Lionel Dahmer, the father of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, has died at the age of 87 while under hospice care in Medina County, Ohio, according to the local health department. The exact date of Lionel's death remains unknown.

Despite his son's heinous crimes, which earned Jeffrey the moniker "the Milwaukee Cannibal" for killing 17 people, Lionel had consistently stood by him. In a 1994 interview with Oprah, Lionel expressed his unwavering love and support, stating, "I still love my son. I'll always stick by him - I always have."

Lionel's passing comes almost a year after the death of his wife, Shari, on January 13, in a nursing home located in Seville, approximately 25 miles outside of Akron.

Lionel, a chemical analyst by profession, had been a regular visitor to see his son in prison until his own tragic demise in 1994. Lionel was beaten to death with a metal bar by fellow prisoner Christopher Scarver, less than a year after Jeffrey's conviction.

According to Jeb, Lionel's caretaker in 2022, Lionel remained deeply angered whenever Scarver's name was mentioned. Jeb also shared Lionel's belief that the guards may have turned a blind eye, allowing the fatal incident to occur.

Lionel's relationship with Jeffrey's mother, Joyce Flint, ended in divorce in 1978 when Jeffrey was 18 years old, and his younger brother David was 12.

In his book titled "A Father's Story," Lionel offered his perspective on raising Dahmer and attempted to delve into the motivations behind his son's crimes. He openly acknowledged Dahmer's heavy drinking, aimless nature, and fascination with dead animals. Lionel recounted his numerous attempts to guide his son towards a normal life but admitted to finding little explanation for his descent into murder.

In a 2022 interview with Dr. Phil, which had not been aired until then, Lionel expressed his initial disbelief at how Jeffrey had become such an extreme offender, stating, "At first, I couldn't fathom how he turned out to be this far down the continuum. I mean, we're all on a continuum, we all do bad things, we all sin... He was at the extreme of the continuum. I couldn't at first understand how he could have done those things."

Despite leading a private life, Lionel remained unable to escape the notoriety associated with his son's name, especially after Netflix released a series about the murders committed by Jeffrey Dahmer. Lionel had also contemplated legal action against the streaming platform, accusing them of glamorizing his son's crimes in a dramatic series and failing to contact his son's legal team regarding access to tape recordings used in a documentary.

The death of Lionel Dahmer marks the end of a complex and tragic chapter in the life of a man who struggled to comprehend the actions of his own son while grappling with the weight of a notorious name that would forever be associated with horrific crimes.