Is everything true in Dahmer? 5 Key Differences Between a Netflix Series and the Real Deal

Poignant and terrifying, Dahmer: Monster brings the story of Jeffrey Dahmer into focus. Hosted by Evan Peters, the fiction returns to the life and crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer. From 1978 to 1991, this man from Wisconsin, USA, killed and dismembered 17 people.

The 10 episodes describe the case from the perspective of the killer, but also his father, the victims and their relatives. If the news adaptation is not always true to reality, Dahmer conveys the events with great accuracy. However, some changes have been made. Take a look at five liberties taken by the series.

Jeffrey Dahmer’s neighbor, Glenda Cleveland, is one of the main characters of the story. Nissi Nash explains it with great sensitivity. Glenda Cleveland did exist, but she didn’t live in the same building as a serial killer.

Her character is also inspired by another neighbor, Pamela Bass. He was the one who lived on the same floor with Jeffrey Dahmer. Glenda Cleveland lived in an apartment across the street.

Therefore, the sandwich scene actually happened with Pamela Bass. In the documentary, he explains that he definitely ate it. “I would definitely eat someone“, he says during the interview.

For her part, Glenda Cleveland truly witnessed this surreal moment when young Konerak Sinthasomphon is abandoned by the police to find himself in the hands of a killer. The phone conversation between him and the agent at the end of episode 2 is authentic.

John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrysh, the two police officers who left the 14-year-old victim in front of the building, were clearly there. The series depicts them several times. In one of the final episodes, they are voted Officer of the Year and applauded by their peers.

In fact, they have never received such a reward for their work. After being fired in 1992, they returned to their unit two years later. John Balserzak became president of the Milwaukee Police Union.

Meanwhile, Glenda Cleveland received a plaque from then-Mayor John Norquist to honor her courage and involvement in the cause.

The series tells us that Jeffrey Dahmer got a job in a laboratory. He does a blood test. In a disturbing scene, he brings home bloody sachets to drink.

The criminal actually worked at this medical center for ten months, but did not drink the blood of patients. He admitted to tasting blood in a vial on the lab roof before spitting it all out.

In episode 9, Sandra Smith, Glenda Cleveland’s daughter, is arrested by the police for assaulting a malicious young man and breaking his camera. Accompanied by two friends, a stranger took disrespectful shots in front of the apartment.

No press articles or official documents confirm that Sarah Smith was arrested for a similar incident in 1991. This sequence is a choice of the creators to emphasize again the difference between blacks and whites by the Milwaukee police.

The sixth episode of the series sheds light on the fate of Jeffrey Dahmer’s deaf victim Tony Hughes. His journey and the life of his family are true to reality. The creators recreated the mother’s speech word for word during the trial.

However, contrary to what the series suggests, Jeffrey Dahmer and Tony Hughes were dating for much longer, precisely in 1989 – two years before the tragedy. During his confession, the serial killer explained that he had never met Tony Hughes before the night of the murder.

A friend of the victim revealed to police that the killer had already visited her home six times between October 1989 and December 1990 to find out where Tony Hughes was.

Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is available on Netflix.