Glenda Cleveland tried to stop of Jeffrey Dahmer murders, but the police didn’t believe her. He later managed to kill four more victims.
Ryan Murphy’s 10-episode Netflix series about Jeffery Dahmer, starring Evan Peters, is set to hit the streamer on September 21st. Is called Dahmer – Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmerand tells the story of the troubled young man, including the neighbor who tried to stop him.
Played by niece Nash in the upcoming series, Cleveland lived next door to Dahmer. In 1991, her daughter and granddaughter saw a male teenager running from the killer in an alley. The women reportedly spoke to the police but were ignored. After going home and telling Cleveland, she also tried to contact law enforcement.
But as before, the police did nothing. Instead, they responded that the intoxicated boy was having a domestic dispute with Dahmer and dropped her.
The phone call
Here is the conversation taken from telephone recordings, between Milwaukee and Cleveland police:
Cleveland: “Yeah, uh, what happened? I mean, my daughter and my niece witnessed what was happening. Has anything been done about the situation? Do you need their name or information or something from them?”
Officer: “Not at all.”
Cleveland: “You do not?”
Officer: “No. He was an intoxicated lover of another lover.”
Cleveland: “Well, how old was this child?”
Officer: “It was not a child. He was an adult.”
Cleveland: “Are you sure?”
Officer: “Yes.”
Cleveland: “Are you positive? Because this kid doesn’t even speak English.† My daughter has dealt with him before, seeing him on the street. You know, catching earthworms.”
Officer: Ms. Ms. I can’t be more clear. Everything is taken care of. He is with his boyfriend, in his boyfriend’s apartment, where he also has his things.”
Cleveland: “But what if it’s a child? Are you sure it’s an adult?”
Officer: “Ma’am, as I explained to you, everything is taken care of. It’s as positive as it gets. I can’t do anything about someone’s sexual preferences in life.”
Cleveland: “Well, no, I’m not saying anything about it, but it seemed to have been a child. That is my concern.”
Officer: “No. No, he isn’t.”
Cleveland: “Isn’t it a child?
Officer: “No, he’s not. OKAY? And it’s a boyfriend-boyfriend thing. And he’s got possessions in the house where he came from. He’s got really nice pictures of him and his boyfriend and so on.”
Cleveland: “OK, I’m just, you know. It seemed to have been a child. That was my concern.”
Officer: “Got it. No, it’s not. No.”
Cleveland: “Oh ok. Thanks. Bye.”
Konerak Synthasomphone
That boy turned out to be 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone, who became the 13th documented victim during Dahmer’s reign of terror. There would be four more that Dahmer confessed to killing after him.
Cleveland became something of a hero after Dahmer was caught. The press did not leave her alone. Even after Dahmer’s conviction, Cleveland continued to live in the neighborhood near the Oxford Apartments where he killed himself, even after his conviction. The apartment building was finally demolished in November 1992
Her brother always asked, “Why don’t you move out of that house on the haunted hill?”
Her response? “I’m not going anywhere!”
Cleveland died on December 24, 2011, two decades after the gruesome discovery in Dahmer’s apartments. Her daughter Sandra says she and her mother never talked about Dahmer and their encounter with him.
“I try not to think about it because it should have been different,” Smith said. “Many things could have been prevented. I try not to dwell on it.”
niece Nash
Nash’s role will be much larger than that of other series on this topic. She and Murphy have worked together on the series before Scream Queens.
“My first exposure to Jeffrey Dahmer and his story was hearing something on the news and then hearing my parents talk.” says Nash. “Glenda was also one of his victims. And her story was the least told.”