JOHN WAYNE GACY: BIOGRAPHY AND VICTIMS - ARTE - 2025

John Wayne Gacy Jr. was an American serial killer accused of raping and killing 33 men, including teenagers and young men. He was also known by the name of "Pogo", "Pogo" the Clown or "The killer clown", since Gacy used to disguise himself as a clown as part of his social activities in the community where he lived. The murderer was considered a truly exemplary neighbor, so the discovery of his crimes caused even more shock among those who knew him.

Gacy committed his murders between 1972 and 1978. When he was caught, it was discovered that 26 of his victims had been buried in the semi-basement of his own home. Another 3 were buried in other parts of the house, while another 4 were thrown into a river near their home. He was sentenced to 12 death sentences and 21 life sentences.

His first years of life

John Wayne Gacy Jr. was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. He was the second of the three children of John Stanley Gacy and Marion Elaine. His father, the grandson of Polish immigrants, had a preference for his daughters and looked down on his son.

It is said that the father's dislike for his son was due to the fact that they both had the same dominant personality. The boy was frequently punished and beaten by his father, who was an alcoholic. Although the boy spent most of his childhood and adolescence trying to seek acceptance from his father, he never succeeded.

His father's mistreatment made the relationship between them really complicated. This not only mistreated his son but also his mother. And besides, she used to insult him by calling him "stupid," "queer," and "mama's boy."

Added to all this, Gacy Jr. was sexually abused when he was 9 years old. Years later the murderer confessed to the episode and assured that he did not say anything to his father for fear that he would hit him once more. All this, together with the constant accusation of his father of being homosexual, caused in Gacy Jr, various sexual problems that would manifest years later. And not only in his murderous behavior but also in his obsession with pornography, boys and violence in sex.

Gacy wasn't a healthy kid either. He had respiratory problems from an early age because when he was in his mother's womb, he breathed in his own feces. His heart condition made him unable to play and interact with other children, another fact that his father considered a failure on his part.

Also, when he was 11 years old, he suffered an unfortunate incident. When a swing hit him on the head, Gacy Jr. fell unconscious. Because of this, he fainted for the next five years. At the age of 14 he suffered an epileptic seizure and at 16 he was diagnosed with a clot in the brain. Later they prescribed medication and the problem disappeared.

When he got older, his problems with his father got worse, and the boy sometimes hit him back. During his school days he attended four different colleges, but dropped all of them. At age 20 he finally decided to leave home and moved to Las Vegas. There he got a job in a funeral home and from that moment on he was fascinated with corpses, especially those of the youngest.

This time away from his family allowed him to stop feeling like a failure. A few months later he returned to Chicago and enrolled at Northwestern Business College, where he subsequently graduated. Thus would begin what would be a brief period of success, first as a salesman and then as an entrepreneur.

After graduating, he started working for a shoe company. His incredible skill as a salesperson led him to a better position. In 1964 he was transferred to the city in Springfield, in the same state of Illinois, to run a store.

By this time Gacy was beginning to feel more confident. He made new friends and joined the Jaycees organization, which was the Young Chamber of Commerce. There he became one of the most popular, enthusiastic and likable members of the group. He was thus one step away from being one of the most respected men in the city.

With her newfound confidence, with her charm and persuasion, she managed to leave her complexes behind, so it seemed. There he met Marlynn Myers, who soon after became his first wife. Myers was the daughter of a successful businessman, who had acquired the Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) fast food restaurant franchise in Waterloo, Iowa. Soon, Gacy was appointed as the store's manager.

The beginning of his career as a criminal

The arrival of John Gacy to his new job as manager of this famous food chain would be the beginning of his downfall. Gacy was obsessed with sex and had an inordinate sexual desire. However, it seemed that he was not able to satisfy his desires with his wife. Despite his multiple homosexual experiences, he was convinced that he was not. And he used to define himself more as bisexual.

He began using his position as a manager to reach out to the restaurant's young employees. Many stories were known about the boys that Gacy invited to her house. She used to smoke and drink with them, watch pornographic movies, attack them violently and have sex, in some cases with consent and in others by force.

In 1968 he was accused of sexual abuse of minors. Gacy denied all the charges from the beginning. Faced with various evidence and the testimony of one of his victims, the criminal was found guilty of sodomy and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. After the conviction, his wife and mother of their two children, filed for divorce.

Despite being sentenced to a decade in prison for his misdeeds, the killer only spent a little over a year in jail. After 16 months in jail, he was released for good behavior. In June 1970 he was released on parole and was authorized to move back to Chicago.

The story of a serial killer

In Chicago, Gacy was once again tempted to give in to his sexual urges. In a city full of gay bars, with boys on street corners selling themselves to the highest bidder, it was easy for the killer to get back on track. In 1971, he decided to buy a house in Norwood Park Township, located in Cook County, Illinois. At that time he also established a new business, his own construction company, which he called PDM Contracting.

On Christmas of that year, he would commit his first murder. A gay client had suggested a place to find young guys to flirt. It was the Greyhound bus terminal. He also told her about a street that was famous because there were boys prostituting themselves.

One night the killer went to the terminal and picked up a boy. According to the story Gacy told, the teenager threatened him with a knife and after a fight, the boy was wounded. The murderer claimed that he hid the body because, due to his background, the police would not believe his story. However, it is believed that what actually happened was that Gacy raped, tortured and stabbed the boy to death. That would be the first in a long list of murders.

Shortly after, he married again, Carole Hoff, who had two daughters. The marriage seemed happy and Gacy soon became a respected and beloved member of the community. Because he was no longer young enough to be a member of the Young Chamber of Commerce, he volunteered to collaborate with the Democratic Organization.

In addition, a character as a clown was created to become much more involved with the social life of his community. Gacy named his character "Pogo" and he became a familiar figure who was in charge not only of raising funds for the Democratic Party but also of entertaining the children at the local hospital.

The history of the social life of John Wayne Gacy reflects how the face of a seemingly good and correct person, hid a whole series of problems inside. But there were those who did see the different faces of this brutal murderer. His employees used to complain that he was stingy with salaries and many of them became his victims.

Gacy took advantage when his wife Carole was not at home to take his lovers. So some years passed until finally the marriage ended up deteriorating, until in March 1976 they divorced. This gave the murderer greater freedom to take his victims home and do whatever he wanted with them.

Gacy's modus operandi consisted of tying up his victims, torturing them in different ways, and sexually sodomizing them. The last step was to strangle them. The procedure was revealed by David Daniel, one of the victims who lived to tell the story.

But its end came with the kidnapping of Robert Piest, a 15-year-old boy. The boy was looking for a summer job and apparently Gacy had offered him one. The murderer took him home and there he murdered him. The clues led the police to him, who at first denied even knowing the boy.

The killer disposed of the body in a nearby river. Later the authorities obtained a warrant to carry out a search of his house. It was at that moment that everything began to be discovered. When searching the place, the police found multiple books on homosexuality and pedophilia, in addition to pornographic videos, a pair of shackles and even a nylon rope. But even though they found some evidence that placed the young man in the house, they found nothing else.

It was on a second inspection of the property, the truth was finally discovered. Upon entering the house again, with the heating on, the police officers found a foul odor flooding the house.

For years, the killer had told his neighbors that the bad smell was due to a problem with an undercurrent flooding the basement. However, at that time it was discovered that the smell really came from the corpses that he had hidden for years in different parts of the house, mainly in the basement.

Imprisonment and death

In December 1978 John Gacy confessed to seven years of crimes. The criminal declared that his first murder occurred in 1972. That day he confessed to having killed 33 people and also told the police the location of 28 of the bodies, which were buried in his home.

The remains of 26 people were found buried in the basement of the house, number 27 was found in the garage, under the concrete floor, and number 28 in the yard. A week later, an additional victim was found under the dining room floor. The four remaining bodies were found in a nearby river, including that of Robert Priest.

The trial against him began on February 6, 1980. Despite his confession, the murderer pleaded not guilty and alleged mental problems. However, this argument was rejected. His lawyer also tried to allege that the defendant suffered from lapses of temporary insanity and even argued that the murders were accidental deaths. All the allegations were dismissed.

On March 13, 1980, John Wayne Gacy was found guilty. The murderer was sentenced to 21 life sentences and 12 death sentences. During his time in prison, he began painting and his works sold for more than $ 20,000. Fourteen years after his conviction, in 1994, he was executed by lethal injection.

The killer never regretted his crimes and the last thing he said was that his death would not return to the victims. He accused the State of murdering him and also affirmed the existence of other bodies, ensuring that they would never know his whereabouts. However, in 1998, during repairs in the parking lot of his mother's house, the authorities found the remains of about four other people.