Dahmer - Milwaukee's Grisly Murderer In History

(originally posted on Hubpages)

Who Was Jeffrey Dahmer?

There are two types of people in this world who would know who Jeffrey Dahmer was -

• People born in the late fifties to mid-seventies
• Those born and raised or moved to the Milwaukee area around the eighties

Most of my general audience is going to be people number one, but thanks to the internet, there are those now invested with fascinations of what was in the minds or conspiracies that inspired murderers to kill. As someone who's living in the state of Wisconsin, it's no secret I knew who Jeffrey Dahmer was when I was still in elementary school.

For those reading this with no idea who this psychopath is, Jeffrey Dahmer was known as the Milwaukee cannibal. Can you guess his crime? He was a killer that murdered and dismembered seventeen people. Now, he didn't just randomly pull people off the streets; he had a type. The seventeen people were a mix between men and boys, specifically because of his fascination with those of the same gender. Now murdered and dismembered are just scratching the surface. Later, it was discovered that his murders were including cannibalism, necrophilia, and preserving body members.

In 1992, he was found guilty, shockingly to me, he pleaded guilty. The defense claimed it was because of his mental disorders. Dahmer was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizophrenia disorder, and psychotic disorder, he was proven to be sane for trial. He was serving a life sentence with no possible chance of parole. However, in 1994, he was killed in prison by another inmate; rumors of this murder were because Chris Scarver, the inmate who killed Jeffrey, was a black inmate and most of Jeffrey's later murders were those of color.

I won't go into detail about the crimes; that's for all of you to decide and I'll leave it to your imagination.

My mom is big into shows like these and safe to say I picked up some of the interests. There were plenty of times I would tell her what I saw or I had questions and she picked up the answers right away. Now, she never lived in the Milwaukee area, but she knew her history and filled in the blanks for me. With this in mind, let's discuss the Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.

Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Review

Big Save From Ryan Murphy

With the hype and fascination of serial killers and their murdering sprees documented on shows and streaming services, it came as no surprise to me when I saw Netflix was going to do a show about Jeffrey Dahmer. What saved this show from being total trash was the co-creator of the limited series, Ryan Murphy. Ryan Murphy is best known for creating and producing the series The American Horror Story. Included in the show was Evan Peters, who also played numerous characters in the AHS series.

Evan did an amazing job portraying the murderer, based on his tone, and the ovation of Dahmer. I didn't realize it was later in Jeff's murdering 'career' (I don't like using the word career, but it's the best way to explain his years of murder sprees) it wasn't until later Dahmer committed the cannibalistic murdering sprees.

During the scenes of Dahmer talking to Tony, who was deaf, it truly brought a dramatic touch of a person's real life scenario of someone who couldn't hear. The scenes were silent, no sound, no music.

I am surprised that this was not aired immediately on to channels such as FX, which was responsible for airing The People VS OJ. This had the same familiarity of suspense in the show. Although, there may be a reason for this.

Truths From Facts

Here are some facts and fictions from the Netflix series compared to the real-life Jeffrey Dahmer.

Facts

• Scarver killed Dahmer because he killed those within the black community and then Anderson because he killed his wife and pinned it on black men
• Glenda lived in the building next to Dahmer
• Balcerzak became president of the Milwaukee police office union until his retirement in 2017.
• The Oxford apartments still stand, bought by the Campus Circle Project, a group affiliated by Marquette University; the building is vacant

Fiction

• Scarver killed Anderson, and then Dahmer
• Glenda Cleveland lived next door to Dahmer
• Officers Balcerzak and Gabrish received commendations for officers of the year
• The building was demolished

Final Thoughts On Dahmer - Monster

It did come to a point where eventually, the show did become a history lesson and I would listen to the show while typing up this article.

Again, I mentioned this on my YouTube channel, my mom and I would bond over shows like these and you can guess I would text her in almost every episode asking questions or pointing out parts that were made in the show.

One time was enough for me, but you can say for sure that this was spooky and it gave a history lesson of one of America's most disturbing killers.

What's real and what's fiction in Netflix’s Jeffrey Dahmer series, ‘Monster’ source

What’s real, fiction on 'Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ on Netflix

© 2022 CE Mattison

updated © 2025 CE Mattison