If you have the streaming service Netflix the odds say that you or someone you know has watched or at least tried to watch the show "Dahmer", but did you know that back in the late 70s Poughkeepsie had its own version of the cannibal murderer?

If you had no idea, you aren't alone because I don't think many of us did. But it's true Poughkeepsie once had a teacher that was accused of killing a teenager and then eating parts of his body. The crime which is eerily similar to what serial killer Jeffery Dahmer did in the 80s took place in August of 1979.

Google Maps/Canva
Google Maps/Canva
loading...

Albert Fentress

If you never heard that name before you aren't alone because I never heard of him either until the other night while I was talking with a friend of a friend. We were talking about how disturbing the Dahmer show is and she started to tell me about how when she was younger she remembered that a Poughkeepsie teacher killed a teenager in his home and ate some of his body parts. WHAT!!! No WAY!!!

Google Maps
Google Maps
loading...

Poughkeepsie Murder in 1979

On the night of August 19th, 1979 Fentress was in his bed sleeping at his house on South Grand Ave in Poughkeepsie when he heard some sort of commotion outside according to Mystique Medium. When he went to see what was going on outside he came face to face with 18-year-old Paul Masters, who Fentress thought was there to commit some sort of crime because according to reports, Fentress was the target of some homophobic vandalism earlier that year.

The earlier incident involved some students who allegedly broke into his house, stole a stamp collection, and burned a homophobic slur in the grass of his yard according to Murderpedia. That incident led Fentress to go and purchase a gun for protection and just three months later when he heard the commotion outside of his house he thought that the same criminals were back to do something similar.

Reports say that when Fentress went outside he was met by Masters who explained he wasn't there to harass him but he was on the run from police after allegedly getting into a fight with some other high school students. As Fentress calmed down he began to sympathize with Masters and invited him into the house for a drink and a snack.

Gruesome Murder in Poughkeepsie

Masters accepted and once inside began to consume alcoholic beverages and before long was intoxicated. Reports say that Fentress then lured Masters to his basement and once down there Fentress tied him to a pole. The details as to what happened next are extremely disturbing as Fentreess allegedly attempted to sexually assault the boy and when that didn't go as he wanted he then cut off parts of the teen while he was still alive. Fentress then cooked and ate them, all while the boy was still alive. After a while, Fentress then shot the teen two times in the head.

Confessed to the Murder

After trying to clean up the murder scene in his basement Fentress stopped, called a lawyer, and confessed to the whole thing. After a trial, Fentress was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a psychiatric center. After many years of attempting to be released, he remains in custody today.

14 Unsolved Hudson Valley Cold Cases and Mysteries

Missing locals. Cold cases. Unexplained happenings. Here are 13 unsolved mysteries that took place right here in the Hudson Valley. 

Gun Crime Numbers in Hudson Valley Counties Ranked Lowest to Highest

More From Hudson Valley Post