The Killer Clown
John Wayne Gacy is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history
John Wayne Gacy is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. His victims were young, making his crimes extra chilling. The history behind how he was able to kill so many young boys is something that scares many people, proving how you shouldn’t trust unfamiliar strangers.
John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago. He and his siblings grew up with an alcoholic father who would often beat his children, and he did this so much that they learned to not cry when it was happening. Gacy was alienated at school, and unable to play with others due to his heart condition that his father shamed him for. He later realized that he was gay, which caused him further personal trouble. During the 1960s, he worked as a fast-food chain manager and also became a self-made building contractor. As an adult, he was very liked in his community, and he was active in political and social gatherings. He married and divorced twice, and he had two biological daughters along with two step-daughters. He was also a member of the Chicago “Jolly Joker” clown club, often going to children’s parties dressed up as a clown. He attended charity fundraisers as his alter ego “Pogo the Clown”. He eventually used his alter ego to murder children, which makes it especially chilling how he would dress up as him to go to fundraisers and parties.
The Clown’s Victims
In 1968, Gacy was convicted of sexually assaulting two teenage boys and was given a 10-year prison sentence. He was released on parole during the summer of 1970, but he was arrested again the following year after another teen accused him of sexual assault. Those charges ended up being dropped after the teen didn’t appear for the trial. By the middle of the 1970s, two more young boys had accused Gacy of sexual assault, and he was questioned by police about the disappearance of others. Gacy had called this time his “cruising years” when he carried out most of his murders. On December 11, 1978, 15-year-old Robert Piest went missing. His mother told police that she had last seen him at a drugstore where he worked before he left to meet Gacy to discuss a potential construction job. Ten days later, a police search of his house uncovered evidence of his crimes. The police discovered several trenches filled with human remains in the crawl space below his house, and he confessed to killing 30 people.
The known victims of Gacy are as follows: Timothy Jack McCoy, John Butkovich, Francis Wayne Alexander, Darrel Samson, Samuel Stapleton, Randall Reffett, Michael Bonnin, William Carroll, Jimmy Haakenson, Rick Johnston, William George Bundy, Michael Morino, Kenneth Parker, Gregory Godzik, John Szyc, Jon Prestidge, Matthew Bowman, Robert Gilroy, John Mowery, Russell Nelson, Robert Winch, Tommy Boling, David Talsma, William Kindred, Timothy O’Rourke, Frank Landingin, James Mazzara, and Robert Piest. Not all of his victims have been identified. All of his victims were young men, and he buried most of their bodies under his home while dumping some in the Des Plaines River. Police were able to identify most of his victims because they would have some kind of personal belonging in Gacy’s home.
During his murder spree, teens had told police that a man named John cruised the Chicago area in his car picking up young men. Gacy would often lure young men into his car with promises of things like marijuana, and then he would drug them and bring them back to his house. Once home, he would often sexually assault the young men, sometimes dressed up as Pogo the Clown, and then he would bury their remains in his crawlspace or dump them in the river. His story reinforces the idea of how you should never get into a car with a stranger.
His Death
Gacy’s trial began on February 6, 1980. Since he had confessed to his crimes, his trial was more so focused on seeing if he could be declared insane. Gacy had told the police that his murders had been committed by his alternate personality, and mental health professionals testified about his mental state. He was ultimately found guilty of committing 33 murders, and he was sentenced to serve 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences. He was imprisoned at the Menard Correctional Center in Illinois for nearly a decade and a half, and he later on revoked his earlier confession and tried to claim that he was innocent. He died by lethal injection on May 10, 1994, at the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois.
When Gacy confessed his murders to the police, he would speak in rambling sentences, often referring to himself in the third person. He told them that he buried 27 bodies under his home (more were discovered) and he said that he had killed 32 men after doing sexual acts on them. Once police began finding bodies in the river, he told them that he began dumping bodies there because his crawl space became too crowded. Gacy’s case led Chicago police to create a computerized program to help investigate cases of those who had been kidnapped or killed. He didn’t show remorse for what he had done to his victims, talking about how “clowns can commit murder” and other odd quotes about himself.
Gacy’s case shows the dangers of getting too close to a stranger. Never get in the car with somebody you don’t know, including hitchhiking. Don’t meet up with unfamiliar people alone, and always tell others your plans to meet somebody. Nowadays with things like Uber, take a picture of the car's license plate before you get in and send it to one of your friends. This ensures that they have some kind of evidence if you go missing. Always teach your children the importance of stranger danger, and try not to give them clothing or bags with their names on them, as they may be more trusting of someone who knows their name. If you’re in a store or area where you think someone is following you, get an employee or contact the police. People are capable of many horrible things, so you can never be too safe. John Wayne Gacy is going to continue to be known as one of the most horrible serial killers in American history.