He was careful to select victims on the fringes of society, who were often itinerant or borderline criminal, making their disappearances less noticeable and reducing the likelihood of his capture.
He received a one-year probationary sentence.ĭahmer murdered 17 men between 19. He was arrested once again in 1986 when two boys accused him of masturbating in front of them. An arrest later that year for disorderly conduct prompted his father to send Dahmer to live with his grandmother in Wisconsin, but his alcohol problem continued and he was arrested the following summer for indecent exposure. Although German authorities would later investigate possible connections between Dahmer and murders that took place in the area during that time, it is not believed that he took any more victims while serving in the Armed Forces.įollowing his discharge, Dahmer returned home to Ohio. His drinking problem persisted, and in early 1981, the Army discharged him. Dahmer enlisted in late December 1978 and was posted to Germany shortly thereafter. He dropped out of Ohio State University after one quarter term, and his recently remarried father insisted that he join the Army. I failed the system, it did not fail me." ” “I guess I've really done it this time, I'm sorry." ” “God told me to do it." ”ĭahmer claims that his compulsions toward necrophilia and murder began around the age of 14, but it appears that the breakdown of his parents' marriage and their acrimonious divorce a few years later may have been the catalyst for turning these thoughts into actions.īy the time of his first killing, Dahmer's alcohol consumption had spun out of control. It was just the only way I knew of to keep them there and keep them with me." ” “It gave me a sense of total control and increased the sexual thrill, I guess, knowing I had total control of them and that I could do with them as I wished." ” “It's hard for me to believe a human being could do what I have done, but I know I did it." ” “I do not blame the police, the courts or the probation system. Maybe I was an Aztec." ” “ world already has enough misery in it without my adding more to it." ” “It was not a case of hating them. I don't know what I was thinking when I did it." ” “Maybe I was born too late. And try as I might, I couldn't make other people seem less strange and unknowable." ” “What I've done has cut both ways. I simply didn't know how things worked with other people. Nor could I formulate a plan for winning their affection.
When children liked me, I did not know why. Frankly, I wanted death for myself.” “I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families, and I understand their rightful hate.” “I take all the blame for what I did.” “I wanted to find out just what it was that caused me to be so bad and evil.” “The subtleties of social life were beyond my grasp. I tried and I failed, and created a holocaust.” “This has never been a case of trying to get free. I have seen their tears, and if I could give my life right now to bring their loved ones back, I would do it.” “I should have stayed with God. I promise I will pray each day to ask for their forgiveness when the hurt goes away, if ever. I know the families of the victims will never be able to forgive me for what I have done. “I know society will never be able to forgive me.