John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer. He was convicted and later executed for the rape and murder of thirty-three men between 1972 and his arrest in 1978. He became notorious as the "Killer Clown" because of the many block parties he attended, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup.

Life

Gacy was born and raised a Catholic in Chicago, Illinois. He had a very troubled and distant relationship with his stern, abusive father. He worked briefly in Las Vegas, Nevada, before returning to Illinois. He attended a business college and began a moderately successful career as a shoe salesman in Springfield, Illinois, where he became a prominent member of the Jaycees. In 1964 he married and moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he managed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant belonging to his wife's family.

Related Topics:
Chicago, Illinois - Las Vegas, Nevada - Springfield, Illinois - Jaycees - 1964 - Waterloo - Iowa - Kentucky Fried Chicken - Restaurant

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However, Gacy's first marriage fell apart after he was convicted of child molestation. He was sent to prison for this crime; after he was released, he moved back to Illinois. He successfully hid this criminal record until police began investigating him for his later murders.

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In 1975, he bought a house in an unincorporated area surrounded by the Chicago neighborhood of Norwood Park, living there with his widowed mother, and established his own business, PDM Contracting. He married a woman he had known since high school, and his and her two daughters moved in with him and his mother moved out. He became a prominent and respected member of the community. In addition to his clown act, he became a committee member for the Democratic Party. In this capacity, he was even able to meet and be photographed with then-First Lady Rosalynn Carter.

Related Topics:
1975 - Norwood Park - Democratic Party - First Lady - Rosalynn Carter

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It was also during this time that he claimed his first known victim, a teenage boy he picked up at a bus depot. His marriage fell apart and his wife divorced him in mid-1976. Gacy began a double life: respected member of the community by day, sexual predator and murderer by night.

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No suspicion fell on him until late 1978, when he was investigated following the disappearance of a teenage boy, Robert Piest, who was last seen with Gacy. A search of his house, by Des Plaines detective Joseph Kozenczak, revealed a number of incriminating items related to other disappearances. In December 1978 Gacy went to the police and confessed. He claimed he had first killed in January 1972. He confessed to 33 murders, indicating where the bodies were in 28 of the cases—buried under his house. The other five he said were thrown into the Des Plaines River. Most of the victims were young male prostitutes. Some victims were also teenage boys whom Gacy had hired through his contracting firm. Bodies were uncovered from December 1978 to April 1979, when the last known victim was found downstream in the Illinois River.

Related Topics:
Des Plaines - Des Plaines River - Prostitute - 1979 - Illinois River

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