JEFFREY DAHMER

Courtroom footage is available for this story for license and/or purchase from the IN SESSION archives – click here.

Trial Begins with Heavy Security

Dahmer being led into court

The security surrounding the trial of Jeff Dahmer was unique in Milwaukee's history: "The courtroom was swept for bombs by a dog trained to sniff for explosives, and everyone allowed into the courtroom was searched and checked with a metal detector... In the courtroom, an eight-foot-high barrier was constructed from bullet-resistant glass and steel, designed to isolate Dahmer from the gallery." (Schwartz).

Of the 100 seats that were available, 23 were for reporters, 34 for the families of Dahmer's victims and the remaining 43 for public spectators.

The key players in this legal drama, besides Jeff Dahmer himself, were Judge Laurence C. Gram, Jr., District Attorney Michael McCann, and defense lawyer Gerald Boyle, who had defended Dahmer in the past. Lionel and Shari Dahmer attended every day.

Dahmer's father & step-mother in court

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1. A Victim Almost Escapes
2. The Body in the Bedroom
3. Exposed!
4. The Head in the Fridge
5. First Blood
6. Lust, Booze & Murder
7. More Murders, More Arrests
8. A True Psychopath
9. The Killing Binge
10. Deadly Ritual
11. Control
12. Why?
13. A Happy Little Boy
14. Metamorphosis
15. Isolated by Sexual Fantasy
16. Drunk and Deadly
17. Trial Begins with Heavy Security
18. The Insanity Defense
19. Evil or Sick?
20. End of the Road
21. Did Dahmer Find God?
22. Spiritually Clean?
23. Bibliography