sora aoi9a: John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy im Mai 1978

Geboren

John Wayne Gacy Jr.

17. März 1942

Gestorben

10. Mai 1994 (52 Jahre)

Todesursache

Hinrichtung durch tödliche Injektion [19659011] Andere Namen

Der Mörderclown

Höhe

5 Fuß 9 Zoll (175 cm)

Gewicht

230 Pfund (104 kg) ^{Ehegatte (n)}

Marlynn Myers
(m. 1964 ; div. 1969

Carole Hoff
( M. 1972 ; div. 1976 )

Children [19659008] Michael und Christine Gacy

Verurteilung (en)

(12. März 1980)

Strafstrafe

Tod (12 Grafen); Marc h 13, 1980)

Details

Opfer

33+

Verbrechensspanne

3. Januar 1972 - 11. Dezember 1978

Land

United Staaten

Staat (e)

Illinois

Datum festgesetzt

21. Dezember 1978

Inhaftiert im

Menard Correctional Center

John Wayne Gacy Jr. (17. März 1942 - 10. Mai 1994) war ein amerikanischer Serienmörder und Vergewaltiger. Er hat zwischen 1972 und 1978 in Cook County, Illinois (ein Teil der Metropole Chicago), mindestens 33 jugendliche Jungen und junge Männer sexuell misshandelt, gefoltert und ermordet.

Alle bekannten Morde von Gacy wurden in seinem Ranchhaus in Norwood Park begangen. Seine Opfer wurden in der Regel durch Zwang oder Täuschung zu seiner Ansprache verleitet, und außer einem seiner Opfer wurde er entweder durch Ersticken oder durch Strangulation mit einem behelfsmäßigen Aderpresse ermordet, da sein erstes Opfer erstochen wurde. Gacy begrub 26 seiner Opfer im Kriechgang seines Hauses. Drei weitere Opfer wurden an anderer Stelle auf seinem Grundstück begraben, während die Leichen seiner letzten vier bekannten Opfer im Fluss Des Plaines abgelegt wurden.

Wegen 33 Morden wurde Gacy am 13. März 1980 für 12 dieser Morde zum Tode verurteilt. Er verbrachte 14 Jahre im Todestrakt, bevor er am 10. Mai 1994 im Stateville Correctional Center durch tödliche Injektion hingerichtet wurde.

Gacy wurde als "Killerclown" bekannt, weil er sich bei Spendenaktionen, Paraden und Kinderfesten als "Pogo the Clown" oder "Patches the Clown", den von ihm erfundenen Figuren, verkleidet hatte.

Frühes Leben [ edit ]

John Wayne Gacy Jr. wurde am 17. März 1942 in Chicago (Illinois) geboren, das zweite von drei Kindern und der einzige Sohn, der John geboren wurde Stanley Gacy (20. Juni 1900 - 25. Dezember 1969), ^[3] Autoreparaturmechaniker und Veteran des Ersten Weltkriegs, und seine Frau Marion Elaine Robinson (4. Mai 1908 - 6. Dezember 1989), Hausfrau. [19659047] Gacy war polnischer und dänischer Abstammung. Seine Großeltern väterlicherseits (die den Familiennamen als "Gatza" oder "Gaca" buchstabierten) waren aus Polen (damals Teil von Deutschland) in die Vereinigten Staaten ausgewandert. ^[7] Als Kind war Gacy übergewichtig und nicht sportlich. Er hatte eine enge Beziehung zu seinen beiden Schwestern und seiner Mutter, erlebte jedoch eine schwierige Beziehung zu seinem Vater, einem Alkoholiker, der seine Frau und seine Kinder körperlich missbrauchte.

Während seiner Kindheit bemühte sich Gacy, seinen strengen Vater stolz auf ihn zu machen, aber selten erhielt seine Zustimmung. Diese Reibung war während seiner gesamten Kindheit und Jugend konstant. ^[10] Eine der frühesten Kindheitserinnerungen von Gacy war, als ihn sein Vater im Alter von vier Jahren mit einem Ledergürtel geschlagen hatte, weil er versehentlich Teile seines Fahrzeugmotors zusammengebaut hatte. Bei einer anderen Gelegenheit schlug sein Vater ihn mit einem Besenstiel über den Kopf und machte ihn bewusstlos. ^[12] Sein Vater rügte ihn regelmäßig und verglich ihn oft ungünstig mit seinen Schwestern und beschuldigte ihn, "dumm und dumm" zu sein. Während er regelmäßig sagte, er sei "nie gut genug" in den Augen seines Vaters, bestritt er vehement, seinen Vater in Interviews nach seiner Verhaftung zu hassen.

Als Gacy sechs Jahre alt war, stahl er einen Spielzeuglastwagen aus einem Laden in der Nachbarschaft . Seine Mutter ließ ihn zum Laden zurückgehen, das Spielzeug zurückgeben und sich bei den Besitzern entschuldigen. Seine Mutter informierte seinen Vater, der Gacy als Strafe mit einem Gürtel schlug. Nach diesem Vorfall versuchte Gacys Mutter, ihren Sohn vor verbalen und körperlichen Misshandlungen seines Vaters zu schützen, doch dies gelang Gacy nur damit, Anschuldigungen zu erhalten, er sei ein "Sissy" und ein "Mama's Boy", der "... wahrscheinlich erwachsen werden würde ".

Im Jahr 1949 wurde Gacys Vater informiert, dass sein Sohn und ein anderer Junge beim sexuellen Streicheln mit einem jungen Mädchen ertappt worden waren. Gacys Vater schlug ihn mit einer Rasierklinge zur Strafe. Im selben Jahr wurde Gacy selbst von einem befreundeten Familienangehörigen belästigt, einem Auftragnehmer, der Gacy für Fahrten in seinem Lastwagen nahm und ihn dann streichelte. Gacy erzählte seinem Vater nie von diesen Vorfällen und befürchtete, dass sein Vater ihm die Schuld geben würde. ^[20]

Wegen Herzproblemen musste Gacy allen Schulsportarten aus dem Weg gehen. ^[20] Durchschnitt Als Student mit wenigen Freunden war er gelegentlich ein Ziel für Mobbing durch Nachbarkinder und Klassenkameraden. Er war dafür bekannt, dem Schulschwänzer und Freiwilligen bei Besorgungen für Lehrer und Nachbarn behilflich zu sein. ^[22] In der vierten Klasse erlebte Gacy Blackouts. Gelegentlich wurde er wegen dieser Anfälle ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert, und 1957 wurde er für einen gesprengten Blinddarm gesperrt. Später schätzte Gacy, dass er im Alter zwischen 14 und 18 Jahren für diese Episoden fast ein Jahr im Krankenhaus verbracht hatte, und schrieb den Rückgang seiner Noten auf seine fehlende Schule zurück. Sein Vater vermutete, dass die Episoden sich bemühten, Sympathie und Aufmerksamkeit zu erlangen, und beschuldigte offen seinen Sohn, die Krankheit zu fälschen, als der Junge in einem Krankenhausbett lag. ^[24] Obwohl seine Mutter, seine Schwestern und einige enge Freunde nie an seiner Krankheit zweifelten, Gacys Gesundheitszustand wurde nie eindeutig diagnostiziert.

Einer von Gacys Freunden in der High School erinnerte sich an mehrere Fälle, in denen Gacy Sr. seinen Sohn ohne Provokation lächerlich gemacht oder geschlagen hatte. Bei einer Gelegenheit im Jahr 1957 erlebte derselbe Freund einen Vorfall im Haushalt von Gacy, bei dem Gacys Vater anfing, seinen Sohn grundlos anzuschreien, und dann auf ihn schlug. Gacy Mutter versuchte zu intervenieren. Der Freund erinnerte daran, dass Gacy einfach "seine Hände zur Verteidigung aufhob" und fügte hinzu, er habe seinen Vater während dieser körperlichen Auseinandersetzungen nie zurückgeschlagen.

1960 wurde Gacy im Alter von 18 Jahren politisch engagiert und arbeitete als Polizist Stellvertretender Bezirkshauptmann für einen Kandidaten der Demokratischen Partei in seiner Nachbarschaft. Diese Entscheidung brachte mehr Kritik von seinem Vater ein, der seinen Sohn beschuldigte, ein "Patsy" zu sein. Später spekulierte Gacy, dass die Entscheidung möglicherweise ein Versuch gewesen wäre, die Akzeptanz bei anderen zu suchen, die er niemals von seinem Vater erhalten hatte.

Im selben Jahr wurde Gacy Kandidat der Demokratischen Partei, sein Vater kaufte ihm ein Auto mit dem Titel des Fahrzeugs im Namen seines Vaters zu sein, bis Gacy die monatlichen Rückzahlungen abgeschlossen hatte. Diese Rückzahlungen dauerten mehrere Jahre, und sein Vater würde die Schlüssel für das Fahrzeug konfiszieren, wenn Gacy nicht das tat, was sein Vater sagte. Bei einer Gelegenheit im Jahr 1962 kaufte Gacy einen zusätzlichen Schlüsselsatz, nachdem sein Vater den ursprünglichen Satz konfisziert hatte. Daraufhin entfernte sein Vater die Verteilerkappe vom Fahrzeug und hielt das Bauteil drei Tage lang zurück. Gacy erinnerte sich daran, dass er sich infolge dieses Vorfalls "total krank und ausgelaugt" fühlte. Als sein Vater die Verteilerkappe ersetzte, verließ Gacy das Haus der Familie und fuhr nach Las Vegas, Nevada, wo er Arbeit im Rettungsdienst fand, bevor er als Wachmann im Palm Mortuary eingesetzt wurde. Er arbeitete drei Monate lang in dieser Rolle, bevor er nach Chicago zurückkehrte.

In seiner Rolle als Leichenwächter schlief Gacy in einem Feldbett hinter dem Einbalsamierungsraum. ^[32] In dieser Rolle beobachtete er, wie Leichenbestatter Leichen schluchzten und später gestanden dass er an einem Abend allein in den Sarg eines verstorbenen männlichen Mannes geklettert war, den Körper umarmte und streichelte, bevor er ein Schockgefühl verspürte. ^{[n 1]}

Das Schockgefühl veranlaßte Gacy um seine Mutter am nächsten Tag anzurufen und zu fragen, ob sein Vater ihm erlauben würde, nach Hause zurückzukehren. ^[36] Sein Vater stimmte zu und noch am selben Tag fuhr Gacy zurück, um bei seiner Familie in Chicago zu leben. Nach seiner Rückkehr, trotz der Tatsache, dass er das Abitur nicht geschafft hatte, schrieb sich Gacy erfolgreich am Northwestern Business College ein, an dem er 1963 seinen Abschluss machte. Anschließend übernahm Gacy eine Position als Management Trainee bei der Nunn-Bush Shoe Company.

Im Jahr 1964 übertrug die Schuhfirma Gacy nach Springfield, um als Verkäufer zu arbeiten. Er wurde schließlich zum Manager seiner Abteilung befördert. Im März dieses Jahres verlobte er sich mit Marlynn Myers, einem Mitarbeiter der Abteilung, die er leitete. Nach einer neunmonatigen Umwerbung heiratete das Ehepaar im September 1964. Marlynns Vater kaufte anschließend drei Kentucky Fried Chicken-Restaurants in Waterloo, Iowa, und Gacy und seine Frau zogen nach Waterloo, um die Restaurants zu verwalten, mit dem Verständnis, dass sie umziehen würden in Marlynns Elternhaus (das für das Paar geräumt wurde).

Während seiner Werbung mit Marlynn schloss sich Gacy den örtlichen Jaycees an und wurde ein unermüdlicher Arbeiter der Organisation, der im April 1964 als Key Man für die Organisation ernannt wurde. [19659067ImselbenJahrhatteGacyseinezweitehomosexuelleErfahrungLautGacygaberdiesenVorfallzunachdemihneinerseinerKollegenimSpringfieldindemJayceesihnmitDrinksbeladenhatteeingeladenhattedenAbendaufseinemSofazuverbringen;DerKollegeführtedannOralsexmitihmauswährenderbetrunkenwar^[41]

Bis 1965 war Gacy zum Vizepräsidenten des Springfield Jaycees aufgestiegen. Im selben Jahr wurde er als drittgrößter Jaycee im US-Bundesstaat Illinois benannt.

Waterloo, Iowa [ edit

Im Jahr 1966 nahm Gacy ein Angebot seines Vaters an -in-law zur Verwaltung von drei KFC-Restaurants in Waterloo. Das Angebot war lukrativ: Gacy erhielt pro Jahr 15.000 Dollar (umgerechnet 115.274 Dollar ab 2018 ^[update]) plus einen Gewinnanteil, der über die Restaurants erzielt wurde. Nach seinem obligatorischen Abschluss eines Management-Kurses zog Gacy im selben Jahr mit seiner Frau nach Waterloo.

