Man who killed twisted murderer Jeffrey Dahmer explains why he did it

Christopher Scarver, the man who killed serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer while behind bars, once detailed what led him to do so.

Dahmer, whose twisted story was dramatised in the Netflix anthology series Monster and starred Evan Peters in the main role, was convicted of 15 known kills between the years of 1978 and 1991, with it being believed he killed up to 17 men.

The killer, from Milwaukee, US, would lure his victims to his home with the promise of payment in exchange for nude photographs. But he would drug them, before strangling them to death, mutilating their corpses and, on some occasions, eating them.

Such was the disturbed nature of this man, he was handed 16 life imprisonment sentences.

But almost three years into his sentence at Columbia Correctional Facility, fellow inmate Christopher Scarver beat him to death using a metal bar in the prison's gym.

In conversation with The New York Post in 2015, Scarver - who is still behind bars for three counts of first-degree intentional homicide - recounted how Dahmer acted in prison, saying he would often be involved in 'heated' exchanges.

Jeffrey Dahmer was convicted of killing 15 men in 1992, with it being believed there was a total of 17 victims (Curt Borgwardt/Sygma/Sygma via Getty Images)

"He crossed the line with some people - prisoners, prison staff. Some people who are in prison are repentant, but he was not one of them," he explained.

"I saw heated interactions between [Dahmer] and other prisoners from time to time. There was no impression."

Apparently, Scarver avoided the cannibalistic killer in the yard - keen to sidestep his backwards sense of humour.

This was elaborated on by ex-prison minister Roy Ratcliff, who told the same publication: "If he saw a guard that was nervous and standing near enough to hear him, he would say, 'I bite.' Usually the guard would jump away and that would make Jeff laugh.

"He sort of played with his persona to exaggerate it and make people more fearful. This was just his way — a morbid humour to deal with his hopeless situation."

On November 28, 1994, Scarver and Dahmer's first clash in the gym would also be their last, with another prisoner Jesse Anderson getting tangled up in the violence.

Christopher Scarver beat Dahmer to death in 1994, almost three years after the serial killer began his sentence (Columbia Correctional Institution)

Scarver had become 'fiercely disgusted' by Dahmer's crimes, keeping a newspaper clipping of the story in his pocket which documented how he killed, dismembered and even consumed people.

The three of them, unshackled, been told to clean the gym's bathrooms by correction officers in this particular day, and were subsequently left unattended to complete their task.

Suddenly, whilst filling a bucket with water, Scarver felt something poke him in the back, as he recalled: "I turned around, and [Dahmer] and Jesse were kind of laughing under their breath. I looked right into their eyes, and I couldn't tell which had done it."

This proved to be the nail in the coffin for Dahmer - Scarver shadowed him to the staff locker room before picking up a heavy metal bar from the weight area.

He then confronted Dahmer with the newspaper story, recalling: "I asked him if he did those things 'cause I was fiercely disgusted. He was shocked. Yes, he was. He started looking for the door pretty quick. I blocked him.

Dahmer's crimes still shock people over three decades on (Curt Borgwardt/Sygma via Getty Images)

"He ended up dead. I put his head down."

But Anderson, who'd killed his wife, was a problem, so Scarver approached him.

"He stopped for a second and looked around," Scarver continued. "He was looking to see if any officials were there. There were none. Pretty much the same thing [happened] – got his head put out."

In the aftermath of the bludgeonings, Scarver pleaded no contest to murder. But he went on to claim that he'd been set up by prison officials who wanted Dahmer dead.

"They had something to do with what took place," he said, highlighting how the guards had conveniently disappeared just before the attack.