The Case of Jeffery Dahmer

The Case of Jeffery Dahmer

Introduction

Jeffrey Dahmer (1960-94) was one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century. The particularly gruesome nature of his crimes attracted widespread attention following their discovery and his arrest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1991. Born May 21, 1960, in Wisconsin, Dahmer spent much of his youth in Bath, Ohio. As a child, he grew aloof and unhappy, jealous of his brother and burdened by an overbearing father. He was known to bring home and store the remains of dead animals and reportedly committed acts of cruelty against animals. Alcoholism took root in high school. Dahmer's first murder occurred shortly after his high school graduation in 1978, when he picked up a hitchhiker, Steven Hicks, had sex with him, and then bludgeoned him with a barbell when Hicks wanted to leave. After just one semester at Ohio State University, Dahmer spent two years in the army, but he was honorably discharged due to his alcoholism (Schmid, 2005).

Discussion

In 1982, Dahmer moved into his grandmother's home in Milwaukee until she asked him to leave on account of his late hours and the bad smells coming from the basement—he had killed three times in this period. Just a day after moving into his own apartment in 1988, Dahmer was arrested and later served 10 months for sexually assaulting a 13-year-old boy. Upon his release, and in a new apartment, the violence began to accelerate. Many of Dahmer's murders followed a gruesome pattern. After drugging and strangling his 17 victims, Dahmer would then dismember their bodies, often having sex with the corpses. He stored some remains, such as skulls and testicles, as trophies; other remains he cooked and ate. He disposed of the bulk of the bodies by dissolving them in a large vat of acid.

Inside his bedroom, police discovered rotting remains, skulls, and photos of the dismembered bodies of some of his victims. Dahmer plead not guilty by reason of insanity and he gave a detailed confession of all his murders. A jury found him sane and he received 15 consecutive life sentences. After his conviction, business groups in Milwaukee gathered the funds to purchase Dahmer's possessions (Princewill, 2008), which were promptly destroyed, and the apartment building was demolished. Dahmer and a fellow prisoner were killed by a third inmate while the trio cleaned the prison's gym.

The causes of Dahmer's crimes have been the subject of much discussion. Though some scholars have found his cannibalism and hoarding of body parts consistent with other murderers who feel no guilt and collect trophies from their victims, others have found it difficult to explain his actions in terms of a readily identifiable psychological condition. However unhappy or abnormal his childhood, most view his upbringing as an insufficient explanation. Many point to self-hatred, related to struggles with his homosexuality, as one factor. Psychologists question whether people like Dahmer have inherent psychopathic tendencies or develop them through life. The Dahmer case is frequently cited as an example of a jury rejecting ...