Top 10 Things Netflix's The Jeffrey Dahmer Story Got Factually Right and Wrong
This series explores the notorious killer's crimes haunting history. For this list, we’ll be analyzing the accuracy of Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series on Jeffrey Dahmer. Our countdown includes insights on how Dahmer was apprehended, his baptism coinciding with John Wayne Gacy’s execution, victim impact statements, and more. Are you following "Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story"? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Transcript
00:00What?
00:01What's going on?"
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:08for the Top 10 Things Dahmer, Monster, The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
00:13Got Factually Right and Wrong.
00:15For what I did, I should be dead.
00:17For this list, we're looking at what was fact and what was fiction
00:21in Ryan Murphy's Netflix series about the infamous serial killer.
00:25Are you watching Dahmer?
00:26Let us know in the comments below.
00:29Number 10.
00:30How Jeffrey Dahmer Was Caught Right.
00:33Netflix's limited series about Jeffrey Dahmer begins with the night a would-be victim survived
00:37an encounter with the killer.
00:43On July 22, 1991, Tracy Edwards spent hours in Dahmer's apartment in fear, waiting for
00:50an opportunity to make his escape.
00:52And though the way in which he escaped is depicted differently in the series, Edwards
00:56did hit Dahmer and ran out of the apartment.
00:59I hit him and I ran towards the door and he like was right there, tried to grab me, get
01:05me back in there.
01:07Two police officers went to Dahmer's residence to obtain the key to unlock the handcuffs
01:11still on one of Edwards' wrists.
01:14Once they found explicit photos documenting some of the murders, Dahmer was apprehended,
01:19putting an end to his reign of terror.
01:22The officers were stopped by an individual who claimed he was in the apartment and became
01:29engaged in a dispute with the owner of the apartment and left the apartment and called
01:36the officers.
01:37Number 9.
01:38Dahmer Wore Yellow Contacts Right.
01:41One of the lesser-known facts about Dahmer was his strange habit of wearing yellow contact
01:45lenses.
01:46You see my contacts?
01:50They're just like the Emperor's.
01:58Got them at a costume shop in Kenosha.
02:02He wore them because he felt connected to two dark characters in his favorite movies,
02:06the Emperor from Star Wars Episode VI, Return of the Jedi, and the Gemini Killer from The
02:11Exorcist III.
02:13In changing his appearance to resemble these powerful fictional figures, Dahmer himself
02:17felt more powerful and predatory.
02:20I actually derived a sort of pleasure from watching that tape.
02:26Did you like feeling evil?
02:27No.
02:28No, I didn't.
02:29But I tried to overcome the thoughts and it worked for a while but eventually I gave in.
02:38He repeatedly watched the films before he went out to find another victim to bring home,
02:43often making them watch the films with him.
02:45What are you going to do?
02:51I told you.
02:52We're going to hang out, we're going to watch a movie, we're going to take some pictures,
03:00and I'll pay you.
03:04Tracey Edwards also testified that while playing The Exorcist III, Dahmer was chanting and
03:09rocking back and forth.
03:10It was like a slow slur, like, mmm, something of that nature, something close like that,
03:15but I'm not sure.
03:16Did it keep on for a period of time?
03:18Off and on throughout the ordeal.
03:20Number 8.
03:21How Ronald Flowers Survived...Wrong
03:33Another survivor of Dahmer was Ron Flowers, who met him when his car broke down and Dahmer
03:37offered to help.
03:38He took him to his grandmother's West Allis residence and drugged his coffee.
03:43But Dahmer is interrupted when his grandmother sees that something is wrong with the young
03:47man.
03:48You should take that young man to a hospital.
03:51What?
03:52He's just a little wasted, Grandma.
03:53I will not have some stranger dying in my house.
03:58He'll be fine, just let him sleep it off, geez.
04:02No.
04:03Something is not right here.
04:05She is adamant about staying with the unconscious guest, making sure he gets on a bus the next
04:10morning.
04:11Dahmer's actual involvement in saving Flowers from her grandson has never been reported.
04:16Like in the series, Flowers woke up in County General Hospital.
04:19Where am I?
04:20You OD'd.
