Jeffrey Dahmer

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991. He committed his first murder in Bath Township, Ohio, in 1978, killing 18-year-old hitchhiker Steven Hicks after inviting him to his family home; he bludgeoned and strangled Hicks, then dismembered and disposed of the remains. Dahmer did not kill again until 1987, after which his crimes escalated in Wisconsin, primarily at his grandmother's West Allis home and later at his apartment at the Oxford Apartments in Milwaukee.

Dahmer's later modus operandi typically involved luring victims—often met at gay bars, bathhouses, or public locations—back to his residence with offers of money, drinks, or nude photography sessions. He drugged victims with sedatives such as triazolam or temazepam, then strangled or otherwise killed them. Many of the murders involved necrophilia, cannibalism, and the preservation of body parts, including skulls and skeletons that Dahmer treated with bleach, acid, or paint. Victims identified in the record include Steven Hicks, Steven Tuomi, James Doxtator, Richard Guerrero, Anthony Sears, Raymond Smith, Edward Smith, Ernest Miller, David Thomas, Curtis Straughter, Errol Lindsey, Tony Hughes, Konerak Sinthasomphone, Matt Turner, Jeremiah Weinberger, Oliver Lacy, and Joseph Bradehoft.

A significant law-enforcement failure occurred on May 27, 1991, when Milwaukee police officers John Balcerzak, Joseph Gabrish, and Richard Porubcan responded to a 911 call concerning 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, found disoriented and injured on a street corner. Despite concerns raised by three women who had called police, officers returned Sinthasomphone to Dahmer's apartment after Dahmer claimed the teenager was his adult boyfriend. Dahmer killed Sinthasomphone shortly after the officers left.

Dahmer was arrested on July 22, 1991, after intended victim Tracy Edwards escaped his apartment and alerted police, who then discovered evidence of the killings inside. Dahmer was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder, but was found legally sane and competent to stand trial. He was convicted of 16 counts of murder—15 in Wisconsin and one in Ohio—and sentenced in 1992 to 16 terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

On November 28, 1994, Dahmer was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, where he was serving his sentence.