 1978, three weeks after his graduation. On June 18,^[58] Dahmer picked up a hitchhiker named Steven Mark Hicks, who was almost 19.^[59][60] Dahmer lured the youth to his house on the pretext of drinking. Hicks, who had been hitchhiking to a rock concert at Chippewa Lake Park, Ohio, agreed to accompany Dahmer to his house upon the promise of "a few beers" with Dahmer as he had the house to himself.^[59]

According to Dahmer, the sight of the bare-chested Hicks standing at the roadside stirred his sexual feelings, although when Hicks began talking about girls, he knew any sexual passes he made would be rebuffed.^[61] After several hours of talking, drinking and listening to music, Hicks "wanted to leave and I didn't want him to leave."^[62] Dahmer bludgeoned Hicks with a 10-pound (4.5 kg) dumbbell. He later stated he struck Hicks twice from behind^[63] with the dumbbell as Hicks sat upon a chair. When Hicks fell unconscious, Dahmer strangled him to death with the bar of the dumbbell, then stripped the clothes from Hicks' body before exploring his chest with his hands, then masturbating as he stood above the corpse. Hours later, Dahmer dragged the body to the basement.^{[63][n 5]}

The following day,^[65] Dahmer dissected Hicks' body in his basement. He later buried the remains in a shallow grave in his back yard.^[66] Several weeks later, he unearthed the remains and pared the flesh from the bones.^[67] He dissolved the flesh in acid before flushing the solution down the toilet. He crushed the bones with a sledgehammer and scattered them in the woodland behind the family home.^[68]

College and Army service

Six weeks after the murder of Hicks, Dahmer's father and his fiancée returned to his home, where they discovered Jeffrey living alone at the house. That August, Dahmer enrolled at Ohio State University (OSU), hoping to major in business.^[69] Dahmer's sole term at OSU was completely unproductive, largely because of his persistent alcohol abuse throughout the majority of the term.^[70] He received failing grades in Introduction to Anthropology, Classical Civilizations, and Administrative Science. The only course Dahmer was successful at was Riflery, having received a B− grade. His overall GPA was 0.45/4.0.^[71][72] On one occasion, Lionel paid a surprise visit to his son, only to find his room strewn with empty liquor bottles. Despite his father having paid in advance for the second term, Dahmer dropped out of OSU after just three months.^[73]

Dahmer, pictured in West Germany in 1979. His off-duty drinking caused him to be deemed unsuitable for military service in 1981.

In January 1979,^[74] on his father's urging, Dahmer enlisted in the United States Army.^[75] He underwent basic training at Fort McClellan in Anniston, Alabama, before training as a medical specialist at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. He was occasionally reprimanded for intoxication while stationed at Fort Sam Houston. On one occasion, an instance of insubordination resulted in his entire platoon being punished, earning Dahmer a severe beating from his fellow recruits.^[76]

On July 13, 1979, Dahmer was deployed to Baumholder, West Germany, where he served as a combat medic in 2nd Battalion, 68th Armored Regiment, 8th Infantry Division.^[41][77] According to published reports, in Dahmer's first year of service, he was an "average or slightly above average" soldier.^{[78][79][n 6]}

Owing to Dahmer's alcohol abuse, his performance deteriorated and, in March 1981, he was deemed unsuitable for military service and was later discharged from the Army.^[83] He received an honorable discharge, as his superiors did not believe that any problems Dahmer had in the Army would be applicable to civilian life.^[84]

On March 24, 1981, Dahmer was sent to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for debriefing and provided with a plane ticket to travel anywhere in the country. Dahmer later told police he felt he could not return home to face his father, so he opted to travel to Miami Beach, Florida, both because he was "tired of the cold"^[85] and in an attempt to live by his own means. In Florida, Dahmer found a job at a delicatessen and rented a room in a nearby motel. Dahmer spent most of his salary on alcohol, and was soon evicted from the motel for non-payment.^[86] He initially spent his evenings on the beach as he continued to work at the sandwich shop until phoning his father and asking to return to Ohio in September of the same year.^[87]

Return to Ohio and relocation to West Allis, Wisconsin

After his return to Ohio, Dahmer initially lived with his father and stepmother and insisted on being delegated numerous chores to occupy his time while he looked for work. He continued to drink heavily, and two weeks after his return, Dahmer was arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct.^[88] He was fined $60 and given a suspended 10-day jail sentence.^[89] Dahmer's father tried unsuccessfully to wean his son off alcohol. In December 1981, he and Dahmer's stepmother sent him to live with his grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin. Dahmer's grandmother was the only family member to whom Dahmer displayed any affection.^[90] They hoped that her influence, plus the change of location, might persuade Dahmer to quit drinking, find a job, and live responsibly.^[91][92]

