Where is Jeffrey Dahmer’s brother David Dahmer now? A look at his life today

Before becoming one of the most notorious serial killers in American history, Jeffrey Dahmer struggled to maintain a relationship with his brother, David Dahmer.

The convicted murderer was born in 1960 to parents Joyce and Lionel Dahmer, followed seven years later by David. After her parents separated in 1978, when Jeffrey was 18, David grew up in a separate home.

“The brothers had problems growing up together as they competed for the love of their late mother Joyce,” claimed retired FBI profiler Dan Craft in an interview for the 2023 docuseries My Son Jeffrey: The Dahmer Family Tapes.

After their tumultuous childhood, Jeffrey killed 17 boys and men in Milwaukee between 1978 and 1991, picking up his victims throughout the city and committing cannibalism and necrophilia. After a victim escaped alive in 1991, Jeffrey was arrested and later convicted of his crimes. After two and a half years in prison, he was killed on November 28, 1994, when fellow inmate Christopher Scarver beat him and another prisoner to death.

The name Dahmer has become synonymous with Jeffrey’s crimes, but his family has tried to live a normal life in recent years. After Jeffrey was convicted of his crimes, his brother David pledged to stay out of the public eye.

Where is David Dahmer now? Here’s a look at Jeffrey Dahmer’s childhood and how he disappeared from the spotlight after his brother’s murder over 30 years ago.

Who is David Dahmer?

Jeffrey and his brother David had a difficult family life. Accordingly NewsweekAlthough there were no reports of physical abuse of the Dahmer children, they were accused of neglect.

Joyce, who died in 2000, reportedly suffered from mental health issues and Lionel, who died in 2023, struggled to cope. As a scientist, he instead retreated to his laboratory, reportedly leaving Jeffrey and David without constant attention.

“When we talk about a traumatic childhood, it doesn’t necessarily have to be physical,” Cheish Merryweather, founder of true crime touring company Crime Viral, told the publication about Jeffrey’s upbringing. “There can be stressful events like this. From a young age, he retreated into this fantasy world to deal with what was going on around him.”

Were Jeffrey and David close growing up?

Jeffrey and David’s relationship seemed complicated. Jeffrey was more shy while David was outgoing, and their seven-year age difference made it difficult for them to bond, as Lionel told Larry King in 2004.

“They had a lot of fun as brothers, but there was always a seven-year difference in interests, so they weren’t as close as someone who was maybe a year or two different,” he said on the late night show.

Lionel added: “He (Jeffrey) loved him (David). But often he simply tolerated him because his younger brother was so expressive and active that he sometimes got on his nerves.”

After her parents separated in 1978, accusing each other of “extreme cruelty and gross dereliction of duty,” Joyce was given custody of David, while Jeffrey remained with Lionel, according to Brian Masters’ 1993 biography The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer.

“There was much discussion and concern about who should have custody of David and where he would live, but no thought was ever given to what should happen to Jeff or where he would likely live,” Masters claimed in his book.

What did David know about Jeffrey’s crimes?

In his 1994 book A father’s story, Lionel wrote that he saw warning signs of Jeffrey’s impending crimes.

As a child, David may also have witnessed some of his brother’s disturbing behaviors, such as Jeffrey’s animal dissection. Because David was so young, he supposedly thought his brother was only kind to the dead animals.

“David Dahmer knew about the pet cemetery and thought his brother was doing a good service by burying dead creatures,” Masters claimed in his book.

Where is David Dahmer now?

After Jeffrey’s arrest in 1991 and conviction the following year, David decided to disappear from the public eye. Lionel and his second wife, Shari Dahmer, met with Larry King in 2004 and provided an update on David’s life. They noticed that he had changed his name to avoid public attention.

“We promised to keep it completely secret,” Lionel said. His stepmother added: “He has a career… Everything is going well.”

The couple also shared that David has a family of his own and is expecting his second child. Lionel added: “He’s happy.”