Weeks after entering Columbia Correctional Institute, Jeffrey was found with a razor blade in his cell. His prison psychiatrist believed he intended to kill himself and put him on Prozac, an antidepressant. Shortly after this incident, Lionel and his second wife, Shari, drove to the prison to check on Dahmer. On the way out, prison authorities gave Lionel and Shari a package containing all the mail Jeffrey had received while in the prison. As they drove home in the dark, Shari read the letters aloud by flashlight…

“We are destined to be together.”

The lyrics to “You’ve Got a Friend” by James Taylor

“My dream told me that your mental illness was complex, but unexplainable just like mine was.”

“I know what it’s like to be lonely.”

“My husband was my whole world, and when he died, I wanted to go with him.”

“I am on Dilantin for my epilepsy.”

“My plant just had another layoff.”

“Sometimes all I feel is hate.”

“When I go to sleep, I die.”

“I am always shaking.”

“Only you can calm me down.”

“Small hearts enclosed.”

Each letter a gleaming reflection of an individual in shattered glass, glittering in small beams of electric light. For a man who lacked any personal connection with another human being, a man so entirely alone he preferred his company dead, so many were able to catch a glimpse of themselves.