Serial Killer Model Prisoner: Jail
System Shows Limited Resources
MILWAUKEE, Wis. (AP)—Dur
ing the six months he has spent
locked up, confessed serial killer
Jeffrey L. Dahmer has passed many
hours reading Bbiles sent to him by
■trangers, quietly killing time un
der almost microscopic scrutiny by
guards outside his cell. ' \
Besides reading, he eats,sleeps
and showers but does little else,
even passing up opportunities to
step outside for fresh air in a fenced
courtyard.
Milwaukee County Jail Lt Stacey
Black and others who have had
contact with Dahmer at the jail and
at the Columbia Correctional Insti
tution in Portage label Dahmer a
model prisoner.
"He’s been absolutely no problem
in here,* Black said. “He’s been very
quiet and he keeps to himself. He
reads a lot.”
His contact with other inmates at
both facilities is extremely limited,
and he makes little conversation
with guards except to ask for per
mission to make a telephone call or
something else he needs. He keeps
his cells tidy, which is made easier
by how little property he is allowed
to have. There is no television pro
vided for him at either place.
Once, a fellow inmate began rant
ing about cannibalism and threat
ening in jest to eat a guard. He was
referring to allegations about
Dahmer’s crimes but didn’t realize
he was standing a few feet away.
“Here Dahmer was standing right
by his door listening the whole time.
Noone’s really confronted him to his
face," one source said.
Dahmer has become agitated so
rarely that the few times seem easy
for people to recall. One day he got
upset when the pens and pencils
were removed from his cell because
of concern that he could use them to
hurt himself or someone else.
“He made a gesture like he was
going to stab himself with his tooth
brush. He even looked like he was
trying to sharpen the end of the
toothbrush on the wall,” the Journal
was told.
At Columbia, Dahmer was held in
the segregation area in a large cell
with the entire front consisting of a
pane of unbreakable glass. The gold
fish bowl existence resembles the
cell housing psychopath serial killer
Hannibal Lee ter in the movie The
Town
Self Help
Network
CONNELLY SPRINGS (AP)—
When they’re not stapling uphol
stery or sanding boards, residents
here hope to be digging trenches for
the city come summer.
Local wells are drying up and the
Burke County town can’t afford to
run water lines. So residents, many
of whom work at nearby Valdese
furniture plants, have decided to lay
four miles of pipe themselves.
"Anybody who’s had to tote water
knows," said Edith Smith, 55. "We
need this."
She and her husband Fritz are all
set to work. They bought a farm
house 12 years ago in this town of
1,350 residents, about eight miles
west of Hickory.
In the two summers since, the
couple’s well has dried up, forcing
them to draw water from an outdoor
spigot at a nearby store. Each night
after work, they’d lug home 20 milk
jugs full to flush their toilets and fill
their tubs.
The town is so desperate for water
residents are thrilled about laying
the lines themselves, leaders say.
Mayor Dennis Tomlinson said
he’s pleased his town wants to be a
model of self-help.
"More people need to start getting
involved alittle bit, like we did years
back,” Tomlinson said in an inter
view with the Charlotte Observer.
“I’m afraid a lot of problems have
come about because communities
aren’t as close as they used to be."
The project has the blessing of
Gov. Jim Martin, who recom
mended Friday that the state give
Connelly Springs $200,000 to get
digging started by May.
The organizers include Hermit
Holshouser, a resident who pumps
water out of a nearby creek because
all his wells have soured.
Town farmers have volunteered
their scrapers and tillers for use
filling the trenches and covering the
pipes.
Organizers say they expect some
tough spots running water to 200
homes and streets. They may have
to call professionals to bore under
railroad tracks and highways.
Silence of the Lambs.
Guards make entries every five
minutes in a log, describing what
Dahmer is doing, even if it’s just
sleeping. His favorite pastime is
reading while sitting with his back
turned to the guard outside his cell.
In doing so, he faces a window to the
outside.
Observers say Dahmer gained
weight at Columbia because he pre
ferred the food there to the fare at
the County Jail. He has been trans
ported several times between the
two facilities and is now at the
County Jail, awaiting trial on Jan.
27. There have been periods lasting
a few days when Dahmer would
consume only a fluid diet, once as a
protest of not being allowed to
smoke cigarettes.
Dahmer is allowed to smoke at
both lockups only when he is out of
his cell meeting with lawywers or
being interviewed by doctors.
His only other visitors are a
Catholic nun who stops by fre
quently at the County Jail and
family members, including his fa
ther and stepmother, Lionel and
Shari Dahmer, from Ohio, and his
mother, Joyce Flint, who lives in
California.
A few other people, strangers
mostly, have tried to visit and been
turned away.
Dahmer receives letters and
packages from people across the
United States and a few from out
side the country. The letter-writers
are mostly women who fall into two
categories—those who want to tell
him thatGod forgives him and those
that just want to chitchat with an
accused serial killer. All the mail ie
screened for contraband.
"Some would write to him like he
was an old friend. They would tell
him personal things going on in
their day-to-day lives. They would
inclose pictures of themselves, and
one woman even included pictures
of her children,” one source said.
One male wrote Dahmer that he
was a “good-looking guy” and said
that the crimes charged against him
are a result ofhomophobia in Amer
ica.
Dahmer reads and keeps the let
ters, but does not write back.
Someone from New York sent a
huge box to the County Jail, con
taining two bottles of liquor for
Dahmer, a jogging suit, fruits, vege
tables and other items. Only the
letter accompanying the goods
made it to Dahmer because of re
strictions on the other items.
A daily log on Dahmer’s activities
kept at the county Jail—and re
leased under an open-records re
quest—includes these entries:
Sept. 10 (the day Dahmer entered
his pleas in court), 11 a.m.—
“Dahmer given chance to shave but
declined due to lack of shaving
cream and heavy growth.”
Sept. 13, 11:10 a.m.—“Mail all
inspected in front of Dahmer and
turned over to him (59 pieces).”
Oct. 18,1:55 p.m.—‘Per Lt. Black,
Dahmer’s parents may be in room
alone with Dahmer for 10-15 min
utes.”
Oct. 21, 7 p.m.—“Maintenance
sprays sink and toilet for insects.
Mr. Dahmer steps into hall for 15
seconds.” Black said this was a rou
tine procedure. Twenty minutes
later, there’s another entry, “Seen
by doctor for complaint of sore
throat.”
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