Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:21] Speaker B: If you dig the twisted, admire the outlandish, and are enamored by the unusual, you're in the right place. True crime, the supernatural, the unexplained. Now you're speaking our language. If you agree, join us as we dive into the darker side. You know, because it's more fun over here. Welcome to Total Conundrum.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: Warning.
[00:00:49] Speaker B: Some listeners may find the following content disturbing. Listener discretion is advised.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: Welcome back, Conundrum crew. You're tuning in to another episode of Total Conundrum where we dive into the darkest mysteries, most twisted true crime stories and sprinkle in just enough humor to keep you from sleeping with the lights on. I'm Tracy.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: And I'm Jeremy. And today we're going deep into the disturbing, stomach churning case of Jeffrey Dahmer. You probably think you already know the.
[00:01:24] Speaker A: Story, but trust us, we're covering it all. From his troubled childhood and weird obsession with roadkill to the brutal crimes that earned him the nickname the Milwaukee Cannibal.
[00:01:35] Speaker B: And let's not forget about the massive law enforcement fails that let him slip through the cracks way too many times. This dude was literally handed back a victim by the police. No joke. We'll get into that later.
[00:01:48] Speaker A: Yeah. If there's one thing that'll make your blood boil more than Dahmer's crimes, it's about how many chances that they had to stop him. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's start at the beginning. Because like every nightmare, it started somewhere normal. And in this case, that place was small town Wisconsin.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: Before we dive into the real life horror of Jeffrey Dahmer, remember to hit that like and subscribe button on YouTube. Leave us a review on Apple and Spotify. And don't forget to ring that notification bell on YouTube. So you're always in the loop with our latest episodes. Your support keeps us going. If you have any story ideas or recommendations, contact us@totalconundrum.com or you can find us on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
[00:02:33] Speaker A: And because we love keeping you both horrified and entertained, stick around till the end. We've got some trailers from our podcast pals at Murder and Mimosas podcast and the Suspended Sentence podcast. Make sure to show them some love and give them a listen. But now let's uncover the disturbing case of Jeffrey Dahmer.
[00:02:53] Speaker B: We'll be back after these messages.
[00:02:59] Speaker C: Welcome to Murder and Mimosis.
I'm Shannon. And I'm Danica. Together as a mother and daughter duo, we host Murder Mimosas True crime podcast with an episode released every Saturday at 10:00am you can listen to it during prime brunch time. While we don't require a mimosa, we do highly recommend one. All of our episodes are cases that we found really interesting or just really stuck with us because we hope they'll do the same for you. You can listen to us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.
[00:03:36] Speaker A: And back to the show. The man whose gruesome crimes turned his Milwaukee apartment into a house of horrors and shocked the world.
[00:03:45] Speaker B: Grab your drinks, preferably not an old Milwaukee beer, and settle in. This is going to be a wild ride.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: When you think of serial killers, you probably imagine someone who was doomed from birth, raised in chaos, destined for darkness. But Jeffrey Dahmer, he was born into what seemed like an average middle class family. At least on the surface.
[00:04:08] Speaker B: Yep, Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Firstborn to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer, a young couple who, let's just say, did not have the picture perfect marriage.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Not even close. Lionel was a hard working chemist, but he was gone a lot. Long hours at work, business trips, the whole deal. And Joyce, she was struggling bad. Severe depression, anxiety and dependency on prescription meds. She was often bedridden, emotionally distant, or picking a fight with Lionel.
[00:04:44] Speaker B: And when she fought, she fought. We're talking about screaming matches, things getting thrown, accusations flying. So while baby Jeffrey was growing up, his home life was, well, a total disaster.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: Now, kids react differently to unstable homes. Some lash out, others withdraw. And little Jeffrey, he became quiet, detached, almost like he was just there.
[00:05:10] Speaker B: But even though he didn't act out in obvious ways, there were still red flags. One big one. He had multiple childhood illnesses and surgery. When he was just six years old, he had a double hernia operation. And that's when people say he really started changing.
[00:05:26] Speaker A: Yeah, after that surgery, he became even more withdrawn. He wasn't an affectionate kid. He didn't like being touched, just distant.
[00:05:36] Speaker B: And then there was his fascination with death. By the time he was around 10, Jeffrey had a very specific hobby, collecting dead animals.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: And he wasn't just collecting them, he was experimenting on them. He'd take roadkill home, dissect it, strip the meat off the bones and preserve the skeletons.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: And get this, his dad, Lionel, instead of thinking, hmm, maybe my son playing with corpses is a red flag, actually, he showed him how to bleach and preserve bones. You know, like a fun father and son chemistry project.