In Waterloo trat Gacy in das örtliche Kapitel der Jaycees ein und bot der Organisation neben den 12- und 14-Stunden regelmäßig verlängerte Stunden an -Stunden arbeitete er und verwaltete drei Restaurants. Obwohl er von seinen Kollegen in den Jaycees als ehrgeizig und als eine Art Prahlerei betrachtet wurde, wurde er als Arbeiter in mehreren Spendenprojekten hoch angesehen. 1967 wurde er zum "herausragenden Vizepräsidenten" der Waterloo Jaycees ernannt. Bei Jaycee-Meetings stellte Gacy seinen Kollegen oft frittiertes Hühnchen zur Verfügung und bestand darauf, den Spitznamen "Colonel" zu erhalten. Im selben Jahr war Gacy Mitglied des Board of Directors der Waterloo Jaycees.

Gacys Frau gebar zwei Kinder: einen Sohn namens Michael wurde im Februar 1966 geboren, gefolgt von einer Tochter namens Christine im März 1967. Gacy selbst später bezeichnete diese Periode seines Lebens als "perfekt" und fügte hinzu, dass er schließlich die lang ersehnte Zustimmung seines Vaters erhielt. Bei einer Gelegenheit im Juli 1966 besuchten Gacys Eltern Iowa, bei der sich Gacy Sr. privat bei seinem Sohn für den körperlichen und seelischen Missbrauch entschuldigte, den er ihm während seiner Kindheit angetan hatte, bevor er ihn stolz informierte: "Sohn, war ich Unrecht über Sie. "

Allerdings gab es in Waterloo eine saftigere Seite des Lebens von Jaycee, bei der Frauenaustausch, Prostitution, Pornografie und Drogenkonsum beteiligt waren. Gacy war an vielen dieser Aktivitäten tief beteiligt und betrog seine Frau regelmäßig mit lokalen Prostituierten. Es ist auch bekannt, dass er in seinem Keller einen "Club" eröffnet hat, in dem er seinen Mitarbeitern erlaubte, Alkohol zu trinken und Billard zu spielen. Obwohl Gacy in seinen Restaurants Teenager beiderlei Geschlechts anstellte, war er nur mit seinen jungen männlichen Angestellten sozialisiert. Viele bekamen Alkohol, bevor Gacy sexuelle Annäherungen an sie richtete, die, wenn sie zurückgewiesen wurden, Witze oder einen Test der Sitten darstellten.

Erste Verstöße [

Im August 1967 beging Gacy seinen ersten bekannten sexuellen Übergriff auf einen Teenager. Das Opfer war ein 15-jähriger namens Donald Voorhees, der Sohn eines anderen Jaycee. Gacy lockte Voorhees mit seinem Versprechen, ihm pornografische Filme zu zeigen, in sein Haus. Gacy setzte Voorhees mit Alkohol ein und überredete die Jugend, Oralsex mit ihm zu betreiben. In den folgenden Monaten wurden mehrere andere Jugendliche auf ähnliche Weise sexuell missbraucht, darunter einer, den Gacy ermutigt hatte, mit seiner eigenen Frau Sex zu haben, bevor er die Jugendlichen erpresste, Oralsex gegen ihn auszuüben. Gacy brachte mehrere Teenager dazu, zu glauben, er sei beauftragt worden, homosexuelle Experimente im Interesse der "wissenschaftlichen Forschung" durchzuführen, für die jeweils bis zu 50 US-Dollar bezahlt wurden.

Im März 1968 berichtete Voorhees seinem Vater, Gacy habe ihn sexuell angegriffen. Voorhees Sr. informierte sofort die Polizei und Gacy wurde festgenommen und anschließend wegen oraler Sodomie in Verbindung mit Voorhees und dem versuchten Angriff eines 16-jährigen Edward Lynch angeklagt. Gacy bestritt vehement die Vorwürfe und forderte einen Polygraph-Test. Diesem Antrag wurde stattgegeben, obwohl die Ergebnisse darauf hindeuteten, dass Gacy nervös war, als er jegliches Fehlverhalten in Bezug auf Voorhees oder Lynch bestritt.

Gacy bestritt öffentlich jegliches Fehlverhalten und bestand darauf, dass die Anklage gegen ihn politisch motiviert war - Voorhees Sr. hatte sich gegen Gacys Ernennung gewandt für die Ernennung zum Präsidenten der Iowa Jaycees. Mehrere Kollegen Jaycees fanden die Geschichte von Gacy glaubwürdig und versammelten sich zu seiner Unterstützung. Am 10. Mai 1968 wurde Gacy jedoch wegen Sodomie-Anklage angeklagt.

"Der auffälligste Aspekt der Testergebnisse ist die totale Ablehnung der Verantwortung des Patienten für alles, was ihm passiert ist. Er kann ein" Alibi "produzieren. Er stellt sich als Opfer der Umstände vor und beschuldigt andere Menschen, die ihn erreichen wollen ... Der Patient versucht, eine sympathische Reaktion zu gewährleisten, indem er sich als einer feindlichen Umgebung ausgeliefert darstellt. "

Section Am 30. August 1968 überredete Gacy einen seiner Angestellten, einen 18-jährigen, namens Russell Schroeder, Voorhees körperlich anzugreifen, um den Jungen davon abzuhalten, gegen ihn auszusagen der bevorstehende Prozess. Schröder stimmte zu, Voorhees an einen abgelegenen Ort zu locken, Mace in sein Gesicht zu sprühen und ihn zu schlagen. Gacy versprach, Schroeder 300 Dollar zu zahlen, wenn er die Verschwörung durchführte. Anfang September lockte Schröder Voorhees in einen abgelegenen County Park, sprühte Mace von Gacy in die Augen der Jugendlichen und schlug ihn, während er rief, dass er bei seinem bevorstehenden Prozess nicht gegen Gacy aussagen sollte.

Voorhees gelang es flüchten und meldeten den Überfall sofort der Polizei und identifizierten Schröder als seinen Angreifer. Schröder wurde am folgenden Tag verhaftet. Obwohl er anfangs jegliche Beteiligung bestritten hatte, gestand er bald, Voorhees angegriffen zu haben, was darauf hindeutet, dass er dies auf Gacys Bitte hin getan hatte. Gacy wurde verhaftet und zusätzlich wegen der Einstellung von Schröder zum Angriff und zur Einschüchterung von Voorhees angeklagt. Am 12. September wurde Gacy im psychiatrischen Krankenhaus der State University of Iowa einer psychiatrischen Untersuchung unterzogen. Zwei Ärzte hatten Gacy über einen Zeitraum von 17 Tagen untersucht, bevor er zu dem Schluss kam, dass er eine antisoziale Persönlichkeitsstörung hatte (eine Störung, die Konstrukte wie Soziopathie und Psychopathie enthält) ^[61] . Es war unwahrscheinlich, dass er von einer Therapie oder medizinischen Behandlung profitierte Das Muster würde ihn wahrscheinlich immer wieder in Konflikt mit der Gesellschaft bringen. Die Ärzte stellten außerdem fest, dass er geistig kompetent war, sich vor Gericht zu stellen.

Becheraufnahmen von Gacy nach seiner Sodomie-Verurteilung im Dezember 1968

Verurteilung und Inhaftierung [ edit

Sein Anwalt, Gacy, machte eine Schuldbekundung wegen einer Anklage wegen Sodomie in Bezug auf die von Donald Voorhees gegen ihn erhobenen Anklagen geltend. Er bekannte sich nicht schuldig zu den anderen Anklagen, die andere Jugendliche bei einer am 7. November 1968 stattgefundenen förmlichen Anklage gegen ihn erhoben hatten. Vor dem Richter behauptete Gacy, er und Voorhees hätten tatsächlich sexuelle Beziehungen geführt, doch bestand er darauf, dass Voorhees sein Sexuelles angeboten hatte Dienste für ihn und dass er aus Neugier gehandelt hatte. Seine Geschichte wurde nicht geglaubt. Trotz der Bewährungsempfehlungen seiner Anwälte wurde Gacy am 3. Dezember 1968 wegen Sodomie verurteilt und zu zehn Jahren Haft im Anamosa State Penitentiary verurteilt. An dem Tag, an dem Gacy verurteilt und verurteilt wurde, beantragte seine Frau die Scheidung. Er forderte den Besitz des Hauses, des Eigentums, das alleinige Sorgerecht für ihre beiden Kinder und die anschließenden Unterhaltszahlungen an. Das Gericht entschied zu ihren Gunsten, und die Scheidung wurde am 18. September 1969 abgeschlossen. Gacy sah seine erste Frau oder seine Kinder nie wieder.

Während seiner Inhaftierung im Anamosa-Staatsgefängnis erlangte Gacy rasch einen Ruf als Mustergefangener. Innerhalb weniger Monate nach seiner Ankunft war er zum Chefkoch aufgestiegen. Er schloss sich dem Gefangenen Jaycee an und erhöhte seine Mitgliederzahl innerhalb von weniger als 18 Monaten von 50 auf 650. Es ist auch bekannt, dass er die täglichen Bezüge der Insassen in der Gefängnishalle gesichert hat und mehrere Projekte überwacht hat, um die Haftbedingungen für Insassen im Gefängnis zu verbessern. Bei einer Gelegenheit beaufsichtigte Gacy die Installation eines Minigolfplatzes im Erholungshof des Gefängnisses. ^[71]

Im Juni 1969 beantragte Gacy erstmals die vorzeitige Entlassung des Board of State von Iowa. Dieser Antrag wurde abgelehnt. In Vorbereitung auf eine zweite geplante Anhörung im Mai 1970 absolvierte Gacy 16 Gymnasialkurse, für die er im November 1969 sein Diplom erhielt.

Am Weihnachtstag 1969 starb Gacyys Vater an Leberzirrhose. Gacy wurde nicht erzählt, dass sein Vater erst zwei Tage nach seinem Tod gestorben war. Als er die Nachricht hörte, soll Gacy auf dem Boden zusammengebrochen sein, unkontrolliert schluchzen und musste von Gefängnismitarbeitern unterstützt werden. Gacy bat um erbetenen barmherzigen Urlaub aus dem Gefängnis, um an der Beerdigung seines Vaters in Chicago teilzunehmen, aber sein Antrag wurde abgelehnt.

Gacy erhielt am 18. Juni 1970 eine Bewährungsstrafe mit 12 Monaten Bewährung, nachdem er 18 Monate seiner 10-jährigen Haftstrafe verbüßt hatte. Zwei der Bedingungen seiner Bewährung waren, dass Gacy nach Chicago zog, um bei seiner Mutter zu leben, und dass er um 22.00 Uhr beobachten sollte. Ausgangssperre: Das Iowa Board of Parole wird regelmäßig über seine Fortschritte informiert.

Nach seiner Freilassung erzählte Gacy einem Freund und Mitbürger Jaycee namens Clarence Lane, der ihn nach seiner Entlassung aus dem Gefängnis abhob und fest im Glauben blieb von Gacys Unschuld - dass er "niemals ins Gefängnis zurückkehren" würde und beabsichtige, sich in Waterloo wieder zu etablieren. Innerhalb von 24 Stunden nach seiner Freilassung zog Gacy nach Chicago, um bei seiner Mutter zu leben. Er kam am 19. Juni in Chicago an und erhielt kurz darauf einen Job als Kurzköchin in einem Restaurant.

Am 12. Februar 1971 wurde Gacy beschuldigt, einen Teenager sexuell missbraucht zu haben. Der Jugendliche behauptete, Gacy habe ihn am Chicagoer Greyhound-Busbahnhof in sein Auto gelockt und zu seinem Haus gefahren, wo er versucht hatte, den Jugendlichen zum Sex zu zwingen. Diese Klage wurde später zurückgewiesen, als der Jugendliche nicht vor Gericht erschien. Das Iowa Board of Parole erfuhr nichts von diesem Vorfall (der gegen die Bedingungen seiner Bewährung verstieß) und acht Monate später, im Oktober 1971, endete Gacys Bewährung. Im folgenden Monat wurden die Aufzeichnungen von Gacys früheren strafrechtlichen Verurteilungen in Iowa besiegelt. ^{[n 2]}

Mit finanzieller Unterstützung seiner Mutter kaufte Gacy ein Haus in Norwood Park Township, einem nicht rechtsfähigen Gebiet des Cook County . An der Adresse 8213 West Summerdale Avenue wohnte er bis zu seiner Verhaftung im Dezember 1978 und alle seine bekannten Morde wurden begangen. Im August 1971, kurz nachdem Gacy und seine Mutter ins Haus gezogen waren, verlobte er sich mit Carole Hoff, einer geschiedenen Tochter mit zwei jungen Töchtern. Hoff, mit dem er sich in der Highschool kurz getroffen hatte, war ein Freund seiner jüngeren Schwester gewesen. Seine Verlobte zog in sein Haus ein, kurz nachdem das Paar ihre Verlobung bekannt gegeben hatte. Gacys Mutter zog kurz darauf vor seiner Hochzeit, die am 1. Juli 1972 stattfand, aus dem Haus aus.

Eine Woche vor der Hochzeit von Gacy am 22. Juni wurde er verhaftet und wegen schwerer Batterie und rücksichtslosen Verhaltens angeklagt. Die Festnahme erfolgte aufgrund einer Beschwerde, die von einem Jugendlichen namens Jackie Dee eingereicht wurde, der die Polizei darauf hinwies, dass Gacy, der einen Polizeibeamten verkörpert, das Abzeichen eines Sheriffs geblasen, in sein Auto gelockt und ihn gezwungen habe, Oralsex zu praktizieren. Diese Anklagen wurden später fallen gelassen, nachdem der Beschwerdeführer versucht hatte, Gacy zu erpressen, um Geld gegen Zahlung der Anklagen zu zahlen.

