ⓘ According to Vernell Bass, Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbour, Jeff was a very soft-spoken, intelligent, calm and lonely man. He often felt bad for seeing Jeff without any girls in his apartment and working so much during his night shifts. He would often make small-talks with Dahmer when both returned from work. Here is the following conversation between the two in which Jeff lied about having a girlfriend:
"Another time I recall entering his apartment was towards the end of October. I just felt in the mood to visit with him so I invited myself over knocking on his door.
It was Sunday morning, he looked through the peep hole to see that it was me. He opened the door to allow me inside. He was wearing a long knee length terry cloth bathrobe and didn't have on his glasses. I assumed that he was still in bed or sleeping.
"Do you have a smoke?" I asked.
"Sure, let me get them then."
He went into the bedroom and returned with a pack of Marlboro cigarettes and a red lighter. He had also put on his glasses. I had stepped inside the apartment and closed the door behind me as he had walked towards the bedroom to get the cigarettes.
The awful scent was still lingering in his apartment but it was mild but far from none existing.
After giving me a cigarette, he offered me a seat on the couch. I took the lighter from him as I sat down. After giving me the lighter he went back to close the sliding door that led to the small hallway to the bedroom and bathroom. His apartment was neat and clean, everything seemed to be in place. There were no dishes in the kitchen sink.
"How does it feel to be single?" I asked as I lit the cigarette and he returned to the living room and sat in the tweed chair in the corner of the room.
"It's okay, at times and then other times it's a pain. My ex-girlfriend lives in West Allis."
"How long have you been living here?" I asked.
"I moved in around April. A month before you guys moved in."
He put a cigarette in his mouth and reached for the lighter that I had put on the cocktail table without realizing I'd done it. After he lit his cigarette and put the lighter in his pocket, he seemed to relax. He appeared to be just a typical guy living alone.
Throughout the rest of our conversation we talked about his ex-girlfriend who he said didn't want to live in the inner city but West Allis instead."
Another time, Vern was throwing up a small party in his apartment with his wife, Pamela, and her friends who were all women. Bass felt a bit alone given he was the only man and remembered Jeff, the man who lived next to him. Bass wanted to in retribution give hospitality to Dahmer and invite him over, let Jeff see his apartment like Jeff did with him.
"After visiting Jeff, the feeling of being welcomed, having him extend his hospitality towards me, made me believe that I had someone I could talk to man to man, whenever I felt like just talking to another guy away from the wife," stated Vernell. "I felt I'd found someone that I could relate to and watch sports with having a beer and some chips."
Adding to that, one of his wife's friends was also interested in Jeff and wanted to see him. Vernell stated that he went to call Jeff and knock on his door.
"I thought about Jeff and without saying anything to anyone about what i had in mind, i left the apartment and knocked on his door. I could see the peep hole in his door go dark meaning that he was looking through it. I heard him say "just a minute". After a minute or two he opened the door.
"Hey man, what's up?" i asked as he stood to the side to let me enter. He was wearing the same bathrobe with a T-shirt and jeans underneath with bare feet. He didn't have his glasses on and I could tell that I had just woke him up. He had dark circles under his eyes, it appeared as if he had a long night.
"Nothing much", He said after allowing me to enter, he closed the door behind me and went past me to sit on the couch. The awful scent was still lingering in his apartment but it was mild.
I thought that maybe something sour, spoiled meat or juice had leaked inside of his freezer that he over looked still causing the odor to linger.
"Damn man, I hate to bother you but I'm in my apartment with four ladies. They're really ganging up on me being that I'm the only man, get dressed and come over for a while. There's one who you might find attractive, she wants to meet you saying she's seen you around. We're just sitting around kicking it, drinking a little beer and listening to some music on the stereo. You know, just having a little fun." I told him.
"I think I'll pass Vern, I've got to go to work to night so I'd like to just go back to sleep."
I didn't press the issue, feeling how thoughtless of me, forgetting that he had to work third shift. I left his apartment telling him... "I'll talk to you later."
The next day, Pam was in our apartment with one of the women she had become somewhat close to and when she opened the door to leave Jeff was dragging a large luggage trunk out into the hall from out of his apartment.
Pam's friend was the one interested in meeting Jeff so she right away struck up a conversation with him. He told her that she could have it if she wanted it.
It was in good condition both inside and out so being the only man around, the three of us carried it out the back door and over to her apartment. Jeff watched and held open the door for us to carry it out into the alley.
He seemed relieved that both she and the trunk were gone. During a stop in and talk to Jeff for a minute conversation, I told him about how much the woman in the next door apartment complex liked him and he flat out told me that he wasn't interested."
SOURCES: Across the Hall by Vernell Bass.
