John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and rapist who assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Gacy buried 26 of his victims in the crawlspace of his home, buried three others elsewhere on his property, and discarded the remains of his last four known victims in a nearby river. He was convicted of 33 murders and sentenced to death for 12 of these killings in March 1980. He was executed in May 1994. Gacy later became known as the "Killer Clown" due to his charitable services at fundraising events, parades and children's parties where he would dress as "Pogo the Clown", a character he devised himself. Contents 1 Early life 2 Move to Iowa, first offenses and imprisonment 3 Parole 4 Businessman and community volunteer 5 Murders 6 Investigation 7 Arrest and confession 8 Trial 9 Death row and execution 10 Artist 11 Victims 11.1 Identified victims (age in! parentheses) 11.2 Unidentified victims 12 Media 12.1 Film 12.2 Books 12.3 Television 12.4 Music 13 References 14 Cited works and further reading 15 External links [edit] Early life John Gacy, pictured around 1950 . John Wayne Gacy was born in Chicago, Illinois, the only son and the second of three children born to John Stanley Gacy (June 20, 1900 – December 25, 1969), a machinist and World War I veteran, and Marion Elaine (née Robinson; May 4, 1908 – December 14, 1989), who worked as a homemaker.[1][2][3] Gacy was of Polish and Danish heritage (his paternal grandparents had been born in Poland).[4][1] As a child, he was both overweight and nonathletic. He was close to his two sisters and mother (who affectionately called him "Johnny"),[5] but had a difficult relationship with his father, an alcoholic who was physically abusive toward his wife and children[6], often beating them with a leather belt.[7] Throughout his childhood and adolescence, Gac! y tried to make his father proud of him, but seldom received h! is appro val; the elder Gacy regularly belittled him, often calling him a "sissy",[5][8] "stupid" and a "Mama's boy".[7] At the age of nine, Gacy was molested by a family friend.[7] When he was 11, he was struck on the forehead by a swing. The resulting head trauma formed a blood clot in his brain that went unnoticed until he was 16, when he began to suffer blackouts. His father suspected the episodes were an effort to gain sympathy and accused his son of faking.[9] Gacy was prescribed medication to dissolve the clot.[10][11] Gacy attended four different high schools but dropped out of every one, never actually graduating. At the age of 20, following an argument with his father, Gacy left home and moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he worked in a mortuary for three months before returning to Chicago.[12] Without returning to high school, Gacy enrolled in and eventually graduated from Northwestern Business College.[13][14] He obtained a management-trainee position with the Nunn-Bush Sh! oe Company shortly after graduation. In 1964, Gacy was transferred to Springfield, Illinois to work as a salesman.[12] There he met co-worker Marlynn Myers, and they married in September 1964. After completing his apprenticeship, Gacy was promoted to manager of his department. He became active in local Springfield organizations, joining the Jaycees and rising to vice-president of the Springfield chapter by 1965.[15] [edit] Move to Iowa, first offenses and imprisonment Following a lucrative offer from Gacy's father-in-law to appoint him manager of three KFC restaurants,[16] Gacy and his wife moved from Illinois and settled in Waterloo, Iowa. Gacy and his wife had two children; a son named Michael, born in March 1967, followed by a daughter, named Christine, in October 1968. Shortly after his arrival in the city, Gacy had his first known homosexual experience: a colleague of the Waterloo Jaycees — which Gacy had joined upon his arrival in the city — performed oral sex on ! him while he was drunk.[17] Gacy was an enthusiastic worker fo! r the Wa terloo Jaycees, becoming a tireless worker on several fund-raising projects. In 1967, he was named "outstanding vice-president" of the Waterloo Jaycees.[18] These achievements even earned approval from his father, who mentioned his previous criticism of his son during a 1967 visit to Waterloo and concluded the conversation with his son with the words: "Son, I was wrong about you."[19] "The most striking aspect of the test results is the patient's total denial of responsibility for everything that has happened to him. He can produce an 'alibi' for everything. He presents himself as a victim of circumstances and blames other people who are out to get him [...] the patient attempts to assure a sympathetic response by depicting himself as being at the mercy of a hostile environment." Section of report detailing Gacy's 1968 psychiatric evaluation.[20] However, there was a seamier side of Jaycee life in Waterloo: one that involved wife swapping,[17] prostitution, pornography and d! rugs. Gacy was deeply involved in many of these activities, and regularly cheated on his wife.[21] In late 1967, Gacy began to molest teenage male employees of the restaurants he managed.