July 22, 1991: Jeffrey Dahmer and Mike Tyson Are Arrested

July 22, 1991: Jeffrey Dahmer and Mike Tyson are arrested. Not at the same time, and not for the same thing, although Tyson did once (actually, twice) bite a man's ear.

Tyson had been Heavyweight Champion of the World until February 11, 1990, when he was knocked out by James "Buster" Douglas. When Douglas was subsequently knocked out by Evander Holyfield, an attempt was made to set up a fight between them. It was scheduled for November 8, 1991.

But Tyson was arrested in July 1991 for the rape of 18-year-old Desiree Washington at the Canterbury Hotel in Indianapolis. Washington, who had previously been crowned "Miss Black Rhode Island," was a contestant in the Miss Black America pageant, which was being held in Indianapolis. Tyson was convicted on February 10, 1992, and sentenced to 6 years in prison. He ended up serving 3.

Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960 in Milwaukee, and grew up in the Cleveland suburb of Bath, Ohio. As a boy, he became fascinated with dead animals and collected their bones. As a teenager, he discovered that he was gay, and, thinking himself weak, began to develop fantasies where he would be stronger than his partners, killing them and even dissecting them like animals. He developed a drinking problem.

He committed his 1st murder in 1978, shortly after graduating from high school, in nearby Chippewa Lake Park. The following year, at his father's urging, he joined the U.S. Army, but he was discharged in 1981, due to his drinking.

Since his grandmother, who lived in the Milwaukee suburbs, was the only family member who seemed to respond well to him, his father sent him to live with her. Things seemed to go well until 1985, when a male coworker propositioned him. Although he didn't accept, it reawakened his repressed tendencies, and he immersed himself in Milwaukee's underground gay subculture. In 1987, at a hotel, he awoke from a drunken stupor to discover he had killed his partner, with no memory of having done so.

He began taking men home, drugging them, sometimes only having his way with them, sometimes also killing them. He did not always properly dispose of their remains, and, in 1988, complaining about the drinking, the strange men, and the strange smells, his grandmother threw him out. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested for molesting a teenage boy, and pleaded guilty, serving 10 months. But law enforcement was still unaware of the murders he had committed.

On July 22, 1991, with Dahmer having killed 17 victims, ranging in age from 14 to 32, an intended victim, Tracy Edwards, escaped from Dahmer's Milwaukee apartment, and flagged down a police car. The policemen found the knife under his bed, and arrested him.

On February 15, 1992, after hearing evidence of Dahmer's sadism, including storing body parts in his freezer for alleged later consumption -- but, contrary to popular belief, he was never accused of eating the flesh of his victims -- Dahmer was convicted on 15 counts of murder, and sentenced to life in prison, plus 10 years, for each of them. He later pleaded guilty to a 16th count.

He was sent to the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Columbia County, Wisconsin. By the time Mike Tyson got out of prison and started boxing again, Dahmer had left prison -- in a coffin. On November 28, 1994, inmate Christopher Scarver bludgeoned Dahmer and another inmate, Jesse Anderson, to death. Dahmer was 34 years old.

Tyson has since, sort of, been rehabilitated. Dahmer is still considered a monster.

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July 22, 1991 was a Monday. These 4 Major League Baseball games were played:

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-3 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. John Smoltz outpitched former Brave Zane Smith. Barry Bonds went 1-for-3 with a walk.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Dan Pasqua hit a home run for the Pale Hose. Robin Yount did not play. Paul Molitor went 0-for-5.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 9-1 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox, 2-1 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. José Guzmán outpitched Roger Clemens.