04:21You're lucky to be alive.
04:23But what isn't mentioned is that he was also covered in abrasions and believed he might
04:28have been assaulted.
04:29He later testified that he didn't know how he got there, though the series provides a
04:34fictional scenario.
04:35A guy I met last night, he was weird.
04:39He must have slipped something in my drink.
04:42Dude tried to kill me.
04:45Number 7.
04:46Dahmer posed in yearbook photos.
04:48Right.
04:49How did he get in there?
04:50I don't know.
04:51Dan, how did you not catch this?
04:52I'm sorry, I didn't see him in the photo.
04:55That's your goddamn job, Dan.
04:56The Netflix series mainly follows Jeffrey Dahmer as an adult.
05:00But a flashback to him in high school shows him sneaking into a yearbook picture for the
05:05Honor Society, despite not being a member.
05:09Yes, he actually did this, and his face was subsequently blacked out of the photo.
05:13My friend Dahmer, both the graphic novel and its film adaptation, go further into the prank
05:18in the other club photos he infiltrated.
05:20Excuse me, what are you- Oh no.
05:24Is that really necessary?
05:28Former classmates have described how his bizarre behavior in school quickly went from entertaining
05:34to concerning, given his heavy drinking.
05:37And I remember sitting next to him in a first period, I believe history class, and he had
05:44a styrofoam cup of scotch, I believe it was scotch.
05:47I remember saying, Jeff, what is that?
05:49And he threw his head back and he shook it and he said, it's my medicine.
05:53Number 6.
05:54Dahmer killed Dean Vaughn.
05:56Wrong.
05:57In episode 7, Glenda Cleveland meets Dean Vaughn, a new resident of the Oxford Apartments.
06:02Sorry I snapped on you.
06:04You just gotta be careful in this neighborhood.
06:08I'm a good guy, scouts honor.
06:10She sees him talking to Dahmer in the hall and is visibly concerned.
06:13The series doesn't follow through with his story, but it does point viewers in a certain
06:18direction.
06:20However, Vaughn was really a tenant in the building.
06:27He was found strangled in his upstairs apartment in early May 1991.
06:31Dahmer was questioned about the suspicious death before he was arrested, and again when
06:35he was eventually caught.
06:37Both times he denied knowing him, and no evidence was ever found connecting him to the crime.
06:43As of 2022, the murder of Dean Vaughn is still unsolved.
06:47And what about Dean Vaughn?
06:50You was talking to him in the hallway, then I never saw him after that.
06:58Number 5.
06:59He was baptized the same day as John Wayne Gacy's execution.
07:03Right.
07:04So you've never done construction work before?
07:06No.
07:07Well, like I said, it's just stuff around the house, helping my ma, you know.
07:10The beginning of the final episode doesn't open on Jeffrey Dahmer, but rather another
07:15infamous serial killer, John Wayne Gacy, aka the Killer Clown.
07:20In the 1970s, Gacy took the lives of more than 33 young men in Illinois until he was
07:26arrested in December 1978.
07:29Gacy was the epitome of evil, and he was the epitome of being a great guy, which gave
07:36him the ability to be the most evil guy in the world.
07:40For 14 years, the convicted murderer was on death row at Illinois' Menard Correctional
07:45Center.
07:46And on May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection.
07:52John Wayne Gacy was pronounced dead at 12.58 a.m.
07:57He got a much easier death than any of his victims.
08:02In my opinion, he got an easier death than he deserved.
08:07But the important thing is that he paid for his crimes with his life.
08:12Meanwhile in Wisconsin, Dahmer was being baptized by Minister Roy Ratcliffe.
08:16And as it's briefly mentioned in the series, a partial solar eclipse also occurred that
08:21day.
08:22What does it all mean?
08:23We don't know, but this connection between two notorious killers is definitely eerie.
08:29Congratulations, Jeff.
08:31You're saved.
08:33Thanks.
08:34Thank you.
08:35Number 4.
08:36Victim Impact Statements.
08:37Write.
08:38I would like to say to Jeffrey Dahmer that he don't know the pain, the hurt, the loss,
08:52and the mental state.
08:54He put our family in.
