Module 5 - Criminal Profiling

Mugshot of Richard Jeffrey Dahmer

- Image Source: Wikipedia.org

Early Years and His First Murder

Jeffrey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, and apparently had a happy and healthy childhood. However, at the age of four he underwent surgery for a double hernia after which the family moved to Ohio. These two events seem to change Dahmer; he became very shy, uncommunicative, and very tense around others. During his school years, he was a loner who achieved average grades. He began to drink heavily during high school.

Dahmer’s parents divorced after years of fighting. In 1978, his mother left the family immediately after he finished high school; his father soon remarried. Shortly after, at age 18 Dahmer committed his first murder. He picked up a young male hitchhiker, Steven, and brought him to his house where they began drinking together. When Steven wanted to leave Dahmer’s house, Dahmer prevented him by killing him and burying him in the backyard.

Early Arrests

Dahmer went to university but failed and had to drop out after one semester. He enrolled in the army, but he was discharged after two years because of his excessive drinking problem. In 1982, at 22 years of age, he moved in with his grandmother in Wisconsin. Later that year, he was arrested for the first time after he exposed his genitals at a state fair. Then in 1986, he was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison for masturbating in front of two young boys.

A Series of Murders

In 1988, about one year after his release from prison, Dahmer was arrested and found guilty of drugging and molesting a 13-year-old boy. In 1989, while he was awaiting sentencing and unknown to police, he murdered another young man. In May 1989, he was sentenced to one year in a work release camp. Dahmer was released early for good behaviour and put on probation.

When Jeffrey Dahmer was free, he moved into his own apartment and began murdering more young men. In a 14-month period between 1990 and 1991, he killed 12 victims. He met most of his victims at gay bars and invited them to his place. In his apartment, he would drug, strangle, sexually assault, dismember, and finally dispose of the body. He would keep some of the body parts (such as the skull and genitals) of his victims in his refrigerator as souvenirs.

Dahmer was almost caught in May 1991 when one of his victims escaped. In the early morning, a 14-year-old boy was discovered wandering nude in the streets near Dahmer’s apartment. When Dahmer realized his victim had left his apartment, he went to look for him only to meet up with two police officers. Dahmer told the officers that the teen was his 19-year-old lover and that they had an argument while drinking. Despite the teen’s protests, police brought him back to Dahmer’s apartment. Later that night, Dahmer killed and dismembered the boy, keeping his skull as a souvenir.

His Apprehension

Dahmer was apprehended in July 1991 when once again one of his victims, a 32-year-old man, escaped from his apartment. Like his last victim, the 32-year-old was found wandering the streets near Dahmer’s apartment. He had managed to escape from Dahmer during a struggle in which Dahmer was trying to put handcuffs on him. The would-be victim led police officers back to Dahmer’s apartment. At first, Dahmer was friendly towards police and his place seemed very neat and tidy. However, the officers noticed a terrible odour. When they searched Dahmer’s home, they discovered various human body parts in his refrigerator and photographs showing his victims in various stages of death.

Trial and Eventual Death

Police discovered that Jeffrey Dahmer had killed at least 17 men. Dahmer admitted to eating the flesh of at least one of his victims. With so much evidence against him, Dahmer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. After a lengthy trial in 1992, Jeffrey Dahmer was found guilty of 15 counts of murder and was sentenced to 957 consecutive years in prison. In 1994, two years into his sentence, he was beaten to death by another inmate.