Episodes 01

“Bad Meat”

In 1991, Glenda Cleveland, a woman who lives in the Milwaukee apartment next to Jeffrey Dahmer’s, has concerns about the noises and smells coming through their shared vent. Dahmer courts his next potential victim, Tracy Edwards, in a bar and takes him home, but Tracy manages to escape and flag down police. Dahmer is arrested and gruesome discoveries are made in his apartment.

Episodes 02

“Please Don’t Go”

Dahmer’s life as a pre-teen and adolescent, living with a drug-addicted mother and an oft-absentee father, is explored. The youngster starts to exhibit great interest in dissecting dead animals, with encouragement from his father. In 1991, an adult Dahmer buys alcohol for 14-year old Konerak Sinthasomphone and brings him to his apartment under the guise of paying the teen for lewd photographs. Dahmer drugs the teen, then experiments by using a power drill to drill into the boy’s skull. While Dahmer goes out to buy more alcohol, a woozy Konerak awakes and tries to escape but only makes it to the stairwell where Glenda and her daughter find him. Glenda is concerned about the boy’s age, and calls police, but the police take Dahmer’s word that the boy is an adult who is Dahmer’s boyfriend and simply drank too much. The police escort Konerak back inside, and Dahmer kills him after they leave. A real 1991 recording between Glenda and one of the Milwaukee police officers (discussing Konerak Sinthasomphone) is played in the ending credits.

Episodes 03

“Doin’ A Dahmer”

As a high school senior in 1977–78, Dahmer continues to show interest in animal dissection while also becoming fully aware of his sexual preference for men. After his father and mother divorce, his father moves in with his new girlfriend and soon after his mother moves away with Jeffrey’s younger brother. Jeffrey is left alone in the house to fend for himself. He begins drinking heavily, lifting weights, and fantasizing about having a male companion in the house. He later picks up a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks and invites him to drink beer and work out. When Steven rejects Dahmer’s sexual advance and uses a gay slur, Dahmer hits him with a barbell and then strangles him to death. Two police officers stop Jeffrey when they see his car swerving, but let him off with a warning despite seeing several garbage bags in the car’s back seat.

Episodes 04

“The Good Boy Box”

Lionel returns to the Dahmer residence after three months, surprised to hear his ex-wife moved out, and discovers Jeff’s drinking. Jeff attempts to talk to his father about his homicidal thoughts, but is interrupted by Lionel planning to send him to Ohio State University. At OSU, Dahmer is expelled for attendance issues, causing his father to enlist him in the Army in another attempt to get his son’s life on track. In 1981, Dahmer is honorably discharged due to alcohol abuse. Lionel sends him to live with his grandmother, Catherine. At her suggestion, Dahmer goes to a state fair, where he gets drunk and is arrested for indecent exposure. He takes a job as a phlebotomist, where he steals blood bags and drinks from them. Dahmer later begins going to a gay bathhouse, but is soon banned for spiking drinks. In 1987, Dahmer accidentally drugs himself in a hotel room with another man, then wakes up the next morning to discover he had murdered him. He takes the body back to Catherine’s house to dismember it in the basement. He seals the man’s head in a bag and places it in a lock box Catherine gave him.

Episodes 05

“Blood On Their Hands”

In 1987, Dahmer takes a job at a chocolate factory. He begins to seek out victims with the conscious intention of killing, beginning a cycle of bringing men to Catherine’s house, drugging them, strangling them to death, and dismembering them in the cellar. The smells coming from the cellar prompt a confrontation with Catherine and Lionel. When Dahmer tells them that it is caused by his taxidermy hobby, Lionel excoriates him for not cleaning up after it adequately, leading Dahmer to reassure them that he will cease that activity. Dahmer invites Ronald Flowers Jr., a man struggling with his car, to Catherine’s house in an attempt to drug and kill him. After Flowers falls unconscious in her living room, Catherine finds him and forces Jeffrey to put him on a bus. After Flowers reports this to the police, they question Dahmer and Catherine, but find no evidence to arrest him. Dahmer is later arrested after another victim, Somsack Sinthasomphone, escapes from him. Dahmer is found guilty of sexual assault and sent to prison. Lionel writes a letter to the judge, asking him to put Jeffrey in a treatment program for alcohol abuse, but the letter is ignored and he is released from custody a year later.

