Serial Killer's Soul

by Herman Martin

  “How about if I get someone from the sheriff’s office to shave you and we get you in some street clothes?” he asked.

  Dahmer agreed. “If you can do that, fine. You can tape the interview.”

  Richard Heath, chief investigator for the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office, present for all of Dahmer’s interviews by the various psychiatrists, brought in three of his own shirts from which Dahmer could choose. One was light pink with a white stripe, the second was a blue stripe, and the third was a chocolate brown-and-white stripe. Dahmer chose the brown one. Later a couple of the psychiatrists revealed that people with strong sexual personalities often wear brown.

  (NOTE: During an interview with author Lorenz, Heath revealed the following about that interview.)

  The videotaped interview with Dr. Dietz lasted four days and encompassed twenty hours of tape. Jeff smoked the entire time, switching from Marlboros to menthol cigarettes.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Dietz asked Dahmer.

  Dahmer paused. “I don’t know. You’re the doctor. I don’t think it’s evil spirits… and I’m not in a cult. You know I bought a table and made sort of a shrine. I’d put each victim on that table and then just sit back in my big leather chair and look at the body. It made me feel powerful. Sometimes I’d take photos of the bodies before and after killing them. I controlled them like the guy in Silence of the Lambs.”

  “Why do you think you got caught, Jeff?” Dr. Dietz asked.

  “Simple,” he replied, “I just got behind in my work, too many bodies stacking up in my apartment. I couldn’t keep up.”

  Other witnesses during Dahmer’s trial included:

  • The man hired to remove blood stains on the carpet in the apartment rented by Dahmer at the Oxford Apartment building at 924 N. 25th Street in Milwaukee;

  • The employee from a hardware store where Dahmer purchased the muriatic acid he used to dissolve human flesh from the bones of his victims;

  • The man who sold Dahmer the large blue barrel he used as a vat to store body parts;

  • The pharmacist who sold Dahmer the prescription of Halcyon, the drug he used to subdue his victims;

  • The Milwaukee police officer who had contact with Dahmer for other offenses;

  • Milwaukee police detectives Patrick Kennedy and Dennis Murphy, who interrogated Dahmer on July 23, 1991, the day after he was arrested, and who took his one hundred-and-sixty-page signed confession;

  • Tracy Edwards, the young man who would have been Dahmer’s eighteenth victim, but who was able to free himself and alert authorities on the evening of July 22, 1991, leading to Dahmer’s arrest;

  • Ronald Flowers, who met Dahmer at a gay bar a year or two previous to Dahmer’s arrest;

  • Somsack Sinthasomphone, the brother of Dahmer’s youngest victim, Konerak Sinthasomphone. Dahmer sexually assaulted Somsack, a Laotian minor, in 1988. Because of this crime, Dahmer received five years’ probation and one year at the work-release program in Franklin in May 1989. He was still on probation when he was arrested for the murders and, amazingly, he still saw his probation officer on a weekly basis during the entire killing spree;

  • Police Lt. Scott Schaefer, who arrested Dahmer in September 1988 for the sexual assault on Somsack Sinthasomphone;

  • A supervisor and a plant superintendent from the Ambrosia Chocolate factory, where Dahmer worked;

  • Milwaukee police officers John Balcerzak and Joe Gabrish, who returned Konerak Sinthasomphone to Dahmer’s custody in 1991 just before Dahmer killed the young Laotian boy;

  • Sopa Princewell, manager of the Oxford Apartment building; and

  • The manager of the Club Unicorn Bathhouse in Chicago, which Dahmer frequented ten times between April 1990 and February 1991.

  And so it went, witness after witness, one gruesome tale after another.

  Each day of the trial, sheriff’s deputies escorted Dahmer to and from court. Every day the officers altered routes to the courthouse, fearing someone would learn where Dahmer was and try to kill him en route.

  Dahmer’s daily activities at the county jail during trial recess were limited to reading, eating, and sleeping.

