Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022) s01e08 Episode Script
Lionel
1
No.
Uh, could I see him?
Guess I really done it this time, huh?
Mm.
- Sorry, Dad.
- No, it's okay.
It's okay. It's okay. Come on.
Take a seat.
Because we got, uh
I gotta I gotta We
We
I don't know where to begin.
How's Grandma?
Oh, she's good.
She sends her love.
'Kay.
Did you ever get around to fixing that AC?
I don't know what to say.
'Kay.
Well
neither do I.
I didn't realize how sick you were.
You need help.
'Kay.
No, I mean
You know, like from a professional.
Because
I still think you can be treated.
You know what? 'Cause I
You know,
I have to hope you can get better.
Oh.
'Cause I just
I've just been trying
to think how this all happened.
'Cause I didn't raise you to be like this.
Yeah.
So why do you think you
Why'd you do it?
I don't know.
Okay. Well, see,
now, that's not gonna cut it.
- Well, sorry.
- Well, Jeff
I don't need you to say sorry.
I need to know why.
Because there needs
to be some responsibility here.
What you've done to the family,
to Grandma, to Shari and me.
Mm.
I mean, do you?
Do you have any idea how this all started?
I don't know.
I mean, I been thinking about it.
A lot.
You know?
So I used to
Well
Remember when you used to take me
to go and find roadkill
and we'd cut 'em up?
No, no, no.
You're not gonna lay this on me, no.
No.
'Kay.
It's not my fault.
I didn't do this.
- I was a good dad to you.
- I know.
I mean, I
What?
Ah
Uh
All I What I was doing was
I was showing concern for my son
who showed an interest in something.
It's okay, Dad.
You know, what you did,
I didn't teach you how to do that.
- Don't.
- You hear me?
'Kay.
I didn't do this!
That's Joyce Dahmer!
- Let's move.
- There she is!
Mrs. Dahmer!
Can we talk to you about your son Jeffrey?
How do you feel about
the crimes he's been accused of?
- Leave me alone.
- Know why your son ate people?
Why's he seem to target
Black and Latino gay men?
- Think these were hate crimes?
- I said leave me alone!
- Do you feel responsible?
- One more question.
Ah! My name is not Dahmer!
Thank you.
Isaac Richards?
Yes.
I'm Joyce Flint.
I have the results of your HIV test.
You're negative.
Jesus.
Ma'am, why are you crying?
It's just my
I'm just so happy you don't have
to give your mother any bad news.
Sweetheart?
Lionel, what are you doing?
Oh, I'm just, uh I'm up early.
You never came to bed.
I'm sorry, what did you say?
Honey
we need to talk.
Honey, you have to sleep.
This isn't healthy.
Well, my schedule's all messed up.
Well, you should
be using this time just to rest.
I can't rest, Shari.
Then we need to see a doctor
and get you some sleeping pills.
Jesus Christ
Because five nights in a row
of not sleeping is not healthy.
Yeah, that'll do it. Yeah, more pills.
That's just what this family needs.
You do know that pills are what started
this whole thing. You know that.
Just calm down.
How many pills you think she was on
when she was pregnant with him? Thousands.
She was, sleeping pills,
sedatives, seizure medication.
She didn't give him a fucking chance.
Come on, you can't blame Joyce for this.
The fuck I can't!
Because it's her fault!
She wasn't a mother!
She never even held him!
- Stop screaming!
- She scared the shit out of him!
And then she just left!
She got in her car, and she drove away,
and she left that kid
in that house all summer.
Well, where were you that summer, Lionel?
Oh, God No, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean that.
Oh, hey, we are in this together.
I should have checked up on him.
I didn't check up on him.
But you didn't know!
He's got my genes, Shari.
Half of that boy is me.
And I
I've had thoughts like him, I think.
I used to.
I used to
try to make explosives.
And I would use fireworks,
and I would tie a little army guy to them.
And one day, I brought
a homemade bomb to school.
And I threw it out
the goddamn window for Christ's sake.
Oh, honey, that's not the same thing.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, listen.
I had fantasies like him too, I think.
There was a neighborhood girl,
and she lived on our block.
And I tried to hypnotize her because
I don't know.
To get her to do whatever I wanted.
And I used to sit in church
and think of what it would be like
to kill someone, to murder them.
And, uh, I had nightmares about it
for a while, I did.
But it wasn't about how I'd
kill someone because it was about
how I'd already done it.
Knowing that I'd killed someone
and not knowing what to do.
But you didn't.
There is nothing wrong
with your genes, honey.
I mean, just look at David.
He's got half your DNA,
and he's a nice, normal kid.
Wouldn't you say?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Aw
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Oh my
Sir, you're not allowed to be here.
You can't go in there, sir!
Jeff! He's probably
asleep upstairs. It's so early!
- Leave her alone.
- You cannot be here.
- She's my mother.
- Get him out of here.
- You're scaring her. You have no right.
- This is a crime scene, sir.
Your son killed people
in this house, Mr. Dahmer.
- Understand that?
- You have no
He's cooperating with us. You know that?
She has dementia. You come here,
she can have a breakdown.
Jeff! You come down here.
- Sir?
- Please, just let me put her in her room.
We'll be out of your way.
Please. Please. Come on, Ma.
There's that queen.
Lionel?
Oh, yeah.
Um, okay.
Oh.
Oh.
Uh it's your move, Ma.
Today,
the city of Milwaukee is hurting.
Jeffrey Dahmer's heinous crimes
have not only shocked the nation.
They've inflicted a painful
and devastating wound on this community.
Now, some folks have asked me,
"Reverend, why are you
going out to Milwaukee?"
