But Mr. Dahmer told the police after his arrest in July that he had drugged and robbed the man and would have killed him if his grandmother had not seen him. He said he killed his third victim at the home days later.

Mr. Dahmer has pleaded guilty but insane to 15 killings in Milwaukee. The jury's verdict will decide whether he goes to prison or to a mental hospital. In prison he would serve 15 life terms; in a hospital he could petition for release every six months.

He is not charged with one Wisconson killing for lack of evidence, and he is to stand trial later for one Ohio slaying. Late-Night Drive

Testimony in the trial, now in its third week, showed how Mr. Dahmer first dodged the police when he killed his first victim, Steven Hicks, 18 years old, at Mr. Dahmer's boyhood home in Bath, Ohio. Mr. Dahmer said an officer flashed a light in the back seat of the car and asked what was in the plastic trash bags.

"He told them he was upset about his parents' divorce and was taking a late-night drive," a psychiatrist, Dr. Frederick Fosdal, testified for the prosecution. "He said he decided to take the trash to the dump."

Mr. Dahmer was allowed to drive away.

Other testimony provided details of other close calls. Body in Next Room

Two Milwaukee police officers found a naked and dazed 14-year-old on the street and returned him to Mr. Dahmer in May after Mr. Dahmer convinced them that he and the boy were lovers having a spat. Mr. Dahmer said the officers dropped the boy on a couch in his apartment.