Why Jeffrey Dahmer Didn’t Wear His Glasses on Trial
Evan Peters plays Jeffrey Dahmer in the Netflix series DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. Peters’ portrayal is shockingly believable, especially wearing Dahmer’s signature large glasses. During the scenes where Dahmer is on trial, Peters keeps the glasses on, but the real-life Dahmer took them off. Here’s why.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.]
Many well-known serial killers wore aviator-style glasses
Jeffrey Dahmer was known for wearing large, aviator-style glasses with a thick nose bridge, and he isn’t the only serial killer to do so. In fact, HITC points out that this style of glasses is common among infamous killers.
The outlet states that Scottish murderer Dennis Nilsen, British serial killer Harold Shipman, and Dennis Radner, known as BTK, all wore similar frames.
However, there’s a relatively likely explanation for this anomaly. While gruesome murderers have always been around, there was an undeniable rise in serial killers in the 1970s and 1980s. During this time, the thick aviator-style glasses were a popular style, which likely contributes to why they were worn by several well-known monstrous individuals.
Here’s why Jeffrey Dahmer didn’t wear his glasses on trial
In DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Evan Peters wears the thick aviator glasses almost the entire time, including during the trial scenes. However, the real Dahmer didn’t wear his glasses during his trial. Images of him in the courtroom show him without his signature frames.
According to Deseret News, Jeffrey Dahmer’s stepmother Shari told Inside Edition that this was on purpose. “He’s not wearing glasses so that he can’t see people. He panics,” Shari stated. HITC also reports that Dahmer told Inside Edition, “I felt uncomfortable looking anyone in the face. I didn’t want to see anyone’s face clearly. It helped me disassociate myself from what was happening.”
It’s understandable why the Netflix series chose to leave Dahmer’s glasses on during the trial scene. Evan Peters is an actor known for a variety of other acting roles. While his portrayal of Dahmer is certainly believable, having Peters appear without the large glasses may have broken the spell and taken viewers out of the scene.
The real Jeffrey Dahmer’s glasses are being auctioned off for a large sum of money
Jeffrey Dahmer continues to intrigue people’s morbid curiosity to this day. DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story shows a man named Joseph Zilber buying several of the infamous serial killer’s items to destroy them. The proceeds were then split between the victim’s families.
However, objects owned by Dahmer are still in circulation. Taylor James, who runs a business called Cult Collectibles out of Vancouver, Canada, currently owns several of Dahmer’s possessions, including the glasses he wore while in prison. According to TMZ, James is selling the glasses for the hefty price of $150,000.
All episodes of DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story are currently streaming on Netflix.
