Milwaukee, Wisconsin. January 30th, 1992.
The trial to determine the state of Jeffrey Dahmer’s sanity is underway.
The first witness summoned by the defence team is the first person to have taken down any kind of formal confession from the defendant: 36 year-old Milwaukee Police detective, Patrick Kennedy.
Though he’d been a detective just three years come the time of Dahmer’s arrest, Kennedy’s empathetic interview style and amicable approach has since been praised for allowing Dahmer to comfortably open up about his crimes. Described by one of his friends as “the giant man with the gentle soul”, 6’7″ Kennedy even provided a clean shirt and jeans from his own home for Dahmer to wear during his first public court appearance after Dahmer had been concerned about looking “funky” in a prison paper suit.1
Kennedy would later admit his proximity to the killer had put him in “an intimate relationship with this guy… Where I actually started to feel sorry for the prick. I felt bad for him and I felt bad that I felt bad for him.” Despite not condoning his suspects crimes, Kennedy empathised with the “bizarre” detail of Dahmer’s cannibalism and the sense it made within Dahmer’s own private narrative – finding the attempt to keep someone with him by means of physically consuming them “a logical succession to what [Dahmer] did.”
While Detective Kennedy first spoke to Dahmer alone, the task of taking down more statements would later be split with co-worker, Detective Dennis Murphy. Dahmer’s 179-page police confession was completed at the end of August ’91, after around 60 hours worth of interviews. Kennedy brought the first four pages of this confession into court with him for Gerald Boyle’s examination. Det. Murphy would then provide his own testimony via the rest of the confession.
Below follows the entire transcript of Det. Kennedy’s testimony as recorded by Court TV in 1992. Some minor alterations and additions have been made for the sake of clarity and grammar, but other than that, everything that follows is in the words of Patrick Kennedy and attorney Boyle unless otherwise stated.
Exhibit 1
JUDGE GRAM: Do you solemnly swear all the testimony you’re about to give in this matter will be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? So help you God.
DETECTIVE PATRICK KENNEDY: I do.
JUDGE GRAM: Please be seated, sir… And then will you just state your name and spell your last name, please.
PK: Patrick Kennedy. K-e-n-n-e-d-y.
GERALD BOYLE: Your honour… I’d like to make a statement to the court for the jury to understand – and for everyone to understand – that I am calling Detective Kennedy now so that he may testify as to part of the confession given by Mr. Dahmer. He’s going to testify to the early part of the confession that was given by Mr. Dahmer [and then], subsequent to a certain period of time, Detective [Dennis] Murphy came in on the case and he and Detective Kennedy then took most of the other statements from Mr. Dahmer. We are only going to go through the part where Mr. Kennedy was alone… [Then] I’m going to call Detective Murphy to the stand to continue the giving of the confession that was taken [from] Mr. Dahmer.
I’m therefore, at this time, going to ask some preliminary questions and I’m going to ask that the entire confession be marked as an Exhibit. And, if it is going to be received, I’m going to ask the court to hold that it not be shown until such time [that there is] a chance to clean up some of the underlining and things of that nature.
*Boyle hands a copy of Dahmer’s full police confession – as transcribed by Detectives Kennedy and Murphy – to be inspected and signed by a court official. The confession is then handed back to Boyle with an “it’s all correct, your honour.”*
So [now] I’d ask that the entire confession is going to be talked about by Detective Kennedy and Detective Murphy will be marked in.
*Boyle gives the confession to Det. Kennedy who examines it.*
Just so the record’s clear: I’m showing you the defendants Exhibit 1 for identification and I ask you, if you look at that briefly, do you know that to be the confession that you and Detective Murphy took from Jeffrey Dahmer – and especially the first four pages [which] you personally took from Mr. Dahmer while Detective Murphy was not present?
PK: That’s correct, sir.
GB: And, as far as you’re concerned, you’ve had the opportunity to look at this confession in total?
PK: Yes, sir, I have.
GB: And the documents that I showed you is the confession that was taken?
PK: Yes, sir, it is.
*Boyle takes the confession back from Det. Kennedy. There is a brief discussion in which Boyle, Carol White (the Associate District Attorney) and Judge Gram agree that extraneous and “superfluous things… that do not have any relevancy to the issues beforehand” may be removed from the confession and subsequent testimony*
Then:
GB: Detective Kennedy, you’re a member of the Milwaukee Police Department?
PK: Yes, sir, I am.
B: For what period of time have you been so employed?
K: 12 years.
B: And when did you join the Milwaukee Police Department?