"Dahmer's been caught."
"Aren't you just
stirring up more division?"
To those folks, I say,
"I come here today not to sow division,
but the call for accountability."
Dahmer's crimes
weren't committed in a vacuum.
Many people,
including officers of the law,
turned a blind eye,
which is why he was able
to do what he did for so long.
But you're lucky
you've got a strong leader
in Police Chief Arreola.
The chief told me he's planning
to launch a thorough investigation
into what went wrong,
especially that incident
involving that young boy,
Konerak Sinthasomphone.
But let me be clear.
We are not content
to simply listen to words,
comforting words.
- Okay!
- Yes!
Words like "healing,"
"cooling down,"
"coming together."
Those are all code words
that mean exactly the same thing.
"Let's sweep this under the rug."
We will not be satisfied.
We will not rest
until the conditions no longer exist
that would allow someone
like Jeffrey Dahmer
to murder 17 young men,
many of them Black and brown.
We will not rest until justice prevails
for all citizens in this city.
We will not rest until empty words
are replaced with decisive action!
We will not rest! We will not rest!
This isn't fair, Chief.
You can't suspend us.
We did nothing wrong.
Nothing wrong?
You returned an underage boy
back to a serial killer
that would eventually kill him.
You didn't check
his identification or his age.
You ignored witnesses.
You didn't do
a background check on Dahmer.
We didn't see a need
to do a background check.
If you had, you'd have seen that Dahmer
was on probation for child molestation.
Look, the kid
looked like an adult, all right?
We thought it was
a boyfriend-boyfriend thing.
So I guess that's why you had
to get "deloused" after the incident.
That is what you told dispatch.
We have it on tape.
That was a joke.
Then there's Glenda Cleveland,
Dahmer's neighbor.
She claims that she called
multiple times about him,
but you ignored her request.
Whose side are you on?
This isn't about sides.
You boys screwed up.
And I'm under a lot of pressure.
I have the mayor,
the community, Jesse Jackson,
the whole damn country's
breathing down my neck.
- I have to do something.
- You're our police chief.
You're supposed to have our backs.
You'll both be on paid leave until
the panel finishes its investigation,
after which we'll make
a final determination.
You know what?
Our union reps are gonna fight this.
You can't fire us. Trust me.
We will be here long after you.
Did you think
Jeffrey Dahmer was going to eat you?
Yeah.
I did.
He said he was going to eat my heart.
Harrowing stuff.
His name is Tracy Edwards,
the man who was almost
Jeffrey Dahmer's final victim.
Thank you, Tracy, for telling your story.
Our next guest is a childhood friend
of Jeffrey Dahmer's
who agreed to come on the show
on condition of anonymity,
and he's got a story
that's a Geraldo exclusive.
We'll call him Nick.
Thank you for coming on the show.
Thank you for having me.
I understand you had
a sexual relationship with Jeffrey Dahmer.
How did you meet him?
We were on the yearbook staff together.
Jeff wasn't yearbook staff.
And where did
this sexual activity take place?
At his house.
Did you meet his family?
Oh, yeah,
he had a stepmother who was like
She was like the stepmother from hell,
screaming at him all the time
It's just It's just all lies.
That's Lionel Dahmer's second wife, Shari.
And, um, he said to me,
he told me that he was
sexually molested by his father.
I'm not watching this.
Nick, Jeffrey Dahmer told
That's not true, Lionel.
No, it's not true! None of it's true!
Well, sweetheart, what can you do?
I don't know. I I don't know.
I gotta do something.
What?
You're on the cover
of Newsweek and People magazine.
Wow.
Okay.
You think I could take these with me?
Just to read?
No, you can't.
Mm.
What do they say?
Well, what do they say?
It's not good, Jeff.
They're saying
you're the Milwaukee Cannibal.
People want to kill you.
They want you dead.
Well fine. I want that too.
No, no, no, no, you don't.
Wisconsin doesn't have the death penalty.
Well, they're talking about bringing
it back, though, because of me, right?
No, no, Jeff,
just get that out of your head. No.
Look,
it doesn't help anybody
for you to spend the rest
of your life in prison.
Okay? You need help.
And there's really
only one way we can do that.
That's right, yeah. Uh
For you to get the help you need,
so we can understand this,
we have to convince the judge
that you're insane, Jeff.
But I'm not insane.
Well, at the time of the killings then.
- Hmm. No, I wasn't then, either.
- Oh, jee Come on, Jeff.
I mean, you killed people, you cut 'em up.
You had sex with them.
You had to stop dismembering them
so you could masturbate on them.
But I wasn't crazy.
It was just like a a compulsion.
Right, okay, so you had a compulsion,
which means you couldn't stop.
Yeah, Jeff. Come on.
Come on, you talked about demon
You said that you were possessed.
And you said that you'd wake up
and you didn't remember what you did.
'Cause I was blackout drunk, Dad.
That's why I didn't remember some stuff.
But I knew what I was doing.
Didn't want to, but
couldn't help myself.
I'm not insane.
No. Jeff, no. No.
You're not gonna say that in court.
You just You're not.
Because, uh
we got something now, okay?
We got a legal precedent.
Uh, there's a previous case that's
He's very similar to yours.
And it wasn't far from here.
Uh, what
what this guy did, it's just very similar.
It was a while ago,
back when I was a kid.
This was in Plainfield.
- November 16, 1957.
- Fifty-seven. Mm-hmm.
The owner of a hardware store,
she disappears.
Now, no one knows where she is.
Her son tells the police
that a man by the name of Ed Gein
had been there the evening before.
So they go to his house.
Nobody's there.
