JOHN WAYNE GACY

John Wayne Gacy: Serial Kiinng and legal Issues

John Wayne Gacy: Serial Killing Legal Issues

Introduction

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 33 boys and men, 27 of whom he buried in a crawl space under the floor of his house, while others were found in nearby rivers, 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, under the name of "Pogo the Clown."

The wide publicity of Gacy's crimes is often presumed to have a strong influence on the idea of an evil clown.

Early life

Gacy had a very distant relationship with his stern, alcoholic father who described Gacy as a "sissy" and who physically abused Gacy's mother.

He worked briefly in Las Vegas before returning to Illinois. Gacy attended a business college and started a moderately successful career as a shoe salesman in Springfield, Illinois, where he became a prominent member of the Jaycees. In his study, Extraordinary Behavior: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Social Problems (2000), Dennis L. Peck, Professor of Sociology at the University of Alabama, writes: "John Wayne married in 1964. This also was the year a homosexual encounter was experienced for the first time." He moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he managed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant belonging to his wife's family.

However, Gacy's first marriage fell apart after he was convicted of child molestation in 1968. He was sent to prison for this crime, but he was a model prisoner and was paroled in 1970 after serving 18 months. After he was released, he moved back to Illinois. He successfully hid this criminal record until police began investigating him for his later murders.

In 1971 he bought a house in an unincorporated area of Norwood Park Township, which is surrounded by the northwest side Chicago neighborhood of Norwood Park, and established his own construction business, PDM Contracting. Gacy married a woman he had known since high school, she and her two daughters moved in with him. He became a prominent and respected member of the community. In addition to his clown act, he became active in the local Democratic Party, first volunteering to clean the party offices, eventually becoming a precinct captain. In this capacity, he was even able to meet and be photographed with future-First Lady Rosalynn Carter. Mrs. Carter even signed the photo: To John Gacy. Best Wishes. Rosalynn Carter. During the search of Gacy's house after Gacy's arrest, this photo caused a major embarrassment to the U.S. Secret Service, as the photo depicted Gacy wearing an "S" lapel pin, which meant the Secret Service had given him a high-level security clearance (Sullivan and Maiken, 1983).

Begins murdering

It was also during this time that Gacy claimed his first known victim, a teenage boy he picked up at a bus ...