The Dahmer Files

Edward Smith

In June 1990, Dahmer lure a 27-year-old acquaintance named Edward Smith to his apartment. He drugged and strangled Smith.

On this occasion, rather than immediately acidifying the skeleton or repeating previous processes of bleaching, which had rendered previous victims skulls brittle, Dahmer placed Smith's skeleton in his freezer for several months in the hope it would not retain moisture.

Freezing the skeleton did not remove moisture, and the skeleton of the victim was acified several months later. Dahmer accidentally destroyed the skull when he placed it in the oven to dry a process that caused the skull to explode. Dahmer later informed police he had felt "rotten" about Smith's murder as he had been unable to retain any parts of his body.