What did Jeffrey Dahmer’s dad say? Serial killer’s father makes claim about mother’s pills in Netflix series

Jeffrey Dahmer’s father has hinted at who he thinks is to blame for his son’s decision to murder 17 people.

Netflix’s new miniseries ‘Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer story’ starring American Horror Story’s Evan Peters, has brought new light to the crimes which took place between 1978 and 1991.

The show recounts Jeffrey Dahmer’s horrifying murders and the evidence that he ate some of his victims, before his arrest in Wisconsin. Over 196.2 million people have watched the crime drama since its release on 21 September.

Richard Jenkins stars as Dahmer’s father Lionel Dahmer, who was a scientist and seemed to speculate that his ex-wife played a role in their son’s actions.

In the Netflix show, Lionel says: “You do know that pills are what started this whole thing…how many pills do you think she was on when she was pregnant with him? Thousands.

“She never even held him. She scared the sh*t out of him, and then just left. She got in her car, she drove away.”

Joyce and Lionel Dahmer divorced after having their second son David and the mother was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis.

Following the split, Joyce took David to Wisconsin and left Jeffrey at home in Ohio.

Lionel checked into a hotel, leaving Jeffrey home alone for his senior year in 1978 - coincidentally when he committed his first murder.

There is no scientific evidence to support the theory that Jeffrey’s mother influenced him to become a serial killer, however the Netflix show’s portrayal was based upon an interview Lionel gave to CBS a few years ago.

During the interview, Jeffrey’s father explained that Joyce took about 26 different tablets a day while pregnant to combat bouts of vertigo and nausea including prescribed sleeping pills, morphine and seizure medication.

According to Better Health, drugs or medication taken in pregnancy can impact a developing baby.

It states: “Alcohol and other drugs and medications can cause harm to your baby by impacting with normal birth and development, impacting on the growth of the baby’s organs, impacting the placenta…[or] risk of the baby withdrawing from substances.”

Lionel continued to question the part he and his ex-wife played in Jeffrey Dahmer’s behaviour in his 1994 book A Father’s Story, where he wondered if “great evil” could be passed onto children.