The sister of a victim of Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” has gone viral after opening up about the show and her involvement with Dahmer. She gives her recount of the events that she had to endure in an essay format.
Rita Isbell, who is telling the story after hearing about the Netflix adaption said that at the point when she figured out, she could read a victim impact statement, Isbell realized that she planned to allow Jeffrey Dahmer to have it. However, she didn’t have the foggiest idea of what to say at the time.
As you’d expect with anyone who was involved in some way in something so traumatizing, she hadn’t written anything down on paper, nor had she recorded anything. In her essay she wrote, “Assuming I had, I would’ve destroyed it.” Isbell continued saying that anything she did plan to say didn’t come out as she had hoped it would.
Her letter also described the arrangements to get up there in front of everyone and explain how it caused her mother to feel. However, when she finally went up there and laid her eyes on him, she describes it as looking into the face of “pure evil.”
She emphasized that she wasn’t afraid and that she is not the type of person to easily get scared. The letter continues by saying the justification for why she said the things she did out loud during an impactful statement was due to portraying Dahmer as being out of control so much that he was unable to restrain himself. However, she noted that he must have been in control because to do the things that he was doing, he would have had to be very much in control.
Isbell explains that she let it all out and said, “Oh, I wish I had said or done this when I had the opportunity to.” She became very emotional and “out of body” but felt as though she was representing the majority of the other family members and friends of the victims. The authorities that pulled her away were noted as being good to her and inquired as to whether she needed a drink of water. She explains that during the exchange she explained to them that she had a migraine, and they offered her painkillers. They were understanding. And afterward, from that point onward, they made their way outside the court where there were lots of news waiting around like vultures.
I just finished the Dahmer series. Seeing this article just broke my heart.
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/mkQS7afx4V via @thisisinsider— Mrz. Fieldz Productions LLC (@MrzFieldzProLLC) September 27, 2022
She explained that the part of the show that annoyed her was when she saw herself, “when I saw my name come across the screen and this lady saying verbatim exactly what I said.” She continued by explaining that the portrayal that she was watching on screen was eerily similar and that the actor even had on the same clothes. The show depicted the events quite well – perhaps too well, and that is what triggered Isbell.
“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.”
She noted that it’s sad that the show was made for nothing more than to make money off of a tragedy, and that she is not money hungry, but Netflix is greedy. She continued by saying she could understand if some of the money raised was given to the victim’s children, and if they benefited the victims in some way, then perhaps things wouldn’t feel so “harsh and careless.”
Isbell concluded by writing about her brother saying that he was a “goofball” and that one good thing she can reflect on is the fact that her brother had a child before he died, and that is one fact that was never shared with the public.
This story syndicated with permission from Omar – For the Love of News
"*" indicates required fields
