BATH, Ohio — With the Jeffrey Dahmer Netflix series thrusting the notorious serial killer back into the public eye, those who knew him the closest say he's nobody to look up to or glamorize.
In a never-before-seen interview, Dr. Phil sits down with Lionel Dahmer, Jeffrey's father, to shed light on the mistakes he made raising him and signs of trouble when growing up.
Dr. Phil tells 3News that Lionel Dahmer realizes there were obvious warning sings, and he wishes he could have taken action.
Dr. Phil asks, “Do you believe that there were warning signs that as a father you should’ve have seen? If your kid is going around collecting dead animals, cutting them, and exploring them, that sort of thing. How did you not know that?"
Lionel Dahmer responds, “As, I said its heavily wooded very rough terrain. And there are a lot of hiding places. It was secretive and devious."
In our sit down with Dr. Phil, he said he hoped the series would help tell the story of Dahmer's family and how to detect warning signs so that other would-be-troubled youth may be deterred before they take a turn for the worse.
Dr. Phil tells 3News, "We did this because we had people impacted by it, survivors, family members of those that were lost and those that had been victimized by it that wanted a platform to tell their side of the story. People wanted to feel like, 'hey, I’ve studied this. I’ve watched some of this. I’m at least alert to it.'”
The third and final part of the series will air Thursday, November 17 at 3 p.m. on WKYC.
Previous Coverage of Jeffrey Dahmer on WKYC.com: