On November 28, 1994, Christopher Scarver murdered his fellow prisoners Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson at Wisconsin's Columbia Correctional Institution.
Public DomainChristopher Scarver is best known as the man who killed Jeffrey Dahmer.
When convicted murderer Christopher Scarver was given an assignment to clean the gymnasium with two other inmates at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, he claimed that God had given him an even more important task: Kill the other two inmates. It might seem like a strange message to receive from a higher power — had one of those inmates not been the infamous serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
The other inmate was Jesse Anderson, a man who fatally stabbed his wife Barbara before stabbing himself and claiming that they’d both been attacked by two Black men. That last detail seemed to be what doomed Anderson, as Scarver later described him as a racist. As for Dahmer, Scarver said he killed him because he was disgusted with his cannibalistic murder spree. However, it’s also worth noting that many of Dahmer’s victims were Black.
Christopher Scarver was also a convicted killer, though he was originally sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his former boss Steven Lohman, who he had killed during a robbery in 1990. His additional crimes of killing Dahmer and Anderson on November 28, 1994, however, landed him two additional life sentences. Despite several transfers to different prisons since then, little about Scarver’s situation has changed over the years.
Christopher Scarver’s Troubled Early Life
YouTubeChristopher Scarver had a tumultuous life even before he was convicted of murder.
Born on July 6, 1969 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Christopher Scarver was the second of five children. He attended James Madison High School until the 11th grade, after which he dropped out and was later kicked out of his mother’s house due to his worsening alcohol and marijuana habits.
For a time, Scarver attempted to make a better life for himself, working as a trainee carpenter in a job program supported by the Conservation Corps. Unfortunately, after his supervisor was dismissed, Scarver was not given a full-time position, and he only descended further into alcoholism.
Around this same time, Scarver purportedly began to hear voices. He claimed that the voices belonged to an entire family — a woman, a man, a little girl, and a little boy — who would speak to him and tell him that he was the “chosen one,” according to a 1994 New York Times report.
Following the dismissal of his supervisor, Scarver said he was drinking three 40-ounce bottles of beer each day and smoking at least four joints. His court-appointed psychologist, William Crowley, said Scarver “began to brood about [his job loss]. He felt that there were racial overtones involved.”
In one of their earliest sessions, Scarver told Crowley, “Nothing white people do to Blacks is just.” He held a special resentment toward John P. Feyen, the site manager. Christopher Scarver believed that Feyen was the cause of all his troubles, and that anger toward Feyen, in addition to the voices that allegedly spoke to Scarver, led him to commit a horrific act of violence.
The Sudden Murder Of Steven Lohman
On June 1, 1990, angered over his lack of a job, Christopher Scarver paid a visit to the local Conservation Corps training program office. There, he tracked down John P. Feyen, who was meeting at the time with another employee, 27-year-old Steven Lohman (who had once been Scarver’s boss).
Scarver demanded that Feyen pay him, in exchange for costing him a better opportunity in his life. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at Lohman, rather than Feyen, and proceeded to demand payment. When Feyen handed over a mere $15, Scarver flew into an even deeper rage. To make it clear how far he was willing to go, Scarver shot Lohman four times in the head.
“Now, do you think I’m kidding?” he said. “I need more money.”
Steve Kagan/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesChristopher Scarver is now known for killing Jeffrey Dahmer, but that wasn’t his first murder — or his last.
Scarver then forced Feyen, at gunpoint, to write him a check for $3,000. After Feyen signed the check, Scarver fled, only to be apprehended by police on the stoop of his girlfriend’s apartment building just hours later.
“I don’t know what came over me,” he later said. “I was never in any trouble with the law, never in a fight with anyone.” He did, however, claim that the voices he heard in his head “told me to do what I’m here for today.”
In 1992, Christopher Scarver was found guilty of the murder of Steven Lohman, which led to Scarver getting a life sentence and being incarcerated at Wisconsin’s Columbia Correctional Institution — where he would eventually meet the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Christopher Scarver’s Murder Of Jeffrey Dahmer And Jesse Anderson
Curt Borgwardt/Sygma/Getty ImagesJeffrey Dahmer, the infamous cannibal murdered by Christopher Scarver.
Christopher Scarver soon established a reputation in prison for being mentally ill, and he was known to be on anti-psychotic medications. However, these medications apparently did little to calm him down, and so it was likely unsurprising when he acted out violently once again.
On November 28, 1994, Christopher Scarver was assigned to clean the prison’s gymnasium along with Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson — and Dahmer’s notorious reputation was not lost on Scarver. In an interview with the New York Post in 2015, Scarver explained his disgust with Dahmer’s cannibalism and how the convicted serial killer would allegedly make his prison meals look like severed limbs when he ate, using ketchup as “blood.”
“He crossed the line with some people — prisoners, prison staff,” Scarver said of Dahmer’s behavior behind bars. “Some people who are in prison are repentant — but he was not one of them.”
Find A GraveA photo of Jesse Anderson, the other inmate who Christopher Scarver killed.
Initially, Christopher Scarver had intended to stay away from Jeffrey Dahmer. Dahmer was also usually accompanied by at least one guard, since he was known to provoke his fellow inmates. But even though he kept his distance, Scarver had built up a deep hatred of Dahmer, even going as far as to keep a newspaper article about Dahmer’s heinous crimes in his pocket.
So, when the three inmates were assigned to clean the gymnasium, there was already tension brewing. Then, as Scarver was filling a mop bucket with water, either Dahmer or Anderson poked him in the back. Scarver couldn’t tell which of the men had poked him, but they were both quietly laughing.
This seemingly minor prank had deadly consequences. Scarver followed Dahmer toward a locker room, grabbing a metal bar from a piece of exercise equipment along the way. He then confronted Dahmer with the newspaper clipping and asked if he really had committed those horrific crimes.
“I asked him if he did those things ’cause I was fiercely disgusted,” Scarver said. “He was shocked. Yes, he was… He started looking for the door pretty quick. I blocked him… He ended up dead. I put his head down.”
Christopher Scarver used the metal bar to beat Jeffrey Dahmer to death. Then, he went and did the same thing to Jesse Anderson.
Where Is Christopher Scarver Today?
Christopher J. ScarverA more recent photo of Christopher Scarver on his WordPress website.
The killings netted Christopher Scarver two further life sentences, which also resulted in him being moved to several different prisons. Today, he remains incarcerated at the Centennial Correctional Facility in Canon City, Colorado.
Scarver has alluded, in the years since Jeffrey Dahmer’s death, that he feels that he may have been intentionally assigned to work with Dahmer that day because the prison staff knew he hated the cannibalistic killer. Of course, there is no official statement that aligns with this, and Scarver has refused to elaborate due to a fear of retaliation from the prison system.
He has also met several times with a number of psychologists over the years, but these sessions have done little to help him understand his mental issues. He does, however, feel that “certain foods” could “cause [him] to have a psychotic break — bread, refined sugar. Those are the main culprits.”
Behind bars, Christopher Scarver now spends much of his time creating poetry, short stories, songs, and art, some of which he publishes on a personal WordPress site. But ultimately, he’s still mostly remembered for being the man who killed Jeffrey Dahmer — and he probably always will be.
After reading about Christopher Scarver, the man who killed Jeffrey Dahmer, go inside the little-known stories of Dahmer’s mother, father, and brother. Then, go inside the childhood home of the cannibalistic serial killer.
