America was plagued with mass-murderers and tragedies between the 1970s & 1990s. The country was exposed to heartless and horrible people such as Charles Manson, Richard Ramirez (Zodiac Killer), John Wayne Gacy, and Richard Ramirez. Although they are quite different, I was able to see many similarities in Ted Bundy’s and Jeffrey Dahmer’s murderers.
Jeffrey Dahmer, a cannibal, kept and ate different parts of the victims. Between 1978 and 1981, he murdered 17 teenage men and boys. His later murders were often linked to necrophilia.
Ted Bundy was a law-student who raped and killed more than 35 women across Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Utah, and Washington. Bundy spent three decades living in Philadelphia at the home of Samuel Cowell and Eleanor Cowell. He was raised by them to avoid any stigmas that would have accompanied Bundy’s true mother’s pregnancy outside of wedlock.
Despite what appeared perfect from the outside, it was quite the opposite inside. Bundy recalls Samuel, Bundy’s grandfather, as being violent and belligerent. Friends and family described Eleanor as timid and submissive, while his grandfather Samuel was violent and belligerent. For depression, she was often subject to electroconvulsive treatment. At a young age, Bundy showed alarming signs. Julia, his aunt, recalls Bundy smiling and waking up to find her head surrounded with knives. Dahmer learned that his “sister”, in fact, was his mother. After that, she married Johnny. They had 4 children. Ted was far from his siblings and his parents during his teenage years. He was often seen in the trash bins of others looking for magazines and photos of naked women. He was also passionate about crime fiction and reading about the cases. He was quiet throughout high school and didn’t have a lot of social interaction. Bundy went on to major in Psychology at Washington University. He was an honors student who was well respected by his professors. But he was rejected by the first woman he loved. He began killing students and local women at night. Later, he went to law school in Utah. He also continued to kill there.
Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood was quite unusual. His parents were both very busy when he was a kid. His father attended Marquette University and majored in Chemistry, while his mother was extremely anxious. Joyce Dahmer, Dahmer’s mom, attempted suicide once by taking too much prescription medication. Dahmer had a passion for dead animals even as he was a child. His passion for science and his early cruelty towards animals led to him becoming a scientist. He was able to remove the flesh and connective tissues from dead rodents that were under his house. Lionel, his research chemist father, taught him this skill. Although he had learned these tactics early in life, he retained them enough to be able use them against his victims. In grade school, when he was still in elementary school, he gave an uncooked tadpole to the teacher. She then gave it to a different student. He was furious and set fire to the tank by pouring gasoline into it. When he was a teenager, these actions continued when he hit a dog with a stick and impaled its head in the forest behind home. These were not the only actions. He continued to act recklessly. Some believe that Dahmer may have been fascinated by dead animals from the moment he witnessed his father remove bones from his basement. Jeffrey was, according to Dahmer’s dad, “oddly excited” at the sound made by bone. Early signs of unusual interest were evident. Jeffrey was initially considered an outcast in high school. Peers recall Dahmer’s drinking habits at school. He also found this time very confusing. Dahmer was a homosexual. He was a class clown, but his peers still recognized him for it. Jeffrey’s parents split in the middle of their high school success. Jeffrey’s father Lionel, after many unsuccessful counseling sessions, left the house. Joyce Dahmer, Jeffrey’s mother, moved out of the house with her son. Jeffrey was left alone in the family home. His wildest dreams were realized and he was finally able to fulfill them. He was first hitchhiker to a male victim and things went from there.
The parents of both the gruesome murderers had suffered from mental disorders. Bundy had a depressed mother, and Dahmer was anxious. Both were serial killers who did not understand others, as it is obvious. Both were also very impressionable children. Ted grew up knowing that his father was his grandfather. Jeffrey’s experience with his father breaking bones stayed with them for all time and eventually led to something even worse. However, Bundy and Dahmer both committed suicide to obtain sexual pleasure. Dahmer said that he enjoyed the control of sexual acts and wanted to be able to control his sexual partners. Bundy stated the same thing. He enjoyed sexual arousal by killing and mutilating females. Both men were clearly psychopaths. While they looked more normal than most people, they did not hide their evil intentions. Both Bundy and Dahmer didn’t have a concept of love, I think. Bundy and Dahmer grew up without a lot tender loving care.
These men’s differences are starkly polarized in many ways. Ted and Jeffrey were able to target different “types”. Bundy had very similar looks to all of his victims. Bundy’s “type” was young blonde women with a parted middle. People believe it was because his “type” was a young woman with blonde hair and a part down the middle. However, most of Dahmer’s victims were young gay men. Dahmer was attracted to young men and desired to have sexual relations with them.
These two people were made to be killers. Others may argue that their childhoods were the catalyst. It could also be a combination. It is a matter of nurture or nature. It was a mixture of nurture and nature, I believe. This is because I have watched in-depth documentaries and researched the men. Despite having traumatic childhoods, both of them tested positive for mental disorders. Their mothers also had mental disorders so it makes sense that they would have mental disorders.
This concludes the analyzation on Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer. America was plagued for over 20 years by these two monsters. Bundy was convicted and sentenced to the death Penalty. He was executed by an electric chair in 1989. The same charges were brought against Dahmer. He was sentenced for life imprisonment, but was then brutally killed by an insider in 1994. These men were discovered by researchers.