The Milwaukee Cannibal

Happy True Crime Thursday Ya'll! 

For this weeks topic I want to talk about an infamous serial killer. 

When it comes to the mind of a serial killer that is what I find to be the most fascinating. 

Diving into the minds of serial kills has grown drastically through out the years, to the point where we can pinpoint certain characteristics and traits that are linked to many serial killers. The traits that so many choose to ignore. That's the thing, we cannot ignore those signs. Lives could potentially be saved. 

I want you all to keep in mind a theory called the Macdonald Triad. In 1963, John Macdonald a professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine came up with this theory that he believed could predict future homicidal tendencies. 

The 3 individual behaviors during a persons adolescent years included; fire setting (first signs of releasing aggression), persistent bed wetting after a certain age (traced back to abuse) and cruelty to animals (the first violent acts.) 

So with that being said...lets talk about the completely jacked up mind of Jeffrey Dahmer. AKA The Milwaukee Cannibal.

For those not familiar with Dahmer…some of the things I'll be mentioning are not for the easily queasy kind of folks. 

Who was Jeffrey Dahmer? He was born May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. Joyce was a teletype machine instructor and Lionel was a student at Marquette University studying chemistry. The two did not have a happy marriage. Joyce was known to be tense and selfish, constantly seeking out attention/pity. She would work herself into an overwhelming state of anxiety over trivial matters. At one point she even attempted suicide by overdosing on pills. Lionel wasn't home much due to his schooling, but when he was home his attention went towards his wife and her demands for attention. Neither parent had a lot of time focused on their son.

Jeffrey was described as an "energetic and happy child" up until he underwent a double hernia surgery right before his 4th birthday, and when his younger brother was born he became noticeably subdued. Soon his peers at school noticed he was quiet and timid, on his 1st grade report card a teacher described him as reserved and that Jeffrey felt alone and neglected, most likely due to his mothers illness. Even with this new behavior he still managed to have a small group of friends.

He would take this group of friends with him to collect dead animals from the side of the road. He would take these animals back home to a shed were he would spend time dismembering them, he wanted to understand how they worked. Soon it progressed and Jeffrey started to lose friends after he became obsessed with fantasizing about dismembering animals, at one point he took the head of a dog and impaled it on a stake at the back of his house.

By 1968, the family had relocated to Bath, Ohio. One night during dinner Jeffrey asked his father what would happen if he submerged chicken bones in bleach. Since his father was into biology and chemistry he was excited to show him and that his son was taking an interest in it. Later in life Jeffrey would take the techniques his father taught him and apply it in a much more sinister matter.

By the age of 14, Jeffrey had taken his first drink with one of his fellow students at school. This began his downward spiral. He started smuggling alcohol of all kinds into school in the lining of his jacket. His drinking was noticed by other students as well as teachers. He may have been quiet, but he was very intelligent and had excellent grades. He enjoyed playing tennis and at one point even became a member of the high school band. One of Jeffreys many struggles was when he realized that he was gay and he felt the need to hide it from everyone.

At the age of 16, Jeffrey began to have sexual fantasies about domination and submission. He wanted to have a submissive partner that he could have complete control over. Soon these fantasies started to merge with his dissection fantasies. He at one point took interest in a local jogger, he created several rape and dissection fantasies for him in his mind. Thinking about rendering the jogger unconscious and making use of his body. Lucky for the jogger that on the day Jeffrey finally was going to act out his fantasies the jogger did not go out due to illness, Jeffrey never tried to implement this plan again.

Although mainly an introvert Jeffrey gained the reputation as the class clown, he loved to play pranks and act like a fool. It's believed this might have been due to behaviors he learned from his mom in order to get attention. With him becoming a full blown alcoholic and goofing off all the time his grades stated to slip, he still managed to graduate in 1978. That same year  his parents made the mutual decision to end their marriage.

Jeffrey decided to live with his father and his fathers new wife for a bit before he enrolled at Ohio State University, he spent most of his time skipping classes and getting drunk. He ended up dropping out after 2 semesters and returned home. His father told him that he either had to get a job or join the Army. Jeffrey decided to enlist. Out of his 6 years he was supposed to be enlisted he was discharged after 2 due to his drunken behavior.  With all the problems that Jeffrey's drinking was causing his father sent him to live with his grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin.

One little thing I forgot to mention...

During the summer his parents were divorcing Jeffrey was left in the family home alone. It was then that the 18 year old committed his first murder, he could no longer hold back his dark and twisted fantasies. He picked up a hitchhiker by the name of Steven Hicks, he took him back to the house to drink beer. It took a turn when Steven wanted to leave. Jeffrey hit him in the head with a 10 lb. dumbbell. He then dissected, dissolved, pulverized and scattered the impossible to identify remains throughout his backyard. He killed Hicks simply because he wanted him to stay. After this incident it would be 9 years before Jeffrey Dahmer would kill again. 

After Dahmer moved in with his grandmother he stayed there for 6 years. He continued to drink heavily and was well known to police. In August of 1982 he was arrested after he exposed himself at a state fair, and then in September of 1986 he was arrested for masturbating in public. He was charged and served 10 months for public exposure. Soon after his release he was arrested again, this time for sexually fondling a 13 year old boy. He was sentenced to 5 years of probation....no jail time. He was able to convince the judge in this case that all he needed was some therapy and he'd be all better. Even through all of this Jeffreys father stood by him, always making sure that he had a good lawyer to represent him. He started to realize that his son wasn't normal and although he didn't quite understand why, he did understand one thing and that was that his son didn't have a conscience. 

