July 22, 1991

On this day in history in 1991 serial killer and cannibal Jeffrey Dahmer was captured.

Jeffrey Dahmer upon his 1991 arrest

Catching a Killer

Jeffrey Dahmer made his first kill just three weeks after his high school graduation in 1978. He picked up a hitchhiker, Steven Hicks, and lured him back to his house where he bludgeoned him with a 10 lb dumbbell and then strangled him to death.

He was caught in 1991 after Tracy Edwards, a man he had kidnapped, escaped his house and was found by police running down the street in handcuffs. The officers took Edwards back to Dahmer's apartment and almost believed his story of a "misunderstanding" before they spotted polaroids of dismembered bodies. Dahmer was arrested and a subsequent search of his apartment showed the true monster they were dealing with.

A Monster Uncovered

Along with photo albums filled with dismembered bodies police found an apartment littered with human remains, including several heads in the refrigerator and freezer. Other evidence suggested Dahmer had been eating some of his victims. In all, eleven victims were found at the apartment but he eventually confessed to 17 murders in all. The jury rejected his insanity plea and he was sentenced to 15 life terms. He was killed by another inmate in jail in November 1994.