08:55One of the most heartbreaking parts of Jeffrey Dahmer's 1992 trial was hearing the impact
09:01statements.
09:02After sitting through the details of his crimes, family members of the victims had the opportunity
09:06to address the court.
09:08One of the more harrowing statements came from Rita Isbell, the sister of Errol Lindsay.
09:20The series recreates the emotionally charged moment with actress Dashawn Barnes, who embodied
09:26the palpable pain, anger, and sadness of Isbell in her performance.
09:30Now, I don't want to ever have to see my mother go through this again.
09:35Never, Jeffrey!
09:36Jeffrey!
09:37I hate you!
09:38And Dahmer's own statement took a lot from the real-life one.
09:41That I did what I did, not for reasons of hate.
09:45I hated no one.
09:46Number 3.
09:47Glenda Cleveland lived at the Oxford Apartments.
09:51In the series, actress Niecy Nash plays the role of Glenda Cleveland, a woman who is often
09:56overlooked in the Jeffrey Dahmer case.
09:59She interacts with him, mostly to complain about the smell and noise coming from his
10:03apartment through her vent.
10:05I gotta say, that smell is worse than ever.
10:09Is it?
10:11The real Cleveland actually lived in the building next to the Oxford Apartments.
10:15The character is likely a composite of Cleveland and Pamela Bass, the woman who lived across
10:20the hall from Dahmer, who possibly unknowingly consumed human meat given to her by her neighbor.
10:26However, Glenda Cleveland did continuously call Milwaukee police after her daughter Sandra
10:31Smith and niece Nicole Childress told her about a boy they tried to help.
10:36Number 2.
10:37Milwaukee police officers returned a victim back to Dahmer's apartment.
10:41Right.
10:42What the hell?
10:43Hey kid, what are you doing?
10:46In late May 1991, some young women, including Smith and Childress, found Conorac Synthesamphone
10:52stumbling in the streets, not in the Oxford Apartments hallway as shown in the series.
10:57They called the police to help the very young-looking boy.
11:00He was holding on to me with a really, really strong grip and he was trembling, he was shaking.
11:09So I just stayed with him and I was like, I'm gonna get you some help.
11:12But when Dahmer came back to his apartment, he convinced officers Joseph Gabrisch and
11:16John Balserzak that Synthesamphone was of age and his boyfriend.
11:21In the series, Cleveland is at the scene confronting police, trying to tell them that he was a
11:26minor.
11:27Wait, wait, wait.
11:28You're just gonna let him take this baby back inside?
11:31Ma'am, he's telling me this is where they live.
11:33We're gonna take him back inside.
11:34Y'all don't at least want to find out how old this boy is first?
11:37Ma'am, he says it's his boyfriend.
11:39We'll handle it from here.
11:40I'm really sorry about this, everybody.
11:43Despite protests from the women, the officers escorted Dahmer and his incoherent boyfriend
11:48back to his apartment.
11:49When the police left, Dahmer killed him.
11:52Tragically, this poorly handled ordeal actually happened.
11:56After Dahmer's arrest, Gabrisch and Balserzak were suspended, but later reinstated.
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12:18Number 1.
12:19Dahmer always wore his glasses at trial.
12:22Wrong.
12:23Mr. Dahmer, before I impose sentence, I understand you have a statement you'd like to read?
12:29Yes, your honor.
12:31Towards the end of the series, Jeffrey Dahmer goes on trial for the murders.
12:35While the majority of the scenes are accurately recreated, there's one detail that was different.
12:40Evan Peters as Dahmer almost always wears the killer's trademark glasses.
12:45But the real Dahmer specifically did not wear his glasses throughout most of the trial.
12:50His reason?
12:51He didn't want to look the jury or victim's families in the face.
12:54Yes, it's a small inaccuracy in a largely true-to-life series.
12:59However, his decision to remove his eyewear is significant because it shows that he was
13:04unable to face his crimes.
13:06Because I didn't feel accountable to anybody.
13:08I didn't feel that I had to face what I had done ever.
13:13And so there comes a point where a person has to be accountable for what he's done.
13:20Can't go around making excuses, blaming other people, or other things.
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