# Jeffrey Dahmer: The Life and Crimes of a Notorious Serial Killer
How much do you really know about Jeffrey Dahmer? For this video, we’ll be looking at the life and unspeakable crimes of one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Our video will examine:
1. **Early Life**
2. **First Kill**
3. **Apartment 213**
4. **Capture & Confession**
5. **Prison Life**
6. **Legacy & Impact**
What do you think of Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer? Let us know in the comments below.
How much do you really know about Jeffrey Dahmer? For this video, we’ll be looking at the life and unspeakable crimes of one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Our video will examine:
1. **Early Life**
2. **First Kill**
3. **Apartment 213**
4. **Capture & Confession**
5. **Prison Life**
6. **Legacy & Impact**
What do you think of Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer? Let us know in the comments below.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Can I listen to your heartbeat?"
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're discussing
00:08the untold story of Jeffrey Dahmer.
00:11In hindsight, you ask why more people didn't try to intervene.
00:15You've got a kid coming drunk to school.
00:17For this video, we're looking at the life and unspeakable crimes
00:21of one of America's most infamous serial killers.
00:24What do you think of Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer?
00:27Let us know in the comments below.
00:30Early life.
00:31But somewhere deep inside this innocent-looking toddler
00:35was the makings of a sadistic monster just waiting to come out.
00:39Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
00:45His mother Joyce, a teletype machine instructor,
00:48suffered depression and substance use issues.
00:51She often fought with her husband Lionel,
00:53whose college studies and work as a chemist kept him away from home.
00:57Because of their unraveling marriage,
00:59the couple neglected Jeff and his younger brother David.
01:02Are they gonna hit each other?
01:04You're really gonna say that to me?
01:05No, they just aren't.
01:07By 1968, the Dahmers lived in Bath Township, Ohio.
01:12Young Jeffrey may have already begun to develop an interest
01:15in bones and dead animals at this point,
01:17eventually leading to his having a collection of both.
01:20He stored them in a shed near the house,
01:22where he would dissect and preserve them in formaldehyde.
01:25That's enough, Jeff.
01:28Hey, Dad!
01:29No, you are spending too much time in here.
01:32While attending Revere High School,
01:35Jeffrey Dahmer was the odd one out,
01:37and he began drinking alcohol at school.
01:39And I remember sitting next to him in a first period,
01:44I believe, history class,
01:45and he had a styrofoam cup of scotch.
01:48I believe it was scotch.
01:50I remember saying, Jeff, what is that?
01:52And he threw his head back, and he shook it,
01:54and he said, it's my medicine.
01:56He briefly played tennis and was in the school band,
01:59but by 1977, his grades had worsened.
02:03Regardless, Dahmers still graduated in May 1978.
02:07By then, his parents were in the middle of a messy divorce.
02:11His dad stayed at a motel,
02:12while his mother took David to go live with relatives,
02:15leaving Jeff alone at the house.
02:17Jeffrey was 18, and like most teens his age,
02:21he had active sexual fantasies.
02:23But Jeffrey's deviated from the norm
02:25to include thoughts of killing his lover.
02:28Now the isolation of the empty family home
02:31gave him the opportunity to act out those fantasies.
02:34First murder and military service.
02:37On June 18th, 1978, just weeks after graduating,
02:41Jeffrey Dahmer picked up hitchhiker Stephen Mark Hicks.
02:44He enticed the man with beer,
02:46and the two went back to his empty home.
02:48He brought the guy home.
02:49They had access to alcohol.
02:52When they were drinking, they got a little intoxicated.
02:54But when the guy wanted to leave,
02:56Jeff did not want him to leave.
02:58He wanted him to stay,
02:59because he was lonely and also he was intoxicated.
03:01When Hicks tried to leave a few hours later,
03:03Dahmer struck him with a dumbbell,
03:06knocking him unconscious and strangling him.
03:09Hicks's remains were buried in the backyard,
03:11later destroyed by Dahmer.
03:13This is a really, really brutal crime.
03:16And he disposes of the body parts
03:18in the woods behind his house.
03:19And that's a really symbolic place for Jeffrey Dahmer.
03:22In August, he enrolled at Ohio State University
03:25with the intention of majoring in business.
03:27However, Dahmer's issues with alcohol led to failing grades,
03:31and he dropped out after just three months.
03:33In January, 1979,
03:35Lionel encouraged his son to enlist
03:37in the United States Army.
03:39He studied to be a medical specialist
03:41at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas.
03:43And in July, he served as a combat medic in West Germany.
03:47But again, his substance use disorder
03:50affected his performance,
03:51and he was honorably discharged in March, 1981.
03:55His attempt to lead a normal life
03:57was not going according to plan.
03:59Dahmer returned to live with his dad and stepmom in Ohio.
04:03But after being arrested for drunk and disorderly conduct,
04:06it was decided he would go live
04:08with his paternal grandmother in West Allis, Wisconsin,
04:11in an effort to get his life back on track.
04:13In the struggle to control his fantasies,
04:15his behavior became more abnormal.