Gacy mit First Lady Rosalynn Carter am 6. Mai 1978. Sechs Jahre nach den Tötungen und sieben Monate vor seiner endgültigen Festnahme . Auf seiner Jacke ist eine Anstecknadel zu sehen, die auf eine besondere Geheimdienstabfertigung hinweist.

Geschäftsmann und Freiwilliger aus der Gemeinschaft [ edit ]

Nach Gacys Ehe mit Carole Hoff zog seine neue Frau und seine Stieftöchter in die Summerdale Avenue Haus. Gacy hatte seinen Job als Koch aufgegeben und ein eigenes Bauunternehmen gegründet, PDM Contractors (PDM waren die Initialen für "Malen, Dekorieren und Pflegen"). Das Unternehmen führte anfänglich kleinere Reparaturarbeiten durch, z. B. Zeichenbeschriftung, Gießen von Beton und Renovieren, später jedoch auch Projekte wie Innenarchitektur, Umbau, Installation, Montage und Landschaftsgestaltung. Bis 1978 betrug der Jahresumsatz von PDM mehr als 200.000 US-Dollar.

Im Jahr 1973 reisten Gacy und ein Teenager-Mitarbeiter von PDM Contractors nach Florida, um sich die von Gacy erworbenen Immobilien anzusehen. In der ersten Nacht in Florida vergewaltigte Gacy die Jugendlichen in ihrem Hotelzimmer. Daher weigerte sich dieser Jugendliche, im selben Hotelzimmer wie Gacy zu wohnen, und schlief stattdessen am Strand. Nach seiner Rückkehr nach Chicago fuhr dieser Angestellte zu Gacy, als er in seinem Garten war, und schlug ihn. Gacys Schwiegermutter hinderte den Jugendlichen daran, Gacy weiter anzugreifen, und er fuhr davon. Gacy erklärte seiner Frau, der Angriff sei geschehen, weil er sich geweigert habe, die Jugend für schlechte Arbeit zu bezahlen.

Seine Nachbarn in Norwood Park betrachteten Gacy als gesellig und hilfsbereit; Er war in seiner Gemeinde aktiv und veranstaltete seit 1974 jährliche Sommerpartys. Er wurde auch in der Politik der Demokratischen Partei aktiv und bot zunächst die Arbeitsdienste seiner PDM-Mitarbeiter kostenlos an. Gacy wurde für seine Gemeindedienste belohnt, als er für das Straßenbeleuchtungskomitee in Norwood Park Township eingesetzt wurde. Anschließend erwarb er den Titel eines Bezirkshauptmanns. 1975 wurde Gacy zum Direktor der Chicagoer Polnischen Tag der Verfassung für Verfassung ernannt. Er leitete die jährliche Veranstaltung von 1975 bis 1978. Durch seine Arbeit mit der Parade traf sich Gacy und wurde am 6. Mai 1978 mit First Lady Rosalynn Carter fotografiert. [19459082[n 3]

Durch seine Mitgliedschaft in einem lokalen Moose Club wurde Gacy auf einen "Jolly Joker" -Clown-Club aufmerksam, dessen Mitglieder regelmäßig an Spendenaktionen und Paraden teilnehmen würden, zusätzlich zu freiwillig unterhaltenen Krankenhauskindern. Ende 1975 hatte sich Gacy den Jolly Jokers angeschlossen und entwickelte seine eigenen Performance-Figuren: "Pogo the Clown" und "Patches the Clown". ^[99] Gacy entwarf seine eigenen Kostüme und brachte sich selbst das Clown-Make-up bei, obwohl einige professionelle Clowns Die scharfen Ecken, die Gacy an den Rändern seines Mundes bemalt hat, stehen im Gegensatz zu den abgerundeten Grenzen, die professionelle Clowns normalerweise verwenden, um Kinder nicht zu erschrecken. Von Gacy ist bekannt, dass er als Pogo oder Patches auf zahlreichen lokalen Partys, bei Veranstaltungen der Demokratischen Partei, bei karitativen Veranstaltungen und in Kinderkliniken aufgetreten ist. Es ist auch bekannt, dass er in seinem clownartigen Gewand an einem beliebten Treffpunkt namens "The Good Luck Lounge" zu verschiedenen Anlässen mit der Erklärung angekommen war, dass er bei einer Wohltätigkeitsveranstaltung aufgetreten war und vor seinem Heimweg für ein soziales Getränk anhielt.

Gacy als "Pogo der Clown". Er gab an, dass er als Clown "in die Kindheit zurückfallen" könne.

Im Jahr 1975 hatte Gacy seiner Frau erzählt, dass er bisexuell sei. Nachdem das Paar am Muttertag in jenem Jahr Sex hatte, teilte er ihr mit, dies sei "das letzte Mal", dass sie jemals Sex haben würden. Er verbrachte die meisten Abende von zu Hause, nur um in den frühen Morgenstunden mit der Entschuldigung zurückzukehren, dass er zu spät gearbeitet hatte. Seine Frau beobachtete, wie Gacy Teenagerjungen in seine Garage brachte, und fand auch schwule Pornografie im Haus. Im März 1976 wurden sie im gegenseitigen Einvernehmen geschieden.

Erste Morde [ edit ]

Mord an Timothy McCoy [ edit

2, 1972, holte Gacy den 16-jährigen Timothy Jack McCoy vom Chicagoer Greyhound-Busbahnhof ab. ^[107] Gacy brachte McCoy, der von Michigan nach Omaha ^[108] reiste, zu einer Sightseeing-Tour durch Chicago und fuhr dann mit ihm zu seinem Haus mit dem Versprechen, dass er die Nacht verbringen und rechtzeitig zum Bahnhof zurückgefahren werden könnte, um seinen Bus zu erreichen. Laut Gacys späterem Bericht über den Mord wachte er am nächsten Morgen auf und fand McCoy mit einem Küchenmesser in seiner Schlafzimmertür. Gacy sprang von seinem Bett und McCoy hob beide Arme in einer Geste der Kapitulation, kippte das Messer nach oben und schnitt Gacys Unterarm ab (Gacy hatte eine Narbe auf seinem Arm, um diese Rechnung zu stützen). Dann drehte er das Messer von McCoys Handgelenk, schlug mit dem Kopf gegen seine Schlafzimmerwand, trat ihn gegen seinen Kleiderschrank und ging auf ihn zu. McCoy trat ihm in den Bauch, und Gacy packte den Jungen, rang ihn zu Boden und stach ihn wiederholt in die Brust, als er ihn mit seinem Körper auf ihm rittete. Gacy behauptete, dass er dann in seine Küche ging und auf seinem Küchentisch einen geöffneten Karton mit Eiern und eine Scheibe Speck sah. McCoy hatte auch den Tisch für zwei Personen gedeckt; Er war in Gacys Zimmer gegangen, um ihn aufzuwecken, während er das Küchenmesser geistesabwesend in der Hand hielt. Gacy begrub McCoy anschließend in seinem Kriechkellerraum und deckte später das Grab der Jugendlichen mit einer Betonschicht ab.

In einem Interview nach seiner Festnahme erklärte Gacy, dass er sich unmittelbar nach dem Mord an McCoy "völlig ausgelaugt" fühlte, jedoch bemerkte, dass er dies getan hatte Erlebte einen umwerfenden Orgasmus, als er die Jugend tötete. Er fügte hinzu: "In diesem Moment wurde mir klar, dass der Tod der ultimative Nervenkitzel war."

Zweites bekanntes Opfer [ ]

Gacy gab später an, dass er zum zweiten Mal im Januar begangen hatte Es wird angenommen, dass es sich bei dem Opfer um einen unidentifizierten Teenager mit mittleren braunen Haaren handelt, der auf ein Alter zwischen 14 und 18 Jahren geschätzt wird, den Gacy ^[113] erstickt hat, bevor er den Leichnam der Jugendlichen vor der Beisetzung in seinem Schrank verstaut hat. Gacy stellte später fest, dass Flüssigkeit aus seinem Mund und seiner Nase ausgetreten war, als er in seinem Schrank lagerte und seinen Teppich befleckte. ^[114] Als Folge dieser Erfahrung stellte Gacy fest, dass er regelmäßig Stofflappen oder die eigene Unterwäsche der Opfer stopfte ihre Münder, um eine Wiederholung dieses Vorfalls zu verhindern. Dieses besondere, nicht identifizierte Opfer wurde etwa 4,6 m von der Grillgrube in Gacys Hinterhof begraben. ^[115]^{[n 4]}

"Der Handschellen-Trick" und "Der Seiltrick" [ edit

Bis 1975 expandierte das Geschäft von Gacy rasch; durch seine spätere Zulassung begann er 12- und 16-Stunden-Tage zu arbeiten, um vereinbarte Verpflichtungen für eine zunehmende Anzahl von Verträgen zu erfüllen. Gacy gab frei zu, dass 1975 das Jahr war, in dem er die Häufigkeit seiner Exkursionen für den Sex mit jungen Männern zu erhöhen begann. Er bezeichnete diese Ausflüge häufig als "Kreuzfahrt".

Ein Großteil der Arbeitskräfte von PDM Contractors bestand aus Gymnasiasten und jungen Männern. Einer dieser Jugendlichen war ein 15-jähriger namens Anthony Antonucci, den Gacy im Mai 1975 eingestellt hatte. Im Juli 1975 kam Gacy im Jugendheim an, während der Junge allein war und sich am Tag zuvor bei der Arbeit seinen Fuß verletzt hatte. Gacy bat den Jungen mit Alkohol, rang ihn zu Boden und fesselte Antonuccis Hände auf dem Rücken. Die Manschette an Antonuccis rechtem Handgelenk war locker: Antonucci löste seinen Arm von den Handschellen, nachdem Gacy den Raum verlassen hatte. Als Gacy zurückkehrte, stürzte sich Antonucci - ein Mitglied seines Wrestling-Teams an der High School - auf ihn. Der Junge rang Gacy auf den Boden, erlangte den Schlüssel für die Handschellen und fesselte Gacyys Hände hinter seinem Rücken. Gacy schrie Drohungen, beruhigte sich dann und versprach zu gehen, wenn Antonucci die Handschellen abnahm. Die Jugend stimmte zu und Gacy verließ das Haus. Antonucci erinnerte sich später daran, dass Gacy ihm auf dem Boden gesagt hatte: "Nicht nur Sie sind aus den Manschetten gestiegen, sondern auch gegen mich."

Eine Woche nach dem Attentat auf Antonucci Am 29. Juli 1975 verschwand ein anderer Mitarbeiter von Gacy, der 17-jährige John Butkovitch. Am Tag vor seinem Verschwinden hatte Butkowitsch Gacy mit der ausstehenden Lohnzahlung von zwei Wochen bedroht. Gacy gab später zu, Butkovitch zu sich nach Hause gelockt zu haben, während seine Frau und seine Stiefkinder seine Schwester in Arkansas besuchten, um angeblich das Problem der überfälligen Löhne Butkovitch zu klären. Gacy brachte den Jugendlichen dazu, sich die Handgelenke hinter seinem Rücken zu fesseln, woraufhin Gacy ihn zu Tode erdrosselte und seinen Körper unter dem Betonboden seiner Garage begrub. Gacy gab später zu, er habe "eine Weile auf der Brust des Kindes gesessen", bevor er ihn getötet habe. Die Dodge-Limousine von Butkovitch wurde auf einem Parkplatz mit der Brieftasche für Jugendliche und den Schlüsseln im Zündschloss aufgegeben. Butkovitchs Vater rief Gacy an, der behauptete, er sei froh, bei der Suche nach der Jugend mitzuhelfen, aber es tat ihm Leid, Butkovitch sei "weggelaufen". Gacy wurde über das Verschwinden von Butkovitch befragt und gab zu, dass der Jugendliche und zwei Freunde in seiner Wohnung angekommen waren, um Butkovitchs überfällige Bezahlung zu verlangen, aber behaupteten, dass alle drei Jugendlichen nach einem Kompromiss gegangen waren. Over the following three years, Butkovitch's parents called police more than 100 times, urging them to investigate Gacy further.

Deceiving youths into donning handcuffs became Gacy's typical modus operandi in subduing his victims. After plying a youth with drink, drugs or generally gaining his trust, Gacy would produce a pair of handcuffs (occasionally as part of a clowning routine) which he would persuade his intended victim into donning.^{[n 5]} With his victim manacled and unable to free himself, Gacy would then make a statement to the effect of: "The trick is, you have to have the key", before proceeding to rape and torture his captive. He would finish with "the rope trick", placing a rope over his victim's neck and tying a makeshift tourniquet until the victim was strangled to death.

