Warning: This article contains allegations of sexual harassment, rape and murder which some readers may find distressing.
Serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer revealed the origins behind his killing compulsions in a chilling interview which has recently resurfaced online.
The American, who killed and dismembered as many as 17 victims during his murder spree between 1978 and 1991, continues to dominate headlines even more than 30 years on from his death.
He was recently portrayed in American Horror Story episode where he is controversially seen using Grindr, given that Dahmer was gay and all of his victims were men and boys.
But however haunting an actor’s portrayal of the serial killer may be, it’s still almost impossible to understand Dahmer’s true intentions and motives behind his horrific crimes, which eventually saw him turn to cannibalism.
In a 1993 interview with Inside Edition, Dahmer spoke with a reporter about what had driven him to commit the murders, before concluding to suggest that he deserved death. He was killed in prison just over a year after the interview first aired.
Dahmer was due to spend the rest of his life in jail (Curt Borgwardt/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)
He said: “Not because I was angry with them not because I hated them, but because I wanted to keep them with me.
“As my obsession grew, I was saving body parts such as skulls and skeletons and eventually I did turn to cannibalism. I’d have the sleeping pill mixture already prepared. The person would drink it, fall asleep, and that’s when they would be strangled.”
The calmness with which Dahmer speaks in the interview is perhaps the most horrifying part of his persona, especially when the interviewer asks him if he still had the urge to kill behind bars.
He replied: “I wish that I could say that it just left completely but there are times where I still do have the old compulsions. That’s what I deserve. I deserve death.”
Dahmer was eventually killed in 1994 by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver, who had grown tiresome of the killer’s jokes and taunts behind bars, as he was known to have taunted other prisoners with food items which were fashioned to look like limbs.
Dahmer first killed in Ohio in 1978 but didn’t murder again until 1987, which kickstarted a four-year spree which eventually saw him arrested in 1991, before he was sentenced to 16 consecutive life terms in 1992.
But he would only serve two of those years before his own murder.
Meanwhile, Ryan Murphy’s recent depiction of the killer was met with significant backlash online, with many suggesting that the director had no respect for Dahmer’s victims and their families.
One user wrote: “Jeffrey Dahmer was a real person and serial killer who murdered 17 innocent men and boys. His youngest victim was 14 years old. He drugged them, performed experiments, killed them, sexually violated their corpses, took photos of their bodies, dismembered and ate parts of them.”
They added: “He is not a fictional character or someone to use for a comedic bit. Ryan Murphy is a weirdo with no respect for the victims or their families. His obsession with real murderers and falsifying their stories while advertising it as factual is beyond unethical and disgusting. This is wrong and gross.”
Male Survivors Partnership is available to support adult male survivors of sexual abuse and rape. You can contact the organisation on their website or on their free helpline 0808 800 5005, open 9am–8pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays; 8am–8pm Tuesdays and Thursdays; 10am–2pm Saturdays.
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