[00:06:12] Speaker A: Yeah, not the father son bonding moment you really want.
[00:06:16] Speaker B: And Jeffrey, he was Obsessed with the process. He even had a favorite sound. The plop of bones dropping into a bucket.
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Well, there goes my ability to ever look at a bucket the same way again.
[00:06:29] Speaker B: Same. But this wasn't just some weird kid phase. Jeffrey was developing a serious fixation on death. And no one, not his parents, not his teachers, had any clue of what was brewing inside of him in school.
[00:06:43] Speaker A: Jeffrey was complicated. He wasn't a total outcast, but he wasn't exactly Mr. Popular either. He was one of those kids that kind of faded into the background until he wanted attention.
[00:06:56] Speaker B: And when he did want attention, oh, he got it. Jeffrey became a class clown. But not in the funny way. More like the weird and kind of disturbing way.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah, his signature move. Faking epileptic seizures in the middle of class. Flailing around, moaning, pretending to be in distress. His classmates actually called it doing a Dahmer.
[00:07:19] Speaker B: And somehow nobody thought that was concerning. Just, oh, that's Jeff doing his thang. But what was concerning his drinking? By the time he was 14, Dahmer was showing up to school wasted.
[00:07:33] Speaker A: He carried a flask in his backpack, would straight up drink in class.
[00:07:38] Speaker B: And when somebody finally asked, hey Jeff, why are you drinking in the middle of biology class? He just shrugged and said, it's my medicine.
[00:07:47] Speaker A: Yeah, giant red flag. But nobody did anything. Teachers, clueless, parents, too caught up in their own issues. And meanwhile, Jeffrey's just slipping deeper into isolation.
[00:08:01] Speaker B: By the time Jeffrey was in his teens, the Dahmer family packed up and moved to Bath, Ohio, A quiet middle class suburb that looked normal enough.
[00:08:10] Speaker A: And if you ever lived in a small town, you know the vibe. Peaceful, uneventful. The kind of place where nothing bad ever happens except, you know, this.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: And here's where things get weirder. Because Bath, Ohio is where Dahmer had his first real encounter with death.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Yep. One day, Lionel finds a dead raccoon in the crawl space under their house. He's disgusted, ready to toss it out.
[00:08:37] Speaker B: But Jeffrey, he's fascinated. He wants to keep it, study it, and see what's inside.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: If that's not a neon sign screaming future serial killer, I don't know what is.
[00:08:49] Speaker B: By 1978, the Dahmer household was falling apart. Lionel and Joyce's marriage beyond saving. The fighting, worse than ever. And then Joyce takes Jeffrey's younger brother David and moves to Wisconsin, leaving Jeffrey completely alone in the family home. Lionel, meanwhile, was staying at a motel, finalizing the divorce.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: Just like that, Jeffrey is completely alone in the house. No parents, no supervision, just an 18 year old alcoholic death Obsessed teenager left to his own devices.
[00:09:24] Speaker B: And that's when it happens. Just weeks after his high school graduation. June 18, 1978. Night. Jeffrey Dahmer kills for the first time.
[00:09:33] Speaker A: And if you think that murder was planned, it actually wasn't. At least not in the way we usually think of serial killers. This was pure impulse.
[00:09:43] Speaker B: Yeah. It's important to note at this point, Jeffrey wasn't some criminal mastermind. He wasn't even sure what he was doing. He later said he didn't want Steven Hicks to leave. That was it. The idea of being alone triggered something dark inside him. And once he crossed that line, there was no going back.
[00:10:01] Speaker A: All right, so let's go back to that night. Steven Hicks is 18, just like Jeffrey. He's hitchhiking to a rock concert. And then Jeffrey pulls up, all friendly, offering him a ride. He tells Hicks, hey, why don't we stop at my place first and have some beers, and then I'll drive you to the show. And Hicks, he's down.
[00:10:22] Speaker B: Yeah. And for a while, everything's cool. They drink, they talk. It's just the two guys hanging out. But then Hicks says it's time to go. And that's the moment everything changes.
[00:10:32] Speaker A: Jeffrey panics. He grabs a 10 pound dumbbell and smashes Hicks over the head. Not once, twice. Hicks collapses. And then Jeffrey strangles him to death.
[00:10:44] Speaker B: And here's where it gets really disturbing. After killing Hicks, Jeffrey sits with the body. He later said that for the first time in his life, he felt in control.
