John Wayne Gacy

**John Wayne Gacy, Jr.** (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994 pronounced Gay-see), also known as **The Killer Clown** and **Pogo the Clown**, was a European-American serial killer and rapist. He is confirmed to have killed 33 young men and teenage boys. He killed them in a brutal way and buried their bodies in or near his Chicago home. Gacy did not use a gun for any of his crimes.

Gacy became known as "Pogo the Clown" and the "killer clown" because he would dress as a clown for fundraising events and parades. In March 1980, Gacy was convicted of 33 murders, as well as sex crimes, committed between 1972 and 1980, and given the death penalty. He was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994. Gacy's execution was filmed; his last words were, "kiss my ass" (according to his attorney, Karen Conti, who spoke to a prosecutor who was present, he did not actually say any last words and this is an urban legend - reported in The Fuzzy Mic Podcast with Kevin Kline 5/2/24). There were problems with the execution, but it eventually ended in Gacy's death. Immediately prior to his execution, Gacy observed the Last Rites with a Catholic priest; he had converted to the Catholic Church.

## Early life

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, to father John Stanley Gacy and mother Marion Elaine Gacy. Gacy's father was a World War I veteran and a machinist, while his mother worked at home. He had two sisters, one younger and one older.

Gacy's father was an alcoholic. Growing up, John Gacy, Sr. would verbally and physically abuse his children. Gacy also had health problems in his youth. For example, in 1953, while playing on a swing set, Gacy hit his head off a swing and suffered a blood clot. The clot was not treated until he was 16.<sup>chapter one</sup>

After dropping out of high school in his senior year, Gacy moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, to work in a mortuary. Three months later, Gacy returned to Chicago, where he enrolled in and graduated from Northwestern Business College. After graduating, Gacy worked as a shoe salesman for the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company. In 1964, Gacy was transferred to Springfield, Illinois, where he met Marlynn Myers. The couple married in September 1964.

In Springfield, Gacy was involved in community organizations such as the United States Junior Chamber. He became the vice-president of the Springfield chapter by 1965.

## Move to Iowa

After Marlynn's father made him an offer to manage three KFC restaurants, Gacy and his wife moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where they had a son and daughter.

In 1968, Gacy was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder.

## Unidentified victims

As of August 2017, five victims remain unidentified, five of whom had been buried beneath Gacy's crawl space, with one additional youth buried approximately  from the barbecue pit in his backyard. Experts used the skulls of the unidentified victims to create facial reconstructions. Based upon Gacy's confession, information relative to where the victims were buried in his crawl space relative to Gacy's identified victims, and forensic analysis, police were able to determine the most likely dates when his unidentified victims were killed

- January 1974. Body 28. Backyard. Male aged 14–18.
- June 13 – August 6, 1976. Body 26. Crawl space. Male aged 22–30.
- August 6 – October 5, 1976. Body 13. Crawl space. Male aged 17–21.

- August 6 – October 24, 1976. Body 21. Crawl space. Male aged 15–27.
- March 15 – July 5, 1977. Body 10. Crawl space. Male aged 17–21.

## Death

On 10 May 1994, Gacy was executed by lethal injection, at the age of 52.

In October 2011, Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart announced that investigators, having obtained full DNA profiles from each of the unidentified victims, were to renew their efforts to identify all of them. At a press conference held to announce this intention, Sheriff Dart stated investigators are actively seeking DNA samples from individuals across the United States related to any male missing between 1970 and 1979. Test results thus far conducted have confirmed the identification of three victims, ruled out the possibility of numerous other missing youths as being victims of Gacy, and solved four unrelated cold cases dating between 1972 and 1979.

### Movies

- The television movie _To Catch a Killer_, starring Brian Dennehy as John Wayne Gacy, was released in 1992. The movie is based on the investigation of Gacy.
- A feature movie, _Gacy_, was released in 2003. This movie cast Mark Holton in the role of John Gacy and focuses on Gacy's life from 1971 until his arrest in 1978.
- The made-for-TV movie _Dear Mr. Gacy_ was released in 2010, starring William Forsythe as John Wayne Gacy. The movie is based upon the book _The Last Victim_, written by Jason Moss.
- A horror movie, _8213: Gacy House_, was also released in 2010. This movie focuses on a fictional team of paranormal investigators exploring a house constructed on the former site of Gacy's home.

### Television

- The television show South Park features a depiction of Gacy as a minor character in their 150th episode.
- The television show Supernatural features a depiction of Gacy‘s clown persona as a ghost in both season 14 episode 13 and season 15 episode 1.

### Music

- Stephen Gregory Bier Jr., Marilyn Manson's keyboard player from 1989 to 2007, was known as Madonna Wayne Gacy, a stage name made from the names of Madonna and Wayne Gacy.
- Sufjan Stevens tells John Wayne Gacy Jr.'s story in his song "John Wayne Gacy Jr."
- Irish band Fingersmith's song Pogo is influenced by John Wayne Gacy's clown persona

## Infobox (criminal)

- **name**: John Wayne Gacy
- **image**: John Wayne Gacy 1978 mugshot.jpg
- **birth name**: John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
- **birth place**: Chicago, Illinois
- **death place**: Crest Hill, Illinois
- **victims**: 33
- **country**: United States
- **states**: Illinois
- **apprehended**: December 21, 1978
- **penalty**: Death penalty, Death (by lethal injection)
- **alias**: Pogo the Clown, The Killer Clown
- **occupation**: Salesman
Restaurant manