A pair of crime scene cleaners have gained a loyal following on TikTok for showing the gruesome blood, guts and tales of murder they have encountered on the job.
Long Islanders Tom DeSena, 23, and Junior Lallbachan, 26, from Guyana, are the duo behind TikTok account @thesoulmediators — which has more than 250,000 followers — and recently spoke about the worst things they’ve seen in their gory careers.
DeSena told the Daily Mail that the pair — who did not name the company for which they work — are always given a paper in advance containing an address and a description of the brutality of the crime they’re about to work on.
From there, the cleaners ask other questions to prepare before entering.
“Are/were there any drugs (fentanyl)? Are/were there any animals? Are/were there any weapons?” DeSena said.
“We rarely will receive pictures of the scene, but regardless, pictures only do so much,” he added. “It’s almost better to walk into these jobs not knowing too much because it keeps us fully alert — it keeps us on our toes, proactive and ready for anything.”
Warning: Graphic content
The unique job includes cleaning up the results of everything from murder-suicides to unattended deaths.
DeSena claimed that he has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Long Island’s Farmingdale State College, focusing on law enforcement and computer technology, with a minor in legal studies.
However, he had trouble finding a job after college.
He said he applied to his current company — and quickly got a call back.
“‘I never particularity had an interest in the field of gore and gruesomeness, but I never had a weak stomach either. This job, simply put, just sounded cool and different. And I think I’m pretty cool, and I am definitely different,” he admitted.
DeSena said that the most gruesome crime scene he has worked on involved two victims that he believes are “still alive.”
“A man had his friend over to hang out at his house at night with him and his wife,” he claimed.
There was either alcohol or drugs involved, but something led to the friend finding and grabbing a hammer, and assaulting not only his friend, but his wife.
“Both the man and his wife were left for hours in different parts of the home, in critical condition, until one of the two had presumably called 911,” he said.
He told the Daily Mail that he “wouldn’t want to explain any further” why he thought they had survived.
Meanwhile, Lallbachan — who has been working for the undisclosed company for eight or nine years after being referred by a “family friend” — claimed his worst scene involved a trunk full of dead bodies.
“During 2020, Junior had to do a job at a hospital in New York where he had to essentially sanitize and disinfect four tractor-trailers from COVID,” DeSena said. “While on the way to the job, Junior said he was not aware these trailers were actually containing unalived people.
“So when he went into the trailers and saw all the white body bags, he immediately felt and knew something was off,” DeSena claimed of his partner’s experience. “Long story short, Junior used one of our sanitization-spraying machines, didn’t look down, and disinfected all of the trailers.”
When it comes to mentally dealing with what the pair sees on a daily basis, Lallbachan said he often pretends that the gruesome sights he sees aren’t real.
“Of course, every now and again something comes to mind, but I just remind myself that it was not me, or my life. I convince myself that it was not even real, in a way,” he told the Daily Mail.
However, dealing with a deceased one’s family, DeSena added, is “very difficult.”
“Although I treat every single person and situation equally, nothing hits my soul harder than seeing a confused mother or father who just lost their child, or a broken child coping with the loss of their parent(s),” he said.
But sometimes, “driving is more difficult than the job itself,” DeSena revealed.
“The smell of cat poop and cat hair, and the smell of rotten (and I mean, rotten) meat, are both worse (to me) than any smell from any bio, decomp or any crime scene situation,” he claimed.
While he never expected to take on such a job, he said that there are rewarding aspects to it.
“I love that I am mentally, physically, emotionally and psychologically strong enough to handle this lifestyle, and not have it negatively affect me in any way. I love that we get to help people in serious need,” DeSena said.
“I love that we get to travel all over the country. I love that I work a hard job, which makes me feel tired and accomplished after every single day.”