cryanide

📋 After being discharged early from the Army due to excessive drinking, Jeffrey Dahmer arrived in Miami, Florida, at the end of March 1981. He initially stayed at a hotel on Collins Avenue for a week, but soon ran out of money and did not plan ahead. He spent about a month or two sleeping outside, noting that he lived "literally under the mangroves on the beach".

He eventually secured a job at "Sunshine Subs" on Collins Avenue, where he worked various positions, including cashier, cook and cleaner, from April to September. Jeffrey remembers being proposed to by an English lady who was an illegal in the U.S and needed a green card. He politely rejected marrying her in order to give her a citizenship but later said he was quite grateful for having that woman with him as she was the only friend he had during his time in Miami.

He was paid "under the table" by his supervisor, Ken Houleb, while also collecting unemployment benefits. By May, he saved enough money to rent a one-room apartment at the Bimini Bay motel, which he described as having "a small, short fridge, bathroom, and a TV."

During his limited free time, Dahmer reported that he would drink excessively. He frequently walked along the beach on Collins Avenue and spent time at local bars in the Miami Beach area. He noted that he did not have friends or family in the area and that he "hated going back to the beach to sleep" after drinking (he would drink until 3AM sometimes), and during one of these nights, he was mugged and lost a hundred dollars.

On another occasion he "almost got knifed" by other men who thought he was trying to rob them. He said he was going to where he had his sleep area set and a bunch of guys were there. They thought Dahmer was a thief and was trying to rob them, they quickly got aggressive.

He also had a bizarre encounter in the middle of the night after "tripping over a possum" and that it "scared the hell out of him".

He rarely visited malls, but recalled going to the Omni Mall once, where he was struck by the "250,000 dollar ruby broach" on display, remarking, "You don't see things like that up here". He had no roof over his head but a ruby broach was still captivating.

🕯Jeffrey Dahmer interview:

Jeff: Tell you dad.. I'm really sorry that this has happened and I love you a lot.

Lionel: I love you too.

Jeff: I'm sorry..

— excerpt from “Grilling Dahmer”

Dahmer became noticeably depressed. He seemed to realize the magnitude of his situation.

"What am I going to do? It wasn't supposed to end like this! No, no, I can't do this. Pat, please take your gun out and kill me. I want to die. Don't you understand! I had it all planned out. I'm not supposed to be here. I should have done it a long time ago and saved myself all of this. It's over anyways. Please, Pat, take your gun out and shoot me, just end it!" 

I noticed that his gaze was locked on the chrome-plated .357 revolver still strapped to my waist.

"Look, Jeff, calm down," I said, placing my right hand on his shoulder and carefully shielding my revolver with my left. "This ain't the end of the world. Take it easy. What do you mean, you should have done it long ago?"

"Do you know what hydrochloric acid would do to you if you put it into your veins?" Looking directly at me, he continued. "That's right. Just inject some hydrochloric acid or formaldehyde into your veins by using a hypodermic needle. The acid would travel right to your heart and boom—it would be all over, no pain, no problem. I should have done it. I wouldn't be here now but I just couldn't, Pat, don't you see? I just couldn't. I wanted to so many times."

🚑 Paramedics who took dahmer to hospital speak:

Responders described the scene as exceptionally bloody, and noted Dahmer’s skull fractures and head wounds were far worse than what is typical seen in severe high-speed traffic accidents.

Craig S. Ratz, one of the medical personnel who attended to Dahmer later noted that he did not initially recognise Dahmer, due to the severity of Dahmer’s head injuries and the oxygen mask that was placed over his face.

***29/11/1994 INTERVIEW WITH THE PARAMEDICS TRANSCRIBED***

[Paramedic 1]: “I guess I won’t comment on it.”

[Paramedic 2]: "I think what happens a lot of the time…maybe this would shed some light, is even on a motorcycle vehicle accident, you may respond, especially in a small community, to someone that you know. But due to the extent of injuries and your focus on patient care, you don't pick up on those things. Maybe at a later time, you know, in the hospital setting where you have a little more time, you might recognize an individual."

[Male Interviewer]: “Well when did you realise who this was? When did you learn?”

[Paramedic 1]: "I guess when we were at the hospital was when we were basically given all the updates and information that was available at that time."

[Male Interviewer]: “What was your reaction to that?”

[SILENCE]

[Paramedic 1]: "I guess, I mean, basically at that point in time, you're still dealing with... what's going on, so, um, emotions don't come into play at that point in time."

[Male Interviewer]: “But did you just ‘oh my god’, was there any sense of wow or what?”

[Paramedic 1]: “I guess, not really at that time I mean—“

[Woman Interviewer]: “How did you sleep last night?”

[Paramedic 1]: “I guess looking back on it…”

[SILENCE]

[Paramedic 1]: "Confident in the fact that we did what was necessary and to the best of our abilities to assist both individuals."

[Paramedic 1]: “So, I mean…we did what we could and gave it the best shot so.”

[Woman Interviewer]: "Is there any sort of ambivalence about... there seems to be a certain amount of rejoicing going on in some areas of the state, and it's just sort of a freaky kind of sensation that you did the best you could to keep someone alive like that?"

[SILENCE]

[Paramedic 1]: "I guess... the people that were out there were doing a job; they were professionals, and I guess that takes care of, you know, all the shadows that would be cast otherwise."

[Paramedic 2]: "In talking to some of our EMTs, you know, a couple of them were on the call, I think some people have the feeling that it's unfortunate that this incident got so much media attention simply from the standpoint that he was a famous person or a well-known person because of the acts that he committed or the terrible things that had transpired in his life, which was a tragedy from the start. But there are so many other people that have done so many good things that go unrecognized. You know, that's the sad part, I think a lot of people feel."

[Woman Interviewer]: "I guess that's what I mean about whether you feel any personal ambivalence about it. You know that you have to remove yourself now, and obviously, you're committed to do the best. You don't know who it is, you don't care who it is, you're doing the best you can."

One of Dahmer’s court appearances

“That’s correct your honor”

“Has anyone made any threats against you to get you to wave the 10 day limit?”

“No they didn’t your honor”

“Has anyone promised you anything to get you to wave the 10 limit?”

“No they didn’t”

“Have you had enough time to talk to your lawyers about that?”

“Yes”

Hi, Ishmael!

That Jeffrey did not hurt animals. He never harmed them, and he never touched an animal with bad intentions. Jeffrey never mistreated animals. It is frustrating when people use taxidermy to demonize him or claim he was sick. Out of all the behavioral signs, normal people always target taxidermy, which is actually a completely normal hobby, who never had it?! I cannot stand those who vilify teenage Jeffrey for his interest, nor those who condemn the practice of taxidermy because of his case.

It just makes me feel sick to my stomach!

"Dahmer was cruel and used to hurt anim-"

After the interview at the prison, Dahmer casually showed us something a little unsettling:

Just a point of interest … thats’s the type of box.

He wanted us to know that box looked strikingly like the one his father had found, the one Jeffrey had used to hide body parts.

He had left his jacket in his apartment and had brought his smokes with him. He put them on the table next to where I had put his glass of beer. He was very impressed when he saw our cat walk out of the bedroom picking her up and saying he liked cats a lot.

He wanted to know how long we had her because pets weren't allowed in the building. I told him that she was a part of the family and Pam would have my head on a platter about her cat, he laughed. We weren't the only people in the building who owned a cat. Pam came in shortly after we had arrived not even having time to finish our first glass of beer.

The three of us sat in our living room for nearly an hour chopping it up about the neighborhood, the apartments, our children that Pam and myself had and our jobs. He worked at a chocolate factory and offered to bring Pam a box of chocolates one day. Of all the guests we've had in our apartment he appeared to be no different doing or saying nothing unusual. With the upcoming holiday being Thanksgiving, we invited him over for dinner if he found himself alone on that day. He agreed thanked us for the beer and left. Jeff didn't come to have dinner with us because his parents came to spend that day with him.