Possibly because of individuals like the alleged Milwaukee cannibal-murderer Jeffrey Dahmer, who was apprehended 25 years ago on July 22, 1991, true crime stories tend to dominate television news.
American serial killer and sex offender Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960. Dahmer committed 17 horrible male murders between the years of 1978 and 1991. His method of operation included cannibalism, necrophilia, rape, and dismemberment. So, how did the police finally catch him?
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What Do We Know About Jeffery Dahmer?
According to most accounts, Dahmer had a typical upbringing; nevertheless, as he grew older, he withdrew and stopped communicating. As he neared puberty, he started to show little to no interest in hobbies or social interaction, instead turning to exploring animal carcasses and binge drinking. He continued to drink throughout high school, but it did not prevent him from earning his 1978 diploma.
The 18-year-old committed his first murder just three weeks later. That summer, as his parents’ divorce, proceeded, Jeffrey was left alone in the home. He took the chance to put the sinister ideas that had been developing in his head into action. Hitchhiker Steven Hicks became his first ever victim.
By the summer of 1991, Dahmer had started to murder one victim approximately every week. He developed a fascination with the notion that he might transform his victims into “zombies,” who would then serve as young, subservient sexual partners. He employed a variety of methods, including cutting holes in their skulls and pumping boiling water or hydrochloric acid into their brains.
Soon, Dahmer’s apartment was the source of weird noises and foul odors that neighbors started to complain about. In one case, a lobotomized victim who was left unattended even managed to make it outside and ask multiple passers-by for assistance. But when Dahmer came back, he was able to persuade the cops that the bizarre young man was only his very drunk partner. Dahmer nearly avoided getting discovered for a little while longer because the officers neglected to conduct a background investigation that would have revealed his position as a serial sex offender.
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How Was Jeffery Dahmer Caught?
Police discovered decapitated heads and human parts in his refrigerator, freezer, filing cabinet, and even kettle that day, which “included what are suspected to be rotting hands and a male genital organ,” according to a TIME story. He promptly admitted to 11 killings and later to the dismemberment of 17 other victims between 1978 and 1991. He received a sentence of 15 consecutive life terms in prison but died in 1994 after being beaten to death by fellow prisoner Charles Sarver. However, his arrest was primarily the result of an accident despite the horrifying nature of his actions.
For fondling a 13-year-old Laotian boy in 1988 and paying him $50 to pose for photos while undressed, Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 10 months in prison. Dahmer was put on probation after his release. Dahmer attended the probation office every month, but his caseworker never paid him a visit at home, as is customary. The obligation was relaxed, according to a representative for the state department of prisons, because the agent was overburdened. Another severe error was made in May when two people called the police after discovering a naked, bloodied Asian youngster on the street. The police were reportedly persuaded by the guy the women suspect to be Dahmer that the youngster was his homosexual companion; nevertheless, they chose not to look into the claim. The 14-year-old child, whose death was found among the devastation in Dahmer’s home, was the sibling of the young Laotian man Dahmer sexually assaulted in 1988.
Had one of Dahmer’s victims not fled his deadly rampage might have gone on indefinitely. Tracy Edwards, 32, told police that Dahmer was attempting to kill him as he ran down a street in Milwaukee while wearing two handcuffs hanging from one wrist. Without a struggle, Dahmer was apprehended. Since then, he has expressed regret and informed the authorities about his method of operation: he typically attracted guys from bars and shopping centers by paying them to pose for photos; after drugging them, he would strangle his victims and mutilate their bodies. He frequently cooked their heads to remove the flesh, and authorities claim that in at least one instance, he had anal sex with a corpse.
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