Divorce[edit]

Following a heated argument regarding her failing to balance a PDM Contractor's checkbook correctly in October 1975, Carole Gacy asked her husband for a divorce. Gacy agreed to his wife's request although, by mutual consent, Carole continued to live at 8213 West Summerdale until February 1976, when she and her daughters moved into their own apartment. One month later, on March 2, the Gacys' divorce—decreed upon the false grounds of Gacy's infidelity with women^[127]—was finalized.^[128]

Although Gacy remained gregarious and civic-minded, several neighbors became aware of erratic changes in his behavior after his divorce in March 1976 and subsequent arrest in December 1978. This behavior included hearing his car arrive and depart in the early hours of the morning; noting lights switching on and off in his home at odd hours and his keeping company with young males.^[127] One neighbor would later recollect that, for several years, she and her son had repeatedly been awoken by the repeated sounds of muffled screaming, shouting, and crying in the early morning hours, which she and her son had identified as emanating from a house adjacent to theirs on Summerdale Avenue.

Cruising years: 1976–1978[edit]

The majority of Gacy's murders were committed between 1976 and 1978, which he later referred to as his "cruising years" now that he had his house to himself. One month after his divorce was finalized, Gacy abducted and murdered an 18-year-old youth named Darrell Samson. Samson was last seen alive in Chicago on April 6, 1976. Five weeks later, on the afternoon of May 14, a 15-year-old named Randall Reffett disappeared while walking home from Senn High School; the youth was gagged with a cloth, causing him to die of asphyxiation.^[132] Hours after Reffett had been abducted, a 14-year-old named Samuel Stapleton vanished as he walked to his home from his sister's apartment.^[127] Both youths were buried in the same grave in the crawl space.^[133]

Victims Darrell Samson and Gregory Godzik. Samson was found buried beneath Gacy's dining room floor. Godzik was buried in the crawl space.

On June 3, 1976, Gacy killed a 17-year-old Lakeview youth named Michael Bonnin. He disappeared while traveling from Chicago to Waukegan, and was strangled with a ligature and buried in the crawl space. Ten days later, a 16-year-old Uptown youth named William Carroll was murdered and buried directly beneath Gacy's kitchen. Carroll may have been the first of four males known to have been murdered between June 13 and August 6, 1976, and who were buried in a common grave located beneath Gacy's kitchen and laundry room.^{[n 6]} The three identified youths killed between June 13 and August 6 were aged between 16 and 17 years old, whereas the only unidentified male known to have been murdered between these dates is a man with medium dark brown hair estimated to have been aged between 23 and 30 years old and between 5 ft 1 in and 5 ft 6 in (150 and 170 cm) tall. This man had two missing upper front teeth at the time of his disappearance,^[137] leading investigators to believe this particular victim most likely wore a denture. He was buried directly beneath the body of a 16-year-old Minnesota youth named James Haakenson, who is last known to have phoned his family on August 5, and whose body was itself buried directly beneath that of a 17-year-old Bensenville youth named Rick Johnston, who was last seen alive on August 6.^[138]^[139]^{[n 7]}

On July 26, 1976, Gacy employed an 18-year-old named David Cram. On August 21, Cram moved into his house. The following day, Gacy conned Cram into donning handcuffs while the youth was inebriated. Gacy swung Cram around while holding the chain linking the cuffs, then informed him that he intended to rape him. Cram, who had spent a year in the Army, kicked Gacy in the face, then freed himself from the handcuffs as Gacy lay prone. One month later, Gacy appeared at Cram's bedroom door with the intention to rape him and said: "Dave, you really don't know who I am. Maybe it would be good if you give me what I want." Cram resisted Gacy's attempts to assault him and Gacy left his bedroom. After this incident, Cram moved out of Gacy's home and subsequently left PDM Contractors, although he did periodically work for Gacy over the following two years.^[144] Shortly after Cram had vacated Gacy's residence, another employee of PDM Contractors, 18-year-old Michael Rossi, moved into Gacy's house.

Two further unidentified males are estimated to have been killed between August and October 1976. One of these victims was buried directly above the body of William Carroll, who had been murdered on June 13, yet higher than the body of Rick Johnston, who was last seen on August 6. This particular unidentified male is estimated to have been aged between 15 and 24 years old and had light brown hair. Sequential burial patterns of victims within the crawl space, plus the circumstantial fact that Cram had not lived with Gacy until August 21, leave a possible date of between August 6 and 20, 1976 as the time this particular man was murdered. The second unidentified male likely to have been murdered between August and October 1976 is a youth with dark brown, wavy hair, aged between 18 and 22 years old, who is known to have suffered from an abscessed tooth at the time of his murder. This male was buried in the northeast corner of the crawl space. Subsequent recollections by an employee of PDM Contractors of a trench Gacy had ordered him to dig on or before October 5, 1976 being the location where this particular victim was buried suggests a date between August and October 1976 as being when this particular victim was murdered.

On October 24, 1976, Gacy abducted and killed two teenage friends named Kenneth Parker and Michael Marino:^[149] the two youths were last seen outside a restaurant on Clark Street. Both youths were strangled and buried in the same grave in the crawl space. Two days later, a 19-year-old employee of PDM Contractors named William Bundy disappeared after informing his family he was to attend a party. Bundy was also strangled and buried in the crawl space, buried directly beneath Gacy's master bedroom.^[150]

In December 1976, another PDM employee, 17-year-old Gregory Godzik, disappeared: he was last seen by his girlfriend outside her house after he had driven her home following a date. Godzik had worked for PDM for only three weeks before he disappeared. In the time he had worked for Gacy, he had informed his family Gacy had had him "dig trenches for some kind of (drain) tiles" in his crawl space. Godzik's car was later found abandoned in Niles. His parents and older sister, Eugenia, contacted Gacy about Greg's disappearance. Gacy claimed to the family that Greg had run away from home, having indicated to Gacy before his disappearance that he wished to do so. Gacy also claimed to have received a recorded answering machine message from Godzik shortly after the youth had disappeared. When asked if he could play back the message to Godzik's parents, Gacy stated that he had erased it.

A month later, on January 20, 1977, John Szyc, a 19-year-old acquaintance of Butkovich, Godzik, and Gacy, disappeared. Szyc was lured to Gacy's house on the pretext of selling his Plymouth Satellite to Gacy. He was buried in Gacy's crawl space directly above the body of Godzik. A ring worn by Szyc, which bore his initials, was retained in a dresser in Gacy's master bedroom. Gacy also kept Szyc's portable Motorola TV in his bedroom and later sold the youth's car to Michael Rossi.

Between December 1976 and March 1977, Gacy is known to have killed an unidentified young man estimated to be around 25 years old.^[156] An inscription upon a key fob found among the personal artifacts buried with this unknown victim suggests his first name may have been Greg or Gregory.^[157] His body was buried in the crawl space beneath the body of a 20-year-old named Jon Prestidge, a Michigan youth visiting friends in Chicago whom Gacy killed on March 15. After the murder of Prestidge, Gacy is believed to have murdered one further unidentified youth exhumed from his crawl space, although the timing of this particular youth's murder is inconclusive. The youth was buried parallel to the wall of Gacy's crawl space directly beneath the entrance to his home. The two victims murdered on the same day in May 1976 were buried alongside this youth, yet sequential burial patterns of three victims murdered in 1977 leave an equal possibility this particular victim may have been murdered in the spring or summer of 1977. All that is known about this youth is that he was aged between 17 and 21 years old and that he had suffered a fractured left collarbone before his disappearance.^[158]

In March 1977, Gacy was hired as a construction supervisor for PE Systems, a firm which specialized in the nationwide remodeling of drugstores. As a result of this contract, Gacy regularly traveled to other states to supervise construction projects and he later stated that, through both businesses (PDM Contractors and PE Systems), he would often simultaneously work on up to four construction projects, with almost 80 buildings being successfully remodeled in 1977 alone. In April 1977, Michael Rossi moved out of Gacy's home; the same month, Gacy became temporarily engaged to a woman he had been dating for three months, and his fiancée moved into his house. By mutual agreement, the engagement was called off in June of that year and his fiancée moved out of his home. The following month, Gacy killed a 19-year-old Crystal Lake youth named Matthew Bowman. He was buried in the crawl space with the tourniquet used to strangle him still knotted around his neck.^[161]

In August 1977, a clue emerged to the disappearance of John Szyc: Michael Rossi, who had bought Szyc's car from Gacy, was arrested for stealing gasoline from a service station while driving the car. The attendant noted the license plate number and police traced the car to Gacy's house.^{[n 8]} When questioned, Gacy told officers that Szyc had sold the car to him in February with the explanation that he needed money to leave town. The police did not pursue the matter further, although they did inform Szyc's mother that her son had sold his car to Gacy.

In late 1977, Gacy began dating Carole Hoff in the hope of a reconciliation.^{[n 9]} By the end of 1977, Gacy is also known to have murdered an additional six young men between the ages of 16 and 21. The first of these six victims, 18-year-old Robert Gilroy, was last seen alive on September 15. Gilroy—the son of a Chicago police sergeant—was suffocated and buried in the crawl space. On September 12, Gacy had flown to Pittsburgh to supervise a remodeling project and did not return to Chicago until September 16.^[168] As Gacy is known to have been in another state at the time the youth was last seen, it is possible that Gacy's subsequent claims that he had not acted alone in some murders may have held credence. Ten days after Gilroy was last seen, a 19-year-old U.S. Marine named John Mowery disappeared after leaving his mother's house to walk to his own apartment. Mowery was strangled to death and buried in the northwest corner of the crawl space perpendicular to the body of William Bundy.^[150]

On October 17, a 21-year-old Minnesota youth named Russell Nelson disappeared: he was last seen outside a Chicago bar. Nelson died of suffocation and was also buried in the crawl space. Less than four weeks later, a 16-year-old Kalamazoo youth named Robert Winch was murdered and buried in the crawl space, and on November 18, a 20-year-old father-of-one named Tommy Boling disappeared after leaving a Chicago bar. Both Winch and Boling were strangled to death^[169] and both youths were buried in the crawl space directly beneath the hallway.^[170]

Three weeks after the murder of Tommy Boling, on December 9, a 19-year-old U.S. Marine named David Talsma disappeared after informing his mother he was to attend a rock concert in Hammond. Talsma was strangled with a ligature and buried in the crawl space.^[172]

On December 30, 1977, Gacy abducted a 19-year-old student named Robert Donnelly from a Chicago bus stop at gunpoint. Gacy drove Donnelly home with him, raped him, tortured him with various devices, and repeatedly dunked his head into a bathtub filled with water until he passed out, then revived him. Donnelly later testified at Gacy's trial that he was in such pain that he asked Gacy to kill him to "get it over with", to which Gacy replied: "I'm getting round to it." After several hours of assaulting and torturing the youth, Gacy drove Donnelly to his place of work, removed the handcuffs from the youth's wrists, and released him. Donnelly reported the assault and Gacy was questioned about it on January 6, 1978. Gacy admitted to having had "slave-sex" with Donnelly, but insisted everything was consensual. The police believed him and no charges were filed. The following month, Gacy killed a 19-year-old youth named William Kindred, who disappeared on February 16, 1978, after telling his fiancée he was to spend the evening in a bar. Kindred was the final victim to be buried in Gacy's crawl space,^[178] and Gacy began disposing of his victims in the Des Plaines River.

In March 1978, Gacy lured a 26-year-old named Jeffrey Rignall into his car. Upon entering the car, the young man was chloroformed and driven to the house on Summerdale, where he was raped, tortured with various instruments including lit candles and whips, and repeatedly chloroformed into unconsciousness. Rignall was then driven to Lincoln Park, where he was dumped, unconscious but alive. Eventually, he managed to stagger to his girlfriend's apartment. Rignall was later informed the chloroform had permanently damaged his liver. Police were again informed of the assault but did not investigate Gacy. Rignall was able to recall, through the chloroform haze of that night, Gacy's distinctive black Oldsmobile, the Kennedy Expressway and particular side streets. He staked out the exit on the Expressway where he knew he had been driven until—in April—he saw Gacy's distinctive black Oldsmobile, which Rignall and his friends followed to 8213 West Summerdale. Police issued an arrest warrant, and Gacy was arrested on July 15. He was facing an impending trial for a battery charge for the Rignall incident when he was arrested in December for the murders.

Des Plaines River: the final murders[edit]

Gacy later confessed to police that he had initially considered stowing bodies in his attic, but had been worried of complications arising from "excessive leakage".^[184] Therefore, he chose to dispose of his victims off the I-55 bridge into the Des Plaines River. Gacy stated he had thrown five bodies off the I-55 bridge into the Des Plaines River in 1978, one of which he believed had landed upon a passing barge, although only four of these five bodies were ever found.

The first known victim thrown from the I-55 bridge into the Des Plaines River, 20-year-old Timothy O'Rourke, was killed in mid-June after leaving his Dover Street apartment, having informed his roommate of his intention to purchase cigarettes; his body was found 6 miles (10 km) downstream on June 30. On November 4, Gacy killed a 19-year-old named Frank Landingin. His body was found in the Des Plaines River on November 12. Less than three weeks later, on November 24, a 20-year-old Elmwood Park youth named James Mazzara disappeared after sharing Thanksgiving dinner with his family; his body was found on December 28. The cause of death in the case of Landingin was certified as suffocation through the youth's own underwear being lodged down his throat, plugging his airway and effectively causing him to drown in his own vomit. Mazzara had been strangled with a ligature.

