Editing Jeffrey Dahmer (section)

===Conviction===
On February 15, the court reconvened to hear the verdict: Dahmer was ruled to be sane and not suffering from a mental disorder at the time of each of the 15 murders for which he was tried, although in each count, two of the twelve jurors signified their [[dissent]].{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=272}} Formal sentencing was postponed until February 17. On this date, Dahmer's attorney announced his client wished to address the court. Dahmer then approached a lectern and read from a statement prepared by himself and his defense as he faced the judge.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=273}}

In this statement, Dahmer emphasized that he had never desired freedom following his arrest, and that he "frankly" wished for his own death. He further stressed that none of his murders had been motivated by hatred, that he understood that nothing he either said or did could "undo the terrible harm" he had caused to the families of his victims and the city of Milwaukee, and that he and his doctors believed his criminal behavior had been motivated by [[mental disorder]]s. Dahmer added that this medical knowledge had given him "some peace", and that although he understood that society would never forgive him, he hoped God would.<ref name="Associated Press">{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/49045923cf0d3c1a0ffc82eda398b935 |title=Dahmer Tells Judge he Blames Nobody But Himself: Dahmer Sentencing |work=[[Associated Press News]] |date=February 17, 1992 |access-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606063721/https://apnews.com/article/49045923cf0d3c1a0ffc82eda398b935 |url-status=live}}</ref> Dahmer closed his statement with: "I know my time in prison will be terrible, but I deserve whatever I get because of what I have done. Thank you, your honor, and I am prepared for your sentence, which I know will be the maximum. I ask for no consideration."<ref name="Associated Press"/> He then returned to his seat to await formal sentencing.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=274}}

Dahmer was then sentenced to life imprisonment plus ten years upon the first two counts.<ref>{{cite magazine|first=Sidney|last=Urquhart|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975527,00.html|title=Guilty! Call My Agent!|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=May 18, 1992|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191001043319/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975527,00.html |archive-date=October 1, 2019}}</ref> The remaining thirteen counts carried a [[mandate (criminal law)|mandatory]] sentence of life imprisonment plus seventy years. The [[Capital punishment in the United States|death penalty]] was not an option for Judge Gram to consider at the penalty phase, as Wisconsin had abolished capital punishment in 1853.<ref name="Bardsley-21"/>

Upon hearing of Dahmer's sentencing, his father Lionel and stepmother Shari requested to be allowed a ten-minute private meeting with their son before he was transferred to the [[Columbia Correctional Institution (Wisconsin)|Columbia Correctional Institution]] in [[Portage, Wisconsin|Portage]], to begin his sentence.{{sfn|Masters|1993|p=274}} This request was granted, and the trio exchanged hugs and well-wishes before Dahmer was escorted away.

Three months after his conviction in Milwaukee, Dahmer was [[extradition|extradited]] to Ohio to be tried for the murder of his first victim, Steven Hicks.{{sfn|Dahmer|1994|p=241}} In a court hearing lasting just 45 minutes,<ref>{{cite news|first=M. R.|last=Kropko|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19920502&id=dEweAAAAIBAJ&pg=1336,196522|title=Dahmer Gets 16th Life Sentence|work=[[Times Daily]]|location=Florence, Alabama|date=May 2, 1992|access-date=April 29, 2018|via=Google News|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122095451/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1842&dat=19920502&id=dEweAAAAIBAJ&pg=1336%2C196522|url-status=live}}</ref> Dahmer again pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to a 16th term of life imprisonment on May 1, 1992.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j7YyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3168,1564005|title=Dahmer Pleads Guilty to 16th Murder|newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]]|date=May 2, 1992|access-date=December 5, 2013|via=Google News|archive-date=January 22, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122095715/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=j7YyAAAAIBAJ&pg=3168%2C1564005|url-status=live}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|The State of Ohio had reinstated the death penalty in 1974; this law had been declared [[Constitutionality|unconstitutional]] by the time of Hicks' 1978 murder. As such, Dahmer was not liable to face the death penalty for this offense. Ohio would formally reinstate the death penalty in 1981.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/ohio|title=Death Penalty Information Center: Ohio|publisher=deathpenaltyinfo.org|access-date=February 2, 2024|archive-date=February 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226164036/https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/ohio|url-status=live}}</ref>}}