Insanity Defense For Dahmer? -- Confessed Killer's Lawyer Eyes Strategy

MILWAUKEE - The attorney for accused serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer hinted yesterday that he may present an insanity defense for the former chocolate-factory worker suspected of killing and dismembering as many as 17 young men and boys.

Attorney Gerald Boyle said Dahmer, 31, is undergoing psychiatric and psychological testing before his scheduled arraignment and plea Sept. 10. Prosecutors formally charged Dahmer yesterday morning with three more dismemberment murders, bringing to 15 the number of such counts against him.

"I doubt very much that there will be any additional charges," said Milwaukee District Attorney E. Michael McCann. "We have charged those counts where we are confident that there is probable cause that can be proven."

Boyle told reporters that Dahmer is clearly competent to stand trial in that he understands what is happening in the courtroom and can assist in his defense.

"But that does not mean that at the time of the commission of his (alleged) offenses that he wasn't suffering from a mental disease or defect," Boyle said. "That's what's being investigated now."

Boyle met reporters after a 10-minute court session in which Dahmer waived his right to a preliminary hearing where prosecutors would have outlined evidence against him. Boyle said he believed the hearing would have been a "waste of time" and added, "I do not think tactically it would help us in what we will ultimately be doing in this case."

Yesterday's charges are based largely on Dahmer's statements to police soon after he was taken into custody, many of them made before Boyle formally joined the case as his attorney. Boyle indicated yesterday that he expects a challenge to admissibility of these confessions in court.

Dahmer, subdued but composed and clad in an orange prison jumpsuit, was asked by Milwaukee Court Commissioner Audrey Brooks whether he understood the charges and the penalties they carry: 15 terms of life imprisonment, plus 10 additional years in prison for each murder because of Dahmer's alleged "habitual criminality."

"Yes, I do, your honor," he replied.

Brooks ordered that Dahmer remain in jail in lieu of a $5 million bond, and his defense team did not object.

Dahmer allegedly has told police that he killed 17 males, including two 14-year-old boys. He was detained after police encountered a handcuffed man who said he had just fled Dahmer's apartment, where police discovered parts of 11 bodies July 22.

One confession involves an Ohio man whom Dahmer said he killed in 1978 and buried in an Akron suburb. Ohio authorities are continuing to investigate that allegation.

The final alleged victim in Wisconsin was Stephen Tuomi, but his body has not been found. McCann indicated yesterday that investigators are not expected to find enough evidence to charge Dahmer in that case.

The charges unveiled yesterday closely track the gruesome pattern of violence attributed to Dahmer in previous court documents. In the three new counts, Dahmer is alleged to have lured young males to his Milwaukee apartment, had sex with them, then drugged and killed them and dismembered their bodies.

In a related development yesterday, Police Chief Philip Arreola said he is still reviewing the fate of three officers suspended for their handling of an incident involving one of Dahmer's alleged victims, Konerak Sinthasomphone, a 14-year-old Laotian boy.