Jeffrey Dahmer Did Not Plan on Killing His First Victim
The Netflix series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story explores the crimes of infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. The series jumps around in time, showing Dahmer’s childhood and teenage years. Episode 3 depicts the murder of his first victim, Steven Hicks, which appeared to be unplanned. This is true, according to Dahmer himself.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding DAHMER — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.]
‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ depicts the murder of Steven Hicks
In Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Episode 3, Dahmer picks up a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks, who asks him to drive him to a concert. First, Dahmer suggests they have some beers at his house, and Hicks agrees. When it comes time to take Hicks to the concert, however, Dahmer doesn’t want him to leave.
He first tries to kiss Hicks, who reacts in disgust. When Hicks heads out the door, Dahmer hits him over the head with a blunt object, then strangles him. Dahmer then expresses distress that Hicks is dead before getting rid of the body. According to reports and Dahmer’s own testimony, this is relatively similar to what actually happened.
Jeffrey Dahmer did not plan his first murder
Dahmer killed his first victim, Steven Hicks, shortly after graduating from high school. “I always knew that it was wrong. The first killing was not planned,” Dahmer told Inside Edition in 1993. “I was coming back from the shopping mall back in ’78. I’d had fantasies about picking up a hitchhiker, and taking him back to the house, and having complete dominance and control over him.”
Unlike many serial killers, Dahmer committed his first murder at only 18 years old. “Dahmer was developing his sexuality, and he realized he wasn’t like other people; he was gay,” Eric Hickey, a criminal psychologist at Walden University and expert on serial killers, told A&E True Crime.
“Dahmer was still developing himself. You don’t see too many serial killers become serial killers as teenagers,” he continued. “Most of them are still exploring their sexuality, their paraphilia, and then they really start to act out more in their 20s and 30s.”
Many serial killer’s first murder is spontaneous
Though Dahmer’s young age at the time of his first kill is seen as unusual, its spontaneous nature is not. According to Peter Vronsky, a serial killer expert who has heavily researched Dahmer and wrote the book American Serial Killers: The Epidemic Years, 1950-2000, it’s not uncommon for a serial killer’s first murder to be unplanned.
“A serial killer’s first murder is often an anomaly,” Vronsky told A&E True Crime. “Serial killers sometimes commit their first murder by accident or spontaneously on an impulse, without much planning or fantasizing about it beforehand.”
All episodes of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story are currently streaming on Netflix.
