He can be heard acknowledging that he was “sick”
Jeffrey Dahmer, who was to serve 15 consecutive life terms in prison, died in 1994 at the hands of another inmate.
Dahmer has been trending on social media ever since Netflix dropped their latest series, ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’, a dramatisation of his life and crimes which stars Evan Peters as Dahmer.
The series is directed by Ryan Murphy who sought to give victims a voice and highlight the systemic racism, white privilege and homophobia that contributed to Dahmer avoiding arrest for so long.
Also known as the ‘Milwaukee Cannibal’ or the ‘Milwaukee Monster’, Dahmer killed and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. He also reportedly ate parts of his victims, who he would lure back to his apartment before killing them.
Dahmer was sentenced to back-to-back terms of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, which amounted to a total of 941 years in prison.
As a result, the last public words he uttered as part of his final statement in court, broadcasted by CourtTV, are widely remembered.
During his trial, Dahmer was given the opportunity to speak up. He famously began his statement by acknowledging that both society and the families of his victims “will never be able to forgive [him]” but hoped that God did.
He stated: “I promise I will pray each day to ask for their forgiveness when the hurt goes away, if ever. 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 am so very sorry.”
He then addressed the judge, saying that he “asks for no consideration” while adding that he had been treated professionally by all deputies. “Christ Jesus came to the world to save all sinners, of whom I am the worst,” said the criminal, whose list of crimes saw him convicted of 16 counts of first-degree murder, adding, “I know my time in prison will be terrible, but I deserve whatever I get because of what I have done.”
In a video of the trial shared by the DailyMail, Dahmer can be heard acknowledging that he was “sick” and not in sound mind.
“I knew I was sick or evil or both. Now I believe I was sick. I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families and I understand their rightful hate. No matter what I did, I could not undo the terrible harm I have caused,” he said.
Thanks to the success of the release of Ryan Murphy’s series, Netflix is dropped another series about Dahmer, Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, on 7 October.
Related links:
- Dahmer viewers say ‘heart-wrenching’ Tony Hughes ‘Silenced’ episode should get awards
- Netflix removes LGBTQ tag on Jeffrey Dahmer series following backlash
- Jeffrey Dahmer’s dad thinks he knows what’s to blame for son becoming a serial killer