Episodes 06

“Silenced”

In 1991, Tony Hughes makes a life for himself despite his deafness. He lands a job in Madison, but returns to spend time with his family in Milwaukee on weekends. One weekend evening, he dances at a bar and catches Dahmer’s eye. Dahmer thinks about spiking Tony’s drink at the bar, but reconsiders. Tony and Dahmer say they like each other, and they meet again the following weekend. Dahmer invites Tony into his apartment, where he again considers drugging him but resists. The two sleep together, and the following morning Tony says he has to leave for work. Dahmer gets a hammer, but lets Tony go. However, when Tony returns for his keys, Dahmer kills him with the hammer. Tony’s mother contacts police when her son has not checked in and missed work. They seemingly do nothing, so she posts “Missing Person” signs all over Milwaukee. As she does, she notices many other such signs near the gay bars.

Episodes 07

“Cassandra”

After Dahmer is arrested and news of his victims becomes public, there is widespread outrage with police among the victims’ families, and particularly with Glenda Cleveland. She is most upset over the murder of Konerak Sinthasomphone (whom she tried to help before police returned him to Dahmer’s apartment) and has been severely traumatized by listening to the noises (screams and power tools) coming from Dahmer’s apartment. Dahmer’s building is considered hazardous due to the chemicals he used to dissolve body parts. The tenants are evacuated, forcing Glenda to get a motel room. Jesse Jackson takes an interest in the case due to the large number of black and brown victims, and he meets with Glenda, who tells him of the horrors she witnessed, including a time when an angry Dahmer served her a sandwich made with possible human remains. Disgusted, Jackson vows to hold the Milwaukee Police accountable for their oversights.

Episodes 08

“Lionel”

Lionel Dahmer is horrified by Dahmer and what he has done. With his wife, he deals with his demons, alternately blaming himself and his ex-wife, Joyce. Jesse Jackson continues working on behalf of the victims’ families. The two officers who were suspended over Konerak Sinthasomphone’s case are reinstated. Dahmer goes to trial after his insanity plea is denied. After he is sentenced to 15 life terms and victim statements are heard, Dahmer is given a chance to speak. He says he knows he is mentally ill, and apologizes to the families. Lionel finds writing a book about being Jeffrey’s father is therapeutic.

Episodes 09

“The Bogeyman”

Family members of Dahmer’s victims deal with grief, fear, sleeplessness and nightmares. After convincing Tony Hughes’s mother to sue Lionel Dahmer over the profits of his book, lawyer Joe Zilber brings a $14 million lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee on behalf of the victims’ families. Lionel learns that any profits from his book will be paid to victims’ families. In prison, Dahmer begins receiving “fan mail”, with several people sending him money in exchange for autographed items. He obliges and sends them back.

Episodes 10

“God of Forgiveness, God of Vengeance”

After attending a church service in prison, Dahmer asks to be baptized, near the same time as John Wayne Gacy’s execution. The $14 million lawsuit is settled out of court for less than $900,000. Joe Zilber, angered that people plan to profit by selling items removed from Dahmer’s home, offers the dealers double their asking price. He then gives every victim’s family a share of what he paid, saying all the items will be destroyed. An inmate named Christopher Scarver kills Dahmer and another inmate, Jesse Anderson, with a metal bar, saying that God told him to commit the murder. Per Dahmer’s wishes, his body is cremated, and no funeral is held, but his brain is kept for scientific research. Lionel insists that the brain also be destroyed, while Joyce wants it to be studied. Lionel explains that he and the victims’ families just want closure, which would be made more difficult by retaining the brain. A judge sides with Lionel, and the brain is cremated. As Milwaukee residents watch, the Oxford Apartments are destroyed. Glenda meets with a city official to advocate for the site of the apartments to be turned into a memorial for the victims, but is warned that it will be a lengthy process. The photos and names of Dahmer’s victims are displayed in the closing titles, which also state that no memorial has yet been built.