[00:10:53] Speaker A: But reality kicks in fast. Jeffrey knows he has to do something with the body.
So what does he do? Trigger warning. He strips the flesh from the bones.
[00:11:05] Speaker B: He cuts the body into pieces, puts them into trash bags and stuffs them in a crawl space. But that's not all. A few days later, he digs up the remains, smashes the bones into dust with a hammer and scatters them in the woods behind the house.
[00:11:21] Speaker A: Literally erases every trace of Stephen Hicks. And you know what's wild? He got away with it. No one even suspected him.
[00:11:32] Speaker B: Now you might be wondering, how did he get away with this? A missing teenager, a murder. And yet nothing.
[00:11:39] Speaker A: Well, for one, Hick's disappearance didn't immediately raise alarms. Hitchhiking was super common in the 70s, and people went missing all the time. Plus, Jeffrey's parents were so wrapped up in their messy divorce, they barely noticed him, let alone what he was doing.
[00:11:57] Speaker B: And Jeffrey, he acted normal. Or at least as normal as he could. No one suspected a thing.
[00:12:04] Speaker A: After the murder, Jeffrey had A moment where he could have gone down a different path. He actually tried to live a normal life.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah, his dad, completely clueless about what was happening, was like, you need to get your life together. Time for college. So in the fall of 1978, Jeffrey enrolled at Ohio State University.
[00:12:25] Speaker A: One problem, he was a full blown alcoholic by this point, he barely went to class. He spent most of his time drinking alone in his dorm. His grades, a total disaster.
[00:12:38] Speaker B: And somehow he made it through one semester before flunking out. And Lionel, he's at his wit's end. So what does he do?
[00:12:46] Speaker A: He basically goes, all right, kid, time to man up. And he enlists Jeffrey in the army.
[00:12:53] Speaker B: So In January of 1979, Jeffrey Dmer joins the U.S. army. He's trained as a combat medic and gets stationed in bomb holder, West Germany. And for a while, he actually holds it together.
[00:13:07] Speaker A: But like everything in his life, it doesn't last. The drinking catches up with him, and soon he's getting into trouble. Missing duties, showing up wasted. And it gets so bad that in March 1981, just after two years, the army discharges him early.
[00:13:24] Speaker B: And here's something really disturbing. Years later, two former soldiers accused Dahmer of sexually assaulting them while stationed in Germany.
[00:13:33] Speaker A: Yeah, these guys came forward saying Jeffrey would drug them, assault them, and leave them blacked out. And while there's no proof he actually killed anyone in the army, it's clear his urges were already escalating.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: So now Jeffrey's kicked out of the army, no job, no purpose. And worst of all, he's back home with Lionel.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: And that lasts about five minutes before Lionel's like, nope, can't deal with this. So he sends Jeffrey to live with his grandmother Catherine in Milwaukee.
[00:14:02] Speaker B: Yeah, and this is actually kind of a turning point because his grandmother, she's probably the only person in his life that Jeffrey genuinely cared about. She was sweet, kind, religious. She made him go to church, encouraged him to stay out of trouble.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: And for a little while, it worked. Jeffrey got a job, tried to behave, even followed some of her rules. But the thing about dark urges, they don't just disappear.
[00:14:29] Speaker B: And in 1987, after nearly a decade of trying to be normal, Jeffrey Dahmer kills again. And this time, it's just the beginning.
[00:14:39] Speaker A: So by 1987, Jeffrey Dahmer wasn't just thinking about killing anymore. He was doing it. And what's terrifying, he developed a system that made him nearly impossible to catch.
[00:14:52] Speaker B: Yeah, his MO Was simple but effective. He. He found victims at bars and clubs, usually young men Many of them from marginalized communities. And once he got them alone, it was over.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: He had a routine. Like a twisted playbook.
[00:15:09] Speaker B: First he'd offer money. Usually it was for nude modeling or sometimes just to hang out.
[00:15:15] Speaker A: Then he'd bring them back to his place for drinks, making it seem like a casual, friendly offer.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: But those drinks. Yeah, they were laced with powerful sedatives, making sure his victims never saw what was coming.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: And once they were unconscious, that's where the real nightmare began.
[00:15:33] Speaker B: Once his victims were completely unconscious, he had total control. And here's where things get really dark. He didn't just want them dead.
[00:15:42] Speaker A: He started experimenting, trying to keep them alive longer. He drugged them to the point of unconsciousness, but instead of killing them right away, he tried to create zombies.
