A police officer who let a drugged teen go back into Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment only retired five years ago. This is how it happened:
If you've already watched – or tried to watch – the new Netflix series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story about the infamous murderer, you will be aware that he managed to evade capture for years.
Advert
Dahmer lured more than a dozen unsuspecting men to his apartment, drugging and strangling them, sometimes even drilling holes into their heads. His crimes also involved instances of necrophilia and cannibalism.
One one occasion, though, in 1991, he came face to face with the police after 14-year-old Konerak Sinthasomphone was seen naked and covered in blood running out of his flat and down the street.
Officers John A. Balcerzak and Joseph P. Gabrish were called to the scene of the disturbance and were met by Dahmer, who had by this time put his arm around Sinthasomphone and claimed that he was his 19-year-old lover.
Advert
Balcerzak and Gabrish believed Dahmer's story and left the teenager with him, and Sinthasomphone was later murdered.
The pair were criticised for their handling of the incident and dismissed following Dahmer's arrest.
Speaking at the time, Balcerzak defended their actions, saying they stood by what they did.
He said: ″At the time, with the information we had – to this day I think we did the appropriate thing, the best that we could."
Advert
Balcerzak and Gabrish said they were convinced by Dahmer that the teenager was actually an adult homosexual lover who simply got too drunk and wandered naked onto the street.
Gabrish added: ″I wish there had been some other piece of evidence or information available to us. We handled the call the way we felt it should have been handled.″
The pair said they found Dahmer to be 'calm and as collected as could be', which was part of the reason they believed his story.
Advert
Gabrish said: ″We routinely don’t check out complainants that come forward to help us out. He was very cooperative."
The officers also dismissed a follow-up call from a Glenda Cleveland, who questioned their decision to leave the young boy there.
Balcerzak said: ″She wasn’t actually there. I felt that my firsthand knowledge was more informative than what she had heard from someone else.″
Both officers later appealed their dismissals and were reinstated with a back pay of $55,000.
Advert
Balcerzak continued to work in the force until 2017, when he retired.
You can watch Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix now.
Topics: True Crime, US News, Crime
Dominic Smithers