🗞️ Mr. Dahmer and some lesser known facts about him:
📋— He bought a turquoise ring for $1,500 and later pawned it when he was running low on cash.
— He was very interested in jewelry. During the time he lived in Miami, one of the only things that caught his attention was a $250,000 ruby brooch.
— When he was a small child, he did a school project on molds and fungi.
— He failed all his college courses except two. One was riflery, which he passed with a B-.
— He was fascinated by guns and was quite knowledgeable about them. Shooting was a hobby he kept after being discharged from the Army. Imagine Dahmer holding a rifle?
— When his father forced him to go to college, he had three roommates. All three recalled that they did not hang out with Jeff because he was too much of a freak. They also remembered returning to their dorm only to find a drunk Dahmer, with all the furniture piled in one corner and pizza smeared on the walls. One accused Dahmer of stealing cash from his wallet to buy alcohol.
— He would kick the tiles in his college bathroom for no reason.
— He was not into drag queens, but he enjoyed drag shows a lot.
— He lied to Eddie Smith, one of his victims, claiming to be a film producer. Eddie's friend, Henry, laughed and said that was impossible looking like that. Henry recalled that Dahmer was greasy, rough-looking, and reeked of alcohol, cigarettes, and intense body odor.
— He loved fish and kept African Cichlids in his aquarium.
— Dr. Park Dietz, a forensic psychiatrist on his case, had to watch Dahmer's favorite pornographic videos with him. The titles included "Cocktales," "Chippendale’s Tall, Dark and Handsome," "Hard Men II," "Hard Men III," "Rock Hard," "Peepshow," and "Tropical Heat Wave."
— He drugged himself one time by drinking from the victim's glass. He lost $300 and had a few items of his house robbed. He did not go to the police file a report.
— Some residents of the Oxford Apartments recalled seeing a drunk Jeff in the streets surrounded by tons of cats.
— He used blue lights in his apartment to mimic Jedi movie effects because he liked Star Wars.
— He bought a pair of yellow contact lenses to feel powerful, noting they reminded him of Emperor Palpatine. However, he apparently just "looked like a dork" wearing them.
— He stated that he often listened to heavy metal music while drinking and fantasizing about his crimes.
— He mentioned that he avoided "bar music" (likely 70s funk and 80s pop) because it made him nostalgic and sad.
— He had an extremely high libido; during high school, he sometimes masturbated three times a day.
— He was beaten up in the army once, leaving him severely injured and covered in his own blood. He suffered from constant ear pain even years later.
— Six months before Dahmer's death, an officer who had obtained his confession visited the prison with Detective Dennis Murphy to gather information on another inmate. Murphy stopped by to say hello to Jeff. Dahmer was very excited to see him, immediately shook his hand, and exclaimed, "Hey, Dennis!". Murphy noted that Jeff seemed more effeminate and openly gay at that time.
— He grew irritated after being asked the same questions repeatedly in interviews. Eventually, he would only agree to them if he received junk food and cigarettes.
— His probation officer, Donna Chester, wrote the following notes after their sessions:
• June 25th, 1990: “Client appears to be depressed all the time.”
• July 9th, 1990: Dahmer explained that he was an hour late because he overslept and fell down some stairs. “Client looks rough. Agent believes subject is blowing money, but not sure on what. Subject appears defensive if questioned where his money goes… Subject’s appearance has gone way down since he moved on his own. Subject depressed, talked about suicide.”
• August 13th, 1990: Dahmer complained of financial problems and said he was being sued by West Allis Memorial Hospital for an unpaid bill. He stated, “the only way I can see a way out is to jump from a tall building.”
• January, 1991: Dahmer stated that the only reason he committed his offenses was because he had been drinking, claiming it would never happen again because prison is a deterrent. He also declared to Chester that, after a lot of thinking over the holidays, he had admitted to himself that he was gay: “That’s the way I am, so fuck it.”
— He expressed frustration toward wealthy people, asking, "Why are they so lucky?"
— Donna Chester also noted that he did not help himself and instead expected others to do it for him.
— He liked to people-watch. He would go to malls just to walk around and observe people.
— His favorite beer was Budweiser—“The King of Beers.”
— He bought a computer for $2,500 but never used it.
— In his 20s, an old, toothless man offered to suck his toes while they were at a bathhouse. He accepted.
— Some sources claim he slept with at least 200 people during his adulthood.
— Phone company records show that during his entire time at the Oxford Apartments, not a single incoming phone call was made to his apartment.
— R. Flowers, a man who escaped Jeff, accepted a taxi ride with him after his own car broke down. Flowers said that Dahmer was a rather morose and depressing figure during the ride. Conversation was awkward because Dahmer kept dropping eye contact and spoke gloomily about hating his job and not getting along with his family.
— He beefed with Dr. Palermo, complaining about the statements the doctor made during his trial.
— Some of the items found in his cell after his death included: a book titled The World's Most Beautiful Flowers, grape drink mix, several Bibles, hand-rolled cigarettes, and 506 letters.
— As a child, he rescued a bird and named it Dusty. Once the bird was healthy enough to survive on its own, Jeff and his family released it. It was a very happy moment for the family.
— He smoked marijuana in high school with a friend named Jeff Six.
— Faye Cole, a young mother who lived in Dahmer’s old neighborhood of Pammel Court, recalled that Jeff used to play with her three-year-old son. He can even be seen in a photo attending the child’s birthday party. Faye remarked that she always remembered Jeff’s “beautiful blue eyes.”
— Faye’s son could not pronounce "Dahmer" and substituted it with his toddler word for pajamas, calling him “Jeff Jammers.” He recalled Jeff as a sweet but incredibly lonely child.
— Pat Kennedy, one of the detectives on the case, stated that "he never knew a guy who jacked off as much as this guy" (Mr. Dahmer).
— He would ask female pen pals for money, while asking male pen pals for both money and photos of themselves. He once ghosted a man after receiving a photo and $25.
— He would listen to the song "I Am The Walrus" on repeat while in college. He was a huge fan of The Beatles.
— He owned a bicycle while living at the Oxford Apartments.
— In a video recording of his belongings being destroyed, someone can be heard saying he "had more drugs than a drug lord."
— "By the time Jeff was two years old, he was talking. He called himself ‘Jeffy’ and held up fingers to show his age. He could also say ‘potty’, ‘Up pease’, and ‘TV’, and within a few more months, he had memorized his first prayer. The words of the prayer were: ‘Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. God bless everyone. Make Jeffy a good boy. Amen.’" (From "The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer" by Brian Masters).
— "Everyone is on my fucking case about the smell," he said when his neighbor, Vernell Bass, visited and complained about the stench in his apartment.
— Pamela Bass, Vernell's wife, said she often heard Jeffrey talking and cursing loudly to himself when he was completely alone.
— He would flush victim's remains down the toilet.
— Sometimes he would make a slit on the dead bodies and penetrate it.
— He spent a massive portion of his salary on pornography, alcohol, and chemicals.
— Sometimes he went days without cleaning his apartment, leaving beer cans and empty bottles scattered everywhere.
— After returning from the Army, he was smoking at least a pack of cigarettes a day.
— He liked McDonald's. Investigators found almost no real food in his apartment—only beer and a bag of chips.
— While in high school, he took up weightlifting and got into excellent shape. According to his father, Lionel, Jeff enjoyed working out and became very toned. Bodybuilding supplements were found in his apartment at the time of his arrest.
📋 There are so many facts about him that I did not write. These mentioned are simply a grain of sand flying around in the vastness of his life. No matter how much you read about this man, Mr. Dahmer is the Acheron's puzzle, impossible to understand, to comprehend. There is a lot out there to be discovered. I hope you enjoyed it, @miri-rori!
SOURCES: Wikipedia Articles, Milwaukee Sentinel Journal, FBI Files, newspapers, and "The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer" by Brian Masters.
