Family Member of Jeffrey Dahmer Victim Slams New Netflix Series

The new Ryan Murphy Netflix series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story premiered this week, and it has already been met with tepid reviews and backlash from the family of one of Dahmer’s victims.

Murphy regular Evan Peters plays the serial killer with dead-eyed ease, but the series spends way too much time on his horrific crimes. Dahmer was arrested in Milwaukee in 1991 for multiple murders of young men and boys, and he was murdered in prison in 1994. The series covers the 1992 trial and recreates one real scene in which Rita Isbell, older sister of victim Errol Lindsey, addresses Dahmer in court.

On Thursday, a Twitter user named Eric, who is Isbell’s cousin, tweeted about the series and that scene in particular. “I know true crime media is huge rn, but if you’re actually curious about the victims, my family (the Isbell’s) are pissed about this show,” Eric wrote. “It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?”

Like recreating my cousin having an emotional breakdown in court in the face of the man who tortured and murdered her brother is WILD. WIIIIIILD.
— corbin bleu’s tether (@ericthulhu) September 22, 2022

This is why I won’t be watching that show. Not only was it unwanted by the families of the victims, and is traumatic for them in content, but to see people reacting to real life situations on social media in a disconnected fashion, has to be difficult as well. https://t.co/xRU8V5UsRk
— Carolyn Hinds 🇧🇧 #FreePalestine #CongoInCrisis (@CarrieCnh12) September 22, 2022

There was already a Dahmer film, My Friend Dahmer, in 2017, in addition to the 2012 doc The Jeffrey Dahmer Files and 2002’s Dahmer, in which Jeremy Renner played the titular killer. Ryan Murphy and exploitation are synonymous, and another Dahmer series is unnecessary at this point.

But more family members of murder victims have been coming forward about movies and series they find exploitative, and true crime content is seeing much more scrutiny now.

Eric also set the record straight on whether the family was contacted about the series. “To answer the main question, no, they don’t notify families when they do this. It’s all public record, so they don’t have to notify (or pay!) anyone. My family found out when everyone else did.”

So when they say they’re doing this “with respect to the victims” or “honoring the dignity of the families”, no one contacts them. My cousins wake up every few months at this point with a bunch of calls and messages and they know there’s another Dahmer show. It’s cruel.
— corbin bleu’s tether (@ericthulhu) September 23, 2022

People are also calling out John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish, the Milwaukee cops who returned 14-year-old victim Konerak Sinthasomphone to Dahmer after he escaped his apartment. The boy was subsequently murdered as a result. Balcerzak later became head of the Milwaukee Police Association.

I do hope they mention that John Balcerzak, the police officer who returned Konerak Sinthasomphone (one of Dahmer’s child victims) into Dahmer’s hands mid-murder, went on to become the President of the Milwaukee Police Union until 2009, and was a police officer until 2017. https://t.co/JdTGtRP1bV
— Bethany Black (@BeffernieBlack) September 18, 2022

We reached out to Eric for comment via Twitter direct message.

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‘It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what?’: Family member of Jeffrey Dahmer victim slams new Netflix show

‘They don’t notify families when they do this.’

Audra Schroeder