John Wayne Gacy

Childhood

Summary

Rocky Adolescnce

• Abusive, alcoholic father

• Born to John Wayne Gacy Sr. and Elaine Robinson Gacy in 1942 in Chicago.
• Middle child
• Middle class family
• Raised Catholic
• Father was abusive alcoholic who would beat Gacy Jr
• Molested at the age of 9 by a family friend.
• Suffered from a heart ailment that caused him to be hospitalized multiple times.

JOHN WAYNE GACY

• Gacy desperately wanted love and attention from his father

• John Wayne Gacy, Jr., also known as the Killer Clown, was an American serial killer and rapist who was convicted of the sexual assault and murder of a minimum of 33 teenage boys and young men in a series of killings committed between 1972 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.
• Convicted of 33 murders, Gacy was sentenced to death for 12 of these killings on March 13, 1980. He spent 14 years on death row before he was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center on May 10, 1994.

(1942-1994)

• Attended 4 high schools his senior year

• Father passed away

• High school drop out

A.K.A: Pogo the Killer Clown

The Beginning..

• After he dropped out, he moved to Vegas

• He worked as a janitor at a funeral home

• Depressed, moved back to Chicago

• Enrolled in business college and graduated

• He was a born salesman

• Worked for Nunn-Bush Shoe Company

Crimnal Law Case Project

By: Maryam Nissan

Early Adult Life

Family

• Moved up quickly in management

• Transferred to Springfield

• Very involved and held leadership positions in most clubs

• Insomniac

• Hospitalized for nervous exhaustion

• Married Marlynn Meyers in 1964
• Moved to Iowa
• Had two children
• Nice house in suburbs
• Gacy started working for his father in law managing his KFC restaurants
• Worked 12-14 hours a day

• Suffered heart, weight, and back problems

Early Conviction

New Start

• In 1968, was charged with sodomy with teenage boy Mark Miller

VICTIMS

CONVICTION

• 20 of 33 victims

• Gets involved with community
• Head of neighborhood street lighting commission
• "Pogo the Clown"
• Advancing in world of politics

Caught Up

Mark:

Gacy:

Method of Killing

The Search

• Told conflicting story
• Said it was consensual for extra money
• Insisted Jaycee members falsely accused him

• Accused Gacy of tricking him inside, tying him up, and violently raping him

• Defense tried to use an insanity plea
• Psychiatrists diagnosed him with borderline schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, and antisocial disorder
• Sentenced to be executed on May 10, 1994

Until..

• Lure his victims into his house
• Handcuffed them
• Stuffed socks and undwear into their mouths
• Brutally raped, tortured, and drugged his victims
• Death by strangulation

• Did not find anything at first
• Interrogated friends and family
• Placed Gacy on 24 hour watch
• Linked the evidence with missing employees
• Gacy admitted to killing one man in self defense

• Multiple employees went missing..

• 15 year old Robert Piest went missing
• Gacy went in for questioning, released
• Police performed background check
• Obtained search warrant
• Found evidence
• Confiscated cars
• Found DNA matching Piest in trunk

• Four months later, Gacy hired Dwight Andersson to beat Miller up
• Andersson got caught and outed Gacy

Illinois/Del Plaines River

Gacy's home

Trial

• Found mentally competent
• Considered to have an antisocial personality
• After evaluation, Gacy pleaded guilty
• Recieved 10 years at Iowa State Reformatory
• Wife divorced him
• Released early due to good behavior

BODIES FOUND

Evidence Found

New Beginning

EXECUTION

• Gacy led police to body
• Police searched the rest of the house
• Found 27 bodies in the crawl space
• One under garage
• Three in Des Plaines/Illinois River

Old Urges Return

• Two drivers licenses
• College ring with engraved initials J.A.S
• Photographs of pharmacies and drug stores
• Pair of handcuffs
• Wooden plank
• Police badges
• Clothing that didn't fit Gacy

• Hires young men to "keep cost down"
• Gacy is rarely home
• Marriage falling apart
• Carol found gay porn in room
• Gacy admitted he preferred boys to women
• Divorced in 1976

• Moved back to Chicago
• Started a new life
• When parole ended, he was charged but charges were dropped
• Remarried Carole Hoff
• Had huge social life
• PDM Contractors

May 9, 1994