Initially, Dahmer's living arrangements with his grandmother were harmonious: he accompanied her to church, willingly undertook chores, actively sought work, and abided by most of her house rules (although he continued to drink and smoke).^[93] In early 1982, Dahmer found employment as a phlebotomist at the Milwaukee Blood Plasma Center. He held this job for a total of 10 months before being laid off.^[90] Dahmer remained unemployed for over two years, during which he lived upon whatever money his grandmother gave him.^[94]

Shortly before losing his job, Dahmer was arrested for indecent exposure. On August 8, 1982, at Wisconsin State Fair Park,^[95] he was observed to expose himself "on the south side of the Coliseum in which 25 people were present including women and children." For this incident, he was convicted and fined $50 plus court costs.^[96]

In January 1985, Dahmer was hired as a mixer at the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory, where he worked from 11 p.m to 7 a.m. six nights per week, with Saturday evenings off.^[97] Shortly after Dahmer found this job, an incident occurred in which he was propositioned by another man while sitting reading in the West Allis Public Library. The stranger threw Dahmer a note offering to perform fellatio upon him. Although Dahmer did not respond to this proposition,^[98] the incident stirred in his mind the fantasies of control and dominance he had developed as a teenager, and he began to familiarize himself with Milwaukee's gay bars, gay bathhouses and bookstores. He is also known to have stolen a male mannequin from a store,^[99] which he briefly used for sexual stimulation, until his grandmother discovered the item stowed in a closet and demanded that he discard it.^[100]

By late 1985, Dahmer had begun to regularly frequent the bathhouses, which he later described as being "relaxing places",^[101] but during his sexual encounters, he became frustrated at his partners' moving during the act. Following his arrest, he stated: "I trained myself to view people as objects of pleasure instead of [as] people".^[101] For this reason, beginning in June 1986, he administered sleeping pills to his partners, giving them liquor laced with sedatives. He then waited for his partner to fall asleep before performing various sexual acts.^[102] To maintain an adequate supply of this medication, Dahmer informed doctors he worked nights and required the tablets to adjust to that schedule.^[103] After approximately 12 such instances, the bathhouses' administration revoked Dahmer's membership, and he began to use hotel rooms to continue this practice.^[104]

Shortly after his bathhouse memberships were revoked,^[105] Dahmer read a report in a newspaper regarding the upcoming funeral of an 18-year-old man. He conceived the idea of stealing the freshly interred corpse and taking it home.^[106] According to Dahmer, he attempted to dig up the coffin from the ground, but found the soil too hard and abandoned the plan.^[107]

On September 8, 1986,^[108] Dahmer was arrested upon a charge of lewd and lascivious behavior^[109] for masturbating in the presence of two 12-year-old boys as he stood close to the Kinnickinnic River.^[110][111] He initially claimed he had merely been urinating, unaware that there were witnesses, but soon admitted the offense.^{[n 7]} The charge was changed to disorderly conduct and, on March 10, 1987, Dahmer was sentenced to one year of probation, with additional instructions to undergo counseling.^[112]

Late 20s and early 30s: subsequent murders

Ambassador Hotel

On November 20, 1987, Dahmer—at the time residing with his grandmother in West Allis—encountered a 25-year-old man from Ontonagon, Michigan, Steven Tuomi, at a bar and persuaded him to return to the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee, where Dahmer had rented a room for the evening. According to Dahmer, he had no intention of murdering Tuomi, but rather intended to simply drug him and lie beside him as he explored his body. The following morning, however, Dahmer awoke to find Tuomi lying beneath him on the bed, his chest "crushed in" and "black and blue" with bruises. Blood was seeping from the corner of his mouth, and Dahmer's fists and one forearm were extensively bruised. Dahmer stated he had no memory of having killed Tuomi,^{[110][111][113]} and later informed investigators that he "could not believe this had happened."^[114]

To dispose of Tuomi's body, Dahmer purchased a large suitcase in which he transported the body to his grandmother's residence. One week later,^[115] he severed the head, arms, and legs from the torso,^[111] then filleted the bones from the body before cutting the flesh into pieces small enough to handle. Dahmer then placed the flesh inside plastic garbage bags.^[115] He wrapped the bones inside a sheet and pounded them into splinters with a sledgehammer. The entire dismemberment process took Dahmer approximately two hours to complete. He disposed of all of Tuomi's remains—excluding the severed head^[116]—in the trash.^[117]

