Did Jeffrey Dahmer kill his brother, David Dahmer?

From the start, Jeffrey Dahmer‘s family — including Joyce, Lionel, and Shari Dahmer, the serial killer’s mom, dad, and stepmother — played a big part in the true crime story. Dahmer, however, also had one sibling, David, who has kept a low profile since his brother’s horrific murder spree came to light.

David Dahmer’s absence from the long list of movies, documentaries, and TV shows about his brother’s crimes has raised many questions, such as what happened to David; is David still alive, and if so, where is he now?

Furthermore, could there be one more dark secret lurking in the Dahmer family — did Dahmer kill him?

The answer to that last question is no, Jeffrey did not kill his brother, David, but that said, here’s what happened to him.

What happened to David Dahmer?

As far as what happened to David, here’s what’s known:

According to Esquire, David was born in 1966, and is 10 years younger than Jeffrey. Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey and David’s father, said the relationship between Jeffrey and David was tense and that Jeffrey thought David — the baby — got more attention.

When Lionel and Joyce Dahmer — Jeffrey and David’s mother — split, David moved to Wisconsin to live with Joyce. Around that same time. Jeffrey killed his first victim, when when David was around 12 years old.

Is David Dahmer still alive?

As of this report, David Dahmer is still alive.

In 1992, David Dahmer’s brother, Jeffrey, was convicted and given 15 life sentences for murdering and imprisoning 15 men between the late 1970s and 1991, in some cases involving necrophilia and cannibalism. Jeffrey died in prison in 1994. By the time his brother was convicted, David had reportedly graduated from the University of Cincinnati.

David never kept in touch with his serial killer brother, nor did he ever visit his brother in prison or during his trial, unlike other members of Jeffrey’s family. David even went so far as to change his name. The name he goes by now is unknown.

Where is David Dahmer now?

In Sept. 2023, The U.S. Sun reported they snapped photos of David Dahmer running errands in an undisclosed major U.S. city where he lived. David was reportedly 56 years old at the time, and he’s believed to be married with children, but otherwise, not much else is known about him.

In 2004, David and Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother and father, Joyce and Lionel made a rare mention of David in an interview with Larry King. Referring to her son, David, Joyce said, “He’s very happy.”

By 2023, David’s mother, father, and stepmother, Shari, Lionel, and Joyce, were all dead. Understandably, David would want to separate himself as much as possible from his infamous last name and family based on what his brother did.