Villains Beginning With 'J'

John Wayne Gacy Jr.
AKA The Killer Clown

(March 17, 1942 - May 10, 1994)

John Wayne Gacy Jr., was an American serial killer who was convicted and later executed for the rape and murder of 33 boys and young 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 Known as the "Killer Clown" because of the many block parties he threw, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup, under the name of "Pogo the Clown."

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. had a very distant relationship with his stern, alcoholic father; Gacy Sr. often physically abused Gacy and his mother.

Gacy was a closeted homosexual, even though he claimed to hate gays; he would later say that he was bisexual.

Gacy worked briefly in Las Vegas, Nevada 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. Gacy married in 1964. The same year, he had his first known homosexual encounter. He moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he managed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant belonging to his wife's family.

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

In 1971 he bought a house at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue, and established his own construction business, PDM Contracting. Gacy married a woman he had known since high school, and she and her two daughters moved in with him. He became a respected member of the community. In addition to his clown act, he became active in the local Democratic Party. He eventually became a precinct captain.

Gacy's wife divorced him in March 1976, now he no longer had to wait until he was alone in the house when his wife was away to abduct a victim, and the following month the killings began in earnest, with Darrell Sampson disappearing on April 6th. In 1977, David Daniel states that Gacy offered him a ride at the bus depot, but Daniel refused. He further states that Gacy was very insistent, asking him seven times, even claiming to have marijuana. Daniel is only one of two reported "survivors".

No suspicion fell on Gacy until December 12, 1978, when he was investigated following the disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest, who was last seen with Gacy. A search of his house, by Des Plaines detective Joseph Kozenczak, revealed a number of incriminating items.

On December 22, 1978 Gacy went to his lawyers confessed to 33 murders and indicated the location of 27 bodies to police - they were buried under his house and on his property. Five of the other six he said were thrown into the nearby Des Plaines River. Gacy would often stick clothing in their mouths to muffle their screams. After he would choke them with a rope or a board as he assaulted them. Gacy would also keep the bodies with him for as long as decomposition would allow. At least one of the victims was picked up at the bus station. The youngest identified victim was 14 year old Samuel Stapleton, the oldest were 21 year olds Russell Nelson and James Mazzara. Eight of the victims were so badly decomposed that they were never identified.

Names of known victims and date last seen alive;

Tim McCoy	age 18	January 3, 1972
John Butkovitch	age 17	July 31, 1975
Darrell Sampson	age 18	April 6, 1976
Randall Reffett	age 15	May 14, 1976
Sam Stapleton	age 14	May 14, 1976
Michael Bonnin	age 17	June 3, 1976
William Carroll	age 16	June 13, 1976
Rick Johnston	age 17	August 6, 1976
Gregory Godzik	age 17	December 11, 1976
John Szyc	age 19	January 21, 1977
Jon Prestidge	age 20	March 15, 1977
Matthew Bowman	age 19	July 5, 1977
Robert Gilroy	age 18	September 15, 1977
John Mowery	age 19	September 25, 1977
Russell Nelson	age 20	October 17, 1977
Robert Winch	age 16	November 11, 1977
Tommy Baling	age 20	November 18, 1977
David Talsma	age 19	December 9, 1977
William Kindred	age 19	February 16, 1978
Timothy O'Rourke	age 20	June, 1978
Frank Landingin	age 19	November 4, 1978
James Mazzara	age 21	November 24, 1978
Robert Piest	age 15	December 11, 1978

On February 6, 1980, Gacy's trial began in Chicago. During the trial, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. However, this was rejected outright; Gacy's lawyer, Sam Amirante, said that Gacy had moments of temporary insanity at the time of each individual murder, but regained his sanity before and after to properly lure and dispose of victims.

Gacy joked he was only guilty of was "running a cemetery without a license." Gacy's defense tried to claim that all 33 murders were accidental deaths as part of erotic asphyxia, but the Cook County Coroner countered this with evidence that Gacy's claim was impossible. Also, Gacy had made an earlier confession to police, and was unable to have this evidence suppressed. He was found guilty on March 13 and sentenced to death (Sullivan and Maiken, 1983).

On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed at Stateville Penitentiary in Crest Hill, Illinois, by lethal injection. His last meal consisted of shrimp, fried chicken, fresh strawberries and french fries.

Gacy did not express any remorse. His last words were "Kiss my ass," which he said to a guard on his way to the execution chamber.

After his execution, Gacy's brain was removed. It is currently in the possession of Dr. Helen Morrison, in an attempt to isolate common personality traits of violent sociopaths. However, an examination after his execution revealed no abnormalities. During Gacy's trial, Morrison appeared as a psychiatric witness and told the court that he had "the emotional makeup of an infant".

During his 14 years on death row, Gacy took up oil painting, his favorite subject being portraits of clowns. He said he used his clown act as an alter ego, once sardonically saying that "A clown can get away with murder." His paintings included pictures of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and his fellow serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Ed Gein.

 

 

SUMMARY

 

ARCH RIVAL :	Boys and young men.
STRENGTHS :	As a prominent and well respected member of the community he was able to hide his crimes for many years. He was cunning and could gain the trust of many of his victims before attacking then.
WEAKNESSES :	None.
WEAPONS :	Gacy used to choke his victims with a rope or a board.
QUOTE :

 

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