So they walk around the back
and find a shed.
Oh my
Jesus Christ.
And there's the woman's body.
All cut up, hanging from the rafters.
So they arrest him.
He doesn't say a thing.
For 30 hours straight,
he just sits there.
Finally, he pipes up.
I'd like an apple pie
and a slice of cheese.
Then he starts talking.
They search the house.
They find the woman's head
in a burlap sack,
and there's just body parts everywhere.
Bowls made out of people's skulls.
He had skulls on his bedposts.
He upholstered his chairs
with human skin.
And, uh, just like you,
Jeff, you know, you said you, um
tried to dig up a body once.
Yeah, just once.
Yeah, well, turns out this guy,
he did it like 30, 40 times,
digging up bodies.
Oh, wow.
They looked in the coffins.
They were empty.
And And he went into a kind of a daze
when he did these things,
and then he would kinda wake up and
and he couldn't remember what happened.
Did he have sex with the bodies he dug up?
Okay. Okay. Jeff, here, Ed Gein Okay
The point is
he killed a lot of people too, okay?
And there's no denying that.
But, um, he entered a plea of not guilty
by reason of insanity, and didn't
spend the rest of his life in prison.
He spent the rest of his life
in a hospital,
getting the psychiatric help
that he needed.
You see?
We can do the same thing for you, Jeff.
Hmm.
Well, that That does sound familiar.
What?
Uh
I've read about him.
You know, it was a comic book
I read about him, I think.
I'm sorry. Did you say a comic book?
Yeah, it was one of those, uh,
Weird Tales ones or something.
Spooky stuff.
I remember the cover, I think.
A fucking comic book.
I mean Well, now we know
where the fault lies, the whole culture.
- Yeah.
- Who writes a comic book like that?
- That's something
- Mr. Dahmer.
You've got to understand
the weight of what it's like
representing somebody like Jeff.
We got to stay focused here.
We hold fast
and stick with the insanity plea.
So, we do that, do we still
have to go through the whole trial?
Yeah, and I think we will lean into it.
We don't argue
the murders aren't gruesome. They are.
I think that helps our case.
The jury
has hereby determined
that Mr. Dahmer was of sound mind
and not legally insane
with respect to all of the 15 counts
of first-degree murder he's confessed to,
which means his victims' families
can rest assured
that he will be sent to prison.
Court shall recess till Monday,
at which time victims'
family members will be allowed
to make impact statements to the court.
And the defendant will be allowed
to make a statement of his own
before sentencing.
Court is adjourned
till Monday at 9:00 a.m.
So that's it. Huh? You're leaving? Huh?
What do you want me to say, Lionel?
Well, I would like you to take
some responsibility, maybe.
Lionel. Lionel.
- Responsibility? What does that mean?
- Just what it means.
So you're saying this is my fault?
No. No, he's not.
Yeah, well, as of now,
I'm taking the blame for this.
Have you read what they said about me?
I've not heard a word from you
about the awful lies
they're spreading about me.
I don't know what the hell you did
with him when I wasn't there.
Oh, is that right?
And you say I did this to him?
Well, it is not my fault,
you son of a bitch!
It's nobody's fault.
- You think I did this to him
- It's not about who's to blame.
when you were cutting up roadkill with him
in that fucking garage, Lionel?
Yeah, just walk away, Joyce.
Just like you walked away from your son.
Lionel.
You still on those pills, huh?
- How many you fucking taking? Huh?
- Lionel! Lionel! Stop it!
Stop it.
All right, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
God. Oh God, forgive me.
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
I'm so sorry.
May I help you?
Ms. Straughter?
Yes.
- I'm Joyce Flint. I'm
- I know who you are.
Is your daughter Dorothy here,
Curtis's mother?
She's not. What is it you want, Ms. Flint?
Well, first, let me just say how
deeply, deeply sorry I am
for what happened.
For what my son
did to your grandson Curtis.
I realize there's nothing I can say.
It's unforgivable.
Why are you here, Ms. Flint?
I came here because
I was hoping to speak to you
or your daughter
as a mother.
To ask if
if either of you might be willing
to say something in court tomorrow
on behalf of Jeff.
On behalf of Jeff?
That the judge might consider
sending him to a mental facility
and not to prison.
You want us to forgive your son?
Ask the judge to forgive him?
No.
I feel for you, ma'am.
Truly, I do.
You want your truth as a mother
to be heard, I understand that.
But maybe now it's time for you
to listen to somebody else's truth.
You understand?
Let's hear
the first impact statement.
My family and I
came to this country by boat.
We were poor,
but we were hopeful.
American dream.
We believed in the American dream.
But now, we're living in a nightmare.
And it's all because of Jeffrey Dahmer.
He robbed us of our son, Konerak.
He robbed us of our dream.
My name is Shirley Hughes,
and I'm Tony Hughes's mother.
I would like to say
to Jeffrey Dahmer that
he don't know the pain,
the hurt, the loss,
and the mental state
he's put our family in.
But I'd just like to read a poem
that a good friend of my son's wrote.
"Why are you attacking me, Jeffrey?"
"I thought you were my friend."
"Why am I a victim
in your cruel and evil world?"
"Look at the tears roll down my face."
"See that each one is a cry for help,
and realize that I want to live."
"What have I done to you
to make you such a maniac,
to make you such a devil?"
Why did this happen
to a person like Eddie?
He gave so much and asked for so little.
All he wanted was a chance to be himself.
When you killed my brother, you killed
my mother and father.
I beg you, Your Honor,
don't let this man ever walk the streets
or see daylight again.
Good morning, Honor.
My name is Donald Bradehoft.
