A Milwaukee County judge Monday sentenced Jeffrey L. Dahmer to 15 consecutive life terms, with the admitted serial killer saying he hopes God can forgive him for his crimes.
The sister of one of the victims lunged at Dahmer as family members addressed the court, screaming, "I'll kill you" and forcing Judge Laurence C. Gram Jr. to call a brief recess.Dahmer, 31, Saturday was found sane when he killed, dismembered and, in some cases, ate 15 young men and boys.
Jurors characterized the former chocolate-factory worker as a con man who killed for his own selfish interests.
Dahmer now faces prosecution in Summit County, Ohio, where he killed his first victim, Steven Hicks, a hitchhiker from Bath, Ohio. Ohio has a death penalty law but it was not in effect in 1978, meaning the maximum sentence Dahmer could face would be life in prison.
Wisconsin does not allow the death penalty, and District Attorney E. Michael McCann asked Gram to impose the maximum sentence to guarantee Dahmer would "never walk the streets of this city or any other city again."
"I think the sentence asked for under the circumstances is the appropriate sentence," Dahmer attorney Gerald P. Boyle said. "The jury has spoken. I told them I would respect their decision."
"I hope that God can forgive me. I know the families cannot forgive me," Dahmer told the court.
"I feel so bad for what I did to those poor families. I understand their rightful hate," Dahmer said.
"It is over now. This has never been a case of trying to get free. I didn't want to be free. I wanted death for myself.
"I knew I was sick or evil or both. Doctors have told me about my sickess and now I have some peace. I know how much harm I have caused."
The judge, in passing sentence, said, "People are looking to me to provide protection to the community. There is only one way to do that. That is to see this defendant never has the opportunity to walk the streets as a free man."
Gram also ordered that Dahmer receive "treatment or study" while he is in prison.
Gram imposed consecutive mandatory life sentences plus 10 years on the first two murders and consecutive life sentences on each of the other counts.
"The sentence is constructed in such a way that the defendant will never again see freedom," Gram said.
"Real people have been involved in this case and been affected by it," Gram said. "The family of the defendant also will be adversely affected and perhaps did nothing for which they should be hurt. I wish I had that magic button to put things back in place but I don't have the power to bring people back to life. That's in the hands of somebody else. I can't change what has happened."
Gram said he concurred with the jury's finding that Dahmer did not suffer from a mental disease and said he believed Dahmer was a man of superior intelligence, "a homosexual who could not accept that he was a homosexual."
Dahmer sat impassively as relatives of his victims addressed the court before sentence was passed.
Summit County prosecutor Lynn Slaby said he plans to start extradition proceedings this week to return Dahmer to Ohio. He said if Dahmer's lawyers don't fight extradition, he should be returned within three to five weeks.