Investigation[edit]

On the afternoon of December 11, 1978, Gacy visited a Des Plaines pharmacy to discuss a potential remodeling deal with the owner of the store, Phil Torf. While Gacy was within earshot of a 15-year-old part-time employee named Robert Jerome Piest, he mentioned that his firm hired teenage boys at a starting wage of $5 per hour—almost double the pay Piest earned at the pharmacy.

After Gacy left the store, Piest told his mother that "some contractor wants to talk to me about a job". Piest left the store, promising to return shortly. When Piest failed to return, his family filed a missing person report on their son with the Des Plaines police. The owner of the pharmacy named Gacy as the contractor Piest had most likely left the store to talk with about a job.

Robert Piest, 15. Murdered December 11, 1978. Piest's abduction and murder would ultimately lead to Gacy's arrest and the discoveries upon his property.

Gacy denied talking to Piest when Des Plaines police visited his home the following evening, indicating he had seen two youths working at the pharmacy and that he had asked one of them—whom he believed to be Piest—whether any remodeling materials were present in the rear of the store. He was adamant, however, that he had not offered Piest a job and promised to come to the station later that evening to make a statement confirming this, indicating he was unable to do so at that moment as his uncle had just died. At 3:20 a.m., Gacy, covered in mud, arrived at the police station, claiming he had been involved in a car accident.

Upon returning to the police station later that day, Gacy denied any involvement in the disappearance of Robert Piest and repeated that he had not offered the youth a job. When asked why he had returned to the pharmacy at 8 p.m. on December 11, Gacy claimed he had done so in response to a phone call from Phil Torf informing him he had left his appointment book at the store. Detectives had already spoken with Torf, who had stated he had placed no such call to Gacy. At the request of detectives, Gacy prepared a written statement detailing his movements on December 11.

Des Plaines police were convinced Gacy was behind Piest's disappearance and checked Gacy's record, discovering that he had an outstanding battery charge against him in Chicago and had served a prison sentence in Iowa for the sodomy of a 15-year-old boy. A search of Gacy's house on December 13 was ordered by a judge at the request of detectives and turned up several suspicious items: a 1975 Maine West High School class ring engraved with the initials J.A.S., various driver's licenses, handcuffs, a two-by-four with holes drilled in the ends, books on homosexuality and pederasty, a syringe, male clothing too small for Gacy, a 6mm Brevettata starter pistol and a photo receipt from the pharmacy where Robert Piest worked. Police decided to confiscate Gacy's Oldsmobile, along with other PDM vehicles, and assigned two two-man surveillance teams to follow Gacy, while they continued their investigation of Gacy regarding Piest's disappearance.^[200]

The following day, investigators received a phone call from Michael Rossi, who informed the investigators both of Gregory Godzik's disappearance and the fact another PDM employee, Charles Hattula, had been found drowned in an Illinois river the previous year.

On December 15, Des Plaines investigators obtained further details upon Gacy's battery charge, learning the complainant, Jeffrey Rignall, had reported that Gacy had lured him into his car, chloroformed him, raped him and dumped him, with severe chest and facial burns and rectal bleeding, in Lincoln Park the following morning. In an interview with Gacy's former wife the same day, they learned of the disappearance of John Butkovich. The same day, the Maine West High School ring was traced to a John Alan Szyc. In an interview with Szyc's mother the same day, she informed officers of the January 1977 disappearance of her son and that several items from his apartment were also missing, including a Motorola TV set. She added that investigators had informed her the month following his disappearance that her son had apparently sold his Plymouth Satellite to a John Gacy. Investigators noted that one of Gacy's employees, Michael Rossi, drove a similar car to Szyc's: A check of the VIN confirmed the car driven by Rossi had belonged to Szyc.

By December 16, Gacy was becoming affable with the surveillance detectives, regularly inviting them to join him for meals in various restaurants and occasionally for drinks in bars or his home. He repeatedly denied that he had anything to do with Piest's disappearance and accused the officers of harassing him because of his political connections or because of his use of recreational drugs. Knowing these officers were unlikely to arrest him on anything trivial, he openly taunted them by flouting traffic laws and succeeded in losing his pursuers on more than one occasion.

On December 17, investigators conducted a formal interview of Michael Rossi, who informed them Gacy had sold Szyc's vehicle to him with the explanation that he had bought the car from Szyc because the youth needed money to move to California. A further examination of Gacy's Oldsmobile was conducted on this date. In the course of examining the trunk of the car, the investigators discovered a small cluster of fibers which may have been human hair. These fibers were sent for further analysis. That evening, officers conducted a test using three trained German shepherd search dogs to determine whether Piest had been present in any of Gacy's vehicles. The dogs were allowed to examine each of Gacy's vehicles, whereupon one dog approached Gacy's Oldsmobile and lay upon the passenger seat in what the dog's handler informed investigators was a "death reaction", indicating the body of Robert Piest had been present in this vehicle.

That evening, Gacy invited two of the surveillance detectives to a restaurant for a meal. In the early hours of December 18, he invited the same officers into another restaurant where, over breakfast, he talked of his business, his marriages and his activities as a registered clown. At one point during this conversation, Gacy remarked to one of the two surveillance detectives: "You know… clowns can get away with murder."

Civil suit[edit]

By December 18, Gacy was beginning to show visible signs of strain as a result of the constant surveillance: he was unshaven, looked tired, appeared anxious and was drinking heavily. That afternoon, he drove to his lawyers' office to prepare a $750,000 civil suit against the Des Plaines police, demanding that they cease their surveillance. The same day, the serial number of the Nisson Pharmacy photo receipt found in Gacy's kitchen was traced to 17-year-old Kim Byers, a colleague of Piest at Nisson Pharmacy, who admitted when contacted in person the following day that she had worn the jacket and had placed the receipt in the parka pocket just before she gave the parka to Piest as he left the store to talk with a contractor. This revelation contradicted Gacy's previous statements that he had had no contact with Robert Piest on the evening of December 11: the presence of the receipt indicated that Gacy must have been in contact with Robert Piest after the youth had left the Nisson Pharmacy on December 11.

The same evening, Michael Rossi was interviewed a second time: on this occasion, Rossi was more cooperative, informing detectives that in the summer of 1977, Gacy had had him spread ten bags of lime in the crawl space of the house.

On December 19, investigators began compiling evidence for a second search warrant of Gacy's house. The same day, Gacy's lawyers filed the civil suit against the Des Plaines police. The hearing of the suit was scheduled for December 22. That afternoon, Gacy invited two of the surveillance detectives inside his house. On this occasion, as one officer distracted Gacy with conversation, another officer walked into Gacy's bedroom in an unsuccessful attempt to write down the serial number of the Motorola TV set they suspected belonged to John Szyc. While flushing Gacy's toilet, this officer noticed a smell he suspected could be that of rotting corpses emanating from a heating duct; the officers who previously searched Gacy's house had failed to notice this, as on that occasion the house had been cold.^[200]

Both David Cram and Michael Rossi were interviewed by investigators on December 20. Rossi had agreed to be interviewed in relation to his possible links with John Szyc as well as the disappearance of Robert Piest. When questioned by Detective Joseph R. Kozenczak as to where he believed Gacy had placed Piest's body, Rossi replied: "In the crawl space; he could have put him in the crawl space."^[213] A polygraph test conducted upon the youth showed his responses to questions to be inconclusive; however, upon his agreeing to a subsequent visual test in which a map of Cook County was divided into 12 grid sections numbered 1 to 12, with Gacy's home marked in the fourth grid section, Kozenczak noted an extreme response in Rossi's blood pressure when asked: "Is the body of Robert Piest buried in grid number 4?"^[214] Upon hearing this question, Rossi refused to continue the polygraph questioning, although he did discuss further his digging trenches in the crawl space and remarked upon Gacy's insistence that he not deviate from where he was instructed to dig.

Cram himself informed investigators of Gacy's attempts to rape him in 1976 and stated that after he and Gacy had returned to his home after the December 13 search of his property, Gacy had turned pale upon noting a clot of mud on his carpet which he suspected had come from his crawl space. Cram then stated Gacy had grabbed a flashlight and immediately entered the crawl space to look for evidence of digging. When asked whether he had been to the crawl space, Cram replied he had been asked by Gacy to spread lime down there and also dug trenches upon Gacy's behest with the explanation they were for plumbing. Cram stated these trenches were 2 feet (0.61 m) wide, 6 feet (1.8 m) long and 2 feet (0.61 m) deep—the size of graves.

Verbal confession[edit]

On the evening of December 20, Gacy drove to his lawyers' office in Park Ridge to attend a pre-scheduled meeting he had arranged with them, ostensibly to discuss the progress of his civil suit. Upon his arrival, Gacy appeared disheveled and immediately asked for an alcoholic drink, whereupon Sam Amirante fetched a bottle of whiskey from his car. Upon his return, Amirante asked Gacy what he had to discuss with them. Gacy picked up a copy of the Daily Herald from Amirante's desk; he pointed to a front-page article covering the disappearance of Robert Piest and informed his lawyers: "This boy is dead. He's in a river."

Over the following hours, Gacy gave a rambling confession that ran into the early hours of the following morning. He began by informing Amirante and Stevens he had "been the judge ... jury and executioner of many, many people",^[218] most of whom he stated were buried in his crawl space, and others in the Des Plaines River. Some victims he referred to by name; most he dismissed as "male prostitutes", "hustlers" and "liars" whom he would give "the rope trick". On other occasions, he stated he would wake up to find "dead, strangled kids" on his floor, with their hands cuffed behind their back. In reference to Robert Piest, Gacy stated that as he placed the tourniquet around his neck, that Piest was "crying, scared".^[220] As a result of the alcohol he had consumed, Gacy fell asleep midway through his confession and Amirante immediately arranged a psychiatric appointment for Gacy at 9 a.m. that morning. Upon awakening several hours later, Gacy simply shook his head when informed by Amirante he had earlier confessed to killing approximately 30 people, stating: "Well, I can't think about this right now. I've got things to do."^[221] Ignoring his lawyers' advice regarding his scheduled appointment, Gacy left their office to attend to the needs of his business.^[221]

Gacy later recollected his memories of his final day of freedom as being "hazy", adding that he knew his arrest was inevitable and that, in his final hours of freedom, he intended to visit his friends and say his final farewells. Upon leaving his lawyers' office, Gacy drove to a Shell gas station where, in the course of filling his rental car, he handed a small bag of cannabis to the attendant, a youth named Lance Jacobson. Jacobson immediately handed the bag to the surveillance officers, adding that Gacy had told him: "The end is coming (for me). These guys are going to kill me." Gacy then drove to the home of a fellow contractor, Ronald Rhode. Inside Rhode's living room, Gacy hugged Rhode before bursting into tears and saying: "I killed thirty people, give or take a few." Gacy then left Rhode's home to meet with Michael Rossi and David Cram. As he drove along the expressway, the surveillance officers noted he was holding a rosary to his chin as he prayed while driving.

After talking with Cram and Rossi at Cram's home, Gacy had Cram drive him to a scheduled meeting with Leroy Stevens. As he spoke with his lawyer, Cram informed the officers that Gacy had earlier divulged to both himself and Rossi that the previous evening, he had confessed to his lawyers his guilt in over thirty murders. Upon concluding his meeting with his lawyer, Gacy had Cram drive him to Maryhill Cemetery, where his father was buried.

As Gacy drove to various locations that morning, police outlined their formal draft of their second search warrant. The purpose of the warrant was specifically to search for the body of Robert Piest in the crawl space. Upon hearing radioed reports from the surveillance detectives that, in light of his erratic behavior, Gacy might be about to commit suicide, police decided to arrest him upon a charge of possession and distribution of marijuana in order to hold him in custody as the formal request for a second search warrant was presented. At 4:30 on the afternoon of December 21, the eve of the hearing of Gacy's civil suit, the request for a second search warrant was granted by Judge Marvin J. Peters.^[226]

Armed with the signed search warrant, police and evidence technicians quickly drove to Gacy's home. Upon their arrival, officers found that Gacy had unplugged his sump pump and that the crawl space was flooded with water; to clear the water they simply replaced the plug and waited for the water to drain. After it had done so, an evidence technician named Daniel Genty entered the 28-by-38-foot (8.5 m × 11.6 m) crawl space^[227] and crawled to the southwest area and began digging. Within minutes, he had uncovered putrefied flesh and a human arm bone. Genty immediately shouted to the investigators that they could charge Gacy with murder. Genty added the remark: "I think this place is full of kids."

Arrest and confession[edit]

After being informed that the police had found human remains in his crawl space and that he would now face murder charges, Gacy told officers he wanted to "clear the air", adding that he knew his arrest was inevitable since he had spent the previous evening on the couch in his lawyers' office.

In the early hours of December 22, 1978, Gacy confessed to police that since 1972, he had committed 25 to 30 murders, all of whom he falsely claimed were of teenage male runaways or male prostitutes, whom he would typically abduct from Chicago's Greyhound Bus station, from Bughouse Square or simply off the streets. The victims would often be grabbed by force or conned into believing Gacy—often carrying a sheriff's badge and placing spotlights on his black Oldsmobile—was a policeman. Others would be lured to his house with either the promise of a job with his construction company, or with an offer of money for sex.

