For the first time in four years, Jamie-Lee Arrow was ready to sit face-to-face with her father, the “Skara Cannibal.”
It was October 2024, and the 23-year-old, now a mother to two young children, was hoping to be reunited with the man she knew and loved.
“I was unsure of his reaction,” Arrow shared with Fox News Digital. “And I wasn’t certain how I would feel. I couldn’t even begin to imagine the experience. But when I first laid eyes on him, it was as if we had always been together. And when he began to cry and express such deep emotion, it was heartwarming. It truly seemed like he had transformed. I felt he had changed.”
A young Jamie-Lee Arrow visits her father, Isakin Jonsson, after the incident. Arrow expressed a desire to connect with him at the time. (Investigation Discovery)
At 19 years old, Arrow decided to stop visiting her father. As years went by, she found herself wondering if he had truly changed. That curiosity led her to decide to see him again.
The series captured the pair’s unsettling reunion. During their emotional sit-down, Jonsson claimed that he had killed Christensen because he would then get psychiatric help for his deteriorating mental health. He also claimed that Christensen had had a death wish.
During the reunion, Isakin Jonsson insisted to his daughter Jamie-Lee Arrow (pictured here) that he committed the murder so that he could get psychiatric help. He also claimed that his girlfriend had a death wish. (Investigation Discovery)
“I used to believe that so hard,” Arrow admitted. “I didn’t question it at all. I do believe there are some truths in that, but I do also believe that he always liked watching . . . really twisted films. I do believe he had some sick fantasies. I believe he saw the murder as his chance to live out those fantasies.”
Jamie-Lee Arrow described her father as a psychopathic narcissist. (Investigation Discovery)
Still, Arrow doesn’t think of Jonsson as “evil.”
“I think of him as a very broken, sick person,” she said. “The thing he did was evil. That was an evil thing to do. And there is nothing that makes up for that. There is no excuse for that. It was completely and utterly evil. But I see him as my dad, my very broken and sick dad.”
A young Isakin Jonsson. (Investigation Discovery)
“I know he had a very difficult childhood, a lot worse than mine,” she continued. “I feel sorry for the little child that is my dad, because no one knows what would’ve happened if he had gotten a better start in life.”
Jamie-Lee Arrow said she doesn’t want her father, Isakin Jonsson (pictured here), in her children’s lives. (Investigation Discovery)
According to the series, Jonsson has been released from the hospital, but remains under its supervision. Arrow, having closure, now mourns him “like he is dead,” People magazine reported. The episode shared that she has no desire to have Jonsson be a part of her children’s lives.
“Becoming a mother made me look at everything differently,” she reflected. “I can look at the little Jamie from a parent’s perspective. That made me realize so much about my childhood. I used to think that some events happened in my childhood because of me, because it was my fault. But becoming a mother made me realize that none of it was my fault.”
Jamie-Lee Arrow hopes her story will encourage others struggling with PTSD, depression and anxiety to speak out and share their stories. “You aren’t alone,” she told Fox News Digital. (Investigation Discovery)
“Sometimes I just want to go back in time and hug myself,” she said. “… My goal with sharing my story has always been to make people realize and believe that anyone can make it, no matter where they come from, no matter how broken they are. If you suffer from PTSD, if you suffer from trauma or addiction – I believe that everyone on this Earth can get out of any darkness.”
“My Father, the Cannibal” is now streaming on Max. New episodes of “Evil Lives Here: The Killer Speaks” air Sunday at 9 p.m. on ID.
