The Minds of Billy Milligan

Brief Overview

The Minds of Billy Milligan is a book by Daniel Keyes that tells the story of a real person named William Stanley Milligan. He was the first person in U.S. history to be acquitted of a crime based on a diagnosis of multiple personality disorder. Billy Milligan was accused of a series of robberies and rapes in the late 1970s, but during the trial, it was revealed that he suffered from dissociative identity disorder, resulting in 24 distinct personalities existing within his psyche. Each of these personalities had unique traits, histories, and even talents. The book delves into his life, personalities, the behind-the-scenes of the trial, and the circumstances that led Milligan to commit the crimes, as well as his path to treatment. It raises questions about the nature of self-awareness and how justice should handle such cases, considering guilt and responsibility from a new perspective.