"It didn’t look strange": Reporter who broke Jeffrey Dahmer news says Evan Peters-led Netflix series dramatized apartment smell

Anne E Schwartz, the journalist who first broke the story of notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, recently spoke to The Independent about the inaccuracies in the Evan Peters-led Netflix show about Dahmer.

One of the things she revealed was Dahmer's apartment's smell. Contrary to the series' depiction of the killer's residence, Schwartz proclaimed the following about the room:

''It didn't look strange.''

Titled Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, the Netflix drama series has generated massive controversy and polarized audiences and critics, with many saying it humanizes the criminal. Read on to learn more about what Anne E Schwartz had to say about the Jeffrey Dahmer case.

---

Journalist Anne E Schwartz opens up on the Jeffrey Dahmer case, Netflix series, and more

During an interaction with The Independent, journalist Anne E Schwartz spoke about her experience working on the Jeffrey Dahmer case and the inaccuracies in the new Netflix series. She said (obtained via The Independent),

''When people are watching Ryan Murphy’s Netflix series and saying, 'Oh my God this is terrible.' I want to tell them it didn’t necessarily turn out that way.''

Schwartz further mentioned that Dahmer's apartment did not look strange, unlike how it's portrayed in the series. She said,

''I walked up to Dahmer’s apartment, and I kind of stuck my head in, because you’re a journalist, you want to know. I guess the thing that was strange was that it didn’t look strange.''

Regarding the smell coming from Dahmer's apartment, Schwartz said that what she felt was a ''very chemical smell.'' She said,

''I was a crime reporter for five years so I know what it smells like when you walk into a building with a dead body or a decomposing body. This was not that. This was a very chemical smell.''

Anne E Schwartz also noticed another inaccuracy in the series, wherein Dahmer's neighbor, Glenda Cleveland, knocked on the killer's door. She said,

''In the first five minutes of the first episode you have Glenda Cleveland knocking on his door. None of that ever happened. I had trouble with buy-in, because I knew that was not accurate. But people are not watching it that way, they’re watching it for entertainment.''

At the time of Dahmer's arrest, Anne E Schwartz was working as a crime reporter for the Milwaukee Journal. She reportedly received a phone call from a police source saying the authorities had discovered body parts in an apartment, following which she arrived at the crime scene. She later published a book about the case, titled The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough, which became a bestseller.

---

A quick look at Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story plot

The new Netflix series about Dahmer is one of the most talked-about shows in recent times. The show explores the killer's mind while delving deeper into the victims' backstories and Dahmer's early life. The official synopsis of the show, as per Netflix's official YouTube channel, reads:

''From the Emmy award winning creator of American Crime Story comes Dahmer - Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The series examines the gruesome and horrific true crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer and the systemic failures that enabled one of America’s most notorious serial killers to continue his murderous spree in plain sight for over a decade.''

Evan Peters received unanimous acclaim from critics and viewers for his chilling portrayal of the notorious serial killer. The show has garnered mixed reviews from viewers and critics.

You can watch Dahmer - Monster: the Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix.