Images from the residence of the notorious murderer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer reveal tools, including saws and power equipment, along with the condition of his living space on the night he was apprehended.
On the evening of July 22, 1991, authorities inspected Dahmer’s unit, Apartment 213, located at 924 North 25th Street in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, following the escape of his most recent victim, Tracy Edwards. Edwards, a 32-year-old, managed to flee while one of his wrists remained bound by handcuffs.
Edwards informed the authorities that Dahmer had menaced him using a knife, as the Los Angeles Times cited. Upon entering the unit, officers located the key to the cuffs and the said knife inside Dahmer’s bedroom.
Furthermore, officials uncovered close to 80 Polaroid snapshots in a drawer left ajar, which depicted Dahmer’s victims in various stages – from unclothed poses to dismemberment, as highlighted by Oxygen.
The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology reported in 1994 that Dahmer took photographs as personal treasures in the hope that they would provide him with companionship.
Officers on the scene reported finding decapitated heads, bleached skulls, and a big 57-gallon container filled with acid, apparently for dissolving human tissue.
Stored in the refrigerator were several packaged human remains, later identified to belong to 11 distinct individuals.
Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer was responsible for the heinous crimes against 17 males. In 1992, he received a verdict that bound him to serve 16 consecutive life sentences at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.
However, on November 28, 1994, an inmate named Christopher Scarver took Dahmer’s life, as reported by The Sun.
Table of Contents
The fish tank
According to Oxygen, Dahmer once explained that the unpleasant odors coming from his residence were due to his fish passing away.
The saws and other tools
To dispose of or preserve the victims’ corpses, the serial killer and cannibals would frequently decapitate and dismember them.
The kitchen
Detective Patrick Kennedy relayed a story on the Rover’s Morning Glory radio show, describing it as a moment that genuinely felt unreal.
He said, “Inside the refrigerator, everything was immaculate and empty, except for an open Arm & Hammer soda box at the back. But what caught my attention was a box in the center.
It held a freshly cut, blood-free human head.” The face of the African American male was a haunting image, with eyes and mouth wide open as if caught in a state of shock or exhilaration.
Kennedy confessed, “I’ve been in law enforcement for a long time and have encountered many disturbing scenes… However, this sight was so bizarre that every instinct screamed at me to run.”
The bed
Officers discovered a blood-stained mattress and instruments linked to the murders at the crime scene. Dahmer’s modus operandi involved sedating his victims before dismembering them.
Investigators dispatched preserved organ specimens to the FBI’s forensic laboratory in Quantico, Virginia. They also sent fragments of upholstery from Dahmer’s furniture and bedding, as reported by The Sun.
The documentary “Dahmer On Dahmer: Insights into a Serial Killer” featured an interview with Dahmer’s ex-neighbor, Pamela Bass. She recollected assisting Dahmer in tidying his apartment when he was threatened with eviction due to the foul odors emanating from his residence.
During the cleanup, Bass recalled, “He attributed the stench to spoiled meat in his freezer, claiming his grandmother had sent it and he had mistakenly unplugged it. I’m unfamiliar with the scent of death. He was adept at hiding his true nature,” she reflected.
Bass further described the moment when authorities found incriminating Polaroids. An officer urgently commanded his colleague to handcuff Dahmer. Startled, she remembered thinking, “I didn’t understand their urgency or what they had discovered.”
In a 1993 interview with Inside Edition, Dahmer confessed, “My actions began to evolve; that’s when I delved into cannibalism, consuming parts like the heart and arm. It felt as if they had become one with me. Initially, it was mere curiosity, but soon it became an obsession.”
The New York Times, in a 1992 article, detailed a 1991 incident. Police officers had approached Dahmer’s residence to return a scantily-clad 14-year-old boy they had found wandering the streets. Dahmer convinced the officers that the situation was just a romantic disagreement and assured them the boy was in no danger with him.
