Shari Jordan: Meet stepmother of American serial killer, Jeffery Dahmer

Jeffrey Dahmer is one of America’s most infamous serial killers. Stories about his horrible killings have graced the media for years. A movie was made about him, which earned global awards and recognition. However, do you know that Dahmer had a stepmother? Her name is Shari Jordan.

Shari Jordan was a regular woman married into a household where she had to be a mother to her stepson until the same stepson made the news as a serial killer. Since then, she has become the subject of fascination and intrigue for true crime enthusiasts around the world. She was also reportedly a key witness to some of the horrors that happened in her home, thanks to her stepson.

Table of Content hide 1Shari Jordan biography 2Shari Jordan career 3Shari Jordan’s net worth 4Shari Jordan family 5Shari Jordan age 6Shari Jordan now

Shari Jordan biography

Shari Jordan was born on May 8, 1953, in Columbus, Ohio, in the United States of America. Her parents were Howard M. and Olive Jean Miller Jordan.

Though little is known about her early life, she is known as the stepmother of serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer.

Shari Jordan career

There is limited information about Jordan’s career. However, in an explosive  Larry King Live interview in 2004, Jordan revealed that she was proud of the Dahmer name, unlike her son, David, whom she had with Lionel Dahmer.

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According to her, she used the name when she was in the business world. This means she used to have a career, despite the scandal of her stepson’s horrible deeds.

Shari Jordan’s net worth

Information about Jordan’s net worth is unavailable.

Shari Jordan family

Jordan married Lionel Dahmer in 1978. Dahmer is the father of Jeffery Dahmer, whom he had from his previous marriage to his first wife, Joyce Dahmer (nee Flint). Joyce Dahmer was reportedly a hypochondriac. She left Lionel Damher after the court gave her husband leave to keep possession of the house where the family lived until the final divorce settlement.

In an interview with the Oxygen documentary titled Dahmer On Dahmer, Jordan disclosed she first met the infamous Jeffery Dahmer at his mother’s home in Columbus, Wisconsin. She described her stepson as “vulnerable” and said she immediately wanted to “mother” him. Jordan also claimed that the killer was “embarrassed and ashamed” of his parents’ divorce, but was “very good at disguising his feelings”.

Jordan explained: “What I wanted to do, and what most people wanted to do, was mother him.

“He was just vulnerable. Even if I wasn’t his stepmother all his life, as a mother you sense those things.

“When his mother left and he wanted to stay behind, he became very lonely, and that’s when the first murder occurred.” However, she soon discovered that the younger Dahmer had a drinking problem as she once found him passed out in a drunken slumber. Dubbing him a “closet alcoholic”, Jordan claimed her stepson would raid the liquor cabinet and replace the empty bottles with water. But she insisted that there were no other warning signs regarding his horrible nature. Jordan also disclosed that she often visited Jeffery Dahmer in his home alongside her husband and they always found the home “perfectly clean” and “spotless”. The younger Dahmer was eventually arrested and charged to court for killing 17 people. His sickening actions and court appearances were widely publicised in the media. However, both Lionel Dahmer and Shari Jordan supported their son during those appearances in court. They also kept in touch with him during his time behind bars and believed he was mentally ill, adding that “a part of his soul died years ago”. In November 2022, Lionel Dahmer granted an interview with Dr. Phil to talk about his thoughts on his son’s terrible crimes.

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“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 said, as quoted by Insider Edition. “He was at the extreme of the continuum. I couldn’t at first understand how he could have done those things.” Jeffery Dahmer was eventually beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, a fellow inmate at the Columbia Correctional Institution. He was 34 years old at the time of death. Following his death, Lionel Dahmer and Jordan Shari retreated to Ohio where they lived a quiet life. “We’re no different than anyone else in the world… Nobody bothers us here, nobody picks on us. We’ve been here 17 years and we’re part of the neighbourhood, no more, no less,” she said in the documentary. She also hoped that their story would help people “learn to watch our children, monitor them, love them dearly, but be aware of any nuances”. Meanwhile, both Lionel Dahmer and Shari Jordan had another son named David. Unlike Shari, David reportedly wants nothing to do with the Dahmer name. Shari also had a daughter from a previous relationship and became a grandmother of five children.

Shari Jordan age

Jordan was 58 years old, at the time of her death in 2012.

Shari Jordan now

Shari Jordan died in her daughter’s home in 2012. According to Fashionuer, her memory is kept alive through cherished memories with loved ones and the support given to her family.

However, she will always be connected to Jeffery Dahmer, as she was the stepmother of the infamous killer and sex offender. In 2022, a Netflix series, Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, was aired to reveal the disgraceful life of Jeffery. Shari Jordan was played by Hollywood actress, Molly Ringwald.

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