K: In March of 1980.
B: And what age were you when you joined the Police Department?
K: 26 years old.
B: Prior to joining the police department what – if anything – did you do?
K: I worked for the state, running the halfway houses for delinquent youths.
B: When did you become a detective of the Milwaukee Police Department?
K: Not quite three years ago.
B: And, since that time, you’ve been functioning as a detective with the Department?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: Did there come a time on July the 23rd, 1991 – while in the course of your official duties as a detective of the Milwaukee Police Department – [that] you came across the person of Jeffrey Dahmer? He being the gentleman seated next to my associate, Wendy Patrickus.
K: Yes, sir, that’s true.
B: Let the record reflect that Detective Kennedy has identified Mr. Dahmer… Detective Kennedy, what were the circumstances under which you became aware of Mr. Dahmer? And tell the court and the jury how that came about, please.
K: I was working on a homicide squad on the late shift. My partner (Michael Dubis) and myself were sent to Mr. Dahmer’s apartment to investigate a head which was found in the refrigerator.
B: And that apartment was located at 924 North 25th Street in the city and county of Milwaukee?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: What apartment was Mr. Dahmer’s apartment? What was the number?
K: Number 213.
B: Did you have occasion at that time to make some observations concerning that apartment?
K: Yes, sir, I did.
B: But since I’ve already informed everyone here that we’re going to only talk about the statement, we’ll limit that aspect of your testimony to that.
K: Yes, sir.
B: All right. Did you start talking to Mr. Dahmer about anything?
K: While I was in the apartment, sir?
B: Yes, sir.
K: No, sir.
B: Did you have occasion to transport him from the apartment?
K: Yes, sir, I did.
B: And who did you transport him with?
K: In a Milwaukee Police van, which is used to convey prisoners. Squad 93. [With] police officer Alan Chessler and myself.
B: And you started taking him down where? Downtown?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B : And he was in custody?
K: Yes, sir, he was.
B: You advised him of his constitutional rights?
K: Yes, sir, I did.
B: You told him about all of his rights?
K: Yes, sir.
B: Did you ask him if he wanted to make a statement?
K: Yes, sir, I did.
B: And did he make such a statement to you?
K: Yes, sir.
B: All right. You also advised him that he had a right not to have an attorney if he wished, you said.
K: That is correct.
B: All right. Tell us what you said to Mr. Dahmer – and what he said to you – during the time that you were present with him when Detective Murphy was not.
K: Yes, sir. Would you like me to read from the –
B: You can read from the Exhibit if you wish.
K: Okay, sir…
*Det. Kennedy reads [as italicised] direct from the abridged confession brought into court with him*
At this time I rode along with the suspect, Jeffrey L. Dahmer, in Squad 93 down to the CIB –
B: Explain what that is. “CIB.”
K: It’s initials for the Criminal Investigation Bureau. That’s the Detective Bureau… Once at the CIB, I advised Jeffrey L. Dahmer of his constitutional rights and he stated that he fully understood them and that he wished to freely make a statement regarding the incident.
B: Can you tell us what time of the morning, night or day it was?
K: This was approximately one o’clock in the morning.
B: Okay. That would have been on the morning of the 23rd or the morning of the 24th?
K: That would have been on the morning of the 23rd.
B: Okay, Continue on, please.
K: At this time Mr. Dahmer states that he is 31 years of age. Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He states he moved to Richfield, Ohio when he was about six years old and he was raised there and attended and graduated from Revere High School. He states he spent three years in the Army after graduation and moved back to Milwaukee when he was approximately 23 years old or so.
The subject states he has a father who lives in Pennsylvania and a mother who lives in California. He states he has one brother (26) living in Cincinnati and his grandmother on his father’s side lives in Milwaukee.
The subject states he was raised in the Protestant faith as he was growing up, but he now considers himself to be an atheist.
B: Let me just stop you there. Is this a question-and-answer type of thing?
K: Yes, sir, it is.
B: And then later you put down whatever notes you thought were important and then you transcribed them into the form that you’re talking about here?
K: That is correct, sir.
B: Continue on.
I Realised That There Was A Head In The Refrigerator
K: He admitted that he had been arrested in the past and states he is currently on probation for taking Polaroid pictures of a minor. Subject states that when he was 18 years of age and living in Richfield, Ohio he picked up a hitchhiker whom he described as a white male about 19 years of age. He states he took him home and had homosexual sex with him2 and states they were drinking beer and became intoxicated. He states they got into a physical fight because the 19 year old individual tried to leave and that, during the fight, he states he struck the hitchhiker with a barbell.
