Netflix/mugshot Wendy Patrickus and Jeffrey Dahmer
Wendy Patrickus is a Milwaukee, Wisconsin, defense attorney who was part of the defense team that represented serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.
Patrickus is featured prominently in the new Netflix documentary, “Conversations with a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes.” She recorded multiple conversations with Dahmer from July to October 1991 as part of her defense work. The documentary airs them for the first time.
Dahmer, of course, was one of the nation’s worst serial killers and cannibals in history.
Here’s what you need to know:
Patrickus Has Run Her Own Law Firm for 17 Years
Patrickus still practices law in Milwaukee. She has her own practice, where she focuses on criminal defense and civil cases, according to her LinkedIn page.
“I have been practicing law since 1988 when I passed the Wisconsin Bar Exam,” Patrickus explained on LinkedIn.
“Since then I initiated my practice as an associate in the Law Offices of Attorney Gerald P. Boyle and second chaired the jury trial of Jeffrey Dahmer. I was given the benefit of excellent training while employed in the Boyle Law Offices for those 5 years. That training and experience I received set the stage for me to open up my own practice.”
She continued,
Given that my initial training focused primarily upon the practice of criminal law back then, I continued with that focus in my new practice. However, over the years ones life experiences grow, and as my experiences grew so did the foundation and areas of my practice.
Now I enjoy the benefits of some diversification with a well rounded practice in many areas. Besides increased growth in family law cases, I now mostly enjoy the business issues. I’ve had an opportunity to work on cases in the areas of contract law, business development and marketing.
Recently I have developed a curious desire to learn more about social media marketing which seems to be the largest and most excitable avenue to maximize future sales, notoriety and income for any service or product producing company.
Patrickus Described Herself as ‘Clarice Starling’ in Silence of the Lambs
In the Netflix documentary, Patrickus described how representing Jeffrey Dahmer was her first job. She was brought into a room to interview him. She was worried the case was over her head at the time. “I felt like Clarice Starling in Silence of the Lambs. He was very polite.”
The lead defense attorney was Gerald Boyle, a well-known Milwaukee defense attorney. Dahmer told Gerry Boyle that he wanted to understand why he was the way he was. Boyle launched an insanity defense for Dahmer that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Patrickus said in the documentary that she tried to develop trust with Dahmer. She called him Jeff. He called her Wendy. “It’s something that I kept buried within myself for many years,” Dahmer told Patrickus.
“I don’t think there’s anything that can prepare anyone for that kind of carnage,” she said.
The documentary also features old news footage and an interview with Jeff Fleming, who was a Milwaukee television reporter at the time. Today he is a public relations spokesman for Milwaukee’s mayor. In the Netflix show, he described how police let him look into Dahmer’s apartment. He noted that there was a “creep lava lamp” that gave the apartment an “eerie feeling.”
The documentary also features an interview with James Causey, who was a newspaper reporter for the Milwaukee Sentinel at the time. Today, he is a writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Dennis Murphy, a Milwaukee police detective, helped interview Dahmer with detective Pat Kennedy. He says in the documentary that Dahmer said, “why don’t you just shoot me now.”