[00:15:54] Speaker B: Yeah, he literally drilled holes into their skulls and poured acid or boiling water inside. He thought this would keep them alive, but completely submissive.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: It never worked. Every time he tried, his victims would either die from the procedure or eventually regain consciousness, only for him to kill them anyway.
[00:16:14] Speaker B: And let's not forget the trophy photos. Every time he killed, he'd take Polaroids of their bodies, their remains, even mid dissection. He wanted to preserve every moment.
[00:16:26] Speaker A: Man, that's beyond disturbing. Like it wasn't enough to do these horrific things, but to keep the souvenirs. All right, let's talk about victim number two. The first murder he committed in Milwaukee.
[00:16:40] Speaker B: In November of 1987. Jeffrey Dahmer meets 23 year old Stephen Tuami at a bar, then goes back to a hotel. They drink, and Dahmer later claims he blacked out and woke up to a dead body.
[00:16:54] Speaker A: But here's the thing. Steven's chest was crushed. His body was beaten. This wasn't an accident.
[00:17:01] Speaker B: And instead of calling for help, Dahmer panics. He buys a suitcase, shoves Steven's body inside, and takes it back to his grandmother's basement.
[00:17:10] Speaker A: Once there, he dismembers the body, strips the flesh from the bones, and crushes the remains into powder. No one ever finds Stephen Tuami's body.
[00:17:21] Speaker B: After Tuami, it doesn't stop. Over the next four years, Dahmer kills 16 more men. And with each one, his methods become more brutal.
[00:17:30] Speaker A: He lured them with money, booze, and promises of modeling jobs. And once he had them in his apartment, he'd drug, strangle and dismember them.
[00:17:40] Speaker B: Some of his notable victims include James.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: Dockstader, just 14 years old. In 1988, Dahmer promised him money to pose for photos. Instead, he drugged and strangled him later dissolving his body in acid.
[00:17:56] Speaker B: And then there was Richard Guerrero, 22, also in 1988. Same twisted method. Offered money, drugged him and strangled him before dismembering his body.
[00:18:07] Speaker A: And then Anthony Sears, 24 in 1989. But this one was different. This was the first time Dahmer kept a trophy. He preserved Anthony's skull and genitals, storing them like some kind of sick souvenir.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: Ernest Miller, 22, in 1990. One of the first victims, he experimented on with acid. Not just to dispose of the body, but to test his horrifying idea of keeping victims alive longer.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: It's like with every victim, he was perfecting his process, pushing his limits, seeing how far he could go. And here's where we get into the really disturbing part. Necrophilia and cannibalism.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: Dahmer didn't just kill his victims, he wanted to keep them. That's when he started consuming parts of them.
[00:18:56] Speaker A: He admitted to cooking and eating pieces of their flesh because he thought it made them a part of him forever.
[00:19:04] Speaker B: That's like next level disturbing. Like murder wasn't enough. He wanted to literally consume them. It's like he was trying to own them in the most twisted way possible.
[00:19:15] Speaker A: Now here's the frustrating part. Dahmer should have been stopped in 1988. That's when he was arrested for an incident involving 13 year old Somsack synthassa foam. He lured him with the promise of money for photos. And that's when things took a dark turn. The boy was able to get away and report what happened.
[00:19:36] Speaker B: Finally, right? Authorities step in and Dahmer was charged. You'd think this would have been enough to put him behind bars for a long time, but nope. What he got instead was shockingly lenient.
[00:19:48] Speaker A: One year not even in a real prison, just a work release program where he could leave during the day, go to his job and check in at night. After that, only five years of probation.
[00:20:02] Speaker B: So instead of locking up a clearly dangerous man, they let him continue his life almost like nothing happened. And what did he do while he was still on probation?
[00:20:12] Speaker A: He kept killing.
[00:20:14] Speaker B: This next part, it's beyond frustrating because in May of 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer could have should have been cut. But instead, a 14 year old boy was handed right back to him.
[00:20:27] Speaker A: That boy was Konak Synthesophone, younger brother of Somsack, whom we just discussed.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Here's what went down. On May 27, 1991, Dmer lured Conor to his apartment with the same promise he used on so Many others. Money for photos. Once inside, he drugged him and. And then attempted one of his disturbing experiments to try to keep him under his control.
[00:20:53] Speaker A: But hours later, something happened that rarely did. Konerak got out. He was naked, drugged, bleeding and completely disoriented, stumbling around through the streets of Milwaukee.
