Roy Ratcliff Explains Why Jeffrey Dahmer Asked to Be Baptized in Prison
Most people know of Jeffrey Dahmer, but not many know he was baptized during his prison sentence. Roy Ratcliff, the pastor who performed the baptism, explains why the serial killer and subject of the true crime series Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes wanted to receive the sacrament while in serving 16 consecutive life sentences.
Jeffrey Dahmer’s baptism was the same day as John Wayne Gacy’s execution
Ratcliff sat for the Netflix series The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes. Still, he agreed to baptize Dahmer, who reconnected with his faith in prison.
As Ratcliff said, Dahmer thought he was too evil to receive the blessing. Ratcliff performed the sacrament on the same day John Wayne Gacy’s death sentence was carried out — May 10, 1994.
Jeffrey Dahmer sought forgiveness from God in prison
During his closing statement at his 1992 trial, which is shown in Netflix’s Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, Dahmer admittedly wished for death. “This has never been a case of trying to get free,” he said. “Frankly I want to death for myself.” He continued:
“I hated no one. I knew I was sick or evil or both. Now I believe I was sick. I take all the blame for what I did. I’ve hurt many people. I’ve hurt my mother, father, and stepmother. I love them all so very much. I hope that they will find the same peace I am looking for.”
Jeffrey Dahmer, ‘Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes’
Dahmer found a version of that peace in prison thanks to Ratcliff. “He was seeking redemption,” Ratcliff told the New York Times in 2007. “He was seeking forgiveness.”
According to the pastor, Dahmer considered himself to be the worst of the sinners. Still, Ratcliff baptized him in a steel-silver whirlpool meant to treat inmates with physical injuries. “Welcome to the family of God,” Ratcliff said to Dahmer when he emerged.
Their relationship continued up until Dahmer was killed by a fellow inmate in 1994. A few days before his death, Dahmer gifted Ratcliff with a card. “On the last day that I saw him [before Thanksgiving] … he gave me a card and underlined the word friend,” Ratcliff said. “It indicated that he was beginning to understand what a friend was.”
“Thank you for your friendship,” Dahmer wrote inside. “And for taking the time and effort to help me understand God’s word.”
Jeffrey Dahmer’s pastor wrote a book about his experience
Ratcliff received a lot of criticism for baptizing Dahmer, who killed 17 people. “I’ve become a little bit jaded by the hypocrisy,” he told the Times. To help people better understand his decision, Ratcliff wrote Dark Journey Deep Grace: Jeffrey Dahmer’s Story of Faith in 2006.
“In prison, Dahmers dark journey crossed paths with deep grace,” the book’s description reads (via Amazon). “Here is the whole story, told by a man who at first tried to avoid meeting Jeffrey Dahmer, but later became his friend and showed him the light of Gods love. It’s an unexpected story of first steps in faith, of surprising questions about the Bible, of light breaking into darkness. A story that will change what you thought you knew about grace.”
Hear more from Ratcliff in the three-part docuseries Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes exclusively on Netflix.
