The stories behind what made history.
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He was 14 when he beat his 8-year-old neighbor with a baseball bat, cut her throat and pushed her body inside the frame of his waterbed. Then he slept on that bed for a week while the whole street searched for her.
Jacksonville, Florida. November 3, 1998. Maddie Clifton went outside to play and never came home.
Volunteers searched the woods and ponds for days.
Joshua Phillips lived across the street.
Police came to the house. A sergeant later recalled that Phillips sat on that bed petting his dog, "cool as a cucumber." Maddie was right underneath him.
Seven days after she vanished, her body was found inside his bed.
In the video below, Phillips stands in court in an orange jumpsuit and reads a letter to Maddie’s family. "I did something horrible. I’m so sorry." He was sentenced to life without parole in 1999.
After the Supreme Court ruled out automatic life without parole for juvenile offenders, a judge resentenced him in 2017. He received life, with a sentence review possible after 25 years.
This May, Phillips withdrew his request for that review. He said he still believed he could live a productive and meaningful life if released, but wanted to address concerns about his rehabilitation before returning to court.
Maddie would have been 36 this year.
Did the boy who slept on that bed grow into a different man, or should some things close the door for good?
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In June 2014, Sandra Bullock hid in her closet and called 911 while a stranger walked through her house. Police later seized 24 guns from his home. Three years later, he walked out on probation.
In the video below, her call is played in court. "I can’t hear anything. I’m locked in my closet. It’s a safety door. It’s shut."
His name was Joshua Corbett. He had been lurking outside her gates for several days.
On June 8, 2014, he climbed her fence, rang the doorbell for several minutes and came in through a sunroom door.
Bullock saw him pass her bedroom door. She locked herself in a closet and stayed on the phone with 911 for 15 minutes. Her son Louis was not home.
When officers found Corbett on the stairs, he told them: "I’m sorry. I love you, Sandy."
He was carrying a handwritten letter. “You are my wife by law, the law of God, and you belong to me,” it said.
At his home, police seized 10 handguns, 13 rifles, a shotgun and a machine gun. He faced 26 counts, and his bail was set at more than $2 million.
Then a judge ruled that Corbett had not freely agreed to the search of his house and gun safe. The weapons charges were dropped.
In 2017, he pleaded no contest to stalking and burglary. He had spent about three years in jail. The sentence was five years of probation, mental health treatment and a 10-year stay-away order.
"Everyone wins here," his lawyer said. "The victim wins, the defendant wins, and the court wins."
In May 2018, he missed a court date. When police came to arrest him, he threatened to kill them. He was found dead in his house about five hours later.
Did the court protect Bullock with a 10-year order, or did it let the man with 24 guns walk because of how police searched his house?
In June 2014, Sandra Bullock hid in her closet and called 911 while a stranger walked through her house. Police later seized 24 guns from his home. Three years later, he walked out on probation.
In the video below, her call is played in court. "I can’t hear anything. I’m locked in my closet. It’s a safety door. It’s shut."
His name was Joshua Corbett. He had been lurking outside her gates for several days.
On June 8, 2014, he climbed her fence, rang the doorbell for several minutes and came in through a sunroom door.
Bullock saw him pass her bedroom door. She locked herself in a closet and stayed on the phone with 911 for 15 minutes. Her son Louis was not home.
When officers found Corbett on the stairs, he told them: "I’m sorry. I love you, Sandy."
He was carrying a handwritten letter. “You are my wife by law, the law of God, and you belong to me,” it said.
At his home, police seized 10 handguns, 13 rifles, a shotgun and a machine gun. He faced 26 counts, and his bail was set at more than $2 million.
Then a judge ruled that Corbett had not freely agreed to the search of his house and gun safe. The weapons charges were dropped.
In 2017, he pleaded no contest to stalking and burglary. He had spent about three years in jail. The sentence was five years of probation, mental health treatment and a 10-year stay-away order.
"Everyone wins here," his lawyer said. "The victim wins, the defendant wins, and the court wins."
In May 2018, he missed a court date. When police came to arrest him, he threatened to kill them. He was found dead in his house about five hours later.
Did the court protect Bullock with a 10-year order, or did it let the man with 24 guns walk because of how police searched his house?
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In 2011, Nancy Brophy wrote an essay called "How to Murder Your Husband." Seven years later, her husband was shot dead at the cooking school where he worked.
