Successful identification remained elusive until a comparison was made of dental X-rays taken of the presumed victim with a partial dental root found among the fragments. Owsley then compared a bone from the cervical spine with an X-ray of the same location. Forensic evidence revealed that the victim's bones had been sliced and then shattered by blunt force trauma. Following the forensic analysis, Dahmer confessed to the murder, stating that he struck Hicks on the back of the head with the rod from a metal barbell and then strangled him. His body was later dismembered with a Bowie knife. Dahmer smashed the rest of the bones with a sledgehammer, then scattered the fragments around his father's backwoods property. The forensic evidence provided in the case led to Dahmer's first murder conviction.
