Netflix’s new series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, sheds light on some of the serial killer’s victims. Tony Hughes, who was deaf and who could not speak, has been “told” his story by his family and friends in a re-imagining.
The heartbreaking sequences depict Hughes’ life narrative, beginning with his birth and continuing with his search for love and his brief but complicated relationship with Dahmer. The episode makes the case that the story’s resolution might have been different because, for once, Dahmer tells his father that he is content and that he has made a “new friend” in his life.
But Hughes’ tale concludes with his horrifying murder, just like all the others.
According to FBI records, Anthony “Tony” Hughes was born on August 26, 1959. According to The Sun, the negative effects of several medications that were given to him as a child caused him to lose his hearing permanently as a baby. He appeared to be mute as well.
The Wisconsin School for the Deaf is where Hughes received his diploma, according to Gallaudet University.
According to The Sun, Hughes relocated to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend college while pursuing a modeling career.
How did Jeffrey Dahmer kill his deaf victim, Tony Hughes?
The two allegedly met at a gay pub where Hughes wrote messages to people on a notepad to communicate with them. He had used a similar method to speak with the man who would become his murderer, Jeffrey Dahmer.
Hughes was in Madison to see family when “on May 24, 1991, went dancing at a gay bar in Milwaukee. He was taken home by Jeffrey Dahmer after being drugged, his corpse was mutilated, and only his skull was preserved “according to recent news sources from The Associated Press.
It’s unclear how much of the episode is based on reality and how much has been fiction as it explains how the two became attracted to one another and even has Dahmer visiting some of Hughes’ picture shoots.
Hughes’ mother informed The Associated Press that her son “had a new job two weeks earlier but never got his first paycheck” and that she was unable to get in touch with the friend because she only knew the guy’s first name, Jeffrey. This suggests that Hughes may have been working for Dahmer.
Tony Hughes was murdered in 1991 by Jeffrey Dahmer. Even throughout the series, though, there are few specifics about Tony’s murder. The 12th victim of Dahmer was him.
According to History, Dahmer later admitted to killing Hughes and was given 15 consecutive life terms in 1992 for Tony’s murder as well as the deaths of 14 other people. Between 1978 and 1991, Jeffrey killed a total of 17 men and teenagers. Numerous victims of Dahmer were people of color.
Hughes, 31, vanished on May 31, 1991, according to FBI records, but his pals last saw him at Club 219 on May 24. His remains, including his skull and vertebrae, were found in Dahmer’s apartment along with the remains of numerous other victims two months later, in July 1991.