Daniel Brophy was 63 and taught at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. On June 2, 2018, a coworker found him dead in the kitchen. He'd been shot twice while preparing for work.
In the video below, Brophy takes the witness stand and tries to explain why she bought parts for a gun. She says they were research for a future novel. When asked to explain why having gun parts didn't mean she had a working gun, she compared them to ingredients for an omelet. "I've got eggs and flour in my pantry and that's not an omelet either."
Investigators had another problem for her. Surveillance footage placed a minivan matching hers near the school around the time Daniel was killed. Brophy initially told police she'd been home. She later said she had no memory of that morning and insisted she never entered the building.
Prosecutors argued that money was the motive. Brophy stood to receive a substantial life insurance payout, and three days after the murder, she tried to collect on a policy. The murder weapon was never found. Her defense said the evidence was circumstantial and disputed the claim that money drove her to kill.
The jury never heard her 2011 essay. The judge excluded it from evidence. But on May 25, 2022, jurors found Brophy guilty of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Was she a novelist whose research went too far, or did she write about murder long before putting a plan into action?
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In 2011, Nancy Brophy wrote an essay called "How to Murder Your Husband." Seven years later, her husband was shot dead at the cooking school where he worked.
Daniel Brophy was 63 and taught at the Oregon Culinary Institute in Portland. On June 2, 2018, a coworker found him dead in the kitchen. He'd been shot twice while preparing for work.
In the video below, Brophy takes the witness stand and tries to explain why she bought parts for a gun. She says they were research for a future novel. When asked to explain why having gun parts didn't mean she had a working gun, she compared them to ingredients for an omelet. "I've got eggs and flour in my pantry and that's not an omelet either."
Investigators had another problem for her. Surveillance footage placed a minivan matching hers near the school around the time Daniel was killed. Brophy initially told police she'd been home. She later said she had no memory of that morning and insisted she never entered the building.
Prosecutors argued that money was the motive. Brophy stood to receive a substantial life insurance payout, and three days after the murder, she tried to collect on a policy. The murder weapon was never found. Her defense said the evidence was circumstantial and disputed the claim that money drove her to kill.
The jury never heard her 2011 essay. The judge excluded it from evidence. But on May 25, 2022, jurors found Brophy guilty of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to life in prison, with the possibility of parole after 25 years.
Was she a novelist whose research went too far, or did she write about murder long before putting a plan into action?
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In 2020, Mary Trump accused her uncle Donald of cheating her out of "tens of millions of dollars." A year later, he sued her for $100 million. In June 2026, they settled privately.
Neither side disclosed the settlement terms. Their family dispute had turned into lawsuits worth millions on both sides.
In the video below, Mary Trump describes the legal battle: "Four years ago I sued my family because I believed there had been some fraud involved in my disinheritance. A year later, Donald sued me for breach of contract for a hundred million dollars."
In 2018, The New York Times investigated Donald Trump's wealth. Its report estimated he had received at least $413 million from his father's empire.
On September 24, 2020, Mary filed a 52-page complaint in New York. She accused Donald, his sister, and her late brother's estate of fraud and conspiracy over her inheritance.
In September 2021, Donald sued Mary for $100 million. His lawsuit alleged she had given confidential family financial records to The New York Times.
On November 14, 2022, Judge Robert Reed dismissed Mary's case. He ruled that a 2001 settlement had clearly released the claims she was bringing.
In 2023, the same judge dismissed Trump's claims against The New York Times. He also ordered Trump to pay the newspaper's legal costs.
On June 17, 2026, Mary and Donald announced they had settled. Neither side revealed the financial terms.
Did this family dispute end with justice for Mary Trump, or with a private deal that left the real cost unknown?
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John List killed his mother, his wife and three children because he couldn't afford their house. Then he made himself lunch and went to watch his son play soccer.
It was November 9, 1971, in Westfield, New Jersey. List was a bank vice president who had lost his job and was struggling to maintain a 19-room mansion with a ballroom and a Tiffany skylight.
In the video below, a police officer involved in the case explains how investigators tracked List down after he vanished. Five bodies were found inside the house on December 7. List had left a letter to his pastor, then disappeared without a trace.
He started a new life as Robert Clark, moved to Virginia, worked as an accountant and married again. His new wife had no idea she was living with a man wanted for killing his first family.
For nearly 18 years, List stayed hidden. Then America's Most Wanted aired a sculpted bust showing what he might look like with age. A viewer recognized him, and FBI agents arrested him at work in June 1989.
In a later interview, List was asked how he could eat lunch after the murders. His answer was simple: "I was hungry. It was just the way it was." He was convicted of five murders and died in prison in 2008.
The mansion burned down less than a year after the killings. List had tried to protect his home and his reputation, but lost both. Was he a man crushed by financial shame, or someone who valued appearances more than his own family?
John List killed his mother, his wife and three children because he couldn't afford their house. Then he made himself lunch and went to watch his son play soccer.
It was November 9, 1971, in Westfield, New Jersey. List was a bank vice president who had lost his job and was struggling to maintain a 19-room mansion with a ballroom and a Tiffany skylight.
In the video below, a police officer involved in the case explains how investigators tracked List down after he vanished. Five bodies were found inside the house on December 7. List had left a letter to his pastor, then disappeared without a trace.
He started a new life as Robert Clark, moved to Virginia, worked as an accountant and married again. His new wife had no idea she was living with a man wanted for killing his first family.
For nearly 18 years, List stayed hidden. Then America's Most Wanted aired a sculpted bust showing what he might look like with age. A viewer recognized him, and FBI agents arrested him at work in June 1989.
In a later interview, List was asked how he could eat lunch after the murders. His answer was simple: "I was hungry. It was just the way it was." He was convicted of five murders and died in prison in 2008.
The mansion burned down less than a year after the killings. List had tried to protect his home and his reputation, but lost both. Was he a man crushed by financial shame, or someone who valued appearances more than his own family?
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In 1942, Joe Louis gave $83,646 from two title fights to the Army and Navy. Eight years later, the IRS said he owed more than $1 million. When his mother died in 1953, the government collected the $667 she left him.
The money never reached Louis. His promoter sent it to charity, but the donations were never claimed as tax deductions.
In the video below, a historian explains what happened: "To treat him like a common criminal is criminal in and of itself."
On January 9, 1942, Louis knocked out Buddy Baer in the first round. He gave $47,500 of his $65,200 share to Navy Relief.
On March 27, Louis beat Abe Simon in the sixth round. He donated $36,146 from his $45,882 purse to Army Relief.
Louis enlisted as a private, earning $21 a month. He reportedly already owed $217,000, more than half of it to the IRS.
ESPN's documentary says promoter Mike Jacobs gave the purses to charity without paying Louis. Madison Square Garden filed his tax return but failed to claim the donations as deductions.
ESPN also says Jacobs's tax adviser deducted about $300,000 in advances paid to Louis during his four years in the Army.
In 1950, an IRS audit put Louis's debt above $1 million. He returned to boxing and fought Rocky Marciano in 1951 for $300,000. The referee stopped the fight in the eighth round.
The IRS later capped the debt and set payments at $20,000 a year until Louis's death, according to UPI. He eventually worked as an official greeter at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Across 71 fights, Louis earned about $4.7 million in purses.
How could a man donate his fight earnings to help his country, then spend the rest of his life paying for money he never received?
In 1942, Joe Louis gave $83,646 from two title fights to the Army and Navy. Eight years later, the IRS said he owed more than $1 million. When his mother died in 1953, the government collected the $667 she left him.
The money never reached Louis. His promoter sent it to charity, but the donations were never claimed as tax deductions.
In the video below, a historian explains what happened: "To treat him like a common criminal is criminal in and of itself."
On January 9, 1942, Louis knocked out Buddy Baer in the first round. He gave $47,500 of his $65,200 share to Navy Relief.
On March 27, Louis beat Abe Simon in the sixth round. He donated $36,146 from his $45,882 purse to Army Relief.
Louis enlisted as a private, earning $21 a month. He reportedly already owed $217,000, more than half of it to the IRS.
ESPN's documentary says promoter Mike Jacobs gave the purses to charity without paying Louis. Madison Square Garden filed his tax return but failed to claim the donations as deductions.
ESPN also says Jacobs's tax adviser deducted about $300,000 in advances paid to Louis during his four years in the Army.
In 1950, an IRS audit put Louis's debt above $1 million. He returned to boxing and fought Rocky Marciano in 1951 for $300,000. The referee stopped the fight in the eighth round.
