Comic Scott's sick crush

Comic Scott Capurro has said he finds cannibalistic serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer 'really hot'.

The gay stand-up even wrote to the murderer, who tortured at least 16 young men and, raping some of their corpses and eating their flesh.

In 1992, he was sentenced to 16 consecutive life sentences, but was himself killed by another inmate in a Wisconsin prison two years later.

Now the San Franciscan stand-up, who delights in shocking audiences both here and in the States, has called Dahmer a 'gay icon'.

He told the San Francisco Chronicle: '"In a way I admire him for being so unapologetic for his sick and despicable crimes. For a gay man to not feel guilty or feel a need to excuse himself is attractive."

Capurro wrote to the killer while in jail, but was disappointed to receive a standard typewritten reply.

He recently revived his fascination with killers by starting a correspondence with Erik Menendez, one of two rich brothers who murdered their parents.

Capurro, 41, has now used the letters for the basis of a play, Loaded, which opens in San Francisco on Wednesday before heading for the Edinburgh Festival this August.

Published: 4 Apr 2004