[00:21:05] Speaker B: And thank God for two women who saw him and knew something was seriously wrong. They called 911, begged the police to help.
[00:21:13] Speaker A: And this should have been the moment Dahmer got caught. But nope. Dahmer strolls up the street, calm as ever, and tells the cops, oh, that's just my boyfriend. He's drunk. We had a little fight. It's no big deal.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: And here's where things get infuriating. The police believe him. Despite the fact that Konerak was a 14 year old kid, clearly in distress, unable to even speak for himself, despite the woman insisting something was wrong. Despite the fact that if they just run Dahmer's name, they'd have seen his prior convictions involving Conor Act's own brother.
[00:21:50] Speaker A: But nope. The officers literally walked Konerak back to Dahmer's apartment. Inside that hellhole, the smell of death was everywhere. And you know what one of the officers said in his report?
[00:22:03] Speaker B: Everything seems fine.
[00:22:05] Speaker A: That's some bullshit laziness there.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: If only they'd taken a closer look. If only they checked his record. If only they listened to the woman who tried to save him. But they didn't.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: And as soon as the cops left, Konerak's fate was sealed. Dahmer killed him that night. And when the truth finally came out a month later, the outrage was massive. The police had literally delivered a victim back to a serial killer.
[00:22:34] Speaker B: The fallout was brutal. There were accusations of racial bias, negligence, and pure incompetence. The officers were fired, but later reinstated. But none of that brought Konerak back or stopped DMer from taking more lives.
[00:22:50] Speaker A: This was one of the biggest failures in law enforcement history. A boy could have been saved. A monster could have been stopped.
[00:23:00] Speaker B: But.
[00:23:00] Speaker A: But instead, the killing continued.
[00:23:02] Speaker B: And that was their last chance to stop Dahmer. Because after that, he was unstoppable.
[00:23:08] Speaker A: After years of hunting in the shadows, years of getting away with murder, Jeffrey Dahmer's reign of terror finally ends. And it all comes down to one lucky escape.
[00:23:19] Speaker B: So here's the setup. Tracy Edwards was a 32 year old guy living in Milwaukee, just out having a normal night when DMER approaches him. And what does DMER do? The same routine he's done so many times before. He offers Tracy money To come back to his apartment, have a few drinks, maybe take some photos.
[00:23:39] Speaker A: And Tracy's thinking, sure, why not? He has no clue that he's about to walk into a house of horrors.
[00:23:47] Speaker B: Exactly the second he steps inside apartment 213. Red flags everywhere. First thing, the. The smell. I mean, we're talking rotting flesh, chemicals, straight up death in the air.
[00:23:59] Speaker A: Yeah, but Dahmer, he's smooth. He acts totally normal. Offers him a drink, makes small talk. Just another night, right?
[00:24:08] Speaker B: Nope. Because suddenly, Dahmer snaps. He pulls out a pair of handcuffs and locks one of Tracy's wrists. Then out comes the knife.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: And let's just take a second to appreciate how terrifying that moment must have been. You're in a tiny apartment. It stinks. You got a guy with a knife, and you're handcuffed. You're trapped.
[00:24:30] Speaker B: And to make it even worse, Tracy starts looking around the room, and what does he see? A giant blue barrel in the corner. And inside, he doesn't know it yet, but it's filled with acid and human remains.
[00:24:44] Speaker A: Not to mention the polaroids scattered around. Actual pictures of dismembered bodies. And that bed, blood stained, Like Tracy is just standing in the middle of a crime scene. And Dahmer's just sitting there, rocking back and forth, mumbling to himself.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Oh, and did I mention? Dahmer straight up tells Tracy he plans to eat his heart. So, yeah, not a great situation at this point.
[00:25:09] Speaker A: Most people would panic, but not Tracy. Tracy stays calm. He knows if he fights, he. He's dead. So instead, he plays along.
[00:25:18] Speaker B: Yeah, he starts talking to DMer, trying to act like a friend, telling him, hey, man, I'm not gonna run. I'm cool. We're cool. He even convinces DMer to let him sit on the couch with him.
[00:25:30] Speaker A: He's buying time, looking for a chance. And after hours, yes, hours, he sees it. Dahmer gets distracted for just a second, and Tracy punches him in the face and bolts for the door.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: Runs out, half naked, one hand still in a cuff, straight into the streets of Milwaukee. And luckily, he finds two cops.
[00:25:52] Speaker A: And let's be real, this man was terrified. He tells the cops that some guy tried to kill him and begs them to follow him back to the apartment.
