Jeffrey Dahmer’s dad had theory on what was to blame for son becoming a serial killer

Jeffrey Dahmer's dad had a theory on what was to blame for his son becoming a serial killer.

Lionel Dahmer - who died last year at the age of 87 - spoke about his son's heinous crimes and what he thought could have led to him becoming one of the world's most notorious killers.

Dahmer's story was documented in the Netflix drama, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, in which Lionel was played by Richard Jenkins.

The series followed Dahmer from a young age, showing how he grew into the violent murderer he did.

He killed 17 men and boys during a murder spree that lasted from 1978 until his arrest in 1991.

He dismembered his victims – with one of them being only 14-years-old – and also committed necrophilia, cannibalism, and kept trophies of his victims.

In the series, Lionel (Richard Jenkins) offers an explanation as to why Dahmer went on to commit such horrific crimes.

He suggested there could have been a link between the medication his wife, Joyce, took before Dahmer was born and his crimes - though none of this has ever been confirmed.

Lionel says: "You do know that pills are what started this whole thing.

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"How many pills you think she was on when she was pregnant with him? Thousands. She was on sleeping pills, sedatives, seizure medication."

He added: "She never even held him. She scared the s**t out of him. And then she just left. She got in her car, and she drove away, and she left that kid in that house all summer."

Lionel also made these allegations in real life too, during an interview with CBS’ Inside Edition.

“My ex-wife had been taking about 26 tablets of different medications about one month after becoming pregnant,” he said.

In a TV special called Dahmer on Dahmer, he and his second wife, Shari, also spoke openly about Joyce's abilities as a mother.

They claimed she wasn't very tactile and would rarely touch or hold him.

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“When Jeff was born, the grandparents were not allowed to hold the baby," Shari said.

“Joyce didn’t want anyone touching the baby, or breathing on it. She was afraid of germs.”

In his 1994 book A Father’s Story, Lionel not only spoke about the prescription drugs Joyce was taking, he also pondered whether or not his son’s shyness could have been a red flag at the time.

According to reports, he blamed himself for not giving enough to Jeffrey emotionally.

He wrote in the book: “As a scientist, I wonder if the potential for great evil resides deep in the blood that some of us may pass on to our children at birth.”

Lionel died in December 2023.