'My Brother was Murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer - What Was It Like Watching the Netflix show?'

[trekkiepetrelli]

My brother was murdered by Jeffrey Dahmer. Here's what it was like watching the Netflix show that recreated the emotional statement I gave in court. https://t.co/PrSGdinjAI
- philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) September 26, 2022

• Rita Isbell, sister of Errol Lindsey, who was one of Jeffrey Dahmer's victims, gave an emotional victim impact statement in court at the 1992 sentencing. It was recreated in Netflix's 2022 show, "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story."
• Her essay is at the source but I have made bullet points for ease of reading.
• "When I found out I could read a victim impact statement, I knew I was going to let Jeffrey Dahmer have it. I just didn't know what I was going to say. I hadn't written anything down...That was my first time ever being in front of him...When I got in front of his face it was a whole new ball game. I recognized evil. I was face-to-face with pure evil."
• "The reason why I said what I said during that impact statement was because, during the trial, they were portraying him as being so out of control he couldn't stop himself. But you have to be in control in order to do the things that he was doing. You have to very much be in control."
• "So that's why I said: "Let me show you what out of control is. This is out of control." I was out of body. I wasn't myself in that moment."
• "Whatever I had on the inside, I let it out. I didn't hold it in and later say: "Oh, I wish I had said or done this when I had the opportunity to." And I think I was speaking for a lot of the other family members of the victims."

• "When I saw some of the show, it bothered me, especially when I saw myself - when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said."
• "If I didn't know any better, I would've thought it was me. Her hair was like mine, she had on the same clothes. That's why it felt like reliving it all over again. It brought back all the emotions I was feeling back then."
• "I was never contacted about the show. I feel like Netflix should've asked if we mind or how we felt about making it. They didn't ask me anything. They just did it."
• "I'm not money hungry, and that's what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid. I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the victims' children. Not necessarily their families. I mean, I'm old. I'm very, very comfortable. But the victims have children and grandchildren. If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn't feel so harsh and careless. It's sad that they're just making money off of this tragedy. That's just greed."
• "The episode with me was the only part I saw. I didn't watch the whole show. I don't need to watch it. I lived it. I know exactly what happened."
• "The show bringing up old feelings did hurt, but it also benefits me. I benefit from it because I can deal with it differently today than I did in the past. I can talk about it with not as much anger."
• "Errol's always going to be alive in my spirit. And then his daughter. I have to keep him alive so I can talk about him to her."
• "The positive thing to come out of this is that the world didn't know that my brother had any children. That has never been discussed to the public, but he had gotten someone pregnant before his death. Today, she's exactly 31 years old, and this happened 31 years ago.".
• "When I think of my brother, I think of how he was such a goofball, and I think he's going to appreciate the fact that I'm still standing for him until my last breath. He knows that I'm still here for him."

Source
I can't even begin to imagine how traumatic this must be for the families.