You don’t just become one of the most famous serial killers in American history for something small. John Wayne Gacy took the iconic phrase “Go big or go home,” to a disturbing level in a reign of terror that lasted nearly 6 years. So what turned this man into a monster? Did the way he was raised mold the way he sees the world? Or is there a deeper set problem in the recesses of his brain?
Some Background
Born on March 17, 1942, Gacy lived surrounded by abuse from the early days of his life. His father made life at home a living hell—beating him when he misbehaved or failed at a task (he even considered Gacy’s heart condition a failure). He also watched the same happen to his mother and sister. When he was molested by a family friend, he refused to tell anyone, worried that his father would place the blame on him. School life was no easier—his heart condition kept him from playing with other children, secluding him from social growth. At a young age, he realized he was gay, sending him into more of a downward spiral when he couldn’t accept the person he was. However, he pushed past this realization and eventually married twice and had children; Gacy was looked upon favorably in his community due to his political campaigning and performances as “Pogo the Clown” at local kids’ parties.
Criminal Minds
In August of 1967, Gacy began sexually assaulting young men, luring them to his house under false pretenses such as watching porn or doing scientific research on homosexuality. Many of his victims were blackmailed into keeping quiet about what he did to them. In March of the following year, Gacy’s first victim, Donald Voorhees, told his father about the assault; the police were contacted and Gacy was arrested under charges or sodomy. While in jail awaiting trial, he convinced a young man from his previous workplace to attack and assault Donald Voorhees to dissuade him from testifying against him. However, the young man was able to identify his attacker, and assault charges were added to the original charges.
On January 2, 1972, Gacy picked up Timothy McCoy, 16, from a Greyhound bus station and took him on a tour of Chicago before bringing him back to his house to stay the night. In the morning, McCoy was making breakfast and went into Gacy’s room to wake him, absentmindedly carrying a kitchen knife with him. Misinterpreted as a threat, Gacy attacked the boy and stabbed him to death– when he learned McCoy’s true intentions, he buried the boy’s body in his crawlspace (later covering the burial spot in concrete), and soon after realized that while killing the boy he had sexually climaxed. This was the moment, Gacy stated, when he realized that “death was the ultimate thrill.”
His second victim was never identified, but he was strangled to death and buried in Gacy’s backyard. His third victim was one of Gacy’s employees, John Butkovich, who he had lured to his home under the pretense of settling controversy over overdue pay dates. While there, Gacy handcuffed the young man and strangled him before burying him under the concrete floor in his garage. Soon after this murder, Carole Gacy, his wife, asked for a divorce from John who complied.
Many victims followed Butkovich between the years of 1976 and 1978, all of which were strangled or asphyxiated. They are as follows:
- Darrell Sampson, 18
- Randall Reffett, 15
- Samuel Stapleton, 14
- Michael Bonnin, 17
- William Carroll, 16
- Rick Johnston, 17/18
- Gregory Godzick, 17
- John Szyc, 19
- John Prestige, 20
- Matthew Bowman, 19
- Robert Gilroy, 18/21
- John Mowery, 19
- Russell Nelson, 20/21
- Robert Winch, 16
- Tommy Baling, 20
- David Talsma, 19
- William Kindred, ??
- Tim O’Rourke, ??*
- Frank Landingin, 19*
- James Mazzara, 20/21*
- Robert Piest, 15*
- 8 unidentified vitims
All victims not marked with an * were buried in the crawlspace of Gacy’s home, while those with an * were dumped in the Des Plaines River. There were also two men, Jeff Rignall and Robert Donnelly, who escaped from captivity and reported their attack; however, Gacy was able to avoid trouble from the police.
10 of Gacy’s 30+ victims
An Investigation, An Arrest, and A Trial
When a pharmacy owner mentioned Gacy speaking to Robert Piest, a 15-year-old boy who had recently disappeared, an investigation into Gacy finally began. A warrant to search his house turned up a lot of strange belongings including a 1975 high school class ring engraved with the initials J.A.S., various dirver’s licenses, handcuffs, a 2×4 with holes drilled in the ends, books on homosexuality, a syringe, clothing too small for Gacy, a pistol, and a photo receipt from the pharmacy where Robert Piest worked. Surveillance detectives were set on Gac’y trail, following and observing him. A search of his cars with a german shepherd indicated that Robert Piest’s body had been in the Oldsmobile. While the police waited for a search warrant to check the house again, the private investigators used their access to Gacy’s home to attempt to write down the serial number of the TV they believed was Szyc’s– while using the bathroom, one of them noticed a smell like rotting corpses coming from a heating duct.
Driven to madness by constant surveillance, he finally scheduled an appointment with his lawyers, telling them Robert Piest was dead and in a river. He also stated that he had acted as “the judge … jury and executioner of many, many people.” Knowing the end of his freedom was near, he drove to the homes of friends and family saying goodbyes and confessing his crimes; afraid Gacy was going to commit suicide, police arrested him on charges of possession until the warrant to search his home could be filed. On December 21, 1978, John Wayne Gacy was charged with murder, and his reign of terror finally came to an end.