I'm the
For the Bradehoft family.
As much as love in our family closed,
my mother gave five beautiful kids.
We lost
He destroyed the baby of the family.
And I hope you go to hell!
I love this world.
You guys did a wonderful job.
Bottom of my heart, thank to God,
I got a lot of strength.
Thank you all.
God bless America.
I'll never get a chance again
to tell him that I loved him.
You took my mother's
oldest grandchild from her.
And for that, I can never forgive you.
"Mom, I'm gone."
"I know there's a dragon piercing
your heart day and night because of this,
but yet, I'm not far away."
"Two fingers and one thumb
means 'I love you' in sign language."
"When you cry, Mom,
place one teardrop outside
your window ledge,
and when I pass by,
I'll exchange it for one of mine."
"And then I'll always be with you."
"Two fingers and one thumb."
"Your son, Tony."
My name is Rita Isbell,
and I'm the oldest sister
of Errol Lindsay.
Je Whatever your name is, Satan.
I'm mad!
This is how you act
when you are out of control?!
Now, I don't want to ever have to see
my mother go through this again!
Never, Jeffrey!
Jeffrey, I hate you, motherfucker!
I hate you!
This is out of control!
Don't fuck with me, Jeffrey!
I'll kill you, God damn it!
Look at me! Look at me, motherfucker!
Mr. Dahmer,
before I impose sentence,
I understand you have a statement
you'd like to read?
Yes, Your Honor.
Your Honor, it is over now.
This has never been a case
of trying to get free.
I didn't ever want freedom.
Frankly, I wanted death for myself.
This was a case to tell the world
that I did what I did,
not for reasons of hate.
I hated no one.
I knew I was sick or evil or both.
Now I believe I was sick.
The doctors have told me
about my sickness,
and now I have some peace.
I know how much harm I've caused,
and I tried to do the best I could
after the arrest to make amends,
but no matter what I did,
I could not undo
the terrible harm I've caused.
My attempt to help identify the remains
was the best that I could do.
And that was hardly anything.
I feel so bad
for what I did to those poor families,
and I understand their rightful anger.
I know I will be
in prison for the rest of my life
We're here outside
Milwaukee County Courthouse,
where just moments ago,
Judge Laurence Gram
sentenced serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer
to 15 consecutive life terms in prison,
one life term for each
person he's accused of killing.
You all right, Mama?
Yeah, I'm good.
We got that bastard. We got him.
And he ain't never getting out.
Guess I'm getting
what's coming to me, huh?
Oh, son.
- It's okay, Dad.
- Yeah.
We tried our best.
Listen, um,
I know we only have a few minutes,
so there's something I gotta tell you.
Um
Now, I've been looking everywhere
to find out
who is responsible for all this,
blaming everybody except myself.
And it's me. I'm the one to blame.
- Dad, you don't have to say that.
- Honey
Okay, shut up, Jeff.
Please just listen to me. Listen to me.
It's me. I did this to you.
All that stuff with the dead animals,
I shouldn't have done that.
I shouldn't have showed you
how to do that.
And your, uh, your fantasies
about killing people and stuff,
I should have made you feel like
you could tell me about that stuff.
You know?
Because I had those same feelings.
And I gave you that part of me.
And I never really
helped you enough when you needed it.
When you went to prison,
I wrote a letter to the judge.
I said, "My son needs help,"
'cause I knew you did,
but I just left it at that,
and that wasn't enough, and
I wasn't a good father.
I wasn't, 'cause I wasn't a good husband.
And you didn't feel safe.
I left you alone.
I can't believe
that I left you alone.
Oh, I'm so
I'm so sorry I left you alone.
Time to go.
And I'll I'll never forgive myself.
Okay, but I won't leave you again.
I promise, son.
I'll I'll make it up to you.
I'll visit you every week, and I'll call.
I've known this was coming
for a long time now.
There's so much I need to say.
But I find it impossible
to put into words
because it's all so horrible.
Words can't express the scale of my grief.
When I try to take responsibility
for the part I played in all of this,
it is simply too painful to do so.
But denying I had any part in it
is a comfort I can't allow myself.
Because I know it isn't true.
I failed you, Jeff,
and I'm sorry
I wasn't the mother you needed.
And I am no longer willing to live
with the guilt of that fact.
To all of Jeff's victims,
I cannot express to you
the magnitude of my regret.
So it's pointless to even try.
To my son David, please forgive me.
You've been able
to rise above all of this,
and I'm sorry that I'm not able to.
I love you and your brother.
I tried my best.
Sweetheart.
Hold on.
I'm in the middle of a chapter here.
When, uh, Jeff was
Remember that Christmas
before Jeff went in the Army?
Okay, but
Just one second. One second.
Oh, yeah,
how did I not know that writing a book
is what I should've
been doing the whole time?
I think I have a knack for it.
Lionel, I just got off
the phone with David.
She's okay.
But he said
that Joyce tried to kill herself.
Oh, Jesus.
Oh, Jesus.
She's okay, though?
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll call him.
Thank you, guys.
We're glad to be back on the force.
Thank you, uh, for all your support.
It's meant a lot, and, uh
it was nice to know
that somebody has your back.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
- Good to see you, sir. How are you?
- Bobby!
I appreciate the call, Mayor.
Yes, so do I.
What happened?
Those two cops who let that Konerak boy
go back to Jeffrey Dahmer,
they've just been reinstated.
What?
A slap on the wrist and that's it?
Mayor said
they're gonna appeal the decision.
And if that fails?
Then we
fight the next fight.
And the next fight.
And the next.
No.
Uh, could I see him?
Guess I really done it this time, huh?
