Glenda Cleveland was Dahmer’s neighbor whose persistent efforts to stop him were reportedly ignored by police.
In the latest Netflix adaptation of Dahmer’s story, Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Niecy Nash played his neighbor who was pivotal in his conviction, although very little story was told about her.
Cleveland was one of nine children, according to USA Today, and was raised on a farm by “parents who stressed the importance of telling the truth and stepping up when someone needs help.”
This is not the first portrayal of Dahmer or his stories on-screen and this recent Netflix drama has received significant backlash for the production’s failure to approach still-living individuals affected by Dahmer’s crimes, among other issues.
Cleveland was not Jeffery’s next-door neighbor, as she lived in an adjacent building. In reality, Dahmer’s actual neighbor was another Black woman named Pamela Bass.
According to a 2020 interview with Cleveland’s niece Nicole Childress, in May of 1991 Childress and Smith, Cleveland’s daughter, stumbled upon a dazed and confused 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone trying to escape Dahmer’s apartment building.
Although Sinthasomphone was heavily drugged, he was able to get to the streets to call for help. The police cane and dismissed the issue as a lover’s bout, despite the women’s pleas to help the drugged victim.
Both the police and Dahmer walked Sinthasomphone back to Jeffrey’s apartment building, where he died shortly afterward.
Speaking to the Associated Press, one of the witnesses, Smith said:
“We tried to give the policemen our names, but he just told us to butt out. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t want our names. I said, ‘What are you going to do about this? This is a boy.'”
After Glenda discovered missing person signs for Konerak Sinthasomphone, she repeatedly called the police — even the FBI — but no one ever took her call.
Dahmer killed five more victims after she attempted to alert the authorities.
