Jeffrey Dahmer’s only surviving victim recalls frightening moments before escape

vt-author-image

By Carina Murphy

Article saved!Article saved!

Since Netflix dropped its true crime show about Jeffrey Dahmer last week, people have been reliving the horror of the serial killer's crimes.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story reveals in gruesome detail how Dahmer killed, dismembered, and even ate 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991.

Of all of the Milwaukee cannibal's victims, only one lived to tell the tale - Tracy Edwards, who handed the killer in to the police the moment he slipped Dahmer's clutches.

The pair first met in the early 1990s outside a mall. They then went back to Dahmer's apartment for drinks. Speaking to Radar Online, Edward revealed how things took a sinister turn when Dahmer drugged and handcuffed him.

"He had slapped handcuffs on my left wrist, pulled my arm under my back, and pressed a 12-inch knife to the crotch of my pants," the survivor recalled.

Edward's went on to describe Dahmer's chilling behavior: "His head was against my chest as he listened to the pounding of my terror-stricken heart. 'I can hear it beating now', he said in a quiet voice, 'soon it will be mine'."

wp-image-1263170449 size-full
Credit: REUTERS / Alamy

He added that he had already seen sufficient evidence of Dahmer's crimes - "a human head in Dahmer's bedroom, hands hanging in his closet, and body parts in his refrigerator" - to begin fearing for his life.

"With the stench of rotten flesh in my nostrils, I knew he'd already picked out his next victim — me," Edwards' said.

Edwards continued: "Then he started rocking back and forth, chanting in a singsong voice, 'It's time! It's time'. I told myself, 'Get out now, or you're dead!'

wp-image-1263170632 size-full
Credit: ARCHIVIO GBB / Alamy

The survivor recalled how he stood up, punched Dahmer in the jaw, and kicked him in the chest. With the killer knocked to the ground, Edwards ran to the door and tried to get out. Just as he managed to get the door open, he felt Dahmer's grip on his wrist - but he managed to wriggle free and get out on the road.

Edward's flagged down the first police car he saw and sent them straight to Dahmer's door. The killer was arrested and taken away.

"It was only after he was gone that the full impact of my ordeal hit me: I spent five hours in hell," Edwards concluded.

Following his arrest, Dahmer was sentenced to 16 terms of life imprisonment. However, he was only in prison for a few years until 1994, when a fellow inmate beat him to death.

Featured Image Credit: ARCHIVIO GBB / Alamy