Dr. Dietz on Jeffrey Dahmer

The reason wall-to-wall coverage of true crime stories seems to dominate TV news is arguably thanks to figures like the so-called "Milwaukee cannibal-murderer" Jeffrey Dahmer, who was arrested 25 years ago Friday, on July 22, 1991.

On that day, in his apartment, police found body parts and severed heads in his fridge, freezer, filing cabinet, even in a kettle, which "contained what are thought to be decomposing hands and a male genital organ," per TIME's report. He quickly confessed to 11 murders, and later, to the killing and dismembering 17 people between 1978 and 1991. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive life terms in jail, but died in 1994 after fellow inmate Charles Sarver beat him to death.

But, despite the heinous nature of his crimes, his arrest was largely an accident.