and photographs of dismembered bodies. A more
thorough search revealed a dismembered head in a
box in the refrigerator and a fifty-seven-gallon barrel
of acid that held decomposing body parts.
Impact Evidence gathered from Dahmer’s apart-
ment and his 160-page confession led to compari-
sons to the character Hannibal Lecter from the 1988
novel and recently released filmThe Silence of the
Lambs(1991). Dahmer’s trial in January and Febru-
ary, 1992, on fifteen counts of murder was heavily
covered by the media. Dahmer had pleaded not
guilty by reason of insanity but was convicted and
sentenced to fifteen consecutive life sentences or
957 years because Wisconsin did not have the death
penalty. The trial highlighted debates about the na-
ture of insanity.
According to his own statements in an interview,
Dahmer underwent a religious conversion and was
baptized in 1994 while imprisoned at Columbia Cor-
rectional Institution. Inmate Christopher Scarver
beat Dahmer and another inmate to death on
November 28, 1994. Because most of Dahmer’s
victims were black men, there has been specula-
tion whether Scarver, an African American, killed
Dahmer out of revenge.
Further Reading
Dahmer, Lionel. A Father’s Stor y.
New York: William Morrow, 1994.
Ratcliff, Roy, with Lindy Adams.
Dark Journey Deep Grace: Jeffrey
Dahmer’s Stor y of Faith.Abilene,
Tex.: Leafwood, 2006.
Schwartz, Anne E.The Man Who
Could Not Kill Enough: The Secret
Murders of Milwaukee’s Jeffrey
Dahmer. New York: Birch Lane
Press, 1992.
Mark C. Herman
See also Crime; Ferguson, Colin;
Homosexuality and gay rights;Si-
lence of the Lambs, The.
Damon, Matt
Identification Actor, screenwriter, and film
producer
Born October 8, 1970; Boston, Massachusetts
During the 1990’s, Damon showed himself to be among the
most disciplined American actors as well as a remarkably
gifted screenwriter.
When the 1990’s began, Damon was a Harvard Uni-
versity undergraduate with a straight-A average and
anticipated graduating in 1992. Damon, however,
wanting an acting career, took leaves of absence to
meet his acting obligations and finally decided to
withdraw from Harvard. He went to Los Angeles,
where his childhood friend, Ben Affleck, settled af-
ter high school. The two lived a marginal existence,
making a meager living from whatever jobs they
could find.
Damon brought with him a draft of a one-act play
he wrote at Harvard that his instructor urged him to
expand. His progress was slow until he collaborated
on the manuscript with Affleck. Finally, working on
it through the spring and summer of 1994, the two
completed the screenplay that becameGood WillThe Nineties in America Damon, Matt 239
Actors Matt Damon, right, and Ben Affleck in New York in November, 1997. The two
friends wrote and starred inGood Will Hunting, released that year to critical ac-
claim.(AP/Wide World Photos)