Konerak Sinthasomphone, a 14-year-old Laotian male, disappeared in Milwaukee on May 26, 1991, reportedly while on his way to soccer practice. During the hours that followed, he encountered Jeffrey Dahmer, who persuaded him to go to Dahmer’s apartment after offering him money to pose for photographs. Once inside the apartment, Dahmer gave Konerak a drugged drink that left him incapacitated.
Evidence and later testimony established that Dahmer also drilled holes into Konerak’s skull and introduced acid in an attempt to leave him alive but permanently incapacitated.
During the early morning hours of May 27, Dahmer left the apartment to obtain more alcohol. While he was gone, Konerak managed to get outside despite his injuries and impaired condition. Sandra Smith and her cousin Nicole Childress encountered him near Dahmer’s apartment building. He was unclothed, injured, disoriented and having difficulty communicating. The women attempted to keep Dahmer away from him and called police, believing the teenager was in serious danger.
When Milwaukee police arrived, Dahmer calmly presented a false explanation. He claimed that Konerak was an adult with whom he was involved in a relationship and that the situation was simply the result of drinking and a domestic disagreement. The witnesses repeatedly tried to tell officers that Konerak appeared to be a child and needed help, but police accepted Dahmer’s account. The officers did not establish Konerak’s identity, did not obtain the witnesses’ information, did not take him for medical treatment, and did not properly investigate why an incapacitated, unclothed teenager was wandering outside in the middle of the night. They ultimately escorted Konerak back into Dahmer’s apartment and left him there.
The missed opportunity was particularly significant because Dahmer was already a convicted sex offender. In 1988 he had sexually assaulted Konerak’s older brother after luring that child to a residence with an offer of money for photographs. Dahmer was convicted of second-degree sexual assault and enticing a child for immoral purposes, served time in custody, and was still on probation when he encountered Konerak. The officers who responded on May 27 did not discover that history during their investigation. After the officers left, Glenda Cleveland, whose daughter Sandra had been involved in trying to help Konerak, contacted police again and continued questioning whether the person they had left with Dahmer was actually a child. Her concerns did not result in officers returning to the apartment.
After police departed, Dahmer murdered Konerak by strangling him. He then dismembered the remains and retained the skull. Konerak was reported missing to Milwaukee police on May 28. For nearly two months, neither his disappearance nor the extraordinary police encounter on May 27 led authorities back to Dahmer. During that period Dahmer continued killing.
The case finally began to unravel on July 22, 1991, when Tracy Edwards escaped from Dahmer’s apartment with part of a pair of handcuffs still attached to him and flagged down police. Officers returned to the apartment and discovered photographs and human remains, leading to Dahmer’s arrest. Investigators ultimately recovered the remains of numerous victims from the residence, including Konerak’s skull and other remains. His identification was confirmed during the investigation, and the discovery established what had happened after police left him inside the apartment on May 27.
Dahmer was charged in Wisconsin with 15 counts of first-degree intentional homicide, including Konerak’s murder. He ultimately pleaded guilty but insane to the 15 killings, meaning the major contested question at trial became whether he was legally responsible for his actions. On February 15, 1992, a Milwaukee County jury found Dahmer legally sane in connection with each of the murders. Two days later, Judge Laurence C. Gram Jr. sentenced him to 15 consecutive life terms, a sentence structured to ensure that he would never realistically be released from prison.
The handling of Konerak’s escape also led to extensive scrutiny of the Milwaukee Police Department. Officers John Balcerzak and Joseph Gabrish were fired after Police Chief Philip Arreola concluded that they had failed to conduct a proper investigation, while disciplinary action against rookie officer Richard Porubcan was stayed because of his lesser experience. The Milwaukee Fire and Police Commission later upheld the firings of Balcerzak and Gabrish, finding serious investigative failures, although a judge ordered the city to rehire the two officers with back pay in 1994. State authorities concluded there were no grounds for criminal charges against the officers, and a federal review found no prosecutable civil-rights violation. In 1995, Milwaukee approved an $850,000 settlement with Konerak’s family arising from claims over the police response that night.