Once back at Gacy's house, the victims would be handcuffed or otherwise bound, then sexually assaulted and tortured. To muffle his victims' screams, Gacy would often stick cloth rags or items of the victim's own clothing in their mouths. Some victims had been partly drowned in his bathtub before they had been revived, enabling Gacy to continue his prolonged assault. Many of his victims had been strangled with a tourniquet, which Gacy referred to as his "rope trick"; occasionally, the victim had convulsed for an "hour or two" after the rope trick before dying. With only two exceptions, all his victims had died between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. When asked where he drew the inspiration for the two-by-four found at his house in which he had manacled many of his victims, Gacy stated he had been inspired to construct the device from reading about the Houston Mass Murders.^{[n 10]}

The victims were usually lured alone to his house, although on approximately three occasions, Gacy had what he called "doubles"—occasions wherein he killed two victims on the same evening. After death, the victims' bodies would typically be stored beneath his bed for up to 24 hours before burial in the crawl space, although the bodies of some victims had been taken to his garage and embalmed prior to their burial.

Most victims were buried in Gacy's crawl space, where he would periodically pour quicklime to hasten the decomposition of the bodies. In January 1979, he had planned to further conceal the corpses by covering the entire crawl space with concrete. Gacy stated he had lost count of the number of victims buried in his crawl space and had initially considered stowing bodies in his attic before opting to dispose of his victims off the I-55 bridge into the Des Plaines River.^[184] Thus the final five victims—all killed in 1978—were disposed of in this manner, because his crawl space was full.

When specifically questioned about Robert Piest, Gacy confessed to strangling the youth at his house on the evening of December 11 after luring him there, adding that he had been interrupted by a phone call from a business colleague while doing so; he also admitted to having slept alongside the youth's body that evening,^[243] before disposing of the corpse in the Des Plaines River the following evening. The reason he had arrived at the Des Plaines police station in a dirty and disheveled manner in the early hours of December 13 was that he had been in a minor traffic accident after disposing of Piest's body, en route to his appointment with Des Plaines officers. In this accident, his vehicle had slid off an ice-covered road, and he had unsuccessfully attempted to free the vehicle himself before the vehicle had to be towed from its location. He also confessed to police he had buried the body of John Butkovitch in his garage. To assist officers in their search for the victims buried in his house, Gacy drew a rough diagram of his basement upon a phone message sheet to show where the bodies were buried.

Search for victims[edit]

Accompanied by police, Gacy returned to his house on December 22 and showed police the location in his garage where he had buried Butkovitch's body. The police then drove to the spot on the I-55 bridge from which he had thrown the body of Piest and four other victims. Only four of the five victims Gacy claimed to have disposed of in this way were ever recovered from the Des Plaines River.

Between December 22 and 29, 1978, 27 bodies were recovered from Gacy's property, 26 of which were found buried in his crawl space, with one additional victim, John Butkovitch, being found buried beneath the concrete floor of his garage precisely where Gacy had marked the youth's grave with a can of spray paint. Following a temporary postponement of the excavations imposed in January 1979 because of a severe winter snowfall in Chicago, excavations of the property resumed in March—despite Gacy's insistence to investigators that all the victims' bodies buried upon his property had been found.^[249]

On March 9, the body of a 28th victim was found buried in a pit close to a barbecue grill in the backyard of the property: the victim was found wrapped within several plastic bags and wore a silver ring on the fourth finger of his left hand, indicating the possibility he had been married. One week later, on March 16, the skeletal remains of another victim were found buried beneath the joists of the dining room floor, bringing the total number of bodies exhumed at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue to 29. In April 1979, Gacy's vacant house was demolished.^[252]

Three additional bodies, which had been found in the nearby Des Plaines River between June and December 1978, were also confirmed to have been victims of Gacy.

Several bodies unearthed at Gacy's property were found with plastic bags over their heads or upper torsos.^{[n 11]} In addition, several of the bodies were found with the ligature used to strangle them still knotted around their necks. In other instances, cloth gags were found lodged deep down the victims' throats, leading the Cook County medical examiner to conclude that 12 victims buried beneath Gacy's property died not of strangulation, but of asphyxiation. In some cases, bodies were found with foreign objects such as prescription bottles lodged into their pelvic region, the position of which indicated the items had been thrust into the victims' anus.^[255] All the victims discovered at 8213 Summerdale were in an advanced state of decomposition, and the medical examiner chiefly relied upon dental records to facilitate the identification of the remains.

Two victims were identified because of their known connection to Gacy through PDM Contractors;^[256] most identifications were facilitated with the assistance of X-ray charts.^[257] These identifications were also supported via personal artifacts being found at 8213 Summerdale: one victim, 19-year-old David Talsma, was identified via comparison of radiology records of a healed fracture of the left scapula matching distress evident upon the 17th skeleton recovered from Gacy's crawl space;^[258] another youth, Timothy O'Rourke, was last heard mentioning that a contractor had offered him a job. Of Gacy's identified victims, the youngest were Samuel Dodd Stapleton and Michael Marino, both 14 years old; the oldest was Russell Nelson, who was 21 years old. Six of the victims have never been identified.^[259]

On April 9, 1979, a decomposed body was discovered entangled in exposed roots on the edge of the Des Plaines River in Grundy County.^[260] The body was identified via dental records as being that of Robert Piest. A subsequent autopsy revealed that three wads of "paper-like material" had been shoved down his throat while he was alive, causing him to die of suffocation.^[262]

Gacy was brought to trial on February 6, 1980, charged with 33 murders.^[263] He was tried in Cook County, Illinois, before Judge Louis Garippo; the jury was selected from Rockford because of significant press coverage in Cook County.

At the request of his defense counsel, Gacy spent over three hundred hours in the year before his trial with the doctors at the Menard Correctional Center. He underwent a variety of psychological tests before a panel of psychiatrists to determine whether he was mentally competent to stand trial.

Gacy had attempted to convince the doctors that he suffered from a multiple personality disorder. His lawyers opted to have Gacy plead not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges against him, and produced several psychiatric experts who had examined Gacy the previous year to testify to their findings. Three psychiatric experts appearing for the defense at Gacy's trial testified they found Gacy to be a paranoid schizophrenic with a multiple personality disorder.

The prosecutors presented a case that indicated Gacy was sane and fully in control of his actions. To support this contention, they produced several witnesses to testify to the premeditation of Gacy's actions and the efforts he went to in order to escape detection. Those doctors refuted the defense doctors' claims of multiple personality and insanity. Two witnesses who testified were PDM employees, who confessed Gacy had made them dig trenches in his crawl space. One of these employees, David Cram,^[144] testified that in August 1977, Gacy had marked a location in the crawl space with sticks and told him to dig a drainage trench.

Immediately after Cram had completed his testimony, Michael Rossi himself testified for the state. When asked where he had dug in the crawl space, Rossi turned to a diagram of Gacy's home on display in the courtroom. This diagram showed where the bodies were found in the crawl space and elsewhere on the property. Rossi pointed to the location of the remains of an unidentified victim known as "Body 13". Rossi stated he had not dug any other trenches, but—at Gacy's request—had supervised other PDM employees digging trenches in the crawl space.

Both Rossi and Cram also testified that Gacy would periodically look into the crawl space to ensure they and other employees ordered to dig trenches in the crawl space did not deviate from the precise locations he had marked. Gacy had testified after his arrest that he had only dug five of the victims' graves in his crawl space and had his employees (including Gregory Godzik) dig the remaining trenches so that he would "have graves available".

On February 18, Dr. Robert Stein, the Cook County medical examiner appointed to supervise the exhumation of the victims' bodies from Gacy's home, testified as to how he and his colleagues had conducted the recovery of the remains. Stein testified that the excavation was conducted in an "archeological fashion", adding that all the bodies recovered were "markedly decomposed, putrefied, skeletalized remains".^[275] In relation to the cause of death of each victim upon which he had later performed an autopsy, Stein stated he had concluded that thirteen victims had died of asphyxiation; six had died of ligature strangulation and one victim of multiple stab wounds to the chest. Stein testified that the cause of death in ten cases could not be determined, although all were ruled as homicides.

Upon cross-examination, Gacy's defense team attempted to raise the possibility that all 33 murders were accidental erotic asphyxia deaths: Dr. Stein countered this assertion by stating that this claim was highly improbable.

Three days after the testimony of Dr. Robert Stein, Jeffrey Rignall testified on behalf of the prosecution, recounting the abuse and torture he had endured at Gacy's hands in March 1978. Rignall repeatedly wept as he recounted his ordeal. In response to questioning relating to whether Gacy appreciated the criminality of his actions, Rignall stated his belief that Gacy was unable to conform his actions to the conduct of law because of the "beastly and animalistic ways he attacked me".^[279] Upon specific cross-examination relating to the torture he had endured, Rignall vomited before he was excused from further testimony.

On February 29, one of the youths Gacy had sexually assaulted in 1967, Donald Voorhees, testified to his ordeal at Gacy's hands, and that Gacy had subsequently paid another youth to beat him and spray Mace in his face so he would not testify against him. The youth felt unable to testify, but did briefly attempt to do so, before being asked to step down.

Robert Donnelly testified the week after Voorhees, recounting his ordeal at Gacy's hands in December 1977. Donnelly was visibly distressed as he recollected the abuse he endured at Gacy's hands and came close to breaking down on several occasions. As Donnelly testified, Gacy repeatedly laughed at him, but Donnelly finished his testimony. One of Gacy's defense attorneys, Robert Motta, during Donnelly's cross-examination, attempted to discredit his testimony, but Donnelly did not waver from his testimony of what had occurred.

During the fifth week of the trial, Gacy wrote a personal letter to Judge Garippo requesting a mistrial on a number of bases, including that he did not approve his lawyers' insanity plea approach; that his lawyers had not allowed him to take the witness stand (as he had desired to do); that his defense had not called enough witnesses, and that the police were lying about statements he had purportedly made to detectives after his arrest and that, in any event, the statements were "self-serving" for use by the prosecution. Judge Garippo addressed Gacy's letter by informing him that under the law he had the choice as to whether he wished to testify, and he was free to indicate as much to the judge if he wished to do so.

Closing arguments[edit]

On March 11, final arguments from both prosecution and defense attorneys began, with the arguments concluding on the following day. Prosecuting attorney Terry Sullivan argued first, outlining Gacy's history of abusing youths, the testimony of his efforts to avoid detection and describing Gacy's surviving victims—Voorhees and Donnelly—as "living dead". Referring to Gacy as the "worst of all murderers",^[288] Sullivan stated: "John Gacy has accounted for more human devastation than many earthly catastrophes, but one must tremble. I tremble when thinking about just how close he came to getting away with it all."

After the state's four-hour closing, counsel Sam Amirante argued for the defense. Amirante argued against the testimony delivered by the doctors who had testified for the prosecution, repeatedly citing the testimony of the four psychiatrists and psychologists who had testified on behalf of the defense. Amirante also accused Sullivan of scarcely referring to the evidence presented throughout the trial in his own closing argument, and of arousing hatred against his client. The defense lawyer attempted to portray Gacy as a "man driven by compulsions he was unable to control". In support of these arguments, the defense counsel repeatedly referred to the testimony of the doctors who had appeared for the defense, in addition to the testimony of defense witnesses such as Jeffrey Rignall and a former business associate of Gacy's named Mickel Reed—both of whom had testified to their belief that Gacy had been unable to control his actions.^[291] Amirante then urged the jury to put aside any prejudice they held against his client, and requested they deliver a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, adding that the psychology of Gacy's behavior would be of benefit to scientific research and that the psychology of his mind should be studied.

William Kunkle, prosecutor at Gacy's trial, standing before a board depicting the 22 victims identified by February 1980.

On the morning of March 12, William Kunkle continued to argue for the prosecution. Kunkle referred to the defense's contention of insanity as "a sham", arguing that the facts of the case demonstrated Gacy's ability to think logically and control his actions. Kunkle also referred to the testimony of a doctor who had examined Gacy in 1968; this doctor had diagnosed Gacy as an antisocial personality, capable of committing crimes without remorse. Kunkle indicated that had the recommendations of this doctor been heeded, Gacy would have not been freed. At the close of his argument, Kunkle pulled each of the 22 photos of Gacy's identified victims off a board displaying the images and asked the jury not to show sympathy but to "show justice". Kunkle then asked the jury to "show the same sympathy this man showed when he took these lives and put them there!" before throwing the stack of photos into the opening of the trap door of Gacy's crawl space, which had been introduced as evidence and was on display in the courtroom. After Kunkle had finished his testimony, the jury retired to consider their verdict.

The jury deliberated for less than two hours^[295] and found Gacy guilty of the thirty-three charges of murder for which he had been brought to trial; he was also found guilty of sexual assault and taking indecent liberties with a child; both convictions in reference to Robert Piest.^[296] The following day, both the prosecution and defense made alternative pleas for the sentence the jury should decide: the prosecution requesting a death sentence for each murder committed after the Illinois statute on capital punishment came into effect in June 1977; the defense requesting life imprisonment.

