Serial Murder and Victim Responses

The Jeffrey Dahmer serial murder case broke the silence of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his detection and arrest on 22 July 1991. Officers Rauth and Mueller were approached by Tracy Edwards, then wearing a handcuff dangling from one wrist, who told them that some strange white man had handcuffed him. Returning to Dahmer's apartment, they discovered Dahmer's secrets. Seven skulls, four heads, and assorted body parts were recovered from his apartment. The ensuing turmoil was expressed in victim family denial and anger, community outrage and feelings of insecurity, legal debates over the appropriateness of the insanity plea, and news media sensationalism. Victim issues related to the case continued into 1996 when the final destruction of part of Dahmer's belongings appeared to close the sordid chapter of Jeffrey Dahmer's life. The author traces the path of the victims' families to case conclusion after the bludgeoning death of Dahmer in a Wisconsin prison

Aesthetics · Anger · Art · Criminology · Denial · Feeling · Homicide · Innocence · Medical emergency · Outrage · Poison control · Political science · Politics · Prison · Psychoanalysis · Silence · Suicide prevention · Deception detection and forensic psychology · Gothic Literature and Media Analysis · History · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Medicine · Psychology · Social Psychology