Mm.
- Sorry, Dad.
- No, it's okay.
It's okay. It's okay. Come on.
Take a seat.
Because we got, uh
I gotta I gotta We
We
I don't know where to begin.
How's Grandma?
Oh, she's good.
She sends her love.
'Kay.
Did you ever get around to fixing that AC?
I don't know what to say.
'Kay.
Well
neither do I.
I didn't realize how sick you were.
You need help.
'Kay.
No, I mean
You know, like from a professional.
Because
I still think you can be treated.
You know what? 'Cause I
You know,
I have to hope you can get better.
Oh.
'Cause I just
I've just been trying
to think how this all happened.
'Cause I didn't raise you to be like this.
Yeah.
So why do you think you
Why'd you do it?
I don't know.
Okay. Well, see,
now, that's not gonna cut it.
- Well, sorry.
- Well, Jeff
I don't need you to say sorry.
I need to know why.
Because there needs
to be some responsibility here.
What you've done to the family,
to Grandma, to Shari and me.
Mm.
I mean, do you?
Do you have any idea how this all started?
I don't know.
I mean, I been thinking about it.
A lot.
You know?
So I used to
Well
Remember when you used to take me
to go and find roadkill
and we'd cut 'em up?
No, no, no.
You're not gonna lay this on me, no.
No.
'Kay.
It's not my fault.
I didn't do this.
- I was a good dad to you.
- I know.
I mean, I
What?
Ah
Uh
All I What I was doing was
I was showing concern for my son
who showed an interest in something.
It's okay, Dad.
You know, what you did,
I didn't teach you how to do that.
- Don't.
- You hear me?
'Kay.
I didn't do this!
That's Joyce Dahmer!
- Let's move.
- There she is!
Mrs. Dahmer!
Can we talk to you about your son Jeffrey?
How do you feel about
the crimes he's been accused of?
- Leave me alone.
- Know why your son ate people?
Why's he seem to target
Black and Latino gay men?
- Think these were hate crimes?
- I said leave me alone!
- Do you feel responsible?
- One more question.
Ah! My name is not Dahmer!
Thank you.
Isaac Richards?
Yes.
I'm Joyce Flint.
I have the results of your HIV test.
You're negative.
Jesus.
Ma'am, why are you crying?
It's just my
I'm just so happy you don't have
to give your mother any bad news.
Sweetheart?
Lionel, what are you doing?
Oh, I'm just, uh I'm up early.
You never came to bed.
I'm sorry, what did you say?
Honey
we need to talk.
Honey, you have to sleep.
This isn't healthy.
Well, my schedule's all messed up.
Well, you should
be using this time just to rest.
I can't rest, Shari.
Then we need to see a doctor
and get you some sleeping pills.
Jesus Christ
Because five nights in a row
of not sleeping is not healthy.
Yeah, that'll do it. Yeah, more pills.
That's just what this family needs.
You do know that pills are what started
this whole thing. You know that.
Just calm down.
How many pills you think she was on
when she was pregnant with him? Thousands.
She was, sleeping pills,
sedatives, seizure medication.
She didn't give him a fucking chance.
Come on, you can't blame Joyce for this.
The fuck I can't!
Because it's her fault!
She wasn't a mother!
She never even held him!
- Stop screaming!
- She scared the shit out of him!
And then she just left!
She got in her car, and she drove away,
and she left that kid
in that house all summer.
Well, where were you that summer, Lionel?
Oh, God No, I'm sorry.
I didn't mean that.
Oh, hey, we are in this together.
I should have checked up on him.
I didn't check up on him.
But you didn't know!
He's got my genes, Shari.
Half of that boy is me.
And I
I've had thoughts like him, I think.
I used to.
I used to
try to make explosives.
And I would use fireworks,
and I would tie a little army guy to them.
And one day, I brought
a homemade bomb to school.
And I threw it out
the goddamn window for Christ's sake.
Oh, honey, that's not the same thing.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, listen.
I had fantasies like him too, I think.
There was a neighborhood girl,
and she lived on our block.
And I tried to hypnotize her because
I don't know.
To get her to do whatever I wanted.
And I used to sit in church
and think of what it would be like
to kill someone, to murder them.
And, uh, I had nightmares about it
for a while, I did.
But it wasn't about how I'd
kill someone because it was about
how I'd already done it.
Knowing that I'd killed someone
and not knowing what to do.
But you didn't.
There is nothing wrong
with your genes, honey.
I mean, just look at David.
He's got half your DNA,
and he's a nice, normal kid.
Wouldn't you say?
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Aw
- Yeah.
- Yeah.
Oh my
Sir, you're not allowed to be here.
You can't go in there, sir!
Jeff! He's probably
asleep upstairs. It's so early!
- Leave her alone.
- You cannot be here.
- She's my mother.
- Get him out of here.
- You're scaring her. You have no right.
- This is a crime scene, sir.
Your son killed people
in this house, Mr. Dahmer.
- Understand that?
- You have no
He's cooperating with us. You know that?
She has dementia. You come here,
she can have a breakdown.
Jeff! You come down here.
- Sir?
- Please, just let me put her in her room.
We'll be out of your way.
Please. Please. Come on, Ma.
There's that queen.
Lionel?
Oh, yeah.
Um, okay.
Oh.
Oh.
Uh it's your move, Ma.
Today,
the city of Milwaukee is hurting.
Jeffrey Dahmer's heinous crimes
have not only shocked the nation.
They've inflicted a painful
and devastating wound on this community.
Now, some folks have asked me,
"Reverend, why are you
going out to Milwaukee?"
"Dahmer's been caught."
