TW: Mentions of Jeffery Dahmer, Domestic Violence, Homophobia
Spoiler Alert: Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix
Netflix’s controversial series Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has broken records. It was watched for 192.6 million hours in its first week on the streaming platform and remains number one in 60 countries. There could be numerous reasons for its record-breaking debut, one of them likely to be the fact that Evan Peters (teen heartthrob and American Horror Story staple) is portraying the infamous Jeffery Dahmer. Although, through its breakthrough, I would say one key character is being overlooked. As a forensic psychology major, I am eager to watch any documentary or series that relates to real-life crime – so yes, controversial or not, I watched Dahmer. I’ve seen many posts and had many conversations that discussed people in the show beyond Dahmer, including feelings about the dad, the victims (may they rest in peace), and the police. However, the one person people are seeming to forget about, despite one episode being entirely focused on her (Episode 7: “Cassandra”), is Glenda Cleveland. The episode coined its title in relation to the Greek mythology prophetess, Cassandra. In mythology, she was fated to speak true prophecies, however, she was never believed. The same was, unfortunately, true for Cleveland.
For those that watched the Netflix series or know the basics about the Jeffery Dahmer case, you know who she is. For those who don’t, let me tell you. Glenda Cleveland was portrayed in the Netflix series as Dahmer’s immediate next-door neighbor. This was not true, but she was in an apartment building adjacent to Dahmer. There was some truth, in fact, a very important truth, however, in her efforts to stop Dahmer.
In Episode 2: “Please Don’t Go,” the victim storyline of Konerak Sinthasomphone is highlighted. He was only 14 years old. After being kidnapped and drugged by Dahmer, he escaped while Dahmer had briefly left the apartment. However, he was still severely under the influence and was incoherent. Sinthasophone also sustained injuries to his head and was bleeding. He made it to the front of the apartment complex when he was spotted by Glenda and her daughter, Sandra Smith, and her niece. They called 911 and the police arrived at the same time as Dahmer. Sinthasomphone was unable to defend or speak for himself, being severely inebriated and injured, but Dahmer insisted to police that they were just boyfriends, and Sinthasomphone was an alcoholic with domestic violence issues. Speculation and recordings of police scanners seem to show that these policemen may have let Dahmer take them because they did not want to get involved in a homosexual domestic relationship. It was the early 90s, in a midwestern city, so being gay was not as accepted as it is now. Dahmer assured them he would get him inside and to bed safely. Despite Glenda’s pleas to investigate further, police let Dahmer take Sinthasomphone inside, and he would become one of Dahmer’s 17 victims.
Both in real life and in the show, Glenda Cleveland reached out to the police several times about this incident. She did not believe that Sinthasomphone was 19 years old or Dahmer’s boyfriend, as he claimed. The series included a real police call, in which Eventually, she saw a missing person poster for Konerak SInthasomphone and reached out to police and even the FBI, but again, Cleveland’s pleas were disregarded. As portrayed in the series, once Dahmer was caught and convicted, Cleveland’s pleas were acknowledged as legitimate, but it was too late. Had the police taken her seriously two months earlier when Knerak Sinthasomphone was incoherent on the steps of Dahmer’s apartment building, Dahmer may have been arrested and convicted much sooner – and ultimately less victims would have been at the hands of Dahmer. At the time of his trial, Cleveland was approached by a renowned Reverend Jesse Jackson, to praise her efforts and activism for what was right. However, Cleveland did not want praise or thanks, she wanted to get back to normal. She lived in the same apartment building until 2009 and moved nearby. On December 24, 2011, Glenda Cleveland passed away at the age of 56 years old.