John Wayne Gacy JR Biography

John Wayne Gacy Jr.
is a name synonymous with the grisly murder and sexual assault of

at least 33 teenage boys, also granting him the title of the murderous clown due to his alter ego as
Pogo the Clown. Born on March 17 , 1942 in Chicago he had an abusive alcoholic father who
th
regularly beat and berated him and his siblings (Clark Prosecutors). Despite all of this, Gacy
wanted his fathers approval and attention no matter what. Gacy also was not popular at school
due to not being able to play with other kids because of a heart condition (Biography). He ended
up dropping out of high school and moving to Las Vegas. He worked part time as a janitor for
Palm Mortuary but moved back to Chicago within a few months because of a sexual encounter
with a corpse (Clark Prosecutor). Sometime afterwards in 1964 he and his new bride moved to
Iowa and managed three KFCs. This is where he would commit his first sodomy charge, and his
first wife divorced him as well in 1969. She took their kids and never let Gacy see them again.
In Iowa Gacy managed three KFCs owned by his father in law. By night he ran a
hangout area in his basement for the teen workers where he would offer them alcohol and often
coax them into sexual favors (Montaldo). By 1967 he had gotten braver and a teen named
Donald Voorhees reported him for sodomy. Gacy was tried for the sodomy charge of Voorhees in
August of 1967 (Biography). He was convicted of the crime in December of 1968 and sentenced
to serve 10 years at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Before this though, he arranged for the
assault of Voorhees in hopes he wouldnt testify against him during the trial. This failed and
Gacy was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Two doctors examined him over the
course of 17 days and concluded that he had antisocial personality disorder that therapy and
medical treatment wouldnt benefit him. On June 18 , 1970 he was paroled with 12 months of
th
probation after only serving 18 months of his original 10 year sentence. This could have been
due to him completing 16 high school courses for his diploma after his first parole hearing didnt
go successfully, or for all the positive changes he made in the prison. He oversaw the installation
of a miniature golf course, became the head cook within a few months, and increased the Jaycee
chapter from 50 people to 650 in less than 18 months.
After his release from prison and his probation served, he moved to Chicago in 1971. He
purchased a house in Norwood Park Township located in Cook County. This is where all of his
murders from 1972 leading up to his arrest in 1978 were committed. He quickly established a
reputation as a hardworking man once he set up a construction business called PDM
Contractors (Clark Prosecutors). During this period he became a prominent member in a
Democratic political party, dressed up as Pogo the clown to perform at parties, and even meeting
First Lady Rosalynn Reagan.
The first murder he committed was on January 2nd, 1972 (Montaldo). Timothy McCoy
had been picked up by Gacy at a Chicago bus stop and promised to take him back the next
morning as long as he stayed the night with him. Gacy claimed that the youth had walked into
his bedroom absentmindedly carrying a knife and Gacy freaked out. He claimed later that he
realized the 16 year old boy was making breakfast and didnt intend any harm with the knife.
After stabbing McCoy multiple times, he buried him in the crawl space. It was after this murder
Gacy realized he got a sexual release from this, and eventually admitted to being bisexual to his
wife. Despite being bisexual he had severe disdain for homosexuals (Clark Prosecutors). His
second murder was in 1974 and the victim is still unidentified to this day. In 1975 Gacy and his
second wife filed for divorce, and this was finalized in 1976. People often associate this with his
mental breakdown leading to the large string of murders between 1976 and 1978.
Gacy called the two year period of 1976-1978 his cruising years. During this period he
committed the majority of his murders, although the exact number is unknown. This led into
1978, which was Gacys downfall year. One of his victims escaped, and then he abducted Robert
Piest which led to his arrest. Piest was a 15 year old teen looking for work, and Gacy offered him
a contracting job if he agreed to meet at his house. He was abducted and it was obvious that
Gacy had done it. On December 11th, 1978 a search warrant for Gacys home was issued and
nothing was found in terms of bodies. On December 22nd police got a second search warrant and
found four bodies. After this Gacy confessed everything to the police and indicated the locations
of the rest of the bodies (Clark Prosecutors). In total, they found 26 bodies in the crawlspace, 3
others on the property, and 4 were dumped in the Des Plaines River. All but one of his murders
were committed by strangulation by using a tourniquet knot also called the rope trick. After his
confession he was arrested and put on trial on March 13th, 1980 (Clark Prosecutors). He was
sentenced to death for 12 of these killings and an additional 21 consecutive life sentences for the
other murders. Gacy was executed 14 years later on May 9th, 1994 at Statesville Correctional
Center (Montaldo).
Work Cited
Biography.Com Editors. "John Wayne Gacy." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 10
Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
"John Wayne Gacy #237." Http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2016.
Montaldo, Charles . "John Wayne Gacy, The Third Most Prolific Serial Killer in U.S.
History." Crime.About.Com. N.p., 30 Nov. 2015. Web. 16 Dec. 2016.

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