"Aren't you just
stirring up more division?"
To those folks, I say,
"I come here today not to sow division,
but the call for accountability."
Dahmer's crimes
weren't committed in a vacuum.
Many people,
including officers of the law,
turned a blind eye,
which is why he was able
to do what he did for so long.
But you're lucky
you've got a strong leader
in Police Chief Arreola.
The chief told me he's planning
to launch a thorough investigation
into what went wrong,
especially that incident
involving that young boy,
Konerak Sinthasomphone.
But let me be clear.
We are not content
to simply listen to words,
comforting words.
- Okay!
- Yes!
Words like "healing,"
"cooling down,"
"coming together."
Those are all code words
that mean exactly the same thing.
"Let's sweep this under the rug."
We will not be satisfied.
We will not rest
until the conditions no longer exist
that would allow someone
like Jeffrey Dahmer
to murder 17 young men,
many of them Black and brown.
We will not rest until justice prevails
for all citizens in this city.
We will not rest until empty words
are replaced with decisive action!
We will not rest! We will not rest!
This isn't fair, Chief.
You can't suspend us.
We did nothing wrong.
Nothing wrong?
You returned an underage boy
back to a serial killer
that would eventually kill him.
You didn't check
his identification or his age.
You ignored witnesses.
You didn't do
a background check on Dahmer.
We didn't see a need
to do a background check.
If you had, you'd have seen that Dahmer
was on probation for child molestation.
Look, the kid
looked like an adult, all right?
We thought it was
a boyfriend-boyfriend thing.
So I guess that's why you had
to get "deloused" after the incident.
That is what you told dispatch.
We have it on tape.
That was a joke.
Then there's Glenda Cleveland,
Dahmer's neighbor.
She claims that she called
multiple times about him,
but you ignored her request.
Whose side are you on?
This isn't about sides.
You boys screwed up.
And I'm under a lot of pressure.
I have the mayor,
the community, Jesse Jackson,
the whole damn country's
breathing down my neck.
- I have to do something.
- You're our police chief.
You're supposed to have our backs.
You'll both be on paid leave until
the panel finishes its investigation,
after which we'll make
a final determination.
You know what?
Our union reps are gonna fight this.
You can't fire us. Trust me.
We will be here long after you.
Did you think
Jeffrey Dahmer was going to eat you?
Yeah.
I did.
He said he was going to eat my heart.
Harrowing stuff.
His name is Tracy Edwards,
the man who was almost
Jeffrey Dahmer's final victim.
Thank you, Tracy, for telling your story.
Our next guest is a childhood friend
of Jeffrey Dahmer's
who agreed to come on the show
on condition of anonymity,
and he's got a story
that's a Geraldo exclusive.
We'll call him Nick.
Thank you for coming on the show.
Thank you for having me.
I understand you had
a sexual relationship with Jeffrey Dahmer.
How did you meet him?
We were on the yearbook staff together.
Jeff wasn't yearbook staff.
And where did
this sexual activity take place?
At his house.
Did you meet his family?
Oh, yeah,
he had a stepmother who was like
She was like the stepmother from hell,
screaming at him all the time
It's just It's just all lies.
That's Lionel Dahmer's second wife, Shari.
And, um, he said to me,
he told me that he was
sexually molested by his father.
I'm not watching this.
Nick, Jeffrey Dahmer told
That's not true, Lionel.
No, it's not true! None of it's true!
Well, sweetheart, what can you do?
I don't know. I I don't know.
I gotta do something.
What?
You're on the cover
of Newsweek and People magazine.
Wow.
Okay.
You think I could take these with me?
Just to read?
No, you can't.
Mm.
What do they say?
Well, what do they say?
It's not good, Jeff.
They're saying
you're the Milwaukee Cannibal.
People want to kill you.
They want you dead.
Well fine. I want that too.
No, no, no, no, you don't.
Wisconsin doesn't have the death penalty.
Well, they're talking about bringing
it back, though, because of me, right?
No, no, Jeff,
just get that out of your head. No.
Look,
it doesn't help anybody
for you to spend the rest
of your life in prison.
Okay? You need help.
And there's really
only one way we can do that.
That's right, yeah. Uh
For you to get the help you need,
so we can understand this,
we have to convince the judge
that you're insane, Jeff.
But I'm not insane.
Well, at the time of the killings then.
- Hmm. No, I wasn't then, either.
- Oh, jee Come on, Jeff.
I mean, you killed people, you cut 'em up.
You had sex with them.
You had to stop dismembering them
so you could masturbate on them.
But I wasn't crazy.
It was just like a a compulsion.
Right, okay, so you had a compulsion,
which means you couldn't stop.
Yeah, Jeff. Come on.
Come on, you talked about demon
You said that you were possessed.
And you said that you'd wake up
and you didn't remember what you did.
'Cause I was blackout drunk, Dad.
That's why I didn't remember some stuff.
But I knew what I was doing.
Didn't want to, but
couldn't help myself.
I'm not insane.
No. Jeff, no. No.
You're not gonna say that in court.
You just You're not.
Because, uh
we got something now, okay?
We got a legal precedent.
Uh, there's a previous case that's
He's very similar to yours.
And it wasn't far from here.
Uh, what
what this guy did, it's just very similar.
It was a while ago,
back when I was a kid.
This was in Plainfield.
- November 16, 1957.
- Fifty-seven. Mm-hmm.
The owner of a hardware store,
she disappears.
Now, no one knows where she is.
Her son tells the police
that a man by the name of Ed Gein
had been there the evening before.
So they go to his house.
Nobody's there.
So they walk around the back
and find a shed.
Oh my
Jesus Christ.