04:17He took a mannequin from a department store,
04:21thinking that if he had that mannequin with him
04:25and sleeping in bed with the mannequin, et cetera,
04:28that maybe he could control the impulses that way.
04:30West Allis.
04:32In January, 1985,
04:34Dahmer started working late shifts
04:36at the Ambrosia Chocolate Factory as a mixer.
04:38At this time, he also began frequenting
04:41the city's gay bars and bathhouses.
04:43But after slipping sleeping pills into his partner's drinks
04:46and getting physical with them while they were unconscious,
04:49he was banned from the bathhouses.
04:51The sleeping pills give him the control
04:53and power over his sexual partners.
04:56On November 20th, 1987,
04:58Dahmer took Stephen Walter Twomey
05:00to the Ambassador Hotel in Milwaukee.
05:03While he allegedly only planned to drug him
05:05before performing nonconsensual acts,
05:08Dahmer woke up to find Twomey deceased and badly beaten.
05:11He claimed to have no memory of the crime.
05:14That's when the obsession went into full swing.
05:18He decided after that second death
05:20that he would no longer attempt to control his desires,
05:23that he would give full reign to them,
05:25yield entirely to them.
05:27In January, 1988,
05:29Dahmer lured James Edward Dockstader
05:31to his grandmother's house,
05:33offering him $50 to pose for explicit photos.
05:36He drugged and strangled him,
05:38and two months later,
05:39he did something similar to Richard Guerrero.
05:43He stated in no way did he ever want to hurt anybody,
05:46as funny as this sounds.
05:47That is the reason why he killed everyone
05:50by strangling them,
05:51because not only did he get the power
05:54and the thrill of committing the murder,
05:56but it was also the most humane way.
05:59Dahmer wouldn't kill again until March, 1989,
06:02when he murdered Anthony Lee Sears.
06:04He was the last victim to be killed
06:06at the West Allis residence,
06:08and the first victim from whom Dahmer kept some remains.
06:11Apartment 213.
06:13I was willing to take my chances in that neighborhood.
06:17It was generally quiet.
06:20There wasn't a lot of distraction or noise.
06:24A lot of privacy.
06:28It worked out nicely.
06:29In May, 1990,
06:31Jeffrey Dahmer moved into the Oxford Apartments
06:33on North 25th Street.
06:35That month, he would lure home Raymond Lamont Smith,
06:39otherwise known as Ricky Beaks,
06:41drugging him before strangling him.
06:43Dahmer continued this pattern
06:45with Edward Warren Smith in June,
06:47as well as Ernest Marquez Miller
06:49and David Courtney Thomas in September.
06:51In 1991, Dahmer began killing more frequently,
06:55beginning in February with teen Curtis Durrell Strotter,
06:58whom he'd met at a bus stop.
07:00Curtis Strotter is a member of Gay Youth Milwaukee.
07:04He was rejected by his family for being gay,
07:08so he has to struggle to make ends meet.
07:10He's not getting any financial support from them.
07:13So when Dahmer offers him $50 to model,
07:16he immediately jumps on it.
07:18On April 7th, Errol Lindsay became the first victim
07:21to undergo Dahmer's drilling technique.
07:24In his twisted mind,
07:25Dahmer believed he could put Lindsay and subsequent victims
07:28in a zombie-like state to keep them alive,
07:31but incapacitated.
07:33He wanted these people to stay with him.
07:37He didn't want them to leave,
07:39and he didn't really want them to die.
07:42In May, Jeffrey Dahmer returned from the store
07:45to find his latest victim,
07:46Conorac Synthesomphone, had somehow escaped
07:49and was wandering around the street with some women.
07:52He was holding onto me with a really, really strong grip,
07:55and he was trembling, he was shaking.
08:01So I just stayed with him,
08:02and I was like, I'm gonna get you some help.
08:04Dahmer convinced the cops that had arrived
08:06that he was his boyfriend who'd gotten drunk
08:08and wandered out of their home.
08:10Unbelievably, police escorted Dahmer and Conorac
08:13back to the apartment and left.
08:15Had they looked inside the bedroom,
08:17they would have found the body of Tony Anthony Hughes,
08:20killed just three days prior.
08:23And running Dahmer's name would have shown
08:25that he was a registered sex offender on probation
08:28for assaulting Conorac's older brother in 1988.
08:31Dahmer was unaware the boys were related.
08:34Dahmer had been slippery enough
08:36to keep his killings a secret.
08:38As soon as the cops left, he murdered the boy.
08:41By late June, Dahmer started killing almost once a week.
08:44He met two men in Chicago,
08:46Matt Cleveland Turner on June 30th
08:48and Jeremiah Benjamin Weinberger on July 5th,
08:51persuading both to come with him to Milwaukee.
08:5410 days later, bodybuilder Oliver Joseph Lacey
08:57met the same fate, as did his last victim,
09:00Joseph Arthur Breidehoft, four days after that.
09:03Why were the police not connecting the murders?
09:06Dahmer's seeming normality
09:08helped him hide his reign of terror.