[22] Gacy opened a "club" in his basement, where he allowed employees to drink alcohol before he made sexual advances toward them.[22] One youth was encouraged to sleep with Gacy's wife, then blackmailed into performing oral sex upon Gacy.[22] Several teenagers were conned into believing Gacy was commissioned into carrying out homosexual experiments in the interests of "scientific research", for which the youths were paid up to $50.[23] Gacy's double life in Waterloo came to a sudden halt in March 1968 when two local boys, aged 15 and 16, accused him of sexually assaulting them.[24] Gacy professed his innocence, but in August of that year he hired another Waterloo youth to physically assault one of his accusers in an effort to discourage the boy from testifying against him. The youth was ca! ught and confessed, and Gacy was arrested.[25] On September 3,! Gacy wa s ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation at the Psychiatric Hospital of the State University of Iowa.[20] Two doctors examined Gacy over a period of 17 days and concluded he was an antisocial personality, unlikely to benefit from medical treatment and whose behavior pattern was likely to bring him into repeated conflict with society.[26] The doctors also concluded he was mentally competent to stand trial. John Gacy's mug shot, taken in December 1968. On December 3, 1968,[27] Gacy was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to 10 years at Anamosa State Penitentiary, located in Jones County, Iowa.[27][28] The day Gacy was sentenced, his wife petitioned for divorce[29] and requested possession of the couples' home, property and subsequent alimony payments.[30] The Court ruled in her favor and the divorce was final in September 1969. Gacy never saw his first wife or children again.[31] In prison, Gacy rose to the position of head cook and was a model prisoner:[32] joining an all-! inmate Jaycee chapter in which he actively supervised several projects to improve conditions for inmates at the prison[33] and even managed to secure an increase in the inmates' daily pay in the prison mess hall. He also oversaw the installation of a miniature golf course in the prison's recreation yard.[34] In June 1969, Gacy first applied to the State of Iowa Board of Parole for early release, which was initially denied. In preparation for a second scheduled parole hearing in May 1970, Gacy completed 16 high school courses, for which he obtained his diploma in November 1969.[35] Gacy's father died from cirrhosis of the liver on Christmas Day 1969.[35] Gacy was not told his father had passed away until two days after his death. When he heard the news, he broke down in tears and had to be supported by prison staff.[35] Gacy requested compassionate leave from prison to attend his father's funeral, but his request was denied.[36] [edit] Parole Gacy was granted parole with 12 ! months' probation[37] on June 18, 1970 after serving 18 months! [38] of his 10-year sentence.[39][40] Upon his release, Gacy announced to a friend who collected him from prison that he intended to re-establish himself in Waterloo. However, within 24 hours of his release, Gacy opted to relocate to Chicago to live with his mother.[38] He arrived in Chicago on June 19 and obtained a job as a short-order cook in a restaurant.[41] On February 12, 1971, Gacy was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy.[42] The youth claimed that Gacy had lured him into his car at Chicago's Greyhound bus terminal and had attempted to force him into sex. The complaint was subsequently dismissed when the youth failed to appear in court. The Iowa Board of Parole did not learn of this incident (which violated the conditions of his parole) and the records of Gacy's previous convictions were subsequently sealed: he was restored to full citizenship in October 1971.[43] Gacy hid his criminal record until police began investigating him for his later murders.[44] Gacy and! Carole Hoff on their wedding day in 1972. With financial assistance from his mother, Gacy bought a house at 8213 West Summerdale in an unincorporated area of Norwood Park in August 1971. Shortly after Gacy and his mother moved into the house, he became engaged to a woman named Carole Hoff, a divorcee whom he had briefly dated in high school, who had two young daughters. His fiancee moved into his home soon after the couple announced their engagement and Gacy's mother moved out of the house shortly before his wedding, which was held on July 1, 1972.[45] On June 22, 1972, Gacy was again arrested and charged with battery after another young man complained to police that Gacy, impersonating a police officer, had flashed a sheriff's badge, lured him into his car, and forced him to perform oral sex upon him. These charges w
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John Wayne Gacy Jr. was a successful Chicago area businessman who hired young men and then raped, murdered and buried them under his house. He was executed for his Read the rest
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John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and rapist who assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men Read the rest
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