Tribute to P. Kennedy, G. Palermo, P. Dietz and M. McCann for their job
Detective Patrick Francis Kennedy
Detective Kennedy is the one who led the Dahmer’s interrogation with detective D. Murphy and the attorney W. Patrickus. Better known as “Pat”, he decided to follow his father’s and great-grandfather’s steps becoming a policeman, turning himself a detective in the crime division later after moving to Milwaukee.
He received the order to go to the Oxford Apartments, and proceeded with the arrest of the suspect Jeffrey Dahmer. Subsequently he led the interrogation and, thanks to his endearing personality, he succeeded on creating a bond with the serial killer himself. With a mutual trust, he spent lot of time with Dahmer for several weeks getting a full confession, for then attending and testify the man’s trial.
After years, Pat went back to the academy and later began teaching criminal justice at two Wisconsin institutions. He also joined various documentaries about the Dahmer’s case, as the most notorious one “The Jeffrey Dahmer Files” - came out in 2012. He even wrote a book telling his experience (it was called “Dahmer Detective” at first but then it changed to “Grilling Dahmer”).
Pat died in 2013 because of an heart attack at 59.
“I can’t say that I really did, because when I looked at Jeffrey Dahmer, what surprised me the most during the six weeks I talked to him was how very much like you and me he really was. I had breakfast with him, I had lunch with him, I would bring the paper in, showing what the people were saying about him. And it sounds weird that we became friends but we were kind of friendly. We were friends.” - P. Kennedy, 2012.
The psychiatrist George Palermo (whose real name is Giorgio Benito Palermo) was born in Tarquinia, an old city in Italy, and he graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Bologna in 1951. After moving back and forth from Rome to Wisconsin, he came back as a Professor of Criminology at Marquette University.
During Jeffrey Dahmer’s trial psychiatrist G. Palermo was called to offer an objective assessment of the defendant’s mental state. He took stand on 6th February 1992, where Dahmer pleaded guilty to the murders but claimed he was insane, a claim that was shot down by Palermo at trial. Palermo is been one of the few people who irritated and made Dahmer laugh, shaking him out of his stone-like stand.
Palermo served on the faculties of schools around the world and wrote books and scholarly articles, and lectured in places like Russia, China and Japan on a subject many might find revolting. He also liked visiting galleries in Rome because he was an art lover. On October 22, 2005, the Mayor of that time Alessandro Giulivi conferred on him the honorary citizenship of Tarquinia.
George died in 2016 at age 91.
“He looked as if he was used to it, that the courtroom was no hostile environment as far as he was concerned, and that he would get this over with nice and quickly. He was relaxed, urbane, smiling, often joking, slightly superior in manner, friendly and patient. He was patently a nice man and an amusing companion who would make a splendid dinner-guest.” - The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Differently to his physician father and grandfather, Dietz is a forensic psychiatrist, criminologist and he also has consulted for television shows as Law & Order, Law & Order: Los Angeles and Kiss The Girls. He even published books called “Autoerotic Fatalities” and “Psychotherapy and the human predicament: A psychosocial approach”. He’s known for forensic psychiatry and for his expert testimony in high profile criminal cases.
Dietz was hired by the prosecution to evaluate Dahmer's claim that he was "guilty but insane", and so he spent 18 hours with him. He spoke with Dahmer, they watched Dahmer’s favorite movies and porns together, and Dahmer talked with him about the shrine. During his two days of testimony, Dietz held the trial professionally going through every one of the fifteen counts of homicide with a view to deciding in each case whether Dahmer knew right from wrong at the time of the offence and whether his actions betrayed a capacity to conform to the law if he had wanted to.
Park Dietz is also president and founder of Park Dietz & Associates, Inc. and TAG - Threat Assessment Group, Inc. The first is an association of professionals in the psychiatric and forensic field. The second is about educating institutions and individuals about the prevention of violence.
Today the psychiatrist P. Dietz is still alive at age 74, still working.
“Dr Park Dietz made his appearance in the witness-box on Wednesday, 12 February. It was immediately apparent why he was saved until the last, for there was about him an aura of unassailable proficiency. He was alert, meticulous, fastidious, precise, patiently prepared to suffer the task of explaining difficult concepts to the untutored. Like a reluctantly cynical professor, he had learnt that you have to speak slowly if people are to grasp your meaning, and you have to use simple words.” - The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Attorney Edward Michael McCann
E. Michael McCan was both attorney and politician, an he prosecuted numerous high-profile cases during his tenure as district attorney. He went to Milwaukee after he studied and graduated in Detroit and Cambridge, and he served as a prosecutor working under district attorneys, handling criminal appeals heard by the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
McCann is a catholic moral man who was asked to obtain the conviction of Jeffrey Dahmer in 1991. After two weeks of the trial, McCann delivered his closing argument for the prosecution, describing Dahmer as a sane man, in full control of his actions, who simply strove to avoid detection. He argued that by pleading guilty but insane to the charges, Dahmer was seeking to escape responsibility for his crimes. Once again, McCann defeated Boyle’s defence, and Dahmer was ruled to be sane and got his sentence to life imprisonment.
Unfortunately in the last years McCann was in the middle of critics of political, social and economic nature, and so he abandoned the scene in 2007. Following his departure from office in January of that year, McCann joined Marquette University Law School, where he became a Boden Teaching Fellow and adjunct professor of law. Today he’s retired and he’s living quietly at age 87.
“Opposing him would be the District Attorney, Michael McCann, a kindly, compassionate man who felt the burden of his duty to represent the community and give expression to their outrage. He was thorough in preparation, remorseless in presentation, and only appeared unforgiving. He was a deeply moral man whose passionate advocacy reflected his outrage and did not have to be contrived.” - The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer.
Drawing note: I started sketching this art with Pat, as I saw his unique, even goofy, appearance. He looked like a Pixar character, so I decided to draw him in my style to have some fun. I didn’t plan to make a whole drawing with multiple characters at first, but then I sketched Palermo as well since his appearance was so cartoonish too. At the end I decided to amplify the canvas so I could add two additional characters and I decided to include Dietz and McCann. These four are the involved people of Dahmer’s case who hit me the most, and I decided to dedicate them a drawing. I don’t mean to minimize the gravity of the case with this drawing, I don’t want to treat it like a tv series making fanarts out of it, but instead it wants to be a tribute for their amazing job during the case, in my personal own artist way. I don’t mean to offend/disrespect anybody with it. If this causes troubles or unease to somebody, I won’t think twice and I’ll delete it right away. Thank you for reading!