The jury deliberated for more than two hours before they returned with their decision in the sentencing phase of the trial: Gacy was sentenced to death for the twelve counts of murder upon which the prosecution had sought this penalty.^[300] An initial date of execution was set for June 2, 1980.

Death row[edit]

Upon being sentenced, Gacy was transferred to the Menard Correctional Center in Chester, Illinois, where he remained incarcerated on death row for 14 years.

Isolated in his prison cell, Gacy began to paint. The subjects Gacy painted varied, although many were of clowns, some of which depicted himself as "Pogo". Many of his paintings have been displayed at exhibitions;^[303]^[304] others have been sold at various auctions, with individual prices ranging between $200 and $20,000.^[305] Although Gacy was permitted to earn money from the sale of his paintings until 1985, he claimed his artwork was intended "to bring joy into people's lives".

On February 15, 1983, Gacy was stabbed in the arm by Henry Brisbon, a fellow death row inmate known as the I-57 killer. At the time of this attack, Gacy had been participating in a voluntary work program when Brisbon ran towards him and stabbed him once in the upper arm with a sharpened wire. A second death row inmate injured in the attack, William Jones, received a superficial stab wound to the head. Both received treatment in the prison hospital for their wounds.^[307]

Appeals[edit]

After his incarceration, Gacy read numerous law books and filed voluminous motions and appeals, although he did not prevail in any. Gacy's appeals related to issues such as the validity of the first search warrant granted to Des Plaines police on December 13, 1978, and his objection to his lawyers' insanity plea defense at his trial. Gacy also contended that, although he held "some knowledge" of five of the murders (those of McCoy, Butkovitch, Godzik, Szyc and Piest), the other 28 murders had been committed by employees who were in possession of keys to his house while he was away on business trips.

In mid-1984, the Supreme Court of Illinois upheld Gacy's conviction and ordered that he be executed by lethal injection on November 14. Gacy filed an appeal against this decision, which was denied by the Supreme Court of the United States on March 4, 1985. The following year, Gacy filed a further post-conviction petition, seeking a new trial. His then-defense lawyer, Richard Kling, argued that Gacy had been provided with ineffective legal counsel at his 1980 trial. This post-conviction petition was dismissed on September 11, 1986.^[310]

The 1985 decision that he be executed was again appealed by Gacy, although his conviction was again upheld on September 29, 1988, with the Illinois Supreme Court setting a renewed execution date of January 11, 1989.^[311]

After Gacy's final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was denied in October 1993, the Illinois Supreme Court formally set an execution date for May 10, 1994.^[312]

Execution[edit]

On the morning of May 9, 1994, Gacy was transferred from the Menard Correctional Center to Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill to be executed. That afternoon, he was allowed a private picnic on the prison grounds with his family. For his last meal, Gacy ordered a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, a dozen fried shrimp, french fries, fresh strawberries, and a Diet Coke.^[313] That evening, he observed prayer with a Catholic priest before being escorted to the Stateville execution chamber to receive a lethal injection.^[314]

Gacy's official death certificate, issued May 10, 1994.

Before the execution began, the chemicals used to perform the execution unexpectedly solidified, clogging the IV tube administering the chemicals into Gacy's arm and complicating the execution procedure. Blinds covering the window through which witnesses observed the execution were drawn, and the execution team replaced the clogged tube to complete the procedure. After ten minutes, the blinds were reopened and the execution resumed. The entire procedure took 18 minutes.^[315]Anesthesiologists blamed the problem on the inexperience of prison officials who were conducting the execution, stating that had correct execution procedures been followed, the complications would never have occurred. This error apparently led to Illinois' subsequent adoption of an alternative method of lethal injection. On this subject, one of the prosecutors at Gacy's trial, William Kunkle, said: "He got a much easier death than any of his victims."^[316]

According to published reports, Gacy was a diagnosed psychopath^[317] who did not express any remorse for his crimes. His final statement to his lawyer before his execution was that killing him would not compensate for the loss of others, and that the state was murdering him.^[316] His final spoken words were "Kiss my ass."^[318]

In the hours leading up to Gacy's execution, a crowd estimated to number over 1,000^[319] gathered outside the correctional center; the majority of whom were vocally in favor of the execution, although a number of anti-death penalty protesters were also present. Some of those in favor of the execution wore T-shirts hearkening to Gacy's previous community services as a clown and bearing satirical slogans such as "No tears for the clown".^[320] The anti-death penalty protesters present observed a silent candlelight vigil.^[321]

After Gacy's death was confirmed at 12:58 a.m. on May 10, 1994, his brain was removed. It is in the possession of Helen Morrison, a witness for the defense at Gacy's trial, who has interviewed Gacy and other serial killers in an attempt to isolate common personality traits of violent sociopaths. His body was cremated after the execution.

In the months following Gacy's execution, many of his paintings were auctioned.^[323] Some were bought so that they could be destroyed in a June 1994 communal bonfire held in Naperville, Illinois and attended by approximately 300 people, including family members of nine of Gacy's victims.^[323]

Victims[edit]

Identified victims[edit]

Only 27 of Gacy's victims were ever conclusively identified. By the time of Gacy's trial, 22 victims had been identified. In March 1980, two further bodies unearthed from Gacy's crawl space were identified via dental and radiology records as those of Kenneth Parker and Michael Marino; both reported missing on October 25, 1976,^[325] the day after they had disappeared.^[326]^{[n 12]}

In May 1986,^[330] the ninth victim exhumed from Gacy's crawl space was identified as Timothy Jack McCoy, Gacy's first victim.^[331] One further victim was identified in November 2011 through DNA testing as William George Bundy, a 19-year-old construction worker who was last seen by his family on his way to a party on October 26, 1976.^[332] Bundy had apparently worked for Gacy before his murder.^[332] Shortly after Gacy's arrest, his family had contacted Bundy's dentist in the hope of submitting his dental records for comparison with the unidentified bodies. However, the records had been destroyed after the dentist had retired.^[333] A second victim was identified through DNA testing in July 2017 as a 16-year-old from Saint Paul, Minnesota named James Haakenson, who was last known to have contacted his family on August 5, 1976.^[334]

Timothy McCoy (16)
January 3, 1972^[335] Body 9. Crawl space.

John Butkovitch (17)
July 29, 1975 Body 2. Garage.

Darrell Samson (18)
April 6, 1976 Body 29. Dining room.

Randall Reffett (15)
May 14, 1976 Body 7. Crawl space.

Samuel Stapleton (14)
May 14, 1976 Body 6. Crawl space.

Michael Bonnin (17)
June 3, 1976 Body 18. Crawl space.

William Carroll (16)
June 13, 1976 Body 22. Crawl space.

James Haakenson (16)
August 5, 1976^[340] Body 24. Crawl space.

Rick Johnston (17)
August 6, 1976 Body 23. Crawl space.

Kenneth Parker (16)
Octo ber 24, 1976 Body 15. Crawl space.

Michael Marino (14)
October 24, 1976 Body 14. Crawl space.

William Bundy (19)
October 26, 1976^[342] Body 19. Crawl space.

Gregory Godzik (17)
December 12, 1976 Body 4. Crawl space.

John Szyc (19)
January 20, 1977 Body 3. Crawl space.

Jon Prestidge (20)
March 15, 1977 Body 1. Crawl space.

Matthew Bowman (19)
July 5, 1977 Body 8. Crawl space.

Robert Gilroy (18)
September 15, 1977 Body 25. Crawl space.

John Mowery (19)
September 25, 1977 Body 20. Crawl space.

Russell Nelson (21)
October 17, 1977 Body 16. Crawl space.

Robert Winch (16)
November 10, 1977 Body 11. Crawl space.

Tommy Boling (20)
November 18, 1977 Body 12. Crawl space.

David Talsma (19)
December 9, 1977 Body 17. Crawl space.

William Kindred (19)
February 16, 1978 Body 27. Crawl space.

Timothy O'Rourke (20)
June 16–23, 1978 Body 31. Des Plaines river.

Frank Landingin (19)
November 4, 1978 Body 32. Des Plaines river.

James Mazzara (20)
November 24, 1978 Body 33. Des Plaines river.

Robert Piest (15)
December 11, 1978 Body 30. Des Plaines river.

Unidentified victims[edit]

Six victims remain unidentified, five of whom had been buried beneath Gacy's crawl space, with one additional youth buried approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) from the barbecue pit in his backyard.^[349] Experts used the skulls of the unidentified victims to create facial reconstructions.^[350] Based upon Gacy's confession, information relative to where the victims were buried in his crawl space relative to Gacy's identified victims, and forensic analysis, police were able to determine the most likely dates when his unidentified victims were killed.[19659336]c. January 1974. Body 28. Backyard. Male aged 14–18.^[113]^[352]

June 13 – August 5, 1976. Body 26. Crawl space. Male aged 23–30.^[137]^[353]

August 6 – October 5, 1976. Body 13. Crawl space. Male aged 18–22.^[354]^[355]

August 6 – October 24, 1976. Body 21. Crawl space. Male aged 15–24.^[356]^[357]

December 1976 – March 15, 1977. Body 5. Crawl space. Male aged 22–32.^[156]^[358]

March 15 – July 5, 1977. Body 10. Crawl space. Male aged 17–21.^[359]^[360]

Facial reconstructions of the unidentified victims, released to the media in 1980. Depicted left to right are Body 5, Body 9 (later identified as Timothy McCoy), Body 24 (later identified as James Haakenson), Body 19 (later identified as William Bundy), Body 21, Body 28, Body 13, Body 26, and Body 10.

In October 2011, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart announced that investigators, having obtained full DNA profiles from each of the unidentified victims, were to renew their efforts to identify all of them. At a press conference held to announce this intention, Sheriff Dart stated investigators are actively seeking DNA samples from individuals across the United States related to any male missing between 1970 and 1979.^[361] Test results thus far conducted have confirmed the identification of two victims, ruled out the possibility of numerous other missing youths as being victims of Gacy,^[362]^[363] and solved four unrelated cold cases dating between 1972 and 1979.^[364]^[365]^[366]^[367]

Identification dispute of Michael Marino[edit]

In 2012, DNA tests conducted upon remains identified as those of Michael Marino revealed that the remains had been misidentified. Marino's mother had always doubted the identification of her son because clothing found upon the body was inconsistent with what her son had worn when she last saw him. In addition, the dental X-ray conducted upon the victim identified as Michael Marino had revealed the victim had all of his second molars, whereas a dental X-ray conducted upon Marino in March 1976 revealed one molar had not erupted.^[368] Nonetheless, the orthodontist who had identified Marino's remains has stated his conviction in the accuracy of his findings, adding he had "compared 32 teeth, probably half a dozen of them had very distinct fillings and every one of them was consistent with Michael Marino."^{[n 13]}

Possible additional victims[edit]

At the time of Gacy's arrest, he had claimed to both Des Plaines and Chicago investigators that the total number of victims he had killed could be as high as 45. However, only 33 bodies were ever found which were linked to Gacy. Investigators did excavate the grounds of his property until they had exposed the substratum of clay beneath the foundations, yet only 29 bodies were found buried upon his property.^[372] When asked as to whether there were more victims, Gacy simply stated, "That's for you guys to find out."^[373]

On May 8, 1977, a 24-year-old named Charles Hattula was found drowned in a river near Freeport, Illinois.^[374] Hattula, an employee of PDM Contractors, had been linked to the initial investigation of Gacy after Robert Piest's disappearance; this was after the same employee who had informed the investigators of Gregory Godzik's disappearance informed them of Hattula's death. Moreover, this employee had stated that Hattula was known to have conflicts with Gacy. Gacy had himself informed several of his employees the youth had drowned after Hattula's body was recovered from the Pecatonica River. Des Plaines authorities had contacted colleagues in Freeport during their investigation into Gacy, but were told the youth had fallen to his death from a bridge. At the time of Hattula's death, Gacy had become engaged, and his fiancée had moved into his home, which leaves a possibility that Gacy had disposed of Hattula's body in the Pecatonica River as opposed to burying the man in his crawl space. However, Hattula's death has been officially ruled as accidental.

Gacy stated that after he had assaulted and then released Jeffrey Rignall in March 1978, he had begun to throw his murder victims into the Des Plaines River. He confessed to having disposed of five bodies in this manner. However, only four bodies were recovered from the river and conclusively confirmed to be victims of Gacy. Given the gap of over four months between the dates of the murders of the first and second victims known to have been disposed in the river, it is possible that this unknown victim may have been killed between June and November 1978.

