Episode 66: Dahmer Trial Testimony Excerpts

In Dahmer’s defense, Fred Berlin testified that the defendant was unable to conform his conduct at the time that he committed the crimes because he was suffering from necrophilia. Dr. Judith Becker, a professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, also diagnosed Dahmer with necrophilia. The final defense expert to testify, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Carl Wahlstrom, diagnosed Dahmer with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, necrophilia, alcohol dependence, and psychotic disorder not otherwise specified.

For the prosecution, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Phillip Resnick testified that Dahmer didn’t suffer from primary necrophilia because he preferred live sexual partners. Dr. Fred Fosdel testified that Dahmer was without mental disease or defect at the time he committed the murders, and able to differentiate between right and wrong. Dr. Park Dietz testified that he did not believe Dahmer to be suffering from any mental disease or defect at the time that he committed the crimes, stating: “Dahmer went to great lengths to be alone with his victim and to have no witnesses,” adding that that there was ample evidence that Dahmer prepared in advance for each murder.

Each attorney was allowed to speak for two hours. For the defense, Gerald Boyle argued that Dahmer’s compulsive killings were the result of a sickness he couldn’t control. Prosecutor Michael McCann, on the other hand, described Dahmer as sane and in full control of his actions. The jury agreed that Dahmer was sane and not suffering from a mental disorder at the time of each of the 15 murders for which he was tried. There was no death penalty in Wisconsin, so Dahmer was sentenced to life without parole. He was bludgeoned to death by a fellow inmate on November 28, 1994,