[00:26:02] Speaker B: And those officers, Robert Roth and Roth Mueller probably thought, okay, this is just another weird domestic dispute. But the second they step into apartment 213, everything changes.
[00:26:15] Speaker A: First of all, the smell. A mix of rotting meat and chemicals. One of the officers later said it was so bad, it was hard to even breathe.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Dahmer Tries to keep it cool. Says, oh, it's just some bad meat in the fridge.
[00:26:30] Speaker A: Yeah, sure, Jeff. Just a little expired ground beef situation. Nothing to see here. It except Officer Mueller spots an open drawer. And what's inside?
[00:26:41] Speaker B: Polaroids. But not just any polaroids. These are the photos of dismembered bodies, severed heads, and even pictures of victims mid dissection.
[00:26:51] Speaker A: And that's when Mueller looks at his partner and says, these are real.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: The second those words come out, Dahmer freaks out. He tries to fight the cops, but they take him down and cuff him.
[00:27:03] Speaker A: At that point, backup arrives, and detectives start going room by room. And let me tell you, what they found was absolutely horrifying.
[00:27:13] Speaker B: First, they opened the fridge. Inside a human head.
[00:27:17] Speaker A: Oh, but don't worry, that wasn't all. In the freezer, more body parts, including a human heart.
[00:27:24] Speaker B: And then they moved to the closet. A collection of skulls, some painted, some with holes drilled in them.
[00:27:31] Speaker A: And in the corner of the room, a blue plastic barrel filled with acid. And three decomposing torsos inside.
[00:27:39] Speaker B: This apartment wasn't just a crime scene. It was a house of horrors.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: We'll be back after these messages.
This is Tracy. This is Samantha. This is the suspended sentence. Grab your latte and join us as we enter season.
[00:27:54] Speaker B: Season two, starting January 1st of 2024.
[00:27:58] Speaker A: A year packed full of serial killers that you may or may not have ever heard of.
[00:28:03] Speaker C: Thanks for being there.
[00:28:04] Speaker A: Stay safe.
[00:28:09] Speaker B: And back to the show.
[00:28:11] Speaker A: Even the detectives, guys who have seen some serious stuff, were shaken. Some of them had to step outside to keep from throwing up.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: DMer, still weirdly calm. As soon as they start questioning him, he confesses to everything.
[00:28:26] Speaker A: Like no lawyer, no hesitation. He just starts telling them every single detail about what he had done over the past 13 years.
[00:28:35] Speaker B: And that's how it ended. One escape, one lucky break, and finally, Jeffrey Dmer was caught.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Took him long enough. When they got him to the station, Dahmer didn't even try to lie. He sat down, looked at the cops in the eyes, and told them everything.
[00:28:52] Speaker B: Yeah, he was almost relieved. Like, now it was out. He didn't have to hide anymore.
[00:28:58] Speaker A: Over the next two weeks, Dahmer gave full confessions. Every victim, every gruesome detail.
[00:29:06] Speaker B: And some of those details, they left even the most hardened detective shaken.
[00:29:11] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, because this wasn't just murder. It was something darker, something straight out of a horror movie.
[00:29:18] Speaker B: First, he admitted to eating victims, literally cooking and consuming parts of their body.
[00:29:24] Speaker A: Because in his mind, that meant they would actually stay with him forever.
[00:29:29] Speaker B: Then he explained how he tried to turn them into zombies by drilling into their skulls and pouring acid or boiling water inside.
[00:29:38] Speaker A: Like he actually believed he could create mindless, obedient people who would never leave him.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: And when the detectives finally asked him why, why he did all this, his.
[00:29:48] Speaker A: Answer, cold, flat, almost emotionless. I had to do it.
[00:29:55] Speaker B: No remorse, no real explanation. Just I had to.
[00:29:59] Speaker A: That's the part that gets me. Not I wanted to. Not. I lost control. Just like it was a requirement, like breathing.
[00:30:08] Speaker B: And that's when they knew they weren't just dealing with a serial killer. They were dealing with a monster.
[00:30:13] Speaker A: Absolutely chilling.
[00:30:16] Speaker B: So on January 30, 1992, Jeffrey Dahmer's trial began. And from the start, it was chaos.
[00:30:23] Speaker A: He pleaded guilty, but insane, basically admitting to everything but claiming he wasn't mentally responsible.
[00:30:31] Speaker B: But the jury, they weren't buying it. After weeks of expert testimony, horrifying details, and gut wrenching victim statements, they rejected.
