The officer from the homicide team that apprehended Jeffrey Dahmer reveals he is still haunted by the memories of his experience inside the infamous serial killer’s apartment.
Dahmer, infamously dubbed the ‘Milwaukee Cannibal,’ was a notorious serial killer and sex offender responsible for the brutal murders and dismemberment of 17 men and boys from 1978 to 1991.
His heinous acts, including necrophilia, cannibalism, and attempts to preserve his victims’ body parts, have marked him as one of the most gruesome serial killers in modern American history.
Numerous documentaries, films, and TV series have since portrayed his story, capturing the morbid curiosity of true crime enthusiasts. The most notable among these is Netflix’s 2022 series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, starring Evan Peters.
While many can distance themselves from the horrors of Dahmer’s actions, the detective who worked on the case continues to be deeply affected.
Retired Milwaukee police Lieutenant Michael Dubis shared his experience with FOX & Friends, describing the scene during Dahmer’s arrest as more akin to ‘dismantling someone’s museum than an actual crime scene.’
Dubis recounted that upon his arrival, he was informed about ‘pictures’ in the apartment and the possibility of a ‘human head in a box.’
“That’s pretty way out there as far as even a homicide detective, and when we arrived that’s what we had,” Dubis remembered.
Dahmer’s capture came after a potential victim escaped and alerted two officers patrolling the area, as outlined in multiple documentaries about the case.
Officers Robert Rauth and Rolf Mueller discovered gruesome Polaroid photos and a severed head in Dahmer’s refrigerator when they arrived at his residence.
Dubis acknowledged that once the homicide team was on the scene, they found body parts scattered throughout the apartment.
“There were human heads and bones and things all over, every drawer we opened, every cabinet we opened, there was body parts,” he explained.
When questioned about his psychological scars from the event, Dubis mentioned experiencing “uneasy nights” rather than full-fledged nightmares, although he found the apartment’s peculiar odor to be a trigger.
The detective confirmed that many true crime portrayals have accurately depicted the events, including complaints from neighbors about strange sounds and smells emanating from Dahmer’s apartment.
Dubis noted the accuracy of these portrayals, adding, “They’re very close,” except for the depiction of the apartment’s smell.
“I know that the smell in his apartment was not that of death,” Dubis stated. “It was a very sweet smell, it was a very chemically smell, ironically enough the smell is still in the room where all of his property went that morning.
“I walk in there and it’s still – I walk back into it.”
The lieutenant also recounted a conversation he had with Dahmer’s father, Lionel Dahmer, who remained supportive of his son and authored a book about the ordeal, A Father’s Story, in 1994.
Dubis mentioned that while the investigation was ongoing, Lionel called several times, and eventually, the detective decided to take the call.
“We spoke for a few minutes,” he said. “I told him that Jeffrey was okay, that we were investigating a homicide but he was downtown, he was talking to some other detectives, he wasn’t hurt. That was pretty much the end of that conversation.”
In 1994, Dahmer was killed by a fellow inmate just two years into serving fifteen life sentences. He was 34 years old.