How Jeffrey Dahmer Felt About His Mother, Joyce Dahmer

Netflix’s new series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story focuses on the life of infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. Viewers get to look into his life before and after the murders. In the past, his father, Lionel Dahmer, spoke about his son — and he once explained Jeffrey’s relationship with his mother, Joyce Dahmer, who died. Here’s what Lionel said.

How did Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother die?

Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother, Joyce Dahmer, was born in February 1936 and had two children with Lionel Dahmer. According to The Cinemaholic, the couple had Jeffrey in May 1960. During Joyce’s pregnancy, she was prescribed medications and allegedly grew dependent on them. This appeared to cause her a wealth of problems over the years. Lionel alleged that Joyce became a hypochondriac as she grew more dependent on the drugs, and she didn’t want to get near Jeffrey when he was a child, as she feared infecting him.

Joyce’s alleged prescription drug use became a huge issue in her marriage to Lionel, and it allegedly continued into her second pregnancy. The couple finalized their divorce on July 24, 1978, and Joyce then moved to California. Jeffrey then grew to have a relationship with Lionel’s second wife, Shari.

Ultimately, Joyce died on Nov. 27, 2000, from breast cancer. This is six years after Jeffrey’s death.

How Jeffrey Dahmer felt about Joyce Dahmer, according to his father, Lionel Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother might not have been there for her son often in his youth, but she did do her best to fly to Wisconsin to see him after his arrest. So, how did Jeffrey feel about his mother? According to Heavy, his lawyer, Gerald Boyle, Jeffrey loved his mother and didn’t blame her for his wrongdoings.

“It was clear she bore no responsibility,” Boyle told the Los Angeles Times, according to Heavy. “She had to live with the idea that she was the mother of a monster, and it drove her crazy.”

Lionel Dahmer spoke to Larry King about Joyce, too. “Yes, he did,” Lionel told the host regarding whether Jeffrey loved Joyce, according to a transcript from CNN. “But he, you know, had a very rough time with her physical and mental problems.”

As for Shari Dahmer, she said she got along “fine” with Jeffrey.” Jeff was able to separate his personal relationship with his parents and his mother and with me,” she noted. “He accepted me as an individual.”

She had a difficult pregnancy with her first son

Joyce Dahmer’s pregnancy with Jeffrey Dahmer wasn’t easy. While speaking to Larry King, Lionel Dahmer went into more details regarding the difficult time she had.

“Very difficult, yes,” he said. “She would spasm. Her jaw would go sideways. And we would walk her around and around. My mother and father would do the same. … Nothing seemed to help until we would have to call the doctor, administer barbiturates ….”

Joyce’s second pregnancy went much smoother. “No. Nothing except colic,” Lionel explained about their son, David Dahmer. “It kept us awake a lot.”

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