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Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was a Netflix show released in September 2022, detailing the actions of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, who died in 1994. The show is a fictionalized depiction of his gruesome murders of young men in Milwaukee, and the circumstances that led to their deaths. The story of one victim in particular gained new attention because of a clip from the show that depicted two Milwaukee police officers returning a young boy to Dahmer, while disregarding neighbors' concerns about the boy’s safety. The clip showed a teenage Asian American boy, visibly intoxicated, lying on the ground, while concerned neighbors talked to the police, urging them to investigate the situation. Instead, the police ceded custody of the boy back to Dahmer, who convinced them that he was his lover. Dahmer would eventually kill the boy. The boy’s name was Konerak Sinthasomphone, a 14-year-old Laotian immigrant, and he was a real-life victim of Dahmer. The scene in question broadly depicted some of the events of that fateful night, and was correct in showing how the policemen did not believe the neighbors' concerns, and handed over Sinthasomphone to Dahmer. According to a 1991 Associated Press article about the events of that night, the officers involved in that situation were John Balcerzak, Richard Porubcan, and Joseph Gabrish. The article described the incident in the following way: We should note that family members of the victims have been critical about the show’s depiction of their real-life tragedy, and have stated that certain scenes felt like reliving those periods of their lives. The family of Sinthasomphone also sued the police officers, claiming police violated their constitutional rights. They claimed that the police discriminated against the boy either because he was Asian or because they thought he was gay. In a 1993 order, the judge presiding over the case described the events in the following way: Gabrish told The Milwaukee Journal in August 1991, God as my witness, I just didn't dump a little boy in the hands of a murderer. That's not what happened. We're trained to be observant and spot things, he continued. There was just nothing that stood out, or we would have seen it. I've been doing this for a while, and usually if something stands out, you'll spot it. There just wasn't anything there. The judge dismissed a key claim that the officers violated Sinthasomphone's civil rights, maintaining that they couldn't be expected to realize the threat Dahmer posed. The family did, however, settle with the Milwaukee Common Council and were paid $850,000. Meanwhile, Dahmer’s neighbors maintained that Sinthasomphone was not removed by the officers because the witnesses were Black and Dahmer was white. All the police officers were white, as well. A 2011 obituary in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel of Glenda Cleveland, the woman who called the police to the scene, stated: What happened to the police officers? While Dahmer was sentenced to life in prison, Gabrish and Balcerzak were fired from the police force. They were, however, eventually reinstated a few years later with back pay. Gabrish retired in 2019 after serving in the village of Grafton, Wisconsin, since 1993. Balcerzak also retired from the Milwaukee police in 2017.
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