Jeffrey Dahmer had been in a downward spiral since returning from his military service as a medic in West Germany. His alcohol abuse and lack of care for his room at his father’s home caused his father to relocate Dahmer to his grandmother’s home in hopes that she could inspire him to clean up his act.

While living in his grandmother’s home, Dahmer began to visit bathhouses and had sexual encounters with various men. After a while, Dahmer began to give sleeping pills to men before their sexual encounters, rendering them unconcious and raping them while they slept. During a one-night stay at the Ambassador Hotel, Dahmer killed Steven Tuomi after drugging and raping him. He brought the body back to his grandmother’s house, cutting it into small pieces over time and disposing of all but the head in the trash. A few months later, Dahmer crushed Tuomi’s skull into small pieces and scattered it in the back of the house.

Although Tuomi was not his first murder, the encounter awakened something in Dahmer that he could no longer suppress. Over the next few months, he began to hunt for victims with the intention of raping and killing them. The first victim he killed at his grandmother’s residence was James Doxtator, a 14 year old boy who he lured in with the promise of $50. Dahmer strangled Doxtator, left the body in the basement for a week, then dismembered the body and placed all but the head in the trash. Two months later, Dahmer lured 22 year old Richard Guerrero back to his grandmother’s house, again with the promise of $50. After Guerrero was dead, Dahmer performed sex acts on the body then immediately dismembered and disposed of the body.

Dahmer’s grandmother became concerned with Jeffrey bringing home men late at night and the bad smells emanating from his room. She asked him to move out, but due to frequent arrests during this time, he was unable to secure an apartment and between jail stays he continued to live with his grandmother. Almost exactly 1 year after Guerrero’s murder, Dahmer met Anthony Sears. He brought Sears back to his grandmother’s house and repeated his routine of murder and dismemberment on Sears’ body. He preserved Sears’ genitalia and head, and kept both when he moved into his own apartment in May of 1990.