When a serial killer is finally caught, investigations into their crimes reveal much about the society that made their multiple crimes possible. It’s rarely the case that a killer is some sort of criminal mastermind, covering his tracks perfectly to avoid detection. Rather, a combination of external factors allows them to leave such staggering body counts in their wake. A serial killer may prey on overlooked communities or targets that have no family ties, in the hope that a lackluster police presence in a backward area or the absence of concerned relatives will allow them to kill without a hitch. accurate research.
Although the titular serial killer is central to the series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is ultimately about so much more than just Dahmer and his ostentatious crimes. The public was shocked by the graphics of his horrific murders, but it was probably the systemic failures that allowed him to kill so many innocent men that represented the most horrific aspect of the series. Dahmer should have been brought to justice long before his arrest in 1991, and a number of previous incidents could have kept him off the streets and his victims safe.
Jeffrey Dahmer’s mild conviction for assaulting an underage boy
Prior to his arrest for murder, Dahmer had to spend a year in prison after he… sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy, Somsack Sintha symphony. Dahmer had already killed several of his victims at the time, but a longer sentence, combined with a more thorough follow-up of his actions after prison, could have brought his crimes to life earlier. During the trial, the judge noted that Dahmer reminded him of his grandson, prompting him to release Dahmer while incarcerated and hide the nature of his crime from his employer.
Later, when Sinthasomphone’s father pleads his case, the judge becomes frustrated at not being able to understand his accent and lightly demands that one of his other sons translate. The apparent discrepancy between the way the judge treated the white criminal and his victim’s Asian family can only be attributed to racism.
Dahmer would later kill Somsack’s brother, Konerak Sinthasomphone (who was also a minor), although the serial killer was unaware of the connection. Konerak’s death is one of the most tragic moments in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and also one of the clearest examples of racism in the series. After being drugged and having a hole drilled in his head, Konerak managed to escape from Dahmer’s apartment, where he was found naked and bleeding by three women. When the police arrived, Dahmer told them that Konerak was his 19-year-old lover and that he was just too drunk. Despite the protests of many bystanders, the police returned Konerak to Dahmer’s apartment, where he was eventually murdered.
Poor policing in underserved communities allowed Dahmer to continue his murderous spree
There are countless examples of bad police work everywhere Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. During the final stretch of Dahmer’s murders, his apartment begins to emit a horrific odor, and other tenants can occasionally hear the sound of power tools echoing through the hallways. Despite handling numerous complaints from the building’s residents, the Milwaukee Police Department never checked into Dahmer’s apartment.
Previously, Dahmer had drugged a possible victim, an African-American man, but ultimately decided not to kill him, but left the man near a remote cornfield. The victim spends several days in a drug-induced sedation. When he wakes up and tries to take legal action against Dahmer, the police refuse to investigate the matter further, despite Dahmer’s reputation for drugging men in the town’s bathhouses.
At the end of the series, Jesse Jackson is coming to Milwaukee, where he begins to sue the city’s police for the countless ways it has failed its citizens in the hope that justice will be served for the victims’ families. Public outcry forced the city’s chief of police to suspend (for a fee, of course) those officers who let Konerak Sinthasomphone back into Dahmer’s clutches. Still, the police union later arranged for them to be reinstated, and they later won a prestigious award for their ‘trials’.
While Dahmer’s recordings during his incarceration provided detailed information about his heinous crimes, he insisted that the racial makeup of his victims was incidental, a result of demographic coincidences. His real intentions are ultimately less important than the culture that allowed him to kill for so long. Many people of color were ignored and if their concerns had been taken into account, it could have resulted in Dahmer being arrested earlier. All told, Dahmer brutally murdered 17 men and boys. Who knows how many lives could have been saved without the racism of the time?