The story of John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy is a name that truly sends shivers down your spine; Gacy was one of the most prolific serial killers in US history, taking the lives of 33 victims.

Let’s open the door on the killer clown.

Early Life 

John Wayne Gacy Jr was born March 17th, 1942 in Chicago Illinois to his Father (John Stanley Gacy) and Mother (Marion Elaine Robinson).

From a small age, it was noticed Gacy was born with a heart defect which made it impossible for him to do active sports at school, making him overweight for a child of his age.

His father often beat him as a small child and gave him extreme amounts of verbal abuse, making John feel like he was never good enough for himself or his family.

His Mother did try to protect young John from his father, although this only fuelled the fire.

Gacy used to take a lot of abuse, but when accused of molesting a young girl at the age of 7, his father beat him with a razor strop; shortly after this incident, Gacy was himself molested by a friend of the family, leading John to suffer in silence out of fear of beatings from his Father.

John’s illness became even more apparent when he started to have extreme seizures from the ages of 14 to 18, meaning he spent a lot of his teens in and out of hospitals.

As Gacy grew older, he left his abusive home in search of a better life and moved to Las Vegas where he became a mortuary assistant; Gacy admitted later in an interview that while working there he climbed inside the coffin of a deceased teenage boy and cuddled up to the lifeless body before removing himself through disgust.

Later Life

Gacy’s later life was actually rather normal.

John became an assistant precinct captain for the local democratic party until returning back to Illinois in 1963 where he met his first wife, Maryann Myers, they moved to Waterloo, Iowa shortly after.

Her father purchased several KFC restaurants in the area where John had the opportunity to become a manager.

Alongside this, Gacy joined an organisation known as the Jaycees.

This group was one that was meant to teach leadership and offer civic opportunities for the vulnerable, however it was rife in prostitution and drug use; Gacy used to take advantage of the open basement policy where young boys would frequent whilst being under the influence of drugs and drink.

This dark step into Gacy’s future became one to remember.

The Start of the End…

In 67’, Gacy’s life is still relatively normal.

He’s a successful KFC manager, has two kids and is the vice president of the Jaycees, however, Gacy’s urges crept in.

John Wayne Gacy’s first victim was a 15 year old son of fellow Jaycee’s member Daniel Voorhees.

Gacy overloaded the boy on alcohol and made him perform oral sex on himself, telling the boys that this was a science experiment and paying them petty cash to keep them quiet.

Daniel did eventually notify his father of what happened, and Gacy was arrested, however, he denied any wrong doing and even asked to take a polygraph test.

John showed his dark side and even came up with an idea to tell the police that these claims were made for political benefits via other members of his group…

After paying an employee of Gacy’s to attack Daniel and make him retract his case, this failed and Gacy was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to 10 years behind bars - during this time, his wife divorced him and he never saw her or his children again.

After serving 18 months of his 10 year sentence, John was a free man.

After prison, Gacy relocated to Iowa (8213 West Summerdale Av) and married Carole Hoff, a previous girlfriend of his, they settled down and her two children moved in with John.

Gacy then started a construction company known as PDM, and in 1973 a business trip led gacy down a dark path when he attacked a hotel employee, raping him.

The next day, the boy attacked Gacy, he he spun a web of lies saying that the boy was sad he never got paid for poor labour, covering his tracks in front of everybody.

Gacy then had a few roles in the local Democratic party where he was elected the director of the Polish Constitution Day Parade; he served in this office for three years and even had his photo taken with First Lady Rosalyn Carter.

Afterward, he joined the Jolly Joker Clown Club and came up with the characters of Pogo and Patches…

Gacy’s clown look went against traditional clown tradition, and he made his smile pointed and sharp, adding a strange, imitating vibe to his persona.

The Killings.

Gacy’s killings began in 1972, where he picked up his first victim, 16 year old boy Timothy Jack McCoy from the Greyhound Terminal. After taking him round the city sightseeing, he let the boy stay with him overnight.

When Gacy awoke, the boy stood above him, holding a knife to his head.

Gacy responded by tackling and killing the boy, burying his body in the small crawlspace which lurked under his property, afterwards, Gacy continued his day as usual.

John said later in an interview that when he killed the boy, he felt a ‘mind-numbing orgasm’.

Over the next few years, Gacy had a taste for murder and was using his construction company as a valid way of getting around places, picking up boys as and when he could.

Gacy developed a technique where the victims would willingly handcuff themselves, making it extremely easy for him to make his next moves without resistance.

Gacy would then use his ‘rope trick’ to make a tourniquet to strange his victims.

While away at work (16 hours a day), Gacy’s wife Carole became sick of not seeing her husband and filed for a divorce which was agreed in 1976.

The Aftermath

While a now single man, Gacy’s killing spree went rogue as he was left on his own.

Neighbours were aware that he’d started acting strangely and was active at ungodly hours of the night - others said they heard screaming coming from his house.

In the time between 1976 and 1978, Gacy admitted to killing at least 23 young boys and laying their bodies in his crawlspace, some reporting he’d been spreading Lime which helps with decomposing the bodies.

In 1978, his crawlspace was full of flesh and bone, and he needed more room for victims.

He began just dumbing them along the Des Plains River.

The Arrest.

Gacy’s arrest came from him offering 15 year old boy Robert Priest a job, and when he didn’t return home, she tipped the police off with a missing persons report that could link Gacy to the crime.

Although many people had seen Gacy at the boys old job (a local pharmacy), he’d lied and said he’d never met the boy.

Gacy was then placed under surveillance, which turned into a game for him as he teased the police and even offered to make them breakfast.

One cop recalls Gacy saying “You know, clowns can get away with murder”…

The police got a search warrant for Gacy’s house, and the first initial sweeps didn’t find anything, however on the second search, one detective smelt an odd, decomposing smell coming from Gacy’s ventilation system.

On December 22nd, 1978, Gacy had had enough of dodging the police and handed himself in, telling them all about how he killed his victims after picking them up.

Gacy provided a very detailed hand-drawn sketch of the crawlspace, pointing out exact locations of the bodies which were lying in waiting there.

The trial against John Wayne Gacy commenced on February 6, 1980, where he faced charges for the murder of 33 young men. As anticipated, Gacy's defence entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. In the course of the trial, Gacy underwent extensive interviews and evaluations by psychiatrists.

The defence psychiatrists diagnosed Gacy with paranoid schizophrenia, contending that his mental state at the time of the crimes rendered him not criminally responsible. Conversely, the prosecution argued that the premeditated nature of Gacy's crimes indicated his lucidity during the commission of the heinous acts.

Throughout the trial, both the defence and prosecution presented compelling evidence in support of their respective cases concerning Gacy's mental state. On March 12, 1980, after less than two hours of deliberation, the jury delivered a verdict of guilty on all counts, including 33 counts of murder, sexual assault, and indecent liberties with a child.

Subsequently, the jury devoted slightly more than two hours to determine Gacy's fate. Ultimately, they returned with a staggering decision of twelve death sentences to be executed on June 2, 1980.

In the end, the trial's swift and decisive outcome marked the final chapter in the saga of John Wayne Gacy, solidifying his place in history as one of America's most infamous serial killers.

Do you believe that Gacy was broken by his abuse, or just a satanic, twisted killer?