Jeffrey Dahmer and Steven Hicks – PART 3: The Controversy Around Identification and Evidence
Was It a Flawed Identification All Along?
In Part 1 of this three-part series on Steven Hicks, we revealed the untold story behind Martha Hicks' $10 million civil lawsuit against the Dahmer family in 1992. In Part 2, we explored the chilling details of Steven Hicks' mysterious disappearance and the unsettling anomalies in his case.
In this gripping final installment, we’ll unravel the remaining questions and delve deeper into the mysteries of Steven Hicks’ identity. Join us as we uncover the final, chilling pieces of this haunting story.
Questioning the Identification of Steven Hicks: Was the Evidence Reliable?
The media widely covered the discovery of Steven Hicks' remains on the Dahmer family property at 4480 West Bath Road, Akron, Ohio, after Jeffrey Dahmer's sensational arrest on July 22, 1991. But have you ever wondered—how was Hicks identified? And why do the details surrounding his identification seem so inconsistent? Let’s dig into the story behind the headlines.
This excerpt from the Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer FBI records uncovers an intriguing investigation: analyzing the fifth cervical vertebrae to compare them with pre- and postmortem X-rays. The pre-mortem head and neck X-rays were reportedly taken when Steven Hicks was just 13 years old.
The goal? To confirm the identity of Hicks using this unique forensic technique. Note that the date of birth provided for Steven Hicks is June 22, 1959.
Can this method of identification really be trusted, given the previously uncovered inconsistencies in the confession and the details from the FBI vault? And the bigger question—what happened to the rest of Steven Hicks?
Interestingly, the excerpt below from the FBI vault highlights only the availability of dental records, with no mention of X-ray records at all. What’s more, the date of birth listed for Steven Hicks here is June 27, 1959—a detail that shows a five-day discrepancy compared to the birth date mentioned earlier in the vault.
Furthermore, another excerpt from the FBI vault references Steven Hicks’ Social Security number, 288-58-4214. However, it doesn’t appear in the Social Security Death Index (you can check this yourself in the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration). Could this be a mistake? Or is there another explanation behind the missing record?
Conflicting Media Reports
At that time, the press also presented conflicting narratives, as illustrated in the examples below.
This article from The Akron Beacon Journal dated Thursday, August 1, 1991, reports that investigators discovered four pieces of what were believed to be human bones, along with several animal bones, on the second day of their search at Jeffrey Dahmer's former home on Bath Road, Ohio.
The article also delves into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Steven Hicks. A friend recounted that on the morning of June 18, 1978, a group of students picked up Hicks while he was hitchhiking on State Route 224 and took him to Chippewa Lake Park in Medina County, the location of a rock concert Hicks was reportedly attending.
The friend mentioned that they spent the day together and that Hicks had planned to meet them later but never arrived. This marked the last sighting of Hicks. The article further states that Dahmer then picked up Hicks while he was hitchhiking in Bath Township.
This excerpt from the article ‘‘Bone Found at Killer's Old Home,’’ published by Desert News on July 30, 1991, gives another version of the story. In this account, Hicks was hitchhiking to the rock concert when he accepted a ride from Jeffrey Dahmer.
The New York Times also published an article on July 31, 1991, titled ‘‘Bone Fragments, Many Human, are Found at Suspect's Ohio Home,’’ which presented yet another version of events. In this account, which was published the day before the Akron Beacon Journal's report above, officials discovered over fifty bone fragments, including sections of skull, ribs, and vertebrae.
Additionally, there was a reference to a ‘‘substantial quantity of blood’’ along with a bloody handprint found in the crawl space beneath Dahmer’s home. Intriguingly, this detail had gone unnoticed for years, even though the property changed ownership twice in the preceding 13 years, according to U.S. public state records.
You get the picture. These stories were all hype with no facts to back them up—a perfect example of how easily a narrative can be twisted and blown out of proportion.
Moreover, another news article sheds light on a compelling detail: Steven Hicks’ father was reluctant to confront the irregularities surrounding his son’s mysterious disappearance. Reported on June 24, 1978—six days after Steven was last allegedly seen—this case continues to raise questions.
In his book The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer, Brian Masters clarifies that Jeff received the ticket for driving left of center on June 25, 1978, at 3 AM, not on June 18th, as this passage reveals:
‘‘In July of 1978, the day after his parents’ divorce became absolute and the day after his mother had finally fled to Wisconsin, Jeff Dahmer was fined $20 by the Traffic Court at Akron, Ohio, for having driven left of centre on 25 June at three in the morning. The last day Steven Hicks was seen alive (other than by his killer) was 18 June. His remains were not found for thirteen years.’’
This challenges the widely circulated story that Hicks crossed paths with Dahmer on June 18, 1978, either on his way to or returning from the second Annual Ohio Music Festival—a detail muddled by conflicting media reports.
What conclusions can we draw from this story? Steven Hicks’s death was both tragic and untimely, shrouded in a web of inconsistencies and unanswered questions. While the truth should remain constant, the chaos surrounding it paints a different picture.
Meanwhile, the Dahmer family was in the midst of their own turmoil. A heated divorce and custody battle over Jeff’s younger brother, David, were already tearing them apart. Lionel Dahmer had moved out, living in a motel with his girlfriend, Shari, 5-10 miles from the family home. The last thing this fractured family needed was their eldest son, Jeff, becoming entangled in the accidental death of a young man.
An event like this could easily spark a civil wrongful death lawsuit, especially in the highly litigious environment of the USA. Worse still, there was a chance they wouldn’t be able to prove the death was accidental. Jeff’s mother, Joyce, who was living at the family home when it happened, might even face accusations of complicity and cover-up. And then there was younger brother David—his entire future hung in the balance.
Living in a remote, secluded area, the idea of covering up the death to avoid lawsuits, accusations, and endless complications might have felt like the simplest, most tempting solution in the moment…
The Abandonment Myth
Let’s clear up a common misconception—Jeffrey Dahmer was not abandoned. The report below reveals that during the custody battle for David, Lionel Dahmer informed the court that Joyce had left the family home around August 24, 1978—violating a court order that barred her from taking David without permission.
It recounts how Lionel also went to the family home in Bath Road after the divorce in July 1978, to present his former wife Joyce with a support check.
Interestingly, Brian Masters also sheds light on the exact date Joyce Dahmer left the house in his book The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer, as revealed in the following excerpt.
‘‘On 24 August Joyce loaded the car and took David with her to Wisconsin, in defiance of the court order. Her sister said she was frightened of Lionel and what he might do. She is also said to have begged Jeff to go with them, but he was paralysed by inertia. So she left, never to return, urging Jeff not to tell his father what she had done. Jeff was left alone in the house.’’
Shortly thereafter, Jeff went to university. He opted to remain at home for a short time, as he was preparing for his upcoming departure to pursue his studies.
Here’s something else to think about—Jeff might have avoided blame for Steven Hicks’ death with the help of a skilled defense lawyer. The identification of Hicks was far from solid, relying on the reported questionable comparison of the fifth cervical vertebra and molar with a postmortem radiograph.
Can we really trust this method of identification when the confession and FBI records are riddled with contradictions about Steven Hicks' disappearance? The FBI vault only adds to the intrigue. And what happened to the rest of Steven Hicks? The questions keep piling up, but the answers remain elusive.
So Hicks was officially reported missing the day before the date of Jeff's alleged traffic ticket. That's a wild coincidence in timing.
My hackles are raised on this traffic ticket. But "driving left of center" would be a good charge to plead guilty to in exchange for having a DUI dropped.
Driving left of center would mean he crossed the line into the other lane, but police don't just give out tickets for a split-second of getting close to the center line. He would have had to have actually driven over the center line so that he was in the oncoming traffic lane... and sober people just don't drive like that.
It makes you think!
Another great post!!
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