How Jeffrey Dahmer’s Final Victim Escaped The Cannibal Killer

Jeffrey Dahmer's final victim said he felt like the luckiest man alive — after coming within an inch of being another meal for the Milwaukee killer cannibal!

The hero who tipped the cops off to the infamous serial killer was only saved when a phone call distracted his attacker — after being lured into Dahmer's apartment with an offer to pose for nude photos.

Edwards, a father of six, originally told police that he had joined Dahmer at his apartment when he was invited over to have a beer, recalling: "He led me to a bus stop. It was a 10- or 15-minute ride to his house...As soon as he opened the door, I smelled something bad. I wondered how Jeff could put up with it."

Edwards didn't know the horrific smell was coming from three human torsos dissolving in acid. The metal barrel containing the corpses sat out in the open, while Dahmer's refrigerator held a secret stock of 2 human hearts, a bag containing arm muscle, another bag of various organs and flesh, and a set of severed hands.

"I was into my second beer," recalled Edwards, "when Jeff said, 'How about some music?' He put on a heavy metal CD, playing it real loud. I was starting to feel real mellow when Jeff said, 'Ever see one of these?' He took out a pair of handcuffs. 'You a cop or something?' I said, laughing."

"'No,' he said, 'but everyone's entitled to a little fun," continued Edwards. "How would you like to play cops and robbers?' He was standing a couple of feet away from me, and he suddenly flicked the handcuffs on my left wrist. '"Hey, wait a minute,' I said. I tried to get out of my chair, but Jeff just pushed me back."

"He took the free end of the handcuffs and hooked it to the arm of the chair," said Edwards. "Then he took off for the kitchen...I decided to get free of that chair. Just as I pulled loose, he came flying out of the kitchen and knocked me down on the floor. He had a kitchen knife in his right hand."

"And as he held me down with his left hand on my neck," said Edwards, "he waved the knife over his head. He was turning his head from side to side, screaming over the heavy-metal music, 'I'm gonna cut your heart out!' I was a goner. I could see that knife coming down and chopping into my body."

Fortunately for Edwards, the crazed cannibal was distracted by a phone call. "He went to answer the phone," said Edwards. "As soon as he said 'Hello,' I headed for the door. He saw, and he came after me. He grabbed me by my neck in a headlock. That's when the martial-arts course I once took popped into my mind. I gave him a karate chop to the stomach."

"Jeff doubled up in pain," said Edwards, "and I got out of there, running for all I was worth. Someone was looking out for me. There's just got to be a guardian angel somewhere up above that kept me from becoming another victim of this sick, sick guy." Edwards ran into policemen on the street, and asked them to help him take off the handcuffs.

Instead, the cops went to Dahmer's apartment — where they uncovered horrific Polaroids of Dahmer's handiwork, and found the grisly remains of victims. Dahmer was convicted of multiple murders. He died behind bars in a Wisconsin prison in Nov. 1994, after convicted murderer Christopher Scarver beat him to death with a metal rod.

In a bizarre twist, though, Edwards himself later went to prison on homicide charges. The lucky final victim was arrested for the death of a fellow homeless man in 2011. In January 2012, Edwards was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to aiding a felon in the case of the victim who fell off a bridge during an argument.