And there's the woman's body.
All cut up, hanging from the rafters.
So they arrest him.
He doesn't say a thing.
For 30 hours straight,
he just sits there.
Finally, he pipes up.
I'd like an apple pie
and a slice of cheese.
Then he starts talking.
They search the house.
They find the woman's head
in a burlap sack,
and there's just body parts everywhere.
Bowls made out of people's skulls.
He had skulls on his bedposts.
He upholstered his chairs
with human skin.
And, uh, just like you,
Jeff, you know, you said you, um
tried to dig up a body once.
Yeah, just once.
Yeah, well, turns out this guy,
he did it like 30, 40 times,
digging up bodies.
Oh, wow.
They looked in the coffins.
They were empty.
And And he went into a kind of a daze
when he did these things,
and then he would kinda wake up and
and he couldn't remember what happened.
Did he have sex with the bodies he dug up?
Okay. Okay. Jeff, here, Ed Gein Okay
The point is
he killed a lot of people too, okay?
And there's no denying that.
But, um, he entered a plea of not guilty
by reason of insanity, and didn't
spend the rest of his life in prison.
He spent the rest of his life
in a hospital,
getting the psychiatric help
that he needed.
You see?
We can do the same thing for you, Jeff.
Hmm.
Well, that That does sound familiar.
What?
Uh
I've read about him.
You know, it was a comic book
I read about him, I think.
I'm sorry. Did you say a comic book?
Yeah, it was one of those, uh,
Weird Tales ones or something.
Spooky stuff.
I remember the cover, I think.
A fucking comic book.
I mean Well, now we know
where the fault lies, the whole culture.
- Yeah.
- Who writes a comic book like that?
- That's something
- Mr. Dahmer.
You've got to understand
the weight of what it's like
representing somebody like Jeff.
We got to stay focused here.
We hold fast
and stick with the insanity plea.
So, we do that, do we still
have to go through the whole trial?
Yeah, and I think we will lean into it.
We don't argue
the murders aren't gruesome. They are.
I think that helps our case.
The jury
has hereby determined
that Mr. Dahmer was of sound mind
and not legally insane
with respect to all of the 15 counts
of first-degree murder he's confessed to,
which means his victims' families
can rest assured
that he will be sent to prison.
Court shall recess till Monday,
at which time victims'
family members will be allowed
to make impact statements to the court.
And the defendant will be allowed
to make a statement of his own
before sentencing.
Court is adjourned
till Monday at 9:00 a.m.
So that's it. Huh? You're leaving? Huh?
What do you want me to say, Lionel?
Well, I would like you to take
some responsibility, maybe.
Lionel. Lionel.
- Responsibility? What does that mean?
- Just what it means.
So you're saying this is my fault?
No. No, he's not.
Yeah, well, as of now,
I'm taking the blame for this.
Have you read what they said about me?
I've not heard a word from you
about the awful lies
they're spreading about me.
I don't know what the hell you did
with him when I wasn't there.
Oh, is that right?
And you say I did this to him?
Well, it is not my fault,
you son of a bitch!
It's nobody's fault.
- You think I did this to him
- It's not about who's to blame.
when you were cutting up roadkill with him
in that fucking garage, Lionel?
Yeah, just walk away, Joyce.
Just like you walked away from your son.
Lionel.
You still on those pills, huh?
- How many you fucking taking? Huh?
- Lionel! Lionel! Stop it!
Stop it.
All right, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
God. Oh God, forgive me.
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
- It's okay.
I'm so sorry.
May I help you?
Ms. Straughter?
Yes.
- I'm Joyce Flint. I'm
- I know who you are.
Is your daughter Dorothy here,
Curtis's mother?
She's not. What is it you want, Ms. Flint?
Well, first, let me just say how
deeply, deeply sorry I am
for what happened.
For what my son
did to your grandson Curtis.
I realize there's nothing I can say.
It's unforgivable.
Why are you here, Ms. Flint?
I came here because
I was hoping to speak to you
or your daughter
as a mother.
To ask if
if either of you might be willing
to say something in court tomorrow
on behalf of Jeff.
On behalf of Jeff?
That the judge might consider
sending him to a mental facility
and not to prison.
You want us to forgive your son?
Ask the judge to forgive him?
No.
I feel for you, ma'am.
Truly, I do.
You want your truth as a mother
to be heard, I understand that.
But maybe now it's time for you
to listen to somebody else's truth.
You understand?
Let's hear
the first impact statement.
My family and I
came to this country by boat.
We were poor,
but we were hopeful.
American dream.
We believed in the American dream.
But now, we're living in a nightmare.
And it's all because of Jeffrey Dahmer.
He robbed us of our son, Konerak.
He robbed us of our dream.
My name is Shirley Hughes,
and I'm Tony Hughes's mother.
I would like to say
to Jeffrey Dahmer that
he don't know the pain,
the hurt, the loss,
and the mental state
he's put our family in.
But I'd just like to read a poem
that a good friend of my son's wrote.
"Why are you attacking me, Jeffrey?"
"I thought you were my friend."
"Why am I a victim
in your cruel and evil world?"
"Look at the tears roll down my face."
"See that each one is a cry for help,
and realize that I want to live."
"What have I done to you
to make you such a maniac,
to make you such a devil?"
Why did this happen
to a person like Eddie?
He gave so much and asked for so little.
All he wanted was a chance to be himself.
When you killed my brother, you killed
my mother and father.
I beg you, Your Honor,
don't let this man ever walk the streets
or see daylight again.
Good morning, Honor.
My name is Donald Bradehoft.
I'm the
For the Bradehoft family.
