What Was Pat Kennedy’s Perspective On Jeffrey Dahmer?

Pat Kennedy, a former homicide detective of the Milwaukee Police Department, was deeply involved in a serial killer investigation that made international news in July 1991 for several months. 

He could elicit a confession from a man who had killed 17 young men because of the smart method of the investigation he applied with Dahmer.

On September 21, 2022, the Netflix series, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story made its debut, drawing the wrath of online users. 

Due to the fact that Glenda Cleveland, a black lady, had appealed for assistance, many people were incensed that the police had ignored it.

Unlike some people on social media, late Milwaukee Police Detective Patrick Kennedy had a different perspective on serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. 

In an interview, Patrick Kennedy even referred to Dahmer as a friend.

Overview Of His Life

Pat Kennedy, also referred to as Patrick Francis Kennedy, the eldest of Angus Patrick and Catherine Ann Kennedy’s ten children, was born in Detroit, Michigan. 

His parents thought he would proceed to Marian College and become a Catholic priest because of his older-brotherly demeanor when he was a teenager and excelled at basketball. 

After finishing high school and spending two years in college there, Pat decided to follow in the footsteps of his father and great-grandfather by becoming a police officer to work in teaching or social work after retirement. 

Pat quickly advanced to the position of detective in the violent crimes branch after relocating to Milwaukee and joining the department.

The turbulence in the city of Detroit forced Pat Kennedy to attend high school at St. Lawrence Seminary in Fond du Lac, according to his brother Dennis. 

He attended Fond du Lac’s Marian College before joining the Milwaukee Police Department.

After serving the police for 21 years, 12 of them as a homicide detective, he resigned in roughly 1999. 

He simply became weary of witnessing terrible death every day.

After working as a detective for a few more years, he went back to the academy and later began teaching criminal justice at two Wisconsin institutions. In 2012, he was depicted in the doc The Jeffrey Dahmer Files.

Kennedy passed away in 2013 following what his family described as a heart attack. He was 59.

The Arrest Of Dahmer

One of the few police officials tasked with persuading Jeffrey Dahmer to admit to his atrocities was Homicide Detective Patrick Kennedy. 

After Tracy Edwards fled his apartment and dialed 911, Dahmer was apprehended in July 1991.

Kennedy entered the apartment and discovered Dahmer pinned on the floor. 

Other police officers instructed him to search Dahmer’s refrigerator, where he discovered decapitated heads, limbs, and other body parts.

In the series, the accused even admitted, ‘For what I did, I should be dead.’

Kennedy took criminology courses not long after he resigned from the police force. In addition, he and Robyn Maharaja wrote the book Grilling Dahmer together.

Maharaja stated in an interview with A&E TV. In the end, Kennedy said, ‘Jeffrey, despite being a serial killer, was actually one of the more enjoyable experiences out of a lot of the horrible men he helped put down, arrest, or took to questioning, not so much because of what he was hearing, (but because) he was so nice.’

Dahmer Was Investigated For Around 60 Hours

Detective Pat Kennedy questioned Dahmer about the killings he had committed and the evidence discovered at his residence. 

Kennedy and Detective Dennis Murphy interviewed Dahmer multiple times throughout the course of the following two weeks, totaling more than 60 hours.

By offering them cigarettes and coffee and making an effort to get to know them as people, Kennedy tried to gain their trust and give them some dignity before killing suspicions. 

This was the key to persuading Dahmer, and it was successful.

“I cannot believe how foolish I was! I never expected to be caught in this situation.‘ After being apprehended on July 22, 1991, Jeffrey Dahmer quickly confessed to Milwaukee murder investigator Patrick “Pat” Kennedy. 

In 1978, Dahmer started a killing spree, but it was put to a halt when a victim in handcuffs fled his house and called the police.

Dahmer immediately admitted to his atrocities and said that alcohol was the cause of his heinous deeds. 

The 31-year-old s*x offender revealed in gruesome detail how he seduced, killed, dismembered, and cannibalized 16 men and boys over the period of six weeks.

The confession of Jeffrey Dahmer is regarded as one of the most comprehensive and perceptive confessions ever.

Pat Kennedy Thought Dahmer To Be A Friendly Person

Although Pat Kennedy, the imposing Milwaukee police detective who persuaded serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer to discuss his murders, saw it differently, it was sometimes claimed that he had looked evil in the face.

‘It sounds strange that we were friends, but we were friends. I actually kind of got to enjoy the guy and feel sorry for him. I mean, I had breakfast with him and lunch with him, and I would bring the paper in and show him what the people were writing about him. He had a pitiful soul.’ Pat Kennedy revealed. 

In order to make Dahmer appear more presentable during the trial, Kennedy had also lent the serial killer his son’s shirt and coat before his appearance in court.

He stated, ‘When everything was over, he neatly folded the garments and attempted to deliver them back to me through the bars of the judge’s rooms.’

Kennedy was aware that no one would touch the clothing; therefore, he refrained from taking them.

Kennedy admitted that he was unsure how to react when word of Dahmer’s passing spread.

He stated, ‘Everyone was rejoicing, but when I got home that night, I wasn’t sure how I should feel about it. I suppose I was kind of sad, not because I liked him so much, but because he was a human being like everyone else.’

What Did Pat Kennedy Observe About Jeffrey?

Maharaja recalled their talk and related that Kennedy thought Dahmer’s character alternated between guilt and selfishness.

Kennedy was also aware of Dahmer’s past difficulties with alcoholism. 

In a 2012 interview, Kennedy claimed that Dahmer’s obsessions with dead animals, alcohol, and his s*xuality were brought on by a combination of his unhappy upbringing, his absent parents, and his coming to terms with his homos*xuality. 

He was also identified as having various mental problems.

Final Verdict

The terrible confession that Jeffrey Dahmer, one of history’s most notorious serial killers, gave to detective Patrick Kennedy is what made him famous. 

He was the first and one of the few individuals to successfully communicate with Dahmer during his brief 34-year life. 

He was promoted to detective in the Criminal Investigation Bureau, an “elite homicide unit.”