With its new series created by Ryan Murphy, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Netflix is presenting the horrifying events that really occurred in the life of Jeffrey Dahmer.
The based-on-real-events thriller recounts Dahmer’s countless murders through the perspective of his victims, with Evan Peters playing the eponymous serial murderer in the role of Jeffrey Dahmer.
The series was initially revealed in March 2021, with the American Horror Story alum attached to head the cast. It is the latest in a line of projects to retell Jeffrey Dahmer’s crimes.
Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer raped, killed, and dismembered at least 17 men and boys in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He shocked the world with the scope of his crimes, which included cannibalism and necrophilia. Dahmer committed these atrocities in Milwaukee.
While it does provide a more in-depth look at his victims, the series also focuses on one victim who managed to escape and ended up playing a crucial part in Dahmer’s final capture.
This article covers all you need to know about Jeffrey Dahmer’s capture in 1991, including the details of his arrest and the sentence he received.
What kind of criminal acts did Jeffrey Dahmer engage in?
In 1978, only three weeks after he graduated from high school, Jeffrey Dahmer committed his first murder when he picked up a hitchhiker by the name of Steven Hicks and enticed him back to his residence. Hicks was passed when Dahmer found him. Dahmer killed Hicks by first choking him to loss and then bludgeoning him to loss with a dumbbell that weighed 10 pounds as Hicks tried to escape.
After Hicks was killed, Dahmer went on to enroll at Ohio State University, but he was unable to complete more than one semester there due to his chronic alcohol consumption and eventually dropped out. According to The New York Times, he then enrolled in the United States Army, from which he was eventually discharged with honor.
He moved back to Ohio to be with his father and stepmother, and throughout this time he did not abstain from his frequent drinking. According to the website Biography.com, he was eventually transferred to live with his grandmother in Wisconsin, where he had a difficult time keeping a job and was arrested many times for offenses including indecent exposure and disorderly conduct.
In November of 1987, Dahmer committed another murder when he drugged a guy called Steven Tuomi and then pretended to assault him when there was a power outage. Later on, he stated that he had absolutely no recall of the murder of Tuomi. After the murder of Tuomi, Dahmer started a systematic search for more victims to entice and eventually kill. By 1991, he had slain seventeen men and youngsters.
In July of 1991, Dahmer went up to three guys and offered them money if they would strip down for him and pose for naked pictures. According to ABC News, a guy named Tracy Edwards consented and accompanied Dahmer back to his apartment. Once there, Dahmer chained Edwards and placed a knife to his chest while warning Edwards that he planned to devour his heart. Dahmer then left Edwards for d.e.a.d.
Edwards was ultimately successful in escaping by hitting Dahmer, which knocked him to the ground and made it possible for him to rush out the front door, which had been left unlocked. He was successful in attracting the attention of two policemen from the Milwaukee Police Department, whom he then guided back to Dahmer’s apartment.
The hosts found the offers waiting for them in an open drawer, which featured Polaroid photographs of human corpses in different states of being dismembered. According to History.com, once Dahmer viewed the Polaroid photographs, he attempted to leave, but the authorities were able to subdue him and handcuff him.
According to the Associated Press, after Dahmer’s arrest on July 22, he provided the authorities with a comprehensive confession, in which he admitted to “a total of 17 slayings.”
For what did Jeffrey Dahmer get a conviction?
According to the Associated Press, Jeffrey Dahmer was arrested on July 25 and charged with four counts of first-degree intentional homicide. On August 6 and August 22, he was charged with an additional eight murders, bringing the total number of murder charges against him in Wisconsin to 15.
In September of 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer entered a plea of “innocent and innocent by reason of mental condition.” However, in January of 1992, he amended his plea to “guilty but crazy.” “Dahmer had the burden to establish to the jury [because 10 out of 12 must agree] that he was crazy at the time of the crimes,” Dr. Holly Schiff, a psychologist, said in an interview with A&E True Crime. “Dahmer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity,” she said. The network goes on to say that if he is found to be sane, he will be sent to jail, but if he is found to be mad, “Dahmer will be committed to a state facility, from which he might subsequently apply for release.”
The proceedings of his trial started on January 30, 1992, and the final arguments were delivered on February 14, 1992. The next day, it was determined that Jeffrey Dahmer did not have any kind of mental illness or insanity at the time of any of the killings that he committed. He was found guilty of all 16 of the killings and received a sentence of life in prison for each of them.
How did Jeffrey Dahmer pass away?
After receiving his sentence, he was sent to Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin; nevertheless, he did not spend a significant amount of time in detention. On November 28, 1994, a fellow prisoner was responsible for his death, which was caused by a blow to the head. He was 34.
Since that time, he has been the subject of a number of television and film projects, such as the biographical film Dahmer, which was released in 2002 and starred Jeremy Renner; the film My Friend Dahmer, which was released in 2017 and starred Ross Lynch; and, most recently, the television series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which stars Peters.