[00:30:40] Speaker A: His insanity defense and the final sentence. 15 life terms, 957 years in prison.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: And the courtroom interrupted.
[00:30:51] Speaker A: This was the moment the victim's families finally got to face Dahmer and their pain, their rage. And it was unbearable.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: One moment that sticks with people. Rita Isbel, the sister of Errol Lindsay, she was furious. She screamed. She lunged at Dmer and had to be held back by guards.
[00:31:10] Speaker A: And Dmer, he just sat there, expressionless, like he was completely detached from reality.
[00:31:18] Speaker B: But justice had finally been served. Jeffrey Dahmer was locked away forever.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: But here's the thing. Dahmer's story doesn't really end there, because even in prison, he wouldn't last long. After his sentencing in 1992, Jeffrey Dahmer was officially off the streets. But even behind bars, his story was far from over.
[00:31:39] Speaker B: Yeah, at first he was kept in isolation, not because the prison cared about him, but because, let's be real, every inmate in there wanted him dead.
[00:31:49] Speaker A: I mean, can you blame them? This guy wasn't just a murderer. He was a predator, a cannibal. A guy who openly admitted to his crimes without a shred of remorse.
[00:32:00] Speaker B: But after a year in protective custody, Dahmer asked to be moved to general population.
[00:32:05] Speaker A: And honestly, that was basically a death sentence.
[00:32:09] Speaker B: It was only a matter of time before somebody made him pay. And that moment came on November 28, 1994.
[00:32:17] Speaker A: All right, so on that morning, Dahmer and two other inmates, Christopher Scarver and Jesse Anderson, were assigned to clean the prison gym. No guards, no cameras, just the three of them alone.
[00:32:31] Speaker B: Minutes later, Dahmer and Anderson were dead.
[00:32:34] Speaker A: Christopher Scarver, a convicted murderer, grabbed a metal bar from a weight machine and beat Dahmer and Anderson to death.
[00:32:41] Speaker B: Yeah, and we're not talking a few hits. Scarver crushed Dahmer's skull, left him bleeding out on the floor.
[00:32:49] Speaker A: And when the guards showed up, Scarver was completely calm. He walked up to them and said, God told me to do it.
[00:32:56] Speaker B: So the big question is, was this justice or was this just another brutal act of violence?
[00:33:02] Speaker A: I mean, let's be real, a lot of people weren't sad to see him go. Even some of the victims families admitted that they felt Dahmer got what he deserved.
[00:33:11] Speaker B: But at the same time, prison isn't supposed to be about revenge. It's supposed to be about justice. And Scarver, he wasn't some hero. He was a convicted killer too.
[00:33:22] Speaker A: Exactly. But whether you see it as karma or just another act of prison violence, one thing is for sure. Jeffrey Dahmer didn't get to live out his 957 year sentence. So now that Dahmer's dead, you'd think that'd be the end of his story.
[00:33:38] Speaker B: But.
[00:33:38] Speaker A: But nope. Somehow he became more famous after death than he ever was alive.
[00:33:44] Speaker B: Yeah, and that brings up a really uncomfortable question. Why are we so obsessed with serial killers?
[00:33:50] Speaker A: Since Dahmer's death, there have been books, documentaries, movies, TV shows, even a Netflix series that went viral in 2022.
[00:34:00] Speaker B: And that Netflix series, it sparked a massive debate. Some people said it was important to tell the victim stories. Others said it was exploitive, glorifying a killer.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: And honestly, the victims families were pissed.
[00:34:14] Speaker B: Yeah, many of them weren't even consulted. They had to relive their trauma all over again without their consent.
[00:34:21] Speaker A: And that's a big issue with true crime in general. Where's the line between educating and exploiting?
[00:34:27] Speaker B: Because at the end of the day, this isn't just a scary story. These were real people. Real families.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: 17 young men gone. Families torn apart. And their names too often forgotten in Dahmer's shadow.
[00:34:42] Speaker B: That's why we want to take a moment to say their names. Because they mattered.
[00:34:46] Speaker A: Stephen Hicks.
[00:34:47] Speaker B: Stephen Tuami.
[00:34:49] Speaker A: James Dockstader.
[00:34:51] Speaker B: Richard Guerrero.
[00:34:52] Speaker A: Anthony Sears.
[00:34:54] Speaker B: Raymond Smith.
[00:34:55] Speaker A: Edward Smith.
[00:34:57] Speaker B: Ernest Miller.