He states that the blow of the barbell caused the death of the hitchhiker and at this time he took the body out into a wooded area by his house and left it there to decompose for about two weeks.
B: Let me stop there. Did you know that there had been such a murder – or a homicide that had taken place when he was 18 years of age – at the time that you were talking to him?
K: No, sir, I did not.
B: So he volunteered a commission of a murder?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: Is that the first murder that he told you about?
K: Yes, sir, it is.
B: And you didn’t have him on any other murder charges at that time, did you?
K: I realised that there was a head in the refrigerator –
B: I understand that, but you didn’t have a murder? You didn’t say: “You’re under arrest for the murder of -”
K: No, sir.
B: Okay. Go ahead. Continue on, please.
K: He states he returned with a sledgehammer at this time and used it to break the bones and then he scattered them about the woods3. The subject states he moved to Milwaukee after a three-year tour in the Army and a one-year stay in Miami, Florida where – according to the subject – nothing of this nature happened.
Subject states he moved in with his grandmother at 2357 South 57th Street when he returned to Milwaukee.
And he states that, when he was about 25 years of age and living in Milwaukee, he picked up a white male, approximately 25 years of age, at the 219 Tavern4. He states they got a room at the Ambassador Hotel and they got very drunk and passed out. Subject states when he woke up the guy was dead and had blood coming from his mouth.
B: Let me stop you. Did you know of that homicide at the time that he volunteered it?
K: No, sir, I did not.
B: Continue on, please.
K: He states he went to the mall and bought a large suitcase and stuck the dead body into it. He states he called a cab and placed the suitcase into it and went back to 2357 South 57th Street. He states that he took the dead body down his basement near a floor drain and used a knife to cut the flesh off the body and then dismember the body, place the various parts into plastic bags and then threw them into the trash. The subject feels this occurred in 19845, during the summer.
He indicates that there had been many times that he has had sex with men where no violence was involved – and states that about two months after this incident, he met a Hispanic male, about 18 years of age, also at the 219 Club at about 1 AM. They went back to his grandmother’s place and had sex and [he] put sleeping pills in [the Hispanic male’s] drink. He states when the guy fell asleep, he strangled him with his hands and took the body down the basement by the drain and used a knife to dismember him and a sledgehammer to break up the bones and then place them in plastic bags and threw them into the trash.
B: Detective Kennedy, did you know of that homicide at the time you were talking to Mr. Dahmer?
K: No, sir, I did not.
B: Continue on, please.
No One Ever Did Anything
K: He goes on to state [that] about a month later, he met a black and white mixed male, about 20 years of age, at the LaCage – a tavern on National Avenue – and took him back to his grandmother’s house where he had sex and used sleeping pills with him. He states when [the victim] was asleep, he strangled him and then dismembered his body and disposed of him in the same manner as before.
B: Did you know of that murder at the time you were talking to Mr. Dahmer?
K: No, sir, I did not.
B: Go ahead.
K: The subject states a year went by and he met a Hispanic male, about 19 years of age, at the 219 Club and returned with him to his grandmother’s house where he again had sex, used sleeping pills and strangled him. And again dismembered and disposed of the body in the same way.
B: Once again, you didn’t know about that homicide?
K: No, sir.
B: Go ahead.
K: Subject states he moved to 808 North 24th Street and lived there for a year and was arrested one time for taking pictures of a minor. After one year of work release from the House of Correction, he moved back to his grandmother’s house and lived there for approximately six months. At this time he moved to 924 North 25th Street, Apartment 213.
Subject states in the winter of ‘89 he met a black male, about 24 years of age, in front of the bookstore on 27th Street and took him to his apartment where he took pictures of him in various sexual poses and had sex with him and put sleeping pills in a coffee and rum drink – which he gave to the black. When the black male fell asleep, he stabbed him with a large hunting knife – which he described as having a six-inch blade and a black handle. He stabbed him in the neck. After the guy was dead, he put the body in the bathtub and dismembered him. He states he used the knife to dismember him.
The subject states he used a plastic trash container or garbage bag and put the bones in it with hydrochloric acid and let them sit for about three days until they turned to a mushy substance and then he flushed them down the toilet. The subject states that the flesh he filleted from the body, he put into trash bags and threw them out.
B: You didn’t know of that homicide, did you? At the time [you were] talking [to him initially]?
K: No, sir.
B: Go ahead.
K: The subject states he also – starting with the third victim – boiled the heads in a cleaning solution and kept the skulls. He kept the skulls in the closet. All identification and jewellery of the victims, he states, he cut up and threw out into the garbage.
