There is little to like in Netflix's true crime hit Dahmer: Monster. The 10-part series and subsequently released documentary, retell the story of Jeffrey Dahmer, an American serial killer who claimed the lives of 17 young men and boys.
The hero of the tale is depicted as Dahmer's inquisitive next-door neighbour Glenda Cleveland. She is shown as a key fighter of those who tried tirelessly to raise the alarm about what she suspected Dahmer was doing in his apartment.
Long after Dahmer's arrest, Cleveland continued to fight for justice and the rights of the victims and their families. But was she based on a real person and where is she now?
Read more: Five of Netflix’s best true crime shows to watch after the Jeffrey Dahmer series
Who was the real Glenda Cleveland?
Contrary to what is shown in the Netflix show, the real Glenda Cleveland was not Jeffery Dahmer's next-door neighbour. Instead, she resided in an apartment in the building adjacent to the Oxford Apartments, where Dahmer did in fact live.
In real life, Dahmer's neighbour was a woman called Pamela Bass, who was said to be particularly fond of Dahmer. In interviews, given after the killer's arrest, Bass has said that he was "friendly and sharing" and admitted that he had even fed her sandwiches, though she feared once his crimes were revealed they contained human meat.
Glenda Cleveland, meanwhile, was one of nine children and was raised on a farm by "parents who stressed the importance of telling the truth and stepping up when someone needs help." She worked in a data entry position in Milwaukee while living adjacent to the Oxford Apartments with her daughter, Sandra.
Despite not being his neighbour, Cleveland was suspicious of Dahmer. In May of 1991, Cleveland's daughter Sandra and niece Nicole stumbled across a dazed and confused Konerak Sinthasomphone in an alley by the Oxford Apartments.
The 14-year-old Laotian immigrant was Dahmer's thirteenth victim. Sinthasomphone had returned to the killer's apartment under the ruse of posing for photographs, instead, he was drugged and attacked.
Somehow, the teenager managed to escape the apartment and out into the street where he was found by Sandra and Nicole. Worried for the man, they called the police who arrived on the scene around the same time as Dahmer.
When police arrived, they chalked up the incident to a lovers’ spat, despite pleas from the women to help Sinthasomphone. The police and Dahmer walked Sinthasomphone back to Dahmer's apartment, where he was murdered shortly afterwards.
"We tried to give the policemen our names, but he just told us to butt out," Smith told the Associated Press at the time of Dahmer's arrest. "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.'"
Despite what was shown in the programme, Cleveland was not present when the girls found Sinthasomphone, however that did not stop her from calling the police to check on him. After she noticed missing posters around town for the missing boy, Cleveland made repeated calls to the police department and the FBI, but they went unanswered.
In a now notorious phone call, Cleveland can be heard asking the police for an update. She is brutally dismissed by the men on the other end of the line, who insist that it was "taken care of" despite her pleas of "are you sure?"
Dahmer killed five more victims after Cleveland attempted to alert authorities. Had police followed up on Cleveland's suspicions, they would've found that Dahmer had been convicted of molesting Konerak Sinthasomphone’s older brother, Anouke, some years earlier.
What happened to Glenda Cleveland after Dahmer's arrest?
After the serial killer was arrested, Cleveland found herself at the centre of a media furore. She was quoted as saying that she "just wanted to get back to normal".
She was hailed as a hero and was given honours from the council and county board as well as awards from several women's groups. Even the Milwaukee Police Department gave her an award.
She met with the Reverend Jesse Jackson, one of America's foremost civil rights, religious and political figures, who came to visit and speak with her. The Rev told reporters at the time that "police chose the word of a killer over an innocent woman".
Cleveland returned to her data entry job until her retirement and helped her daughter, Sandra, take care of her nine children. She stayed in touch with the Sinthasomphone family and even attended the wedding of one of Konerak's brothers.
The Oxford Apartments were demolished in 1992 but Cleveland continued to live in the adjacent building, in the same apartment, until 2009. She then moved to a building just a few blocks away until her death in December 2010.
In an obituary, written by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Jim Stingl, Cleveland's daughter Sandra admits that she and her mother never really discussed their encounter with Jeffrey Dahmer anymore. "I try not to think about it because it should have been different," she said. "A lot of things could have been prevented. I try not to dwell on that."
What has Niecy Nash said about Glenda Cleveland?
Niecy Nash plays Cleveland in the Netflix series. Speaking about the role, Nash said: "If anything, I would want people to know Glenda Cleveland was special.
"That was a special woman. To continue on and on and on in an effort to get someone to do something.
"She deserved way more than a little cheesy plaque at the bottom of a social hall somewhere. She deserved way more than the police to step in front of her and say, 'Look at what we did and what we tried to do'.
"And I will want people to know that we all know or have been or will be a Glenda Cleveland in this life. That's for sure."
Read next:
-
11 of the best true crime podcasts that will have you biting your fingernails in suspense
-
Netflix The Midnight Club breaks Guinness World Record for most jump scares
-
Megan Thee Stallion teases Stranger Things fans with cryptic Instagram post
-
Who was John McAfee of Netflix's new documentary Running With The Devil?
-
Who is Florence Cassez – the true story behind the Netflix documentary
