DAHMER: The Inspirational Story Of The Most Notorious Serial Killer

Early Life

Jefferey Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960, In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was the first child of Lionel Herbert Dahmer, a university chemistry student who later on got a job as a research chemist, and Joy Annette Dahmer was a teletype machine instructor. Some reported that Dahmer was deprived of attention as an infant and toddler by both of his parents, his mother was known to be tense, greedy, and argumentative towards her husband and neighbours. When Dahmer entered the first grade, Lionel's university studies kept him away from home most of the time; when he was home, his wife was a hypochondriac and suffered from depression she always demanded attention and spent an increasing amount of time in bed. On one occasion she tried to commit suicide using Equanil. Neither parent devoted much time to their son, who later realized that, from an early age, he felt "unsure with the solidity of his family" Which recalled extreme tension and numerous arguments between the parents during his early years. Dahmer was an "energetic and happy child" but became subdued after having a double hernia surgery before his fourth birthday. In elementary school Dahmer was known to be a very quiet and timid kid; one teacher detected early signs of abandonment in Dahmer due to his father's absence and his mother's illness, the symptoms increased when she was pregnant with her second child. In elementary school, Dahmer had a small number of friends. On October 1966, the family moved to Doylestown, Ohio. When Joyce gave birth in December, Dahmer was allowed to choose the name of his baby brother; he chose the name, David. The same year Lionel earned his degree and started working as an analytical chemist in Akron, Ohio. At an early age Dahmer was obsessed with dead animals at the age of four years old, he saw his dad removing animal bones from beneath the family's house. According to Lionel, Jefferey was "oddly thrilled" with the sound the bones made, which he called his "fiddlesticks". He would occasionally search beneath and around the family home for additional bones for his collection, and then he would explore the bodies of live animals to know where the bones were located. In May 1968, the family then moved to Bath Township, Summit County, Ohio. This address was their third in two years and the Dahmers' sixth address since their marriage. The home was one and a half acres, with a small hut only a short walk from the house where Dahmer started collecting large insects such as dragonflies, moths, and skeletons of small dead animals like squirrels and chipmunks. Some of the remains were stored in jars for the preservation of formaldehyde and stowed in the hut. Two years later during dinner with his father, Dahmer asked Lionel what would happen if chicken bones were placed in bleach. Lionel was pleased by his son's scientific curiosity, he even demonstrated how to safely bleach and preserve animal bones. Jefferey incorporated techniques for his bone collection and also began collecting dead animals including any roadkill he could find after he collected them he would then dissect and bury them beside their hut, with skulls placed atop like makeshift crosses. According to one of his friends, Dahmer would explain to him how he was curious about how animals "fit together". In 1975, Dahmer decapitated a dog's carcass before nailing the body on a tree and then impaled the skull on a stick behind his home. He considered this as "a prank", later he invited a friend to view his display, he claimed that he had discovered the remains by chance. That same year Lionel was teaching Jefferey how to preserve the animal bones, and Joyce began to increase her use of Equanil, laxatives, and sleeping pills which further minimized her contact with her husband and children.