This smiling boy grew up to be one of the most evil men on earth

There is an inherent cognitive dissonance in looking at photographs of innocent children and realizing that some grow up to become the architects of unimaginable horror. Humans are biologically wired to perceive children as pure and untouchable. It is why the image of a smiling, blonde-haired toddler—knowing that he would eventually become one of America’s most prolific serial killers—strikes a chord of primal terror. This is the story of Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer, the “Milwaukee Cannibal,” and the slow-motion collapse of a human soul.

I. The Early Years: A Sudden Shift

Born on May 21, 1960, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Jeffrey was the first child of Lionel and Joyce Dahmer. At the time, his father was a 23-year-old chemistry student and his mother a teletype instructor. By most accounts, Jeffrey was a typical, lively baby. He was energetic, cheerful, and full of the promise any parent dreams of.