Where is Tracy Edwards now?

Netflix's new series DAHMER – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has captured the attention of viewers for the most horrifying of reasons. Since its release on Netflix on September the 21st 2022, the devastating stories lived by the infamous serial killer's victims have rightfully chilled people to the bone and left them double checking the locks before going to bed - still on edge despite Jeffery Dahmer's death.

The first episode of the controversial show details the night that Dahmer was caught and arrested through the eyes of Tracy Edwards, a real life victim who escaped Dahmer alive and helped the police finally catch him.

Since being introduced to his character, the show has many viewers wondering what happened to the real life Tracy Edwards. Here we explore and answer the question 'Where is Tracy Edwards now?'

Where is Tracy Edwards now?

It is unknown what Tracy Edwards is currently doing, though what he was doing up until 2011 is known. Unfortunately, his life has not been the happiest of stories.

After his terrifying encounter with Dahmer, Tracy Edwards was rightfully hailed as a hero for his part in ending the spree of terror committed by Dahmer. But, after Dahmer’s conviction in 1992, Tracy too ended up getting into serious trouble with the law. 

As reported by ABC News, the publicity from the Dahmer case led to Edwards being extradited to Mississippi, where he had existing sexual battery charges. In the following years Tracy faced further police charges including theft, drug possession, property damage, and failure to pay child support. 

In 2011, almost twenty years to the day that Dahmer was arrested, Tracy was charged with homicide and then pled guilty to a reduced charge of aiding a felon. He spent a year and a half in prison, as well as two years of extended supervision, for his role in the death of Jonny Jordan, according to the National Post.

ABC News reported that, at the time of his arrest, Tracey was 52 years old, unhoused and had been moving from shelter to shelter since at least 2002.

While Edwards may have survived Dahmer’s attempted murder, his life was clearly impacted by his experience. His former defence attorney, Paul Ksicinski, told Fox News, “The way that I’ve characterised it, in a nutshell, is that the incident with Dahmer made Tracy into Humpty Dumpty — he was never able to put the pieces back together in his life.

"At times, he may have appeared or even sounded like, for a lack of a better term, normal. But he was not. He could never get his life together again after that. He abused drugs and drank alcohol excessively. He had no home. He just drifted from place to place. It destroyed his life. I don’t know how or what he could have done to put things back together again.”

Who is Tracy Edwards?

Tracy Edwards was the last person that the notorious serial killer, Jeffery Dahmer, who killed at least 17 men and boys in Wisconsin and Ohio, tried to murder. His brave escape from Dahmer's apartment led to the killer's capture and arrest in 1991. 

Edwards went on to testify against Dahmer in court in 1992 and was the prosecutors’ star witness in the case.

In Netflix's DAHMER, Edwards was played by 35-year-old actor Shaun J. Brown who is known for his roles in the 2016 CBS sitcom The Great Indoors, and the TV series America Gigolo.

What happened to Tracy Edwards?

Tracy Edwards met Jeffery Dahmer at a bar in 1991 and went back to the killer's apartment for what he assumed was a 'hook up' - as we know now, that could not have been further from the truth.

During his court testimony, Tracy explained that Dahmer took him to his bedroom where he was then handcuffed. He noted that when the pair arrived to the now-dreaded apartment, Dahmer was “not the same person” that he met at a bar.

He said, “His face structure seemed different…It was like, it wasn’t him anymore.”

As happened in both real life and the Netflix series DAHMER, during the encounter Tracy spotted an opportunity when Dahmer momentarily let his guard down. The would-be-victim seized his moment, punched the killer and escaped the apartment before running out into an alleyway and finding the police. 

The brave escapee quickly led the police back to Jeffrey’s apartment, where they finally discovered the extent of his horrific murders. Thanks to Tracy, Dahmer was convicted of fifteen of the sixteen murders he committed in Wisconsin and was sentenced to fifteen terms of life imprisonment on February 17, 1992.