Over the course of the next day, he confessed to murdering 25-30 young men whom he had abducted or lured to his home, sexually assaulted, and strangled to death using the “rope trick” (a tourniquet). On February 6, 1980, Gacy was sent to trial in Cook County, Illinois for the murders of 33 men; he tried to plead not guilty by reason of insanity, and had 3 psychiatric experts diagnose him as paranoid schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder. The prosecution stated that Gacy was sane and in control of his actions. On March 12, he was found guilty of 33 counts of homicide and sentenced to be executed on June 2, 1980.
There were several appeal pleas made that ended up delaying his execution until May 9, 1994. Before his lethal injection, John Wayne Gacy spoke his last words:
“Kiss my ass.”
Excavating the crawlspace where 26 victims were found
An article published during the trial
The Diagnosis
John Wayne Gacy was a proven psychopath who felt no remorse over the murder over his victims. I believe he had a psychological complex that lead him to feel powerful when he killed his victims. I also believe that he had a deeply-set self hatred for his homosexuality, punishing his partners for the way he felt after satisfying himself. Instead of punishing himself, he punished those that did what he wanted. John Wayne Gacy lived a terrifying and twisted existence, and the world is much better off now that he’s no longer able to terrorize it. Also…
Never trust a clown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy
Brandon Corey Sullivan says
Sierra,
Once again, a serial killer has a disturbing childhood that almost makes me feel bad for the dude. No one should have to suffer through such terrible things as a child, yet his actions take all pity and sympathy away. It’s so strange this man felt his sexual climax during the killing of another human… That just blows my mind. It does explain why he killed, though, as killing gave this man a sensation he could not get otherwise. It’s insane that this man got away with over 30 murders by strangling/asphyxiation, too. That’s so many people killed in the same way. Regardless, I love how his last words were “kiss my ass.” Even upon his death the man had no remorse. On top of being a psychopath, I definitely feel like this man suffered from antisocial personality disorder. People with that disorder generally lie, show no remorse or guilt when hurting others, and behave impulsively and violently. All of these definitely fit his bill. Thanks for a wonderful ten weeks! It was definitely an experience reading these, haha.
Kathryn Lynn Mayberry says
Sierra,
Oh wow, okay that was creepy. Like extremely so. I’ll be honest, I’ve heard the name Gacy before but I never knew what the association was and part of me wishes it had stayed that way. Regardless, it’s so sickening that Gacy was able to continue his crimes for six years before police caught on and the fact that there were 30+ victims is even more unsettling. Overall your post was fantastically organized and compelling in a way that made me want to look away and keep reading at the same time. I agree with your diagnosis yet again and I’m glad that the court was able to charge Gacy with the murders despite the plea of insanity. It would have been horrible if his sentence was lessened as a result of that. I’ve really enjoyed your posts even if some of them have been incredibly creepy and I’ve like reading your diagnosis each week as well because knowing why someone would commit such heinous acts is always interesting to me. Your passion blog has been a fantastic read for the past 10 weeks and I’ve enjoyed every sickening bit of the cases you’ve written about. A friend of mine is obsessed with serial killer documentaries and now I feel like I can sit down and have a discussion with her thanks to you posts. Good job!
Robert Al-Moustafa says
Sierra,
Your introduction to John Wayne Gacy’s heinous crimes against humanity was fantastic on all levels. It’s one of those intros that would be perfect for TRU TV’s Forensic Files or something like that. I especially loved when you said Gacy took the phrase “Go big or ho home” to a disturbing level in a reign of terror that lasted nearly 6 years. It was only fitting for a man like him.
It’s sad hearing about Gacy’s childhood. Every one of these serial killers had their roots imbedded through their poor family and social bonds. His condition left him a ghost amongst the schoolboys and his life at home is inconceivable now a days. I can’t believe his father would beat him up for anything he deemed as a failure – even something out of Gacy’s locus of control like a heart condition. Nobody should be afraid of their parent to the point where you are frightened to tell them that a family friend molested you. I think he couldn’t accept the person he was because he probably saw himself as a failure. I also believe that he masked his true emotions through the paint in his clown outfit, his two marriages, and his children because there isn’t any explanation for the crimes he committed. Marriage and employment are some of the turning points in life. It’s one of the reasons why adults tend to commit less deviant acts; you have so much more to lose. That is why it doesn’t make sense as to why he would throw all of this away to engage in crime.
6 years and over 30 victims. It’s tough to wrap my head around all of this; it’s just sick. He may have been molested as a kid, but that does not justify sexually assaulting and murdering thirty innocent men. He was clearly out of his mind and intended on hurting all of his victims through systematic means. Also, when your last words are “kiss my ass,” then you know you’re pretty twisted in the head.
I think this was a great way to cap off such an interesting series. Thank you for keeping me enticed throughout these past 10 weeks!