Christopher J. Scarver Sr. (born July 6, 1969) is an American convicted murderer. He is best known for the 1994 murders of his fellow inmates Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, both convicted murderers, at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. The three inmates were on a work detail together in the prison gymnasium, and had a confrontation while unsupervised. Scarver found a metal bar that he used to beat and fatally injure Dahmer and Anderson. Scarver was convicted and sentenced to two further life sentences for these murders. He had already been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of the murder of Steve Lohman in 1990.
Christopher Scarver | |
|---|---|
 Mugshot of Scarver in 1992 | |
| Born | July 6, 1969 |
| Known for | Murdering Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Children | 1 |
| Motive | Robbery (murder of Lohman) Vigilantism (murders of Dahmer and Anderson)[1] |
| Conviction(s) | First degree intentional homicide (3 counts) |
| Criminal penalty | Three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole |
| Details | |
| Victims | 3 |
| Date | June 1, 1990 (Steve Lohman) November 28, 1994 (Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson) |
| Imprisoned at | Centennial Correctional Facility |
Early life
Scarver is the second of five children and was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended James Madison High School before dropping out in the eleventh grade. His mother forced him out of her house after he became addicted to alcohol and marijuana.
Scarver was hired as a trainee carpenter in a Wisconsin Conservation Corps job program. He said that his supervisor, Edward Patts, promised that upon completion of this program he would be hired full-time. After Patts was dismissed, Scarver did not gain a full-time job there.
He began to drink heavily. Later he said that while drunk, he started to hear voices calling him the "chosen one".[1] He was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and was said to have been suffering from messianic delusions.[2][3]
Murder of Steve Lohman
On June 1, 1990, Scarver went to the Wisconsin Conservation Corps training office and found site manager John Feyen and employee Steve Lohman present. Forcing Lohman down at gunpoint, Scarver demanded money from Feyen. Upon receiving only US$15 from him (equivalent to $35 in 2023), the enraged Scarver shot Lohman once in the head, killing him. According to authorities, Scarver said: "Now do you think I'm kidding? I need more money." After Scarver shot Lohman twice more, both post-mortem, Feyen wrote Scarver a check for US$3,000 (equivalent to $6,996 in 2023). As Feyen fled outside to his car, Scarver fired at him, but missed.[1][4]
In 1992, Scarver was convicted of murder at a jury trial and sentenced to life in prison.[5] He was incarcerated at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.[6]
Murders of Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson
Two years later, on the morning of November 28, 1994, Scarver was assigned to a work detail in the gymnasium with two other inmates: Jesse Anderson, convicted for murdering his wife; and Jeffrey Dahmer, a serial killer. When corrections officers left the three unsupervised, they fell into a confrontation. Scarver went out and got a metal bar from the weight room, using it to bludgeon Dahmer. He attacked Anderson with a wooden stick at the showers. He returned to his cell and informed a corrections officer: "God told me to do it. Jesse Anderson and Jeffrey Dahmer are dead."[7][8]
Both men were mortally wounded by the beatings. Dahmer was declared dead an hour after arriving at the hospital. Anderson died two days later after doctors removed him from life support.
Scarver was assessed for mental illness and found competent to stand trial,[9] He was convicted of each murder and received two more life sentences for these.[10] Scarver was quoted as having said: "Nothing white people do to blacks is just."[1]
Aftermath
In 1995, Scarver was transferred into the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons under the register number #08157-045. At the time, prison officials in Wisconsin believed they did not have a facility secure enough to house Scarver. Scarver underwent psychiatric evaluation again at the MCFP Springfield and was later transferred to ADX Florence, the federal supermax in Florence, Colorado, where he remained until 2000.[11]
In 2000, Scarver was transferred to the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility when it opened.[12] In 2001, federal district court judge Barbara Crabb ordered that Scarver and about three dozen other seriously mentally ill inmates be relocated from the Wisconsin facility. Scarver was eventually relocated to the Centennial Correctional Facility in Colorado.[12]
In 2005, Scarver brought a federal civil rights suit against officials of the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility[13] arguing that he had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, contrary to his constitutional rights.[14] A district court judge dismissed the suit against several of the defendants and ruled that the actions of the remaining officials could not be considered unlawful. Scarver unsuccessfully appealed the decision in 2006.[13] Scarver would later say that he had been held for 16 years in solitary confinement as a result of the murders of Dahmer and Anderson.[15]
In 2012, an agent representing Scarver announced that the inmate was willing to write a tell-all book about the murder of Dahmer.[16][17][18]
See also
References
External links
- Court TV's Crime Library
- The Child Left Behind, The Words and Poetry of Christopher J. Scarver (old site, archived May 20, 2015)
- Christopher J. Scarver blog