As much as love in our family closed,
my mother gave five beautiful kids.
We lost
He destroyed the baby of the family.
And I hope you go to hell!
I love this world.
You guys did a wonderful job.
Bottom of my heart, thank to God,
I got a lot of strength.
Thank you all.
God bless America.
I'll never get a chance again
to tell him that I loved him.
You took my mother's
oldest grandchild from her.
And for that, I can never forgive you.
"Mom, I'm gone."
"I know there's a dragon piercing
your heart day and night because of this,
but yet, I'm not far away."
"Two fingers and one thumb
means 'I love you' in sign language."
"When you cry, Mom,
place one teardrop outside
your window ledge,
and when I pass by,
I'll exchange it for one of mine."
"And then I'll always be with you."
"Two fingers and one thumb."
"Your son, Tony."
My name is Rita Isbell,
and I'm the oldest sister
of Errol Lindsay.
Je Whatever your name is, Satan.
I'm mad!
This is how you act
when you are out of control?!
Now, I don't want to ever have to see
my mother go through this again!
Never, Jeffrey!
Jeffrey, I hate you, motherfucker!
I hate you!
This is out of control!
Don't fuck with me, Jeffrey!
I'll kill you, God damn it!
Look at me! Look at me, motherfucker!
Mr. Dahmer,
before I impose sentence,
I understand you have a statement
you'd like to read?
Yes, Your Honor.
Your Honor, it is over now.
This has never been a case
of trying to get free.
I didn't ever want freedom.
Frankly, I wanted death for myself.
This was a case to tell the world
that I did what I did,
not for reasons of hate.
I hated no one.
I knew I was sick or evil or both.
Now I believe I was sick.
The doctors have told me
about my sickness,
and now I have some peace.
I know how much harm I've caused,
and I tried to do the best I could
after the arrest to make amends,
but no matter what I did,
I could not undo
the terrible harm I've caused.
My attempt to help identify the remains
was the best that I could do.
And that was hardly anything.
I feel so bad
for what I did to those poor families,
and I understand their rightful anger.
I know I will be
in prison for the rest of my life
We're here outside
Milwaukee County Courthouse,
where just moments ago,
Judge Laurence Gram
sentenced serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer
to 15 consecutive life terms in prison,
one life term for each
person he's accused of killing.
You all right, Mama?
Yeah, I'm good.
We got that bastard. We got him.
And he ain't never getting out.
Guess I'm getting
what's coming to me, huh?
Oh, son.
- It's okay, Dad.
- Yeah.
We tried our best.
Listen, um,
I know we only have a few minutes,
so there's something I gotta tell you.
Um
Now, I've been looking everywhere
to find out
who is responsible for all this,
blaming everybody except myself.
And it's me. I'm the one to blame.
- Dad, you don't have to say that.
- Honey
Okay, shut up, Jeff.
Please just listen to me. Listen to me.
It's me. I did this to you.
All that stuff with the dead animals,
I shouldn't have done that.
I shouldn't have showed you
how to do that.
And your, uh, your fantasies
about killing people and stuff,
I should have made you feel like
you could tell me about that stuff.
You know?
Because I had those same feelings.
And I gave you that part of me.
And I never really
helped you enough when you needed it.
When you went to prison,
I wrote a letter to the judge.
I said, "My son needs help,"
'cause I knew you did,
but I just left it at that,
and that wasn't enough, and
I wasn't a good father.
I wasn't, 'cause I wasn't a good husband.
And you didn't feel safe.
I left you alone.
I can't believe
that I left you alone.
Oh, I'm so
I'm so sorry I left you alone.
Time to go.
And I'll I'll never forgive myself.
Okay, but I won't leave you again.
I promise, son.
I'll I'll make it up to you.
I'll visit you every week, and I'll call.
I've known this was coming
for a long time now.
There's so much I need to say.
But I find it impossible
to put into words
because it's all so horrible.
Words can't express the scale of my grief.
When I try to take responsibility
for the part I played in all of this,
it is simply too painful to do so.
But denying I had any part in it
is a comfort I can't allow myself.
Because I know it isn't true.
I failed you, Jeff,
and I'm sorry
I wasn't the mother you needed.
And I am no longer willing to live
with the guilt of that fact.
To all of Jeff's victims,
I cannot express to you
the magnitude of my regret.
So it's pointless to even try.
To my son David, please forgive me.
You've been able
to rise above all of this,
and I'm sorry that I'm not able to.
I love you and your brother.
I tried my best.
Sweetheart.
Hold on.
I'm in the middle of a chapter here.
When, uh, Jeff was
Remember that Christmas
before Jeff went in the Army?
Okay, but
Just one second. One second.
Oh, yeah,
how did I not know that writing a book
is what I should've
been doing the whole time?
I think I have a knack for it.
Lionel, I just got off
the phone with David.
She's okay.
But he said
that Joyce tried to kill herself.
Oh, Jesus.
Oh, Jesus.
She's okay, though?
Yeah.
Okay.
I'll call him.
Thank you, guys.
We're glad to be back on the force.
Thank you, uh, for all your support.
It's meant a lot, and, uh
it was nice to know
that somebody has your back.
- Yeah!
- Yeah!
- Thank you.
- Thanks.
- Good to see you, sir. How are you?
- Bobby!
I appreciate the call, Mayor.
Yes, so do I.
What happened?
Those two cops who let that Konerak boy
go back to Jeffrey Dahmer,
they've just been reinstated.
What?
A slap on the wrist and that's it?
Mayor said
they're gonna appeal the decision.
And if that fails?
Then we
fight the next fight.
And the next fight.
And the next.