Why the Family of One of Jeffrey Dahmer’s Victims Is Calling Netflix Series “Harsh and Careless”

Evan Peters stars as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in a new series that's racing up the Netflix charts—but some close to his victims aren't happy about it. Find out why they're upset with the show.

By Daniel Trainor Sep 27, 2022 6:55 PMTags
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Jeffrey Dahmer's return to the spotlight is not sitting well with everybody.

Evan Peters stars as the notorious serial killer in Netflix's DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan. The series tells the grisly story of Dahmer's killing spree from 1978 to 1991 when he murdered and dismembered nearly 20 men.

The series instantly shot to the top of the streamer's charts and has dominated social media discussion since its release on Sept. 21—but not everybody is a fan.

Rita Isbell, whose 19-year-old brother Errol Lindsey was murdered by Dahmer in April 1991, said she was never even made aware that Netflix was making a series about the killings.

"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," Isbell told Insider. "But I'm not money hungry, and that's what this show is about, Netflix trying to get paid."

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Isbell suggested that the streamer should have given some of their profits to the children of Dahmer's victims.

"If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn't feel so harsh and careless," Isbell said. "It's sad that they're just making money off of this tragedy. That's just greed."

Isbell gave a victim impact statement at Dahmer's trial in 1992, which is re-enacted in the series, but her cousin Eric Perry, who is also a relative of Lindsey's, questioned why the series even needed to exist in the first place.

"I'm not telling anyone what to watch, 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," he wrote on Twitter Sept. 22. "It's retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/documentaries do we need?"

Perry posted his message above a side-by-side comparison of Isbell's statement and the way it was depicted on the show, and questioned, "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."

With Dahmer's story fresh in the mind of the general public all over again, Isbell vowed to never stop advocating for the brother she tragically lost.

"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," she said. "He knows that I'm still here for him."

E! News reached out to reps for Netflix and Murphy and has not heard back.

All ten episodes of DAHMER - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story are available to stream on Netflix.

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