[00:34:58] Speaker A: David Thomas.
[00:34:59] Speaker B: Curtis Stratter.
[00:35:00] Speaker A: Errol Lindsay.
[00:35:02] Speaker B: Tony Hughes.
[00:35:04] Speaker A: Conrack synthesophone.
[00:35:06] Speaker B: Matt Turner.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: Jeremiah Weinberger.
[00:35:09] Speaker B: Oliver Lacey.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: Joseph Bradhoff.
[00:35:12] Speaker B: 17 lives, 17 families left shattered.
[00:35:16] Speaker A: These weren't just names. They were people. And they should still be here.
[00:35:21] Speaker B: So now we leave you with this. Was Dahmer a product of his upbringing? A man born to evil or Just someone who slipped through the cracks of a broken system.
[00:35:31] Speaker A: And what does that say about us as a society? That we keep making him famous?
[00:35:36] Speaker B: Whatever the answer, one thing's for sure, we should remember the victims, not the killer.
[00:35:42] Speaker A: That's it for this episode. Conundrum Crew, if you stuck with us this far, thank you for listening. We know this one was heavy, and.
[00:35:50] Speaker B: If you want to keep this conversation going, hit us up on social media. Let us know. What do you think? Did Dahmer get what he deserved? Or where should true crime draw the line?
[00:36:01] Speaker A: All right, Conundrum Crew, that was a deep dive into one of the most twisted, horrifying cases in true crime history. And honestly, it's still hard to process.
[00:36:11] Speaker B: Yeah, let's recap what we just unpacked because, wow.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: First off, Dahmer's early warning signs, they were all there from the beginning. The obsession with dead animals, the drinking problem, the isolation. It's almost like a checklist of red flags.
[00:36:28] Speaker B: But instead of somebody stepping in, he slipped through the cracks. And that brings us to our second point. The massive law enforcement failures.
[00:36:37] Speaker A: So many chances to stop him. From the 1988 arrest for molesting a 13 year old to the infamous Conor synthesifoam case where police literally handed a victim back to him every single time. He just kept getting away with it.
[00:36:52] Speaker B: And then there's his legacy. Because let's be real, Dahmer shouldn't be a household name. But he is. And whether it's because of true crime fascination, media sensationalism, or just plain morbid curiosity, he's more famous than his victims. And that's messed up.
[00:37:10] Speaker A: So here's the big question, and we want you to think about this. Could this have been prevented if someone had intervened earlier? If police had actually done their jobs, would those 17 men still be alive today?
[00:37:23] Speaker B: And what does this case say about our justice system, our media, and our culture as a whole?
[00:37:29] Speaker A: Whew. Conundrum Crew, that was a ride. If you made it this far, first off, you deserve a medal. And second, we hope you weren't eating while listening to this.
[00:37:39] Speaker B: Yeah, seriously, if anybody out there just happens to be snacking during the acid Barrel segment are bad, but also why?
[00:37:48] Speaker A: What snack pairs well with cannibalism and police negligence?
[00:37:52] Speaker B: But in all seriousness, we want to hear from you. Do you think Dahmer's fate was justice or just prison violence? And should true crime media be more responsible about how they cover cases like this?
[00:38:04] Speaker A: Hit us up on social media. DM us, send us your thoughts and while you're at it, don't forget to rate, review and share the show. It helps us so much.
[00:38:14] Speaker B: And if you need a palate cleanser after this one, don't worry, we got you. Next episode, we're taking a break from the serial killers and diving into a totally different kind of conundrum.
[00:38:24] Speaker A: Oh yeah, we have a real fun surprise for you.
[00:38:28] Speaker B: Oh yeah. It's gonna be a spooky treat.
[00:38:31] Speaker A: All right, Conundrum Crew, until next time, stay curious, stay skeptical, and stay safe. Keep Keep on Creeping on. We love you.
[00:38:40] Speaker B: Bye.
Thanks for hanging out with us here at Total Conundrum. Please make sure to check out our website and blog@totalconundrum.com for news, upcoming events, merch bloopers, and additional hysteria. You never know what will pop up, so be sure to follow along. If you want to show your support for Total Conundrum and gain access to all of our bonus content, please visit our Patreon page. You you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The links are available in our Show Notes. If you have any questions, comments, recommendations or stories to share, please email us@contactotalconundrum.com episodes are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. If you like the show, please rate, review and subscribe on Apple Podcasts. We appreciate the love. Keep on Creeping on Mother Cluckers.
