‘Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes’ Tells a Different Story About the Killer’s Neighbors
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was revealed to have warped the story of Jeffrey Dahmer’s neighbors. The Glenda Cleveland audiences see in the Netflix series is not the full story of the real-life neighbor. In the series, Cleveland had her suspicions about Dahmer, his nightly activities, and the foul odor from his apartment. She ultimately feared him. But in Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes gives testimony from one of Dahmer’s neighbors who describe him differently and not as the heinous killer.
[SPOILER ALERT: Spoilers ahead regarding Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes.]
The character Glenda Cleveland is also the story of Pamela Bass
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is also told from the viewpoint of the killer’s next-door neighbor, Glenda Cleveland. She lives in the apartment adjacent to Dahmer, who started to complain about the smell from his apartment. As time passes, Cleveland becomes afraid of the sounds of power tools and thuds. She was also there when Dahmer’s victim, Konerak, escaped from his apartment and was found naked on the stoop.
But the series took a creative license when it came to the character. In reality, Cleveland lived in the building adjacent to Dahmer’s. She did complain about the smell and noises. Dahmer’s real next-door neighbor was Pamela Bass, who lived with her husband.
The Netflix series combined Cleveland and Bass’s stories to create one character. But Netflix’s new docu-series Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes gives first-hand accounts from Dahmer’s neighbors who thought kindly of him.
Vernell Bass was fond of his neighbor, according to ‘Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes’
The Netflix docu-series has first-hand testimonies from the detectives, lawyers, and people around Dahmer. One of them was Vernell Bass, the husband of Pamela Bass. But audiences will be surprised to learn that the depiction of Dahmer by his neighbors in Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is drastically different from the testimonies in the docu-series. Bass explains he was fond of Dahmer.
When first meeting Dahmer, Bass explains he became fond of him because he looked “clean-cut” and “mild.” He saw his neighbor as a “normal guy,” trying to keep his head above water.
“I liked him because I felt that he had a soft heart,” said Bass. He recounts when his sister was getting married and had no money to buy her a gift. Knocking on Dahmer’s door, Bass asked his neighbor for money to buy a gift. Dahmer had no issue with it and gave Bass $60. “Told me, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ He said, ‘Get your sister something nice.'”
Bass explains he had no idea what Dahmer was doing in his apartment, and all he could testify to what he saw and knew of Dahmer during their interactions. According to Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, Bass showed concern for his neighbor when he lost his job and started drinking. According to the Daily Mail, Pamela Bass saw Dahmer as friendly. So much so that she thought nothing out of the ordinary when Dahmer gave her a sandwich he made.
Vernell Bass and his wife did smell something horrible in their apartment
In Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes, audiences get a first-hand account of the smell from Dahmer’s apartment but from the viewpoint of Vernell Bass. One night, Bass woke up from his sleep to a horrible smell. Opening his door, he describes a “mist” from the hallway. Bass closed his door, put a towel under the opening, and went back to bed.
The following morning, he told his wife about it. She investigated further and discovered the smell coming from Dahmer’s apartment. Mrs. Bass set up a chair and left the door to their apartment open to catch Dahmer. She and her husband confronted Dahmer, who gave the same story about the broken freezer.
Bass’s testimony in the docu-series about being Jeffrey Dahmer’s neighbor is different from how the Netflix series portrays it. But Bass soon learns the truth about Dahmer’s dark and twisted mind after his arrest.
“I had no idea that this is what was occurring right across the hall from where we lived,” explained Bass. “Everyone in the building felt suckered. We all felt that Jeffrey Dahmer had played us. It’s really hard to become fond of someone, to find out that actually that person had a dagger in your back. I thought this guy was my friend.”
Conversations With a Killer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Tapes is available on Netflix.