While cruising gay bars in September of 1987 he met 26 year old Steven Toumi. The 2 of them spent the night heavily drinking before they went to a hotel. According to Dahmer when he awoke he found Steven dead, he said he had blacked out and doesn't remember all the details of that night. So he packed up Stevens body into a suitcase, carried it out of the hotel and took it back to his grandmothers house. In the basement of the home he was overcome by his sexual necrophilia desires, he acted upon those and then discarded the body into the garbage after he dismembered it.

Now, I'm not going to touch base on all of  Dahmer's victims, mainly because there are 17 of them that are known. I do feel like they need to be acknowledged so I will list all of the names at the end. 

In September of 1988, Jeffrey was able to move into 1 bedroom apartment after he got a job as a mixer at Ambrosia Chocolate Factory. Which was beneficial for him since killing his victims was getting more and more difficult to hide in his grandmothers basement. 

Jeffrey's MO was always the same, he would meet men at a gay bar or mall and then he would offer them money and alcohol if they agreed to pose for photos. When he got them alone he would drug them, on occasion torture them, and then kill them by strangulation the majority of the time. He would then masturbate over the corpse or have sex with the corpse, cut the body up and get rid of the remains...well not all of them as we will find out later. 

One of Dahmer's victims, Konerak Sinthasomphone almost escaped the clutches of Dahmer in May of 1991. Konerak was the younger brother of the boy Dahmer had molested back in 1989. In the early morning hours of May 27th he was found wandering the streets disoriented and completely nude. Police arrived on scene alongside paramedics, 2 women were standing with Konerak....and Dahmer. The story Jeffrey had told police was that the boy was his 19 year old lover who was drunk and that the 2 of them were in a quarrel. Despite the protest of the 2 women who had witnessed Konerak fighting Dahmer off before the police got there, police believed Jeffrey's story and escorted Jeffrey and Konerak back to the apartment. They saw that Dahmer's apartment appeared neat and found nothing out of the ordinary besides an unpleasant smell. So they left Konerak under Jeffreys care. Within hours Konerak met the same fate as Dahmer's other victims. 

It all came crashing down on July 22nd, 1991 when Jeffrey was unable to hold captive what would have been his 18th known victim, Tracy Edwards. Edwards was able to escape and was discovered by police around midnight, they noticed him due to the handcuffs he had dangling from his wrist. They assumed he somehow had escaped from authorities, when they stopped him he told them about Dahmer and how the 2 of them had struggled when Jeffrey tried to handcuffs on him. He led them to his apartment... 

Jeffrey opened his door when the officers arrived and was answering all of their questions in a very calm manner. He agreed to turn over the handcuff key and went to the bedroom to get it. Luckily one of the officers went with him and while he was glancing around the room he noticed photos of what appeared to be parts of bodies and a fridge full of human skulls. They made the decision to arrest Dahmer, when they went to place the cuffs on him his calm demeanor quickly chanced and he began to struggle and fight with police. With Dahmer out of the apartment they quickly discovered the disgusting secrets he was keeping. They discovered skulls and other various body parts, along with an extensive photo collection that documented his crimes. The items found in the apartment included;
- A human head and 3 bags of organs were found in the refrigerator 
- 3 heads, a torso and various internal organs were inside a free standing freezer
- Chemicals, formaldehyde, ether, and chloroform plus 2 skulls, 2 hands and male genitalia were found in the closet
- A filing cabinet that contained 3 painted skulls, a skeleton, a dried scalp, male genitalia, and photographs.
- A box with 2 skulls inside 
-A 57 galloon vat filled with acid and 3 torsos
- Victims ID's 
- Blood soaked mattress and blood splatters

Jeffrey Dahmer was indicted on 17 murder charges, it was later reduced to 15. He plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Dahmer wrote a 160 page confession that included details of how he would eat his victims and how his necrophilia urges were so strong that he was not able to control his actions. The defense tried to prove that he was in control and capable of planning, manipulating and covering up his crimes. After 5 hours of the jury deliberating they returned with the verdict of guilty on 15 counts of murder. Dahmer received 15 life terms. After his sentencing Jeffrey read a statement to the court, "I hated no one. I knew I was sick or evil or both. Now I believe I was sick. The doctors have told me about my sickness, and now I have some peace. I know how much harm I have caused...Thank God there will be no more harm that I can do. I believe that only the Lord Jesus Christ can save me from my sins...I ask for no consideration." 

He was sent to the Columbia Correctional Institute, he was kept away from the general prison population at first for his own safety. He was considered a model prisoner and was a self- proclaimed, born again Christian. Gradually they allowed contact with other inmates. Well, on November 28,1994 Jeffrey Dahmer was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver, Scarver was a schizophrenic who had been convicted of 1st degree murder. For reasons unknown the guards had left Dahmer, Scarver and another inmate Jesse Anderson alone for 20 minutes. Anderson was also beaten to death by Scarver. Jeffrey Dahmer died in the ambulance before he reached the hospital.

Well, there you have it folks the summed up life, murders, imprisonment and death of Jeffrey Dahmer. 

Known Victims

• 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

Resources:
https://vocal.media/criminal/serial-killer-files-jeffrey-dahmer-part-1-early-life-and-family

https://www.thoughtco.com/profile-of-serial-killer-jeffrey-dahmer-973116