Christopher Scarver

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Christopher Scarver


Born	1969 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Conviction(s)	Murder (3 counts)
Penalty	Life (3 counts)

Christopher Scarver (born 1969) is a convicted murderer who, while in prison, killed Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson, describing the deed as "the work of God."

Scarver, the second son of five children born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, went to James Madison High School and dropped out in the 11th grade. When his mother kicked him out he started to drink beer and champagne. Then, in 1990 according to the New York Times, he went to the training program office and saw Steve Lohman, a program worker. He ordered Steve Lohman to give him his money and when he only received 15 dollars, Scarver shot Lohman in the head. At the same time, he demanded money from Mr. Feyen. Next, according to authorities, Scarver said, "Do you think I'm kidding Mr. Hitler? I need more money." Scarver shot Lohman two more times before Feyen was able to run away with a check that he would have given to Scarver.^[1] Scarver was tried and sentenced to life in 1992 and sent to the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin, where Dahmer was also incarcerated. Though violent, antisocial characteristics are not typically comorbid with schizophrenia, psychiatrists diagnosed him as a schizophrenic with messianic delusions and he was placed on antipsychotic medication.

On the morning of November 28, 1994, Scarver was paired up with Jeffrey Dahmer and Jesse Anderson for work detail which included the cleaning of the prison gymnasium bathroom. When guards left the three unsupervised, he beat both men with a preacher bar from a weight machine. When he returned to his cell early a guard asked him why he was not still working. He explained "God told me to do it. You will hear about it on the 6 o'clock news. Jesse Anderson and Jeffrey Dahmer are dead." During that time two guards found the bodies of Dahmer and Anderson. Dahmer was pronounced dead on his way to the hospital from extensive head injuries, and Anderson died two days later.

Although he maintained that he was provoked by God, it was speculated that Scarver, a black man, killed both for racial reasons as most of Dahmer's 17 victims were black and Anderson blamed his murder of his wife on two black men in a fabricated story. Scarver received two more life sentences for these murders.

In 2005, Scarver brought a civil rights suit against the officials of the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility (specifically Jon Litscher, et al.). Scarver argued that he had been subjected to cruel and unusual punishment, contrary to his constitutional rights. A district judge dismissed several defendants and ruled that the actions of the remaining officials could not be considered unlawful. Scarver appealed to U.S. Court of Appeals, who upheld the decision of the district judge in 2006.^[2]