  Quite often during the trial, the victims’ family members couldn’t take hearing about the brutality of Dahmer’s crimes and would leave the courtroom. Others were more stoic and stayed throughout the whole ordeal.

  People throughout the country watched the entire trial on a “pay-perview” basis, provided by local cable companies. People in the Milwaukee area listened daily to the trial in its entirety on WTMJ radio.

  On Friday, February 14, 1992, closing arguments finished and the jury held Dahmer’s fate in their hands. The question: Was Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer insane when he killed fifteen men and boys in Wisconsin?

  Since Dahmer plead guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, the purpose of the trial was to simply determine if he really was insane when he committed the crimes. The outcome would decide whether he would spend the rest of his life in prison (Wisconsin has no death penalty) or whether he would be sent to a mental institution.

  It was Valentine’s Day afternoon, just two weeks after the trial began, when the jury deliberated for five hours and declared Dahmer sane on all fifteen counts. There had actually been sixteen murders in Wisconsin, but one body–the body of Steven Tuomi–was never recovered.

  Sentencing was set for Monday, February 17. At sentencing, Dahmer read a statement in court asking that he receive no mercy. Judge Gram abided his request and sentenced him to fifteen consecutive life terms, equivalent to 957 years in prison, with no possibility of parole.

  The Milwaukee County sheriff deputies handcuffed Dahmer and sent him back to Columbia.

  Dahmer was returning to live among us for the rest of his life.

  Eight

  Back to Serve His Time

  Stop being afraid of what you are about to suffer–for the devil will soon throw some of you into prison to test you. (The Revelation 2:10, TLB)

  The media witnessed Dahmer’s return to Columbia. The prison was open to them to reveal to the world where the notorious mass murderer would live out his remaining days. They saw the four guard towers, security systems, housing units with the inmates’ cells, vocational areas, and the health-services facilities.

  Before entering the unit, Dahmer again surrendered his street clothing and received the prerequisite institutional clothing–the same orange uniform he had before he went to trial.

  Again, Dahmer was under heavy security. He returned to the glass tank, monitored twenty-four hours a day, with two cameras in his cell. Correctional officers continued to keep journals of all his activities and conversations.

  Normally from 7 a.m. until 7:20 a.m., inmates may shave, but because Dahmer was on suicide watch, he was not given this privilege. After shave time, most prisoners in Desegregation Unit 1 were allowed recreation for about ninety minutes; again, Dahmer was not permitted to attend recreation. Walking around the glass tank and reading his mail were his only forms of recreation.

  Warden Jeffrey P. Endicott and other Columbia officials wholly believed their facility was suitable for Dahmer and proclaimed this to the media the previous night. One question, however, had to have been on their minds: Could they guarantee Dahmer’s safety from inmates who wanted to kill him or simply teach him a lesson?

  There were still rumors, but now the rumors said Dahmer would be killed at Columbia because some of his victims had friends or relatives with inmates at the institution. The warden, security director, and deputy warden investigated these threatening rumors immediately. Security knew they couldn’t keep Dahmer on suicide watch forever and, since the general population hated him so much, Dahmer’s protection was a very consuming topic of conversation.

  Every day during mail call, Jeff received bags of mail–hundreds of letters and each day the guards gave him twenty-five, the maximum allowed. The next day, in order to get twenty-five more letters, he had to return the
ones from the prior day.

  Life for the inmates in Units 4 through 9 seemed normal. But the lives of those housed on Units 1 and 2, the units nearest to Dahmer’s cell, changed drastically because of our unfortunate proximity–and we weren’t happy. Recreation in the gym was off-limits as was the hobby room and the music room. Even our library privileges were suspended.

  We complained to the guards, but they wouldn’t budge.

  That evening we went to the canteen from 7:15 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. We had more uniformed officers than usual as escorts.

  On February 19, inmates on Units 4 through 9 went to breakfast in the units’ dayroom cafeterias while the cell doors for Units 1 and 2 remained closed. The sergeants proclaimed us “on lockdown until further notice.” Our resentment grew. Dahmer’s mere presence was taking away the miniscule scraps of freedom that we had.