09:11People like Dahmer can get away with this easier
09:13because law enforcement does not recognize him
09:17for what he is.
09:19They're looking for somebody
09:20who's dragging their knuckles on the pavement
09:22and banging at the moon with hair in their face.
09:24Capture and confession.
09:26On July 22nd, 1991,
09:28Tracy Edwards escaped Dahmer's apartment
09:31after he'd been handcuffed on one wrist
09:33and threatened with a knife.
09:35Edwards caught the attention of police,
09:37who went up to apartment 213
09:39to retrieve the key to the handcuffs.
09:41Had the officer been able to unleash that handcuff,
09:45that may have been the end of it.
09:46So they went back to Dahmer's residence.
09:48But what they found was a horrific crime scene
09:51with human remains, explicit photos of several victims,
09:55a 57-gallon drum, and much more.
09:58In custody, Dahmer readily confessed to 17 murders,
10:03including his first in Ohio.
10:05He admitted to investigators
10:07that he engaged in both criminal sexual acts and cannibalism.
10:11As a possible sign of remorse,
10:13he was instrumental in helping police
10:15identify all of his victims.
10:18The word evil doesn't come up very often.
10:19It just doesn't.
10:20Guilty, not guilty.
10:21Did he do it?
10:22Didn't he do it?
10:23Culpability, yes, but not often evil
10:24because evil is almost a moral issue.
10:27That word came up with Dahmer.
10:28Conviction and death.
10:30I think the real fear that people had
10:33when they first saw Jeffrey Dahmer
10:35was that he looked like everybody else.
10:37He was a good-looking young man,
10:40and he is not the person that you would look at
10:44and say, stay away from that guy.
10:46Jeffrey Dahmer, dubbed the Milwaukee Cannibal
10:49or the Milwaukee Monster,
10:50was officially charged with four counts
10:52of first-degree murder on July 25th, 1991.
10:56This would become a total of 15 counts
10:59by his January 1992 trial.
11:02Dahmer was not charged with the murder of Twomey
11:05or with the attempted murder of Edwards.
11:07Dahmer pleaded guilty to all counts,
11:09and by February, experts had determined
11:12that he was legally sane when committing the murders.
11:15At the time the crime was committed,
11:17did the defendant, Jeffrey L. Dahmer, have a mental disease?
11:21Answer, no.
11:25Dahmer is declared sane in all 15 cases against him.
11:29Though several medical professionals
11:30have diagnosed him with a slew of disorders,
11:33including borderline personality disorder,
11:35schizotypal personality disorder,
11:37and a dependence on alcohol.
11:40I know how much harm I have caused.
11:43I tried to do the best I could
11:44after the arrest to make amends,
11:46but no matter what I did,
11:48I could not undo the terrible harm I have caused.
11:52My attempt to help identify the remains
11:54was the best that I could do,
11:56and that was hardly anything.
11:58In mid-February, Jeffrey Dahmer
12:00was found guilty on all counts,
12:02and sentenced to 15 life terms
12:04at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.
12:08Dahmer received the maximum penalty
12:10for each and every count,
12:12but his story was far from finished.
12:14In May, he was extradited to Ohio
12:17and received a 16th term of life imprisonment
12:19for the murder of Stephen Hicks.
12:21Dahmer always said that he was compelled to kill,
12:25that there were urges.
12:27He said, I had urges that I could not control.
12:30He also said that even though he was in prison,
12:35he was relieved that the killing was done,
12:39he still had the urges.
12:41They didn't go away.
12:42Dahmer was killed on November 28th, 1994,
12:46by fellow inmate and convicted murderer Christopher Scarver,
12:49who attacked him and another inmate
12:51with a metal bar from the prison weight room.
12:54Dahmer died on the way to the hospital.
12:57Among his last wishes, Dahmer had asked to be cremated.
13:00His ashes were split between his mother and father.
13:03Before we continue,
13:04be sure to subscribe to our channel
13:06and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
13:09You have the option to be notified
13:11for occasional videos or all of them.
13:13If you're on your phone,
13:14make sure you go into your settings
13:15and switch on notifications.
13:19In the media,
13:20Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most talked about
13:22serial killers in history,
13:25and there are countless books, documentaries,
13:28and other various media covering his life and crimes.
13:31In 2002, Jeremy Renner gave a chilling performance
13:34as the titular murderer in Dahmer.
13:37What's happening here?
13:38What you want?
13:39He's my friend, Comte.
13:40He's your friend?
13:43Yeah, he's just drunk.
13:44Years later, former Disney star Ross Lynch
13:47played him as a teenager in My Friend Dahmer,
13:50based on the graphic novel of the same name
13:52written by an old classmate of Dahmer's.
13:55Netflix has two major projects
13:57coming to the platform in fall 2022,
14:00starting on September 21st with Ryan Murphy's Dahmer,
14:03Monster, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,
14:05starring Emmy winner Evan Peters.
14:07On October 7th,
14:09the docu-series Conversations with a Killer,
14:11which previously covered Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy,
14:14returns for a third season with The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes.