The family of a man allegedly killed by Jeffrey Dahmer sued Friday for $3 billion, hoping to claim profits from movies or books based on the gruesome string of dismemberment slayings.
"I believe big bucks are going to be spent for the story rights to Jeff Dahmer's horrendous killing spree," said attorney Tom Jacobson, who filed the lawsuit for the family of Ernest Miller, 24."People feed on this stuff. The sicker it is, the more money it's worth," he said.
Stanley Miller of Milwaukee, uncle of the victim, filed the suit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court.
Under Wisconsin's so-called "Son of Sam" law, victims of crimes can sue their assailants to collect any income the criminals receive from books or movies about their lives. The law is named after David Berkowitz, the "Son of Sam" slayer who killed six people from 1976 to 1977 in New York City.
Earlier this week, two claims were filed against the city of Milwaukee, alleging the Police Department didn't do enough to stop the killings.
Both claims cited a May 27 incident in which three police officers found a naked and bleeding boy outside Dahmer's apartment and returned him to Dahmer after concluding the two were feuding homosexual lovers.
The officers have been suspended with pay and charged with administrative violations for their handling of the incident.
Authorities say Dahmer has admitted killing 17 people since 1978 and at least five people, including the 14-year-old, since he was questioned by police.
He is being held on $5 million cash bond pending an Aug. 22 hearing on 12 homicide counts.
Jacobson said his lawsuit is based on a Wisconsin law that lets crime victims sue to collect money from books or movies based on assailants' lives.
In the earlier lawsuits, the parents of Matt Turner, 20 sued the city Thursday for $4.5 million. Authorities say Turner was among the victims killed after May incident.
A $3 million lawsuit was filed against the city Monday by Catherine Lacy, whose 23-year-old son Oliver is believed to have been killed six weeks after police questioned Dahmer.
In another development Friday, a Florida woman sent a picture of her missing 14-year-old son to suburban Milwaukee police, who fear Dahmer may have killed the boy.
West Allis police asked Debbie Vega to send a photograph of her son Jamie, who has been missing since 1988, said Lt. Bob Miller. Vega used to live in the Milwaukee area.
Police said they have released the names of all but one of the 17 people Dahmer confessed to killing.