B: You did not know of that murder?
The subject states about two months later he met a black male, about 20 years of age, around Wisconsin and Water and walked home with him and, again, had sex [and] used sleeping pills which [were] placed in a coffee mixture and strangled him. He then dismembered the body and disposed of him in the same manner as before.
K: No, sir.
B: Go ahead.
K: Subject states he began getting quicker at cutting up the bodies. The subject states about one month later he met a tall black male, about 26 years of age, at the C’est La Vie [club] and they took the taxi home to his apartment and he repeated the same scenario with him but did not boil and keep his head. The subject states this was due to time constraints.
Subject states about six months later he met a black male, about 20 years of age, while in Chicago and rode back to Milwaukee by Greyhound bus. He states before this he met a Chinese male, about 15 years of age, at the Grand Avenue Mall. This was around May or early June. He states they took a bus back to his apartment. It was during the day or the afternoon. He states the Chinese6 male posed for Polaroid photos and then he gave him sleeping pills in the coffee and rum drink. After he passed out, he strangled him and dismembered and disposed of his body parts in the same way as before.
B: Once again, these last two or three murders he’s talking about, you had no idea?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: Go ahead.
K: The subject states that the body parts gave off an awful smell in the trash but no one ever did anything about it so he just kept following his usual procedure of disposal. Regarding the black male from Chicago, he states that he repeated his usual actions with him. Regarding the head in the refrigerator –
B: Now let me stop you there. At the time that you were there – and understanding we’re talking primarily about the confession – there was a head found in the refrigerator at his apartment?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: It was not identifiable as to whose skull that had been, correct?
K: Not at that time, sir7.
B: Okay. Continue talking.
K: Regarding the head in the refrigerator, he states he met him – a black male about 25 years of age – at 27th in Wisconsin and took him home and repeated the same actions with him. He states about one month ago, he bought a 57 gallon industrial drum and began placing body parts in it.
Subject states on about 7/19 of ‘91, he met a white male, about 25 years of age, near Marquette University and took him home, had sex with him, gave him sleeping pills in the coffee-rum drink, strangled him and filleted him in the bathtub. [He then] dismembered him and placed the body parts in the industrial drum.
B: Another homicide you did not know about?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: Go ahead.
K: Regarding the Chinese male: The subject states that, after giving him sleeping pills, he fell asleep and he (the subject) went to the bar on 27th Street. He states that, as he left the bar, he saw the Chinese guy running down the street naked and the police saw him and stopped him and [the Chinese male] was not speaking any English, so he talked with police and said that he was a friend of his and that he was staying with him. At this time, he took the Chinese guy back to his apartment, gave him some more coffee and rum-solution with the sleeping pills in it and, after he fell asleep again, he strangled him. Dismembered him and disposed of him in the usual way. He then boiled his head. He states it takes about an hour to boil a head.
Regarding his last victim, he states that his ID can be found in the bedroom of his apartment.
B: Was that a fact?
K: That is correct, sir.
B: Go ahead.
K: Regarding 7/23 of ’91 –
B: That’s the evening, or the early morning hours, when he was arrested?
K: Yes, sir. The subject states he met a black male, about 25 years of age, at the mall on Wisconsin Avenue. He states he offered him twenty dollars in cash to let him take some nude pictures of him. Once at his apartment, they drank rum and he (the subject) got intoxicated.
B: When you say ‘the subject’, you mean who?
K: Mr. Dahmer.
B: Okay.
K: Subject states that he tried to put handcuffs on the victim and the victim ran out and got the police. Subject states he is not sure what happened next because he was drunk. Regarding the handcuffs, he would ask his victims if they would allow him to take a bondage picture with the handcuffs on and that is how he would get them handcuffed.
The subject states there is an ID from the male he met on 27th in Wisconsin in his wallet.
B: Is that a fact – or was that a fact?
K: Yes, sir, it was.
B: Go ahead.
Sit and Talk
K: The subject states that all his victims knew that homosexual activity was the idea – and possibly pictures. At this time, after the subject gave me this statement verbally, I advised him that I would like to write it down verbatim on paper. However, before I did so, I would like to get another detective to sit in and be witness to this statement. He stated he understood and that he wished to cooperate and at this time I went and got Detective Dennis Murphy – who entered the room and together we reiterated [Dahmer’s] constitutional rights which he stated he understood and that he wished to waive them in order to help us with this investigation.
