Christopher Scarver thought he lived in a state of grace, that he was the son of God. And whites, he declared, were evil abusers of black men.
Now, he's the main suspect in the Monday beating death of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who said he killed and cannibalized young men because he thought he was the devil.
Prison officials were silent Tuesday about what may have motivated the beating of Dahmer and inmate Jesse Anderson, who survived.
Scarver, 25, serving a life sentence for murder, is in isolation at the maximum security prison in Portage, Wis.
He was the only inmate on janitor duty in a gymnasium bathroom with Dahmer and Anderson when the attacks occurred. Scarver's prison uniform was covered with blood when the others were found, prison officials said.
Dahmer's skull had been smashed and his face was hardly recognizable, said the coroner and prison officials.
Anderson was in a coma Tuesday night at the University of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison.
Norbert Kurczewski, a family friend, said Anderson's family and physicians had discussed removing life support.
Dahmer's body was in the morgue at a local hospital. His stepmother, Shari, told the Akron Beacon Journal that Dahmer's will called for cremation. She said his remains should be placed in an unmarked grave so people "can't spit on it or whatever they want to do."
Dahmer's parents made the rounds of tabloid TV shows Tuesday. His father, Lionel, told A Current Affair he'd like his son to be remembered for being truthful "so that all 17 of the victims' families would know the fate of their loved ones."
His mother, Joyce, told Hard Copy her son "didn't deserve to die this way."
Dahmer confessed to killing 17 young men, eating some body parts and having sex with some of the corpses.
Anderson was also in prison for murder. While officials say there's no reason to believe race was a factor in the attack, race was an issue in each man's crimes.
-- Fourteen of Dahmer's victims were black, and police were criticized for not investigating reports of missing black men more seriously.
-- Anderson, 37, a successful white businessman, said two black men stabbed his wife to death in a parking lot in 1992 outside a suburban Milwaukee restaurant. He was convicted of killing her to collect her life insurance.
In prison, Anderson was once put in isolation for drawing a bullet hole on the face of Martin Luther King Jr. in a sketch done by another inmate.
-- Scarver, a high school dropout, was angry that he hadn't gotten a one-year extension at a jobs program for the underprivileged. He called his boss "an evil white man" and "an abuser of black people," police said.
He went back to his office late one day, ordered a white co-worker he'd never met onto the floor and fired four .25-caliber bullets into his head. His white boss ran from the building yelling "Murder!" and dodged a bullet.
Scarver was arrested three hours later and immediately confessed.
In the confession, he insisted the police detective change every mention of his name, "Chris," to "Christ." Then he signed it, "The Truth, Christ J. Scarver."
At trial, a psychiatrist said Scarver thought he was Christ because of his name and his work as a carpenter.
Guards found a bloody broomstick near where Dahmer was killed but say the victims may have had their heads smashed against the walls and floor.
Anderson has a brown belt in karate. "Whoever got him got him from behind," Kurczewski says. "He said he always watched his back and wouldn't go out without a fight."
