David Dahmer: Where Is Jeffrey Dahmer’s Brother Now?

If you’ve watched Netflix’s newest true-crime limited series, “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” and the recent docuseries, “Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes,” that dropped on the streaming service on October 7, you would have an idea of who David is.

This series sheds more light on Jeffrey’s life and family. However, it did not reveal much about his younger brother David Dahmer, giving viewers little information about him and making them wonder where he might be or what happened to him.

In this article, we’ll answer your every question about David Dahmer. Even if you haven’t heard of him before, you will get to know who he is, the history of Jeffrey and David Dahmer, and where David Dahmer is now.

Who is David Dahmer?

David and Jeffrey Dahmer with their mother, Joyce.

David Dahmer is the younger brother of Jeffery Dahmer, who was a notorious American serial killer. He was born in December 1966 to Lionel and Joyce Dahmer, and Jeffrey gave him his name. Jeffrey is six years older than David, and their relationship was strained because they separated in 1978 after their parents went through a bitter divorce.

History of Jeffrey and David Dahmer

Jeffrey, also known as the Milwaukee Monster or the Milwaukee Cannibal, was a notorious American killer and sex offender who started the act after high school and murdered and dismembered seventeen men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

His later murders involved sexual intercourse with corpses (necrophilia), cannibalism, and preserving body parts, typically all or part of the skeleton. David Dahmer, his little brother, changed his name and chose to live not being known after the horrific murders of his older brother came to light in 1991.

Just as close relatives of notorious criminals, villains, and pariahs of all stripes often go underground after their family names achieve disgrace or infamy, David Dahmer, brother of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer did likewise.

He understandably does not want to be part of the horror legacy of his brother’s unspeakable crimes.

It’s said that while Jeffrey enjoyed spending time with his younger brother, he also was jealous of David and felt that he “stole” some of the love that the Dahmers once had for him.

In 1978, their parents, Lionel and Joyce, got divorced. Joyce moved back with her family in Wisconsin, taking David Dahmer with her. David was only 12 years old then. While Jeffrey, who was at that time 18 years of age, stayed at home with his father. Jeffrey had to stay so he could graduate high school.

Though Joyce Dahmer has been absent from Jeffrey’s life after her divorce, she claimed there were “no warning signs” of what he would become. His father, Lionel Dahmer, however, had a very different story. He claimed he was always busy with his doctoral studies and was often absent from home. Yet, he existentially pondered the nature of evil, especially as it related to his son, Jeffrey.

Just one year after David and his mother, Joyce, moved from Ohio to Wisconsin, Jeffrey committed his first murder right in the Dahmer family home where he and his brother grew up.

Jeffrey Dahmer’s cruel deeds

Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

And between 1978 and 1991, he brutally murdered 17 men and boys aged 14 to 31. Whenever he finished murdering them, he defiled their bodies in the most mysterious ways, resorting to cannibalism and masturbating on their corpses. He tortured them while still alive and even went as far as dissolving their bodies in acid and keeping pieces of their corpses in his freezer.

He explained after his conviction, “It was an incessant and never-ending desire to be with someone at whatever cost.” And went further, saying, “Someone good-looking, really nice-looking.” He also mentioned that those desires just filled his thoughts all day long. If it had not been for the brave escape of Tracy Edwards, Jeffrey might have continued for a long time. Fortunately, Jeffrey Dahmer was on trial in 1992.

He pled guilty to 15 charges against him. The court gave him 15 life sentences with an additional 70 years. This means that he would spend a few years imprisoned at Wisconsin’s Columbia Correctional Institution, where he became reviled by his fellow inmates.

Inmate Christopher Scarver bludgeoned Jeffrey Dahmer to death on November 20, 1994 when police officials both assigned them to the same prison detail. This event ended Dahmer’s life with misery and strife.

But Jeffrey Dahmer’s acts continued to live as he was popular for his criminal deeds. That might be the reason his younger brother continues to live in obscurity under a new identity and a new name.

Dahmer family’s mischief

As a result of Jeffrey’s infamous crimes, David Dahmer, like the rest of the Dahmer family, suffered greatly. A People Profile of the Dahmer family in 1994 revealed how deeply the wounds ran.

Until Jeffrey’s grandmother’s death in 1992, she endured vicious harassment. She also said she often found herself “sitting like a frightened animal” whenever reporters camped outside her home.

In 2000, Joyce Dahmer died of breast cancer. Still, shortly before the revelation of Jeffrey’s crimes, she moved to Fresno, California. She worked with HIV and AIDS patients when their status was still “untouchable.” She continued to work. Even after someone killed her son in prison.

After her death, Joyce Dahmer’s friends and colleagues told The Los Angeles Times that they preferred to remember her for her work with the less fortunate. Julio Mastro, an executive director of the Living Room, who had an HIV community center in Fresno, said, “She was enthusiastic, and she was compassionate, and she turned her tragedy into being empathetic towards people with HIV.”

But David Dahmer took an entirely different path after graduation. He assumed a new identity and changed his name. Nobody has ever seen or heard from him again. Understandably, he never wanted to participate in his family or his brother’s infamy.

Where is David Dahmer Now?

David was 18 years old when he graduated from the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was by the time police officers arrested Jeffrey in 1991. He didn’t show up for his brother’s trial or hearings. As per The Cinemaholic, he decided to “cut all ties” with his brother. 

The last public update on David’s life was in 2004. He had a career, a wife, and at least two children. Though it’s unknown whether he is still alive, he’s already 55 years old today. He was born on December 18, 1966. He is still alive, but there are very few details and current whereabouts that the public knows.

Conclusion

Lionel Dahmer remarried. He and his new wife, Shari, went on Larry King Live and gave very little information about David Dahmer. When asked about her younger stepson, according to Distractify, Shari told King, “He’s very happy.”

Lionel also stated that David had legally changed his name during the interview. However, he didn’t share more out of respect for his privacy. He said, “We’ve promised to keep him completely secret.”

But when asked if he would do the same, Lionel said he wasn’t considering it. He told King, “I’m proud of the name Dahmer.” Though occasionally, the Dahmers used different names when going to restaurants.

According to The Cinemaholic, that was the last time the family publicly discussed David. David, who now goes by a new name, has stayed silent, and his new name is not public knowledge.