The historical drama Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story centres on the serial killer who murdered 17 men between 1978 and 1991. The Milwaukee Cannibal, played by Evan Peters, is the murderer in the drama that mostly depicts Dahmer’s story from the perspectives of his victims.
The new Jeffrey Dahmer-centered biographical crime thriller on Netflix has captivated fans. The Jeffrey Dahmer Story explores the biography of the murderer known as the “Milwaukee Monster” and his murderous spree in Dahmer – Monster.
The American was killed by beating while incarcerated for murdering and beheading 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Why was the serial killer spared the death penalty after he was given 15 life sentences in jail in 1992? Find out by reading on.
Why Was Dahmer Not Imprisoned to Death?
The murderer was spared the death penalty for one very clear reason: Wisconsin is one of just 12 states without the death penalty.
All except one of Dahmer’s crimes were perpetrated in Milwaukee, a city located in Wisconsin, hence his trial was held there. On July 10, 1853, Wisconsin formally abolished the death sentence, and it hasn’t been used since.
First to abolish the death penalty was Wisconsin, which was followed by Maine in 1887, Hawaii and Alaska in 1957, and Michigan in 1963. Therefore, despite the severity of his horrible acts and the 1991 trial, Dahmer was unable to get the death penalty.
16 Life Sentences Were Given to Him
Dahmer was taken into custody on July 22, 1991, and received a total of 16 life sentences, which amounted to 957 years. He was initially accused with four charges of first-degree murder, and by the following month, he had been charged with an additional 11, bringing his total to 15.
He was given 15 life sentences on February 17, 1992, and was moved to the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage. Three months after his conviction, Dahmer was extradited to Ohio to stand trial for the murder of Steven Hicks, for which he was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Dahmer Was Murdered in Custody
The serial killer was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release, although he was only locked up for three years and four months. That’s because on November 28, 1994, Christopher Scarver, a fellow prisoner who had been incarcerated for shooting and killing a man, beat Dahmer to death.
He mortally wounded Jesse Anderson and Dahmer with a 20-inch metal bar that he had taken from a piece of exercise apparatus in the prison weight room. Christopher, who would be 53 years old when he gets released from the Centennial Correctional Facility in Colorado in 2022, was given two more life sentences for the murders.