America on Edge: Different Views of the American Dream

SERIAL KILLERS (p. 7-8)

July 25th, 1991 will always be remembered by Milwaukee police officers. It was that day investigators began their search of apartment 213 in the Oxford Apartments. The address belonged to thirty-one-year-old Jeffrey L. Dahmer. Mr. Dahmer had been arrested the night before on an assault charge. A terrified teenager told police he had been lured into the apartment and handcuffed by Dahmer.

The teenager also claimed Dahmer had tried to kill him with a butcher knife. Police entering apartment 213 were horrified by what they found inside. Human body parts littered the apartment. Severed heads were found in the fridge. The torsos of four men were found stuffed in a barrel. In total police said as many as eighteen young men had been murdered in the apartment. Officers investigating the crime scene were sure Dahmer was no ordinary murderer.

His crimes fit the pattern of a serial killer. He had stalked his victims. He had killed many people. He had kept souvenirs from his crimes. Criminal cases involving murder have a special appeal in the minds of the American public. First-degree murder remains one of the most serious charges a person can face in American criminal court. When someone is charged with murder the case usually winds up as a top story in the city and state where the crimes took place. However, when a serial killer is involved interest can quickly spread across the country and around the world. Why do serial killers attract so much media and public interest in America?

One of the biggest reasons is the brutal nature of the crimes they commit. Serial killers tend to use extreme violence when attacking their victims. In many cases victims are tortured before being murdered. Bodies are often cut up or buried to hide evidence of the crime. The behavior of most serial killers is shocking and disturbing to any normal person. More disturbing is the fact serial killers often seem like ordinary people. They tend to be Caucasian males. Most lead normal lives. Many are educated, working regular jobs and raising families. They come from cities and states all over the country.

As shocking as his crimes were, Jeffrey Dahmer is hardly America’s most infamous serial killer. Albert DeSalvo was exposed as “the Boston Strangler” when his two-year murder spree ended in 1964. Charles Manson claimed to have killed 35 people in California prior to 1970. In 1977 gunman David Berkowitz earned the nickname “Son of Sam” while terrorizing New York City. In 1980 John Wayne Gacy was convicted of 33 counts of murder in Des Planes, Iowa. Wayne Williams was suspected of killing over 25 children in Atlanta before his arrest in 1981. “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez was convicted in 1985 of 19 counts of murder in Los Angeles. And before his execution in 1989 Ted Bundy had raped and murdered over 40 times! No one can predict where and when a serial killer will strike. Even convicted serial killers have no explanation. Many admit their only reason for committing multiple murders is simply a love of killing things.