Infamous Serial Killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s Stepmother Opens Up About His Home Life In Rare Interview

Jeffrey Dahmer is a name that is synonymous with fear and the most horrific crimes imaginable. In 1991, Dahmer was arrested for the grisly murders of 17 young men. What the authorities recovered in his apartment would place him among the ranks of some of the most deranged individuals of all time.

Dahmer immersed himself in his crimes, collecting and preserving various body parts of his victims — among these were three preserved heads recovered from his freezer. He frequently took polaroid’s throughout the process of killing and dismembering the young men. He amassed a collection of some of the most horrific trophies ever attributed to a serial killer. One question stood out after Dahmer’s arrest — What motivated this seemingly normal youth to commit such atrocities?

Shari Dahmer, Jeffrey Dahmer’s step-mother, recently opened up about his childhood — and the slow unraveling of his carefully cultivated façade. Fox News featured the interview, which is being done for a new two part documentary being released by Oxygen Media. For the first time in 20 years, Shari and Lionel Dahmer will attempt to shed some light on what drove Jeffrey Dahmer to become one of the most prolific serial killers in American history.

Shari first met an 18-year-old Dahmer in 1978, when she married his father, Lionel, following his divorce. She describes her initial reaction as an immediate appeal to her maternal instinct.

“What I wanted to do, and what most people wanted to do, was mother him,” she explained. “He was just vulnerable. Even if I wasn’t his stepmother all his life, as a mother you sense those things. And he was very vulnerable. He needed love and he needed attention.”

The 76-year-old goes on to reveal something that might have profoundly effected Dahmer’s mental health. According to Shari, his biological mother was struggling with serious mental health issues herself. During her pregnancy, Dahmer’s mother was reportedly taking up to 27 pills a day. This included combinations of things like human growth hormone and a variety of antidepressants. Chemicals that could, potentially, have had an effect on her unborn child.

Her bizarre behavior continued after Dahmer was born, and she was known to prohibit physical contact with her son due to her irrational fear of germs. As he grew into an adolescent, Dahmer appeared to be a well-adjusted — if not withdrawn — youth. No one could have predicted the terrifying impulses growing behind this “quiet and respectful” mask. By the time that he had reached early adulthood, Dahmer was self-medicating with alcohol.

“When I moved in, I had my own mini bar and the bottles kept lessening in [liquor],” Shari explained. “When Jeff got drunk and had his father’s car, he didn’t remember where it was. We had to track the car down one time because he had parked it somewhere and didn’t remember where. But alcohol was the only thing at that time that stood out.”

In 1979, Dahmer enlisted in the army in an attempt to curtail his growing problem with alcohol and mental illness. Apparently, the army was able to see what others had missed, and they rapidly discharged him.

“He ended up with a discharge and it wasn’t what you would call a dishonorable discharge. He just didn’t fit in. The only reason we knew he had been rejected by the army was that his army trunk was sent to the house,” Shari said.

This heralded a downward spiral that wouldn’t end until a fateful night in July of 1991, when one of Dahmer’s victims escaped. The man was discovered with a pair of handcuffs still attached to one wrist. He quickly reported to police that Dahmer had tried to kill him, and directed them to his apartment.

Shari described her initial reaction to news of Dahmer’s arrest, saying, “[I thought] I wished I could have taken it on myself. I wished I could have taken the burden from him, but of course, I couldn’t do that. That was my first true thought. My God, why is this happening to somebody so young who has so much life to give?”

Both Shari and Lionel Dahmer were present for his entire trial.

“… I wanted to know what was happening at the time,” said Shari. “We were ostracized. Some of the victim’s families would point at us and talk about us… [But] Lionel also had two childhood friends up there. People either hated us or they accepted us. And these gentlemen accepted us and they helped protect us… There’s nothing in life that prepares one for a personal situation in the courtroom.”

Shari continued her maternal relationship with Dahmer right up until he was killed by a fellow inmate in 1998.

“Life goes on,” Shari continues. “We’re no different than anyone else in the world… Nobody bothers us here, nobody picks on us. We’ve been here 17 years and we’re part of the neighborhood, no more, no less.”

[Featured Image by Mark Elias/AP Images]