The IRS later capped the debt and set payments at $20,000 a year until Louis's death, according to UPI. He eventually worked as an official greeter at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
Across 71 fights, Louis earned about $4.7 million in purses.
How could a man donate his fight earnings to help his country, then spend the rest of his life paying for money he never received?
Robert Durst was an heir to a New York real estate fortune. While on the run from a murder charge, he was arrested for shoplifting a chicken sandwich, Band-Aids and a newspaper.
Police found $500 in his pocket. His rental car contained $37,000 in cash and two guns.
Two years later, a Texas jury acquitted him of murdering and dismembering his neighbor in Galveston. Durst said he acted in self-defense.
In March 2015, HBO's "The Jinx" showed him a letter he had written to his friend Susan Berman and an envelope sent to police after her death. The FBI arrested him at a New Orleans hotel the night before the episode aired.
Still wearing a microphone, Durst went to the bathroom and spoke to himself: "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." ABC News said it was unclear what he meant.
On September 17, 2021, a Los Angeles jury found Durst guilty of first-degree murder for shooting Berman in her Beverly Hills home in 2000. His first wife, Kathleen, vanished in 1982, but he was never charged in her case.
Durst died in prison in January 2022. In a recorded interrogation, he told a prosecutor he had been on meth throughout the filming of "The Jinx."
Was "killed them all, of course" a confession, or a man talking to himself with a microphone he forgot about?
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Tesla lost $152 billion in a single day after Elon Musk turned on Donald Trump.
Sixteen months later, Musk has put about $442 million into Republican campaigns, and Trump has hung the National Medal of Science on him.
In June 2025, Trump said of Musk: "We had a great relationship. I don't know if we will anymore." He also threatened to cut Musk's government contracts.
Musk had spent more than $290 million to elect Trump in 2024. Since July, he has given Republicans another $276 million, including $158 million to the Senate Leadership Fund.
On October 8, Trump called him "a national treasure" and "our modern-day Thomas Edison."
The midterms are on November 3. Forecasters say Democrats are almost certain to take the House, and Musk's companies depend on federal contracts that Congress controls.
When America's biggest political donor receives one of its highest honors, where does recognition for achievement end and political access begin?
James Cameron turned down a $1 million offer for The Terminator script. He later sold the rights for $1, on the condition that he would direct the film.
In the video below, Cameron recalls the offer: "A million dollars. I couldn't even visualize what that looked like in a pile."
Before The Terminator, Cameron had been fired from his first directing job after six days of shooting. He was broke and says he had no prospects.
Producer Gale Anne Hurd bought the rights for a dollar. Her condition was that Cameron would direct the film.
Hurd said other deals would have meant giving up control, with "no obligation to ever pay you a dime."
The Terminator cost about $6.4 million to make. Cameron's deal gave him the directing role that the studio's offer had denied him.
Across six films, the Terminator franchise has grossed more than $2 billion worldwide.
In 2011, producer Megan Ellison bought the Terminator rights at auction for $20 million.
Paramount's offer was serious money for a script from a first-time director. The studio wanted an established director, not Cameron.
Should creators accept a large payment while giving up control, or take less upfront to keep authority over their work?
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Justine Musk asked for $6 million and stakes in Tesla and SpaceX. Her marriage agreement provided about $20 million after tax. Forbes estimates the stakes she requested would be worth $17.3 billion today.
In the video below, Justine Musk describes how it ended: "he had left a message for her to tell me that he was filing for divorce."
They married in January 2000. Six weeks after the wedding, Elon Musk had her sign a separate-property agreement.
Elon filed for divorce in 2008. They had five sons.
That year, Tesla and SpaceX were both close to failing. The companies' financial position at the time was different from their estimated value today.
In her essay, Justine listed what she wanted from the divorce: 10% of Tesla, 5% of SpaceX, $6 million and a Tesla Roadster.
Elon's side maintained that the agreement was signed and valid. He has also said he offered her about $80 million over time. This figure needs verification before publication.
Today, Forbes estimates the requested stakes at $17.3 billion. Justine's net worth is estimated at about $15 million, while Elon is the richest person in the world.
Alex Gibney's documentary "Musk" opened on 9 October. The divorce raises a broader question about how agreements made during marriage should apply when a spouse's companies later become worth billions.
Should a signed contract settle what a partner receives, or should the law account for the future value of companies built during a marriage?
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James Brown's will left his music to scholarships for poor children. His executor valued the estate at about $5 million. In 2021 it sold for a reported $90 million.
In the video below, Tomi Rae Hynie, who said she was Brown's wife, recalls arriving at his home after his death. "I showed up and there was six padlocks on the gate." She says a guard told her she would be arrested if she tried to go in.
Brown died on Christmas Day 2006. His will directed his music and name rights to the "I Feel Good" Trust, meant to fund scholarships for poor children in South Carolina and Georgia. It set aside up to $2 million for his grandchildren's education. Anyone who contested it would receive nothing.
Hynie said she married Brown in 2001. She, his adult children, the trust and former executor Adele Pope fought in roughly a dozen lawsuits over about 15 years.
In 2009, a settlement would have split the estate among the trust, Hynie and the children. In 2013, South Carolina's Supreme Court threw it out, citing Brown's wish that most of his money go to charity.
Executor Russell Bauknight put the estate at about $5 million. Pope put it at $84 million.
On June 17, 2020, the court ruled unanimously that Brown had no wife when he died, so Hynie had no claim. No scholarship had been awarded in the 13 years since his death. Chief Justice Donald Beatty: "The ongoing litigation since Brown's passing has thwarted his expressed wish that his estate be used for educational purposes."
In 2021, the estate sold Brown's music, name and likeness rights to Primary Wave Music for a reported $90 million. His daughter Deanna Brown Thomas: "We still have no indication of where the $90 million is going or being used for." In May 2025, a separate family foundation awarded $1,000 in scholarships.
Who stood between James Brown and those children: the family that fought his will, or a system that took 15 years to carry it out?
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Matthew Perry died on October 28, 2023. Three years later, the woman who supplied the ketamine that contributed to his death is serving 15 years in federal prison. On October 27, Netflix releases a three-part documentary about the life of the man millions knew as Chandler Bing.
In the video below, Perry debates whether addiction is a disease or a choice on BBC Newsnight in 2013. He tells journalist Peter Hitchens: "I’m a drug addict. I’m a person that if I have a drink, I can’t stop. And so it would be following your ideology that I’m choosing to do that."
Perry had spent decades fighting addiction. In one of his earlier brushes with death, his colon burst after years of opioid abuse. He later said doctors gave him a two percent chance of survival.
He spent five months in the hospital and believed he would need a colostomy bag for the rest of his life. He survived, wrote a memoir about his addiction, and spoke publicly about recovery.
But in October 2023, Perry was using ketamine obtained outside his prescribed treatment. His live-in assistant, Kenneth Iwamasa, repeatedly injected him with ketamine supplied through dealer Jasveen Sangha and intermediary Erik Fleming. The medical examiner ruled that the acute effects of ketamine caused his death.
Five people were charged in connection with his death. Doctor Salvador Plasencia received 30 months in prison, while another doctor, Mark Chavez, received eight months of home detention and probation.
Sangha, known as the "Ketamine Queen," pleaded guilty to distributing the ketamine that contributed to Perry’s death. On April 8, 2026, she was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison. Prosecutors said she continued selling drugs after another customer died from her supply in 2019.
Perry’s stepfather told the court that he and Perry’s mother live with "daily, grinding sadness and sorrow." Sangha’s lawyer argued that addiction killed Perry and that the nickname "Ketamine Queen" unfairly reduced her to a label.
Perry spent years explaining how addiction affected his choices. The people who supplied him ketamine made their own choices, too. Did Perry die because of the people who sold him the drug, or because of the addiction he fought for 30 years?
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CBS offered Charlie Sheen $2 million per episode to stay on Two and a Half Men. He turned it down. The money was enormous, but Sheen said it wouldn't change the part of the job he could no longer live with.
In the video below, Sheen recalls the offer and explains why the extra money wouldn't solve the problem. "It felt like a lot of win," he says. "But I knew it was still gonna come at the same cost."
At the time, Sheen was one of television's highest-paid actors. Two and a Half Men was a hit, and CBS had a lot to lose if its leading star walked away.
But Sheen wasn't talking about the paycheck alone. He described the show as the same routine: "Four people, five rooms, six jokes." Another two million dollars per episode wouldn't change that.
The offer shows how much the network wanted to keep him. But Sheen's answer suggests that even a record-breaking salary can lose its power when the underlying problem stays the same.
He also anticipated how the story might sound to viewers. "People are gonna see this and hear this and be like, 'Oh, how the fuck dare he talk about our…'"
Then he clarified what he meant: "It's not about you. It's about me."
Sheen had the money, the hit show, and an offer most actors would never see. But he believed staying would cost him something the extra money couldn't fix.
Would you turn down $2 million per episode if the job itself had become unbearable, or take the money and keep going?
CBS offered Charlie Sheen $2 million per episode to stay on Two and a Half Men. He turned it down. The money was enormous, but Sheen said it wouldn't change the part of the job he could no longer live with.
In the video below, Sheen recalls the offer and explains why the extra money wouldn't solve the problem. "It felt like a lot of win," he says. "But I knew it was still gonna come at the same cost."
At the time, Sheen was one of television's highest-paid actors. Two and a Half Men was a hit, and CBS had a lot to lose if its leading star walked away.
But Sheen wasn't talking about the paycheck alone. He described the show as the same routine: "Four people, five rooms, six jokes." Another two million dollars per episode wouldn't change that.
The offer shows how much the network wanted to keep him. But Sheen's answer suggests that even a record-breaking salary can lose its power when the underlying problem stays the same.
He also anticipated how the story might sound to viewers. "People are gonna see this and hear this and be like, 'Oh, how the fuck dare he talk about our…'"
Then he clarified what he meant: "It's not about you. It's about me."
Sheen had the money, the hit show, and an offer most actors would never see. But he believed staying would cost him something the extra money couldn't fix.
Would you turn down $2 million per episode if the job itself had become unbearable, or take the money and keep going?
Levils retweeted
Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 young men and boys over 13 years. He dismembered his victims and kept human remains in his apartment. In 1992, he was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms. Just two years later, another inmate would kill him in prison. Decades later, Netflix’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story would surpass 1 billion hours viewed in just 60 days.
In the video below, Dahmer addresses the court at his sentencing. He says: "Frankly, I wanted death for myself."
Two days before sentencing, a jury ruled 10 to 2 that Dahmer was legally sane when he committed the murders. The families of his victims were in court to hear him speak.
Errol Lindsey’s sister confronted him in the courtroom. She shouted, "Jeffrey, I hate you!"
Dahmer was sent to Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. In May 1994, a minister baptized him in a prison whirlpool bath. He was serving his life sentences when the final chapter of his story began.
On November 28, 1994, guards left Dahmer and two other inmates alone while they cleaned the prison gym bathrooms. One of them, Christopher Scarver, attacked Dahmer with a metal bar taken from the weight room.
Dahmer was pronounced dead about an hour later. Scarver later told a guard, "God told me to do it." He would later question why the guards had left the three men alone together.
Dahmer had told the court he wanted to die. Was his death in prison the justice his victims’ families deserved, or did the prison fail in its duty to keep him alive?
Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 young men and boys over 13 years. He dismembered his victims and kept human remains in his apartment. In 1992, he was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms. Just two years later, another inmate would kill him in prison. Decades later, Netflix’s Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story would surpass 1 billion hours viewed in just 60 days.
In the video below, Dahmer addresses the court at his sentencing. He says: "Frankly, I wanted death for myself."
Two days before sentencing, a jury ruled 10 to 2 that Dahmer was legally sane when he committed the murders. The families of his victims were in court to hear him speak.
Errol Lindsey’s sister confronted him in the courtroom. She shouted, "Jeffrey, I hate you!"
Dahmer was sent to Columbia Correctional Institution in Wisconsin. In May 1994, a minister baptized him in a prison whirlpool bath. He was serving his life sentences when the final chapter of his story began.
On November 28, 1994, guards left Dahmer and two other inmates alone while they cleaned the prison gym bathrooms. One of them, Christopher Scarver, attacked Dahmer with a metal bar taken from the weight room.
Dahmer was pronounced dead about an hour later. Scarver later told a guard, "God told me to do it." He would later question why the guards had left the three men alone together.
Dahmer had told the court he wanted to die. Was his death in prison the justice his victims’ families deserved, or did the prison fail in its duty to keep him alive?