For a total of two weeks following Tuomi's murder, Dahmer retained Tuomi's head wrapped in a blanket. After two weeks, Dahmer boiled the head in a mixture of Soilax^[118] (an alkali-based industrial detergent) and bleach in an effort to retain the skull, which he then used as stimulus for masturbation. Eventually, the skull was rendered too brittle by this bleaching process, so Dahmer pulverized and disposed of it.^[116]

Intermediate incidents

Following the murder of Tuomi, Dahmer began to actively seek victims, most of whom he encountered in or close to gay bars, and whom he typically lured to his grandmother's home. He would drug his victim with triazolam or temazepam before or shortly after engaging in sexual activity with them. Once he had rendered his victim unconscious with sleeping pills, he killed them by strangulation.^[119][120]

Two months after the Tuomi murder, Dahmer encountered a 14-year-old Native American male prostitute named James Doxtator.^[121] Dahmer lured the youth to his home with an offer of $50 to pose for nude pictures. At Dahmer's West Allis residence, the pair engaged in sexual activity before Dahmer drugged Doxtator and strangled him on the floor of the cellar.^[122] Dahmer left the body in the cellar for one week before dismembering it in much the same manner as he had with Tuomi. He placed all of Doxtator's remains (excluding the skull) in the trash. The skull was boiled and cleansed in bleach before Dahmer found that it, too, had been rendered brittle by the process. He pulverized the skull two weeks later.^[123]

On March 24, 1988, Dahmer met a 22-year-old bisexual man named Richard Guerrero outside a gay bar called The Phoenix.^[123] Dahmer lured Guerrero to his grandmother's residence, although the incentive on this occasion was $50 to simply spend the remainder of the night with him.^[124] He then drugged Guerrero with sleeping pills and strangled him with a leather strap, with Dahmer then performing oral sex upon the corpse.^[124] Dahmer dismembered Guerrero's body within 24 hours of murdering him, again disposing of the remains in the trash and retaining the skull before pulverizing it several months later.^[125]

On April 23, Dahmer lured another young man to his house; however, after giving the victim a drugged coffee, both he and the intended victim heard Dahmer's grandmother call, "Is that you, Jeff?"^[126] Although Dahmer replied in a manner that led his grandmother to believe he was alone, she observed that Dahmer was not alone. Because of this, Dahmer was not able to kill this particular victim, instead waiting until he had become unconscious before taking him to the County General Hospital.^[127][128]

In September 1988, Dahmer's grandmother asked him to move out, largely because of his drinking, his habit of bringing young men to her house late at night and the foul smells occasionally emanating from both the basement and the garage. Dahmer found a one-bedroom apartment at 808 North 24th Street^[97] and moved into his new residence on September 25.^[129] Two days later, he was arrested for drugging and sexually fondling a 13-year-old boy whom he had lured to his home on the pretext of posing nude for photographs.^[130][131]

Dahmer's father hired an attorney named Gerald Boyle to defend his son. At Boyle's request, Dahmer underwent a series of psychological evaluations prior to his upcoming court hearings. These evaluations revealed Dahmer harbored deep feelings of alienation. A second evaluation two months later revealed Dahmer to be an impulsive individual, suspicious of others, and dismayed by his lack of accomplishments in life. His probation officer also referenced a 1987 diagnosis of Dahmer suffering from a schizoid personality disorder for presentation to the court.^[132]

On January 30, 1989, Dahmer pleaded guilty to the charges of second-degree sexual assault and of enticing a child for immoral purposes.^[133] Sentencing for the assault was suspended until May.^[134] On March 20, Dahmer commenced a ten-day Easter absence from work, during which he moved back into his grandmother's home.^[135]

Two months after his conviction and two months prior to his sentencing for the sexual assault, Dahmer murdered his fifth victim, a mixed-race 24-year-old aspiring model named Anthony Sears, whom Dahmer met at a gay bar on March 25, 1989. According to Dahmer, on this particular occasion, he was not looking to commit a crime; however, shortly before closing time that evening, Sears "just started talking to me". Dahmer lured Sears to his grandmother's home, where the pair engaged in oral sex before Dahmer drugged and strangled Sears.^[4]

The following morning, Dahmer placed the corpse in his grandmother's bathtub, where he decapitated the body before attempting to flay the corpse.^[4] He stripped the flesh from the body and pulverized the bones, which he disposed of in the trash. According to Dahmer, he found Sears "exceptionally attractive", and Sears was the first victim from whom he permanently retained any body parts: he preserved Sears' head and genitalia in acetone^[136] and stored them in a wooden box, which he later placed in his work locker.^{[n 8]} When he moved to a new address the following year, he took the remains there.^[138]

On May 23, 1989,^[134] Dahmer was sentenced to five years' probation and one year in the House of Correction, with work release permitted in order that he be able to keep his job. He was also required to register as a sex offender.^[139]

Two months before his scheduled release from the work camp, Dahmer was paroled from this regimen.^[140] His five years' probation imposed in 1989 began at this point.^[141] On release, Dahmer temporarily moved back to his grandmother's home in West Allis.^[142]

Oxford Apartments

The Oxford Apartments. Dahmer moved into Apartment 213 in May 1990, and murdered twelve of his victims at this location.

1990 killings

On May 14, 1990, Dahmer moved out of his grandmother's house and into 924 North 25th Street, Apartment 213, taking Sears' mummified head and genitals with him.^{[143][144][n 9]} Although located in a high-crime area, the apartment was close to his workplace, was furnished, and at $300 per month inclusive of all bills excluding electricity, was economical.^[143] Within one week of his moving into his new apartment, Dahmer had killed his sixth victim, Raymond Smith. Smith was a 32-year-old male prostitute whom Dahmer lured to Apartment 213 with the promise of $50 for sex.^[146] Inside the apartment, he gave Smith a drink laced with seven sleeping pills, then manually strangled him.^[147]

The following day, Dahmer purchased a Polaroid camera with which he took several pictures of Smith's body in suggestive positions before dismembering him in the bathroom. He boiled the legs, arms, and pelvis in a steel kettle with Soilax, which allowed him to rinse the bones in his sink.^[147] Dahmer dissolved the remainder of Smith's skeleton—excluding the skull—in a container filled with acid. He later spray-painted Smith's skull, which he placed alongside the skull of Sears upon a black towel inside a metal filing-cabinet.^[148]

Approximately one week after the murder of Smith, on or about May 27, Dahmer lured another young man to his apartment. On this occasion Dahmer accidentally consumed the drink laden with sedatives intended for consumption by his guest. When he awoke the following day, he discovered his intended victim had stolen several items of his clothing, $300, and a watch.^[149] Dahmer never reported this incident to the police, although on May 29, he divulged to his probation officer that he had been robbed.^[150]

In June 1990, Dahmer lured a 27-year-old acquaintance named Edward Smith to his apartment. He drugged and strangled Smith. On this occasion, rather than immediately acidifying the skeleton or repeating previous processes of bleaching, which had rendered previous victims' skulls brittle, Dahmer placed Smith's skeleton in his freezer for several months in the hope it would not retain moisture. Freezing the skeleton did not remove moisture, and the skeleton of this victim was acidified several months later. Dahmer accidentally destroyed the skull when he placed it in the oven to dry—a process that caused the skull to explode. Dahmer later informed police he had felt "rotten" about Smith's murder as he had been unable to retain any parts of his body.^[151]

It was my way of remembering their appearance, their physical beauty. I also wanted to keep [...] if I couldn't keep them there with me whole, I at least could keep their skeletons.

—Jeffrey Dahmer, recollecting his motivations for both photographing his victims, and retaining sections of their skeletal structure. February 1993.^[152]

Less than three months after the murder of Smith, Dahmer encountered a 22-year-old Chicago native named Ernest Miller outside a bookstore on the corner of North 27th Street. Miller agreed to accompany Dahmer to his apartment for $50 and further agreed to allow him to listen to his heart and stomach. When Dahmer attempted to perform oral sex upon Miller, he was informed, "That'll cost you extra," whereupon Dahmer gave Miller a drink laced with two sleeping pills.^[153]

On this occasion, Dahmer had only two sleeping pills to give his victim. Therefore, he killed Miller by slashing his carotid artery with the same knife he used to dissect his victims' bodies. Miller bled to death within minutes.^[154] Dahmer then posed the nude body for various suggestive Polaroid photographs before placing it in his bathtub for dismemberment. Dahmer repeatedly kissed and talked to the severed head while he dismembered the remainder of the body.^[154]

Dahmer wrapped Miller's heart, biceps, and portions of flesh from the legs in plastic bags and placed them in the fridge for later consumption.^[155] He boiled the remaining ]]> Podcasts Communities Together no no