Jeffrey Dahmer Serial Killing Case: Top 5 Important Things We Can Learn
Jeffrey Dahmer’s murder trial has once again captured the attention of the world through Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, starring Evan Peters as the notorious serial killer in the 1980s.
For some of you who have watched it already, you probably know by now that the photographs are real pictures. Jeffrey took them as a “remembrance” of the people he killed mercilessly. In this Netflix movie, viewers can go behind the scenes and understand how Dahmer became the serial killer he is today.
According to research, there are a few common themes and patterns that emerge that seem to take over serial killers’ minds and personalities until they are helpless to their psychological sickness, and that showed in the movie and other documentaries featuring Jeffrey Dahmer.
13 years. 17 killings. Only 1 survived. This tragic, horrific, historical crime that started in 1978 until 1991 has taken away many lives and was conducted by only one person. Some may wonder what value and insights it teaches us and society these modern days? Especially when access to someone’s data profile is easier than ever before?
In this blog, we will talk about what we can learn from the Jeffrey Dahmer case. We hope that this info can help prevent this from happening again.
5 Things We Can Learn from Jeffrey Dahmer Case
Landlords, conduct thorough background checks on potential tenants & regular inspection
As per FBI reports, Jeffrey lived in the Oxford Apartments, in apartment 213, at 924 North 25th Street in Milwaukee. In this apartment a lot of his victims were murdered. It’s an apartment complex, and the smell was so foul that even his neighbors can sense a stinky, weird smell.
Can you imagine what could have happened if he was thoroughly screened before letting him rent the unit? The difference between today’s time compared to the ’70s and ’80s is that now, everyone has better access to information.
If you are a landlord or a property manager, please do not skip out on background checks for potential tenants. Check their full details, including a history of criminal records, eviction cases, and financial reports. You may also conduct other ways of obtaining helpful information such as interviewing character references and checking current employment.
Not only are you protecting your other tenants and the community, but also your property. The Oxford Apartments where Jeffrey’s apartment unit was located no longer exists. It was demolished after the complex had been bought for $325,000. Imagine losing the property for a price that could have been more profitable if incidents like this hadn’t happened.
Aside from that, there’s something called “civil forfeiture.” This is when the government can seize your property if someone is committing crime or illegal activities there.
HR Professionals, screen thoroughly and watch out for previous employment
Nowadays, job hopping is not a big deal. The mindset has shifted and job hopping is now considered a strategic move. But as an HR professional, it’s your nature to be cautious and check everything before giving it the green light. That is why conducting a background check and reference check is highly important, especially since the hiring of one dangerous person can harm everyone in the organization.
If you look at Jeffrey Dahmer’s work history, he couldn’t keep a job for a long time. Here were his jobs in the full course of his wrongdoings:
- Served as a combat medic in Germany as part of Army enlistment but was discharged due to alcoholism
- Worked in a delicatessen near his motel but too much alcohol caused him to fail to pay his motel rent
- Worked as a phlebotomists at Milwaukee Blood Plasma Center, but didn’t even make it a year before being laid off
- Worked as a mixer at the Milwaukee Ambrosia Chocolate Factory
According to a journal entitled “Serial Killer Connections Through Cold Cases” which was published on the National Institute of Justice website in 2020 by Martin, Schwarting, and Chase, one of the signs of a serial violent individual is that they have more employment, interpersonal, and substance abuse problems.
Home buyers, check the neighborhood first before buying a house
This might sound weird, but if you’re planning to buy a home, it’s better to do some checks about the house, the neighborhood, and the people who live in the area.
You can do this by using a property search tool, USPS Address lookup, and Reverse Address search. The first tool will let you know the history of the property, the actual details of it, and the market price. While the last two tools will let you know who lives in the neighborhood.
By using the USPS Address Lookup, you can access the list of homes situated in the area, and when you use the Reverse Address search, you will know who lives in that house.
From there, you can do some background checks to know if there are sex offenders or people with criminal records living in the area. Do this before finally deciding whether to buy the property or not.
Ladies and Gents, Perform Background Checks on Potential Dates
This might be the most important thing we can learn from this gruesome crime. The victims went out with Jeffrey Dahmer without knowing that the person they are with has a lot of red flags.
Well, the documentaries showed that the reason Jeffrey was not a center of suspicion was maybe that he carried himself calmly, he was articulate and intelligent. These became his weapons to victimize men he met in clubs or bathhouses.
Since access to information before was not as vast as it is today — there was no Internet, smartphones, and devices someone could use to check on someone — the victims might have gone with him because Jeffrey promised them money and to have fun in his apartment.
In this modern dating era, where everyone can meet their dates even online, the call for thorough background checks before meeting them is getting louder. Here are some dating tips to make yourself safe:
- Perform a background check on your date
- Meet your date in a public place such as a restaurant, coffee shop
- Don’t let them pick you up and drop you off; arrive and depart on your own
- Let your loved ones and friends know that you are meeting someone
- Turn on your phone’s GPS and use other tracking devices, if possible
Investigators and police officers, listen to tips & pay attention to previous cases of an individual
As shown in the movie, Jeffrey’s neighbor had been monitoring his actions, the people who come to his apartment, and even the loud noises that were going on inside. She called the police multiple times to check on Jeff but the authorities did nothing.
May the tragedy remind the police force to take tips seriously until proven otherwise. According to the same journal published on “Serial Killer Connections Through Cold Cases,” the researchers showed that there are patterns in the lives of serial killers that can help law enforcement officials identify and catch prolific serial killers before they start, as well as prevent some from committing crimes in the first place.
Some serial killers begin by committing burglaries, then move on to sexual assault, and finally murder. Three serial killers showed that before they committed heinous crimes, they first got warmed up with shoplifting and petty theft, then, later, progressed to sexual assault and murder.
If there are intelligence reports that concerned citizens bring to law enforcement, they should take them seriously and start performing criminal records checks to see if the subject has a recorded history of such a 2-part progression pattern before it leads to the last progression.
Tools That Can Identify Civil and Criminal Cases
There maybe other Jeffrey Dahmers roaming around looking for their next victim, and everyone should work altogether to stop these horrific crime offenders from taking away innocent lives again.
Here are some tools that individuals and organizations can use to combat possible serial killers in their neighborhoods:
- Background Check
- Criminal Records Check
- Eviction Records
- Arrest Warrants Search
Conclusion
Since the day Jeffrey Dahmer was finally busted, thanks to the survivor who managed to escape and tip off the police, various documentaries have been made, and the 2022 movie version gave another angle at what happened and what could-have-been — raw story, unbelievable happenings, chilling actions, and unspeakable evil.
Take note, this blog does not intend to blame anyone for what actions they could have taken to prevent Jeffrey from doing what he did to 17 men. Rather, this may serve as a reminder that though we cannot control a serial killer’s actions, everyone can collectively contribute to safeguarding society by performing thorough screening to catch the red flags before it’s too late.
Everyone is encouraged to do thorough screenings for safety purposes and it is not only limited to landlords, HR professionals, home buyers, people dating, and investigators.
Together, let’s protect the community by sharing important pieces of information about any suspicious activities. Always be vigilant and look out for each other. Searchbug is here to help safeguard everyone’s lives by providing verified data.
Check out our available lookups and investigator-assisted searches to start your screening processes today!
