By Amaiya Diaz 

The recent hit Netflix show follows a real story behind the man Jeffrey Dahmer. Infamously known for his seventeen victims, he is one of the most familiar serial killers to date. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on May 21, 1960, Dahmer’s childhood was highlighted in the first couple episodes of the show. As he grew up, signs that he wasn’t “normal” began to appear. His first victim, Steven Hicks, was killed on June 18, 1978, in his family’s home after promising he would give his victim a ride to a concert. Steven Hicks was sadly only his first of many victims, and it’s where everything started. 

A year after his first murder, Dahmer enlisted in the army. He was trained as a medical specialist, and served two years before returning home in 1981 after being deemed unsuitable to keep serving due to his severe alcoholism. His next murder was committed in 1988, with his twenty-five year old victim being lured into his grandmother’s home.

Dahmer’s victims were mainly lower class and Latino, Asian, and African American men. He would use cruel tactics to lure his targets in, and would commit gruesome acts such as cannibalism. Dahmer was first arrested July 22, 1991, and was later convicted with fifteen murders, as well as was sentenced to fifteen consecutive lifetimes in prison. He was later convicted for an additional homicide he committed in 1978, and was sentenced to a sixteenth lifetime in prison. 

After years of crime, Dahmer’s life came to an end when a fellow prison inmate murdered him in 1994. Jeffrey’s victims will always be remembered, and even after his death, the families of who he murdered continue to be affected. Even being more well-known, the Netflix show Dahmer brought his cruel acts more into light years later, and he will still continue to be known as a cruel, viscous murderer.