The story of John Wayne Gacy has been reintroduced to pop culture following Netflix’s trailer release of ‘Conversations With a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes.’ This Netflix documentary about the notorious killer and his crimes is set to release on April 20. With the increased popularity in Gacy’s case, I thought it would be the perfect topic for this week’s blog–let’s get started.
John Wayne Gacy
Childhood and Friendly Perceptions
Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. His childhood was reported as seemingly normal with the exception of his turbulent relationship with his father who was an alcoholic and would frequently abuse his children, both physically and verbally. Gacy had a deep love for his father and always wanted to get his approval, but he was never successful.
Eventually after attending a business school and being successful in many careers, Gacy ended up in Waterloo, Iowa with his wife. He took over her family’s chicken restaurant (at the request of his father-in-law) and became a well-known and liked member of the community. Little did they know, he would become a notorious serial killer.
Gacy’s First Arrest
Gacy was arrested in 1968 after attempting to coerce a male employee into performing sexual acts. His arrest was a huge surprise to his community, especially his wife whom he had two kids with. Gacy pled guilty to sodomy and was sentenced to 10 years in a men’s reformatory. His wife filed for divorce to which Gacy stated he did not want to see his children again and would consider her and the two kids dead.
After serving 18 months, Gacy was paroled in 1971. He returned to Chicago and remarried to a recently divorced woman that he met through a mutual friend. Gacy ran into trouble with the law again in February 1971 when he was charged with the attempted rape of a young man. The charges were dropped because the victim failed to appear in court for the hearing.
Confessions of Pogo the Clown
Gacy spent his leisure time hosting elaborate street parties for friends and neighbors, dressing a clown named Pogo the Clown, and entertaining children at local hospitals. Gacy remained out of legal trouble for several years until December 12, 1978. Robert Priest, a teenage stocker at the local pharmacy, had come up missing. Since Gacy was the last person seen with Priest and had a history of sodomy, investigators obtained a warrant to search Gacy’s house.
Gacy as Pogo the Clown
While executing the search warrant, investigators entered a crawl space under Gacy’s house and immediately noticed a foul smell, but assumed it was a faulty pipeline and left with the evidence gathered. While sifting through the evidence, they found a ring that belonged to another boy who went missing a year prior. Investigators then began to obtain a second search warrant.
Gacy knew his crimes would be discovered, so he confessed to the police on December 22, 1978. He claimed that he had murdered 33 young men and drew a detailed map to the locations of their graves that were located under his house and garage. He also admitted to dumping 5 bodies into a river.
Trial and Sentencing
Gacy’s trial began on February 6, 1980 in Chiaco. More than 100 witnesses were called to testify. The major claim during the trial was that Gacy was insane and out of control at the time of the killing. His defense brought in psychiatrists who had interviewed Gacy prior to the trial. After the trial, the jury concluded that Gacy was guilty of all 33 murders.
On March 13, 1980, Gacy was given the death sentence, but it took multiple years to actually prosecute him. On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection after his last words:
Kiss my ass.
Sources
https://murderpedia.org/male.G/g1/gacy-john-wayne.htm
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