Via Tumblr
It was during this time that a four-page confession was written out by myself, Detective Kennedy, and read back to the subject who also read it and then stated that it was accurate and true and then he signed it ‘Jeffrey Dahmer.’ He also initialled each page of the four-page confession.
It should be noted that, during this entire time that I spoke with the subject Jeffrey Dahmer, he was given numerous cigarettes; four to five cups of coffee; two glasses of water [and] two cans of Coca-Cola. He was also allowed to use the bathroom upon request.
This entire confession started at approximately 1:30 AM and finished at approximately 7:15 AM.
After the confession was completely written out, read over and signed by the subject, he was asked if there was anything that he would like to do or if he was hungry. He stated that he was not hungry and probably will not be hungry for a long time. However, he would just like to sit and talk about the offences a little bit more.
The conversation which followed at this time has been recorded by Detective Dennis Murphy and he will file a detailed supplementary regarding what was said during this interview.
B: Okay… During the time – just so it’s clear – he was very cooperative?
K: Yes, sir, he was.
B: And he was not intoxicated?
K: No, sir, he was not.
B: And he seemed to understand what you were asking him and you understood his answers?
K: Yes, sir, he did.
B: So this was done in a colloquy back-and-forth and – what you’re telling us here is – you put down these words after you talked to him, looking at your notes and then, eventually, he signed the papers?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: Were these the papers that he signed?
*Det. Kennedy gestures to the abridged copy of the confession that he’s holding*
K: These papers here?
B: Yes, sir.
K: No, sir.
B: Okay. Something else that you wrote on?
K: That is correct, sir.
B: Is it exactly the same thing – only in handwritten form?
K: Yes, sir, it is.
B: So you wrote everything here out in handwritten form, Mr. Dahmer read it, said it was correct, signed it – and then you took all of that same information and typed it up and that’s what you just read?
K: That’s correct, sir.
B: And we’ll see you again, Detective Kennedy. Thank you.
– Closing note from Dahmer’s initial 4-page confession. As transcribed by Det. Kennedy and signed by Dahmer, Kennedy and Det. Murphy
Sources:
- WI v. Jeffrey Dahmer: Det. Patrick Kennedy on Court TV
- The Jeffrey Dahmer Files (2012)
- Everyman: Jeffrey Dahmer (1994 BBC documentary)
- Patrick Kennedy’s obituary on Legacy.com 🕯
Transcribing is time-consuming and can be a financial expense. If you find this transcript useful, please consider referencing me. I’d really appreciate it! 🙂
Footnotes:
- The blue-and-grey striped shirt Dahmer wore in court a few days after his arrest (and which found its way onto the cover of People magazine as a result) had belonged to Kennedy’s sophomore-age son. Kennedy had gone home and asked Pat Jr. if he had any clothes he didn’t like and Pat Jr. gave him an old, never-before-worn, Christmas present ↩︎
- Dahmer and Steven Hicks did not have sex and Steven wasn’t a homosexual. This is later clarified during Det. Murphy’s testimony. A few discrepancies present themselves in Dahmer’s initial police confession (a few more of which will be noted) due to either a mis-transcription or misunderstanding on behalf of the detectives, or because Dahmer himself muddled the facts (either intentionally or with genuine uncertainty) ↩︎
- In his initial statement, it was indicated that Dahmer had finished disposing of Steven Hicks’ body shortly after the murder. In a later statement, however, he admitted that he came back to the remains after his time in the military – when he retrieved what was left of Steven from a drainage pipe, took a sledgehammer to the bones and scattered them behind the Ohio home ↩︎
- *Club 219. As once located at 219 South 2nd Street, Milwaukee (also erroneously referred to as ‘219 Club’ throughout the confession) ↩︎
- The murder of Steven Tuomi occurred in 1987. The confession went on to reflect that when, having had more time get his head together, Dahmer’s better recollection later amended the date ↩︎
- Konerak Sinthasomphone was Laotian, not Chinese ↩︎
- The head in question was later identified as 24 year old, Oliver Lacy’s ↩︎
I have to write and say how much I enjoyed this segment. I’ve loved them all, but Kennedy’s testimony is riveting and the way it’s presented here is so interesting. On one hand I was devouring each word but on the other I didn’t want it to end.
Thanks so much for the obvious work and effort this takes, and the fascinating presentation.
Thank you so much for the kind words! You’re right that Det. Kennedy’s testimony is highly engaging. He seemed like such a sweet man and it’s upsetting to know that he died far too soon.
Am glad you’re enjoying the transcripts 😊 I’ll be posting more whenever I can.