  That morning we received a lovely bag breakfast consisting of two boiled eggs, two slices of toast, two boxes of cereal, and two containers of milk. That night inmates on Units 4 through 9 attended Wednesday evening Catholic services, but not us. Lockdown.

  Later that evening, a memo from the warden slid under our cell doors. “Officers have been noticing gang activities at various places such as the gym, school, and church,” it read. “Therefore, there will be a search of each inmate’s cell. Also each inmate in Units 1 and 2 will be questioned by captains and lieutenants.” Warden Endicott and the security director had each signed the memo.

  The memo surprised us. First, we hadn’t heard any talk of gang activity. Second, if the guards had noticed such activity, why didn’t they stop it immediately like usual? The whole thing just increased our suspicions that Dahmer was the real reason for the lockdown and security just wouldn’t admit it.

  Lunch that day was served in bags, this time with two bologna sandwiches; raw carrot, celery, and radish sticks; two cookies; a carton of milk; and a cup of coffee.

  It didn’t take long before inmates in Units 4 through 9, the units not on lockdown, started asking about our units. Word reached relatives and friends outside the prison, who began calling the prison, inquiring about the lockdown status. The media-relations officer at Columbia stressed that Dahmer had nothing to do with the situation. Media reports incorrectly announced that the entire institution was on lockdown, not just Units 1 and 2.

  Supper was served late that afternoon on Styrofoam trays: turkey, cold mashed potatoes, two slices of bread, one carton of milk, coffee, and one piece of fruit. After supper, inmates heard rumors that new gang members from the Black Gangster Disciples and Vice Lords just arrived at Columbia and claimed they wanted to take over the prison. Since Units 1 and 2 were gang units, we were sure that if there were gang members, they shared housing with us. Maybe there was something to the memo after all.

  Finally, that night we could have visits from friends and family, but no other privileges.

  On the morning of February 20, while Dahmer remained in his cell on Desegregation Unit 1, each prisoner in Units 1 and 2 left his cell, one at a time, handcuffed, and escorted to a multipurpose room on the unit. Officers interrogated us, asking questions mostly related to gang activities, but also wanting to know if we’d heard anything about any threats on Dahmer’s life.

  Every inmate was questioned for ten to twenty minutes before returning to his cell. The questioning went on all day.

  That night, while the other inmates had recreation, we remained locked in our cells. By this point, we were pretty agitated. Most of the inmates on Units 1 and 2 have prison sentences ranging from five to seventy-five years and have a standard daily routine. Inmates don’t like it when routine is upset.

  Nine

  Who is this Man, Dahmer?

  Let me say this, then, speaking for the Lord: Live no longer as the unsaved do, for they are blinded and confused. Their closed hearts are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds against him, and they cannot understand his ways. They don’t care anymore about right and wrong and have given themselves over to impure ways. They stop at nothing, being driven by their evil minds and restless lusts. (Ephesians 4:17-19, TLB)

  As I sat in my cell and read my Bible during those days after Dahmer joined our ranks, I found myself wondering over and over whether or not this man’s soul could be saved. Oh, I knew if he would just ask for forgiveness and give his life over to Jesus the potential was there, but I wondered if Satan had such a powerful grip on him that all was lost.

  Would Dahmer ever get to a point where he would ask forgiveness for his horrible sins? Would he even realize the immensity of them?

  I wondered and I prayed.

  During those first few weeks after Dahmer joined us, I had a lot of time on my hands, especially since we were on lockdown most of the time. Whenever I got the chance to go to the library, I read everything I could get my eyes on that discussed Dahmer’s childhood or his life as a young man in Ohio and, later, Wisconsin. I read about Satanism and different cults, trying to find a correlation to Dahmer’s despicable acts. I wanted to know how a person could do what he did to the bodies of the men and boys he murdered.

  I read newspapers and magazines, did research, and took notes on a tablet in my cell. For me, the media couldn’t write enough about Dahmer. To satisfy my need for information, I had to dig deeper into his background.

  Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, at Deaconess Hospital in Milwaukee to Joyce (Flint) and Lionel Dahmer. Jeff’s mother and father had married the previous July in Milwaukee. Joyce, born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, had a master’s degree in counseling from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie. Lionel received a degree in electrical engineering from Marquette University in Milwaukee.

  Joyce Dahmer had a difficult pregnancy while carrying Jeff. Lionel said she suffered from psychiatric and environmental ailments throughout their son’s childhood.

  In 1966, the family moved to Ames, Iowa, where Lionel received a doctorate. He later got a job in Akron, Ohio, as a research chemist at PPG Industries and the family moved to Doylestown, Ohio. Joyce chose to stay home to raise Jeffrey. Family life was, by any standards, pretty normal during those days.

  When Jeffrey was six, he started school at Hazel Harvey Elementary School in Barberton, Ohio. That same year, Jeffrey’s younger brother, David, was born.

  As a child, Jeffrey was polite and neat. Most people who knew them believed he had a good upbringing. The Dahmers weren’t church-going people. The family religion was Protestant, but attending church wasn’t important to the Dahmers.

  Like many children his age, Jeff played baseball, had a job as a paperboy, and played games with children at school and in the neighborhood.

  In 1968, the family moved to Bath, Ohio. It wasn’t long before family life started to go downhill. During the next few years, Lionel and Joyce’s marriage disintegrated. Jeffrey began to have difficulties with some of the children at school. They thought he was strange and, as children sometime do, bullied and teased him. Jeffrey began to spend more and more time alone in the woods, fascinated with nature.

  When he was fourteen years old and in junior high, Jeff became even more of a loner. He alienated himself, and classmates stayed away completely because of his odd behavior. He did succeed academically, however. He was a smart student who received honors in science, his favorite subject. Not ironically, some of his science projects involved experimenting with animals.

  In junior high and high school, Jeff became known as the class clown, but he also started drinking.

  At Revere High School, he played the clarinet in the band. Later he joined the intramural tennis team, playing tennis from his sophomore year through his senior year, and worked on the school newspaper, The Lantern.

  From 1975 through 1980, the years while Jeff was in high school, local authorities called on the Dahmer residence several times because of domestic disputes between Joyce and Lionel.

  At fifteen, Jeff admitted fantasizing about h
omosexual activities, but never felt comfortable discussing this with his parents or peers. As a result, he retreated further and further into himself. Some wonder if school counselors or his parents knew about these thoughts and perhaps took action, would Jeff have turned into such a monster? Would his parents or professionals have been able to help him?

  Regardless of speculation, that’s not how history unfolded. Jeff kept everything hidden. He lied to himself and to those around him. He drank, probably in an effort to forget. Before long, Jeff’s whole world became one of deceit and mind games.

  At some point, Jeff became interested in Satanism. During his high school years, he invited the few friends he still had to his home for a séance. Fascinated by evil and the devil, Jeff tried his hardest to call Satan into their midst.

  No one knows for sure just how much Jeff actually knew about Satanism, but some of the rituals he performed during his youth and, eventually, on his victims strangely resembled the practice. Later, interviews by authorities and psychiatrists after his arrest led them to believe Dahmer did these things more for personal pleasure and feelings of complete power over individuals rather than as an act of Satanism itself.

  Lionel Dahmer filed for divorce from Joyce on November 4, 1977, near the beginning of Jeffrey’s senior year, and moved into a motel. That didn’t help family life; the confrontations between Jeff’s parents continued. The divorce was final in 1978, just before Jeff graduated from high school.

  That spring, Jeff asked a girl to prom. She accepted, although Jeff admitted later that he felt quite uncomfortable about his male role in the situation.

  During the last few years of high school, Jeff’s grades plunged and he graduated without honors.

  Just a few weeks after graduation, on June 18, 1978, in Bath Township, Ohio, he killed his first victim, Steven Hicks.