A retired Chicago police officer named Bill Dorsch^[377] has stated he has reason to believe there may be more victims buried within the grounds of the apartment building located at the 6100 block of West Miami Avenue in Chicago; a property which Gacy is known to have been the caretaker of for several years prior to his 1978 arrest. In 1975, Dorsch—then a Chicago police officer—observed Gacy (whom he knew on a casual basis), holding a shovel in the early hours of the morning. When confronted by Dorsch as to his actions, Gacy stated he was performing work that he was too busy to do during the day. Dorsch has also related that several other residents of West Miami Avenue have stated that, in the early- to mid-1970s, they had observed Gacy digging trenches in the grounds of the property;^[378] one of these residents has also stated that Gacy would later place plants in the elongated trenches he had dug. At the time these actions had been observed, Gacy had still been married to Carole Hoff.^[379] Following his first murder in January 1972, he is not known to have buried any murder victims beneath his own home until one month after his March 1976 divorce. (John Butkovitch had been buried beneath his garage and the unknown victim known as Body 28 had been buried in his backyard.) Gacy's wife had informed investigators that, on several occasions in the years preceding their divorce, she had found several men's wallets and identification cards discarded about the property at 8213 Summerdale. When she had confronted Gacy about these items, he had angrily informed her the property was none of her business.

In March 2012, Cook County Sheriff's officials submitted a request to excavate the grounds of this property. However, the Cook County State's Attorney denied this request, stating a lack of probable cause as the reason the submission was denied (including the previous 1998 search).^[380] However, the sheriff's office had noted that in 1998, a radar survey conducted had noted 14 areas of interest within the property grounds, yet only two of these 14 anomalies had been excavated. Of the 12 remaining anomalies which police had not examined in greater detail on that occasion, four were described as being "staggeringly suggestive" as human skeletons.^[381] Moreover, Bill Dorsch had provided police with a letter from the radar company which confirmed the 1998 search of the grounds was incomplete.^[382]

A second request to excavate the grounds of West Miami Avenue was submitted to the Cook County State's Attorney by Sheriff Tom Dart in October 2012. This request was granted in January 2013, and a search of the property was conducted in the spring. Both FBI sniffer dogs and ground-penetrating radar equipment were used in the second search of West Miami Avenue; however, the search yielded no human remains.^[383]^{[n 14]}

Inspiration for the Missing Child Recovery Act of 1984[edit]

In 1984, Sam Amirante, one of Gacy's two defense attorneys at his 1980 trial, authored procedures that were incorporated by the Illinois General Assembly into the Missing Child Recovery Act of 1984. Amirante has since stated that the primary inspiration for this legislation was the fact that at the time of the Gacy murders, there had been a 72-hour period which police in Illinois had to allow to elapse before initiating a search for a missing child or adolescent. The Illinois Missing Child Recovery Act of 1984 removed this 72-hour waiting period. Other states across America subsequently adopted similar procedures and sensibilities, as a result of which a national network aimed at locating missing children was gradually formed. This national network has since developed into the Child Abduction Emergency—commonly known today as an Amber Alert.

Potential accomplices and connections[edit]

One of the first things Gacy told investigators after his arrest was that he had not acted alone in several of the murders: he questioned whether individuals he referred to as "my associates" had also been arrested. When questioned as to whether these individuals had participated directly or indirectly in the killings, Gacy replied, "Directly."

Gacy specifically named two PDM employees as being the individuals he had referred to as being involved in several of the murders. In the 1980s, he also informed Robert Ressler that "two or three" employees had assisted him in several murders.^[386] Ressler replied that he believed there were unexplained avenues to the case and stated his belief that Gacy had killed more than 33 victims. Gacy neither confirmed nor denied Ressler's suspicions.^{[n 15]}

Jeffrey Rignall, who had been assaulted and tortured by Gacy in March 1978, was adamant that at one point during his abuse and torture, a young man with brown hair, kneeling before him, watched his abuse. When this youth realized Rignall had regained consciousness, he was again chloroformed into unconsciousness. Rignall also informed police that as Gacy was raping and assaulting him, a light was switched on in another part of the house.^[389]

Moreover, on one occasion during the surveillance of Gacy prior to his arrest, two of the surveillance officers followed Gacy to a bar to which Gacy had driven to meet two of his employees. At the bar, the surveillance officers overheard a hushed conversation between Gacy and one of his employees in which the youth asked Gacy the question: "And what? Buried like the other five?"

In interviews following his arrest and conviction, Gacy repeatedly claimed that he was not present in Chicago when 16 of the identified victims had disappeared. In one interview, he stated that at the time of his arrest, four PDM employees were also considered suspects in the disappearances of the missing individuals investigators had linked to Gacy—all of whom he stated were in possession of keys to his house.^[390] One of these employees was a young man named Philip Paske, who is known to have been a close associate of a man named John Norman. At the time, Norman operated a nationwide sex trafficking ring based in Chicago.^[391] At least two victims believed to have been murdered by Gacy, Kenneth Parker and Michael Marino, are known to have last been seen alive close to where Norman resided at the time of their disappearance,^[392] and Gacy is known to have been aware of Paske's connections. This led to the theory Gacy may have been connected to this trafficking ring.^[393]

Later investigations[edit]

In 2012, two Chicago lawyers named Steven Becker and Robert Stephenson^[394] publicly stated that, having reviewed archived records relating to Gacy's business travels for both PDM Contractors and PE Systems, it is likely that Gacy may have been assisted by one or more accomplices in a minimum of three murders.^[395] In each case, Becker and Stephenson state that official documents attest to the fact that Gacy was in another state at the time the youths in question disappeared. In one case, that of 18-year-old Robert Gilroy, investigators found that on September 12, 1977—three days before Gilroy's disappearance—Gacy had flown to Pittsburgh and did not return to Chicago until the day after the youth had disappeared.^[395]

Investigators also note that Robert Young, the traveling companion with whom victim Russell Nelson was visiting Chicago at the time of his disappearance in October 1977, gave differing accounts of the youth's disappearance to both Nelson's family and investigators. To Nelson's family, Young had stated Nelson failed to arrive at a bar at a prearranged time; to investigators, Young claimed he had last seen Nelson standing among a crowd who had gathered outside a Chicago bar and when his attention was diverted for a few moments, Nelson simply disappeared. Investigators contend this could not have happened without his traveling companion noticing.^[396]

Young is known to have filed a missing person's report with Chicago police, before unsuccessfully requesting money from Nelson's parents to finance a search for their son. When Nelson's two brothers arrived in Chicago to search for him, Young had offered both brothers a job with Gacy's construction company.^[395] Young was never summoned to testify at Gacy's trial as to the circumstances surrounding Nelson's disappearance.^[397]

In a third case, travel records indicate Gacy was at a scheduled job site in Michigan at 6:00 a.m. on September 26, 1977—the day following the disappearance of 19-year-old John Mowery, who was last seen leaving his mother's house at 10:00 p.m. on September 25.^[395] Mowery's roommate was a PDM employee who had formerly lived with Gacy and had moved into Mowery's apartment less than one week before the youth's disappearance. Two witnesses have stated that this roommate had recommended to Mowery that he meet "a man who is going out of town" two days prior to the youth's disappearance.^[389]

Criminal defense attorneys and investigators researching the possibility Gacy had not acted alone in several of the murders have stated there is "overwhelming evidence Gacy worked with an accomplice".^[398]

Film[edit]

The made-for-TV film To Catch a Killerstarring Brian Dennehy as Gacy, was released in 1992. The film is largely based on the investigation of Gacy, following the disappearance of Robert Piest, by Des Plaines Police and their efforts to arrest him before the scheduled civil suit hearing on December 22.

A feature film, Gacywas released in 2003. This film cast Mark Holton in the role of Gacy and depicts Gacy's life after he moved to Norwood Park in 1971 up until his arrest in 1978.[19659303]The made-for-TV film Dear Mr. Gacy was released in 2010, starring William Forsythe as Gacy. The film is based upon the book The Last Victimwritten by Jason Moss. The film focuses upon the correspondence between Moss and Gacy before Gacy invited Moss to visit him on death row in 1994.

The horror film 8213: Gacy House was released in 2010 and is based upon paranormal investigators spending a night in the house built on the former site of 8213 Summerdale Terrace.^[400]

Books[edit]

29 Belowby Jeffrey Rignall and Ron Wilder (ISBN B0006XG56Y).

A Question of Doubt: The John Wayne Gacy Storyby John Wayne Gacy (ISBN 1-87886-503-X).

Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of Serial Killer John Wayne Gacyby Tim Cahill (ISBN 1-85702-084-7).

John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monsterby Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick (ISBN 1-616-08248-8).

Johnny and Me: The True Story of John Wayne Gacyby Barry Boschelli (ISBN 1-4343-2184 -3).^[401]

Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murdersby Terry Sullivan and Peter T. Maiken (ISBN 0-7860-1422-9).

Killer Clown: The True Story of John Wayne Gacyby Aimee Baxter (ISBN 978-1-973-75535-7).

The Chicago Killerby Joseph R. Kozenczak and Karen M. Kozenczak (ISBN 978-1401095314).

The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killerby Jason Moss and Jeffrey Kottler, Ph.D (ISBN 0-7535-0398-0).

The Man Who Killed Boysby Clifford L. Linedecker (ISBN 0-312-95228-7).

Unfinished Nightmare: The Search for More Victims of Serial Killer John Wayne Gacyby Chris Maloney (ISBN 978-1466080317).

Destination Gacy: A Cross-Country Journey to Shake the Devil's Handby Nancy Rom melmann (ISBN 978-1940838380).

Television[edit]

The Discovery Channel has broadcast an episode relating to Gacy's crimes within the true crime series The New Detectives: Case Studies in Forensic Science. This documentary features an interview between Gacy and FBI profiler Robert Ressler, whom Gacy claimed to have known when both he and Ressler were children. (As a child, Ressler had lived just four blocks from Gacy in Chicago and Gacy had delivered groceries to Ressler's family.)

The Investigation Discovery channel has broadcast two documentaries about the Gacy murders. The first documentary focusing upon Gacy's crimes was commissioned for the Most Evil series, a forensics program in which a forensic psychiatrist named Michael Stone analyzes various murderers and psychopaths. The second Investigation Discovery program on Gacy is featured in the Evil Lives Here series. This program explores how Gacy's actions affected his family. Gacy's sister and niece are among those interviewed.

The Biography Channel has broadcast a 45-minute documentary on the crimes of John Wayne Gacy.

The television program, Psychic Investigatorshas broadcast an episode entitled "What Lies Below".^[402] This program focuses upon the consultation between Detective Joseph Kozenczak and a psychic named Carol Broman, whom Kozenczak had met on December 17, 1978 to discuss the whereabouts of the body of Robert Piest.^[403]

The Lifetime Movies network series Monster in My Family has broadcast a 42-minute episode focusing on the murders committed by Gacy. This episode, titled "Killer Clown: John Wayne Gacy", was initially broadcast in August 2015. The episode features Karen Kuzma, the sister of John Wayne Gacy, and her daughter, and focuses upon formative events in Gacy's life that may have initiated his later crimes.^[404]^[405]

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^ "8213: Gacy House". September 28, 2010 – via IMDb.

^ Creepy, Uncle (December 10, 2010). "Barry Boschelli Talks Growing Up with Evil – John Wayne Gacy". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved March 14, 2013.

^ "Psychic Investigators S3-E3: What Lies Below". radiotimes.com. July 25, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2017.

^ Kozenczak (2012), pp. 104-105

^ "Watch Killer Clown: John Wayne Gacy Full Episode - Monster in My Family | Lifetime". mylifetime.com. Lifetime Movies. August 5, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2017.

^ "Monster in My Family | Season 1, Episode 6 Killer Clown: John Wayne Gacy". TVGuide.com. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved November 9, 2017.

Cited works and further reading[edit]

Amirante, Sam L.; Broderick, Danny (2011). John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster. Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-61608-248-2.

Berry-Dee, Christopher (2005). Talking With Serial Killers 2: The World's Most Evil Killers Tell Their Stories. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85782-630-2.

Cahill, Tim (1986). Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-05115-6. OCLC 12421532.

Foreman, Laura; The editors of Time-Life Books (1992). Serial Killers: True Crime (Hardcover ed.). Time-Life Books. ISBN 978-0-7835-0001-0.

Kozenczak, Joseph R.; Henrikson, Karen (November 3, 2003). The Chicago Killer: The Hunt for Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy. Philadelphia: Xlibris. ISBN 1-4010-9532-1. OCLC 54782106.

Linedecker, Clifford L. (1980). The Man Who Killed Boys: A True Story of Mass Murder in a Chicago Suburb (First ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-51157-4. OCLC 5564916.

Linedecker, Clifford L. (1986). The Man Who Killed Boys: A True Story of Mass Murder in a Chicago Suburb (Paperback ed.). St. Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-95228-7.

Moss, Jason; Kottler, Jeffrey, Ph.D (1999). The Last Victim: A True-Life Journey into the Mind of the Serial Killer. ISBN 0-7535-0398-0.

Peck, Dennis L.; Dolch, Norman Allan (2001). "Behavior Beyond the Boundaries". Extraordinary Behavior: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Social Problems. Greenwood. ISBN 0-275-97057-4. OCLC 43694355.

Ressler, Robert; Schactman, Tom (1992). Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Hunting Serial Killers for the FBI. New York: St Martin's Press. ISBN 0-312-95044-6. OCLC 27658115.

Sullivan, Terry; Maiken, Peter T. (2000). Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders (Paperback ed.). Pinnacle. ISBN 0-7860-1422-9. OCLC 156783287.

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John Wayne Gacy - Wikipedia