Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen - Free Essay Example

Serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen had different backgrounds, common motives, and same fate. Jeffrey is believed to have killed 17 young men and boys premeditatedly during the years 1978 to 1991. Jeffrey was a very lonely person and had few friends. He grew up not getting little attention from his parents. He said numerous times that his murderous thoughts came around the age of 14 when his parents had divorced. His first murder did not occur until after his high school graduation when he had picked up a 15 year old hitchhiker in his car and beat him to death. After this, he had become an alcoholic and could not control his cravings. Despite his insanity, Jeffrey had an IQ of 145 which is top 2% in the world. He had landed himself a spot at Ohio State University where he quickly withdrew after half of a semester. His father insisted that he enlist in the Army, where he worked as a chef, but was later discharged because of his drinking habits. Following his discharge, Jeffrey was forced to live with his grandmother, where his madness only grew as he was arrested multiple times due to indecent exposure and behavior towards other people. As his sickness grew, his methods changed and he started boiling his victims bodies and would h ide them under his grandmothers house. He eventually was caught when he lured a man to his home; the man luckily escaped and ran straight to the police. He was later sentenced to life in prison. Jeffrey himself said that his motives for his crimes were to have complete control over a person and for them never to leave him. Although Jeffrey Dahmer was an insane and an infamous serial killer, Dennis Nilsen also had a very similar life and unique way of killing victims. Dennis is believed to have killed 15 people during his spree of murder. Similarly to Jeffrey, due to his parents relationship, Dennis also grew up a very lonely and withdrawn boy. It was not until Dennis was 33 that he killed his first victim who was a 15 year old boy who he had met at a pub. Unlike Jeffreys high IQ, Dennis Nilsens IQ was never really tested, but must have been high as he did really well in school. Like Jeffrey, Dennis was also enlisted in the Army at a young age and worked as a chef. After Dennis left the Army, he pursued work as a police officer but was later fired after he had taken pictures of David Painter, a fellow worker of him, sleeping. When Dennis was confronted for the situation, he denied everything and was released without charge. While Jeffrey lived with his grandmother, Dennis lived in an apartment alone whi ch made it much easier to lure and kill people. Although Jeffrey killed his victims in a very horrific way, Dennis, on the other hand, was very gruesome when he killed people because he would clean them up, attempt to have sexual intercourse with them, and then bury them up underneath his floorboards. Dennis also boiled his victims as they would have a very bad odor after a few weeks of being underneath his apartment. In contrast to Jeffrey, Dennis was very good in covering his tracks, but was later caught because of an investigation in his apartment building due to the sewer pipes. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment. The lives of the infamous serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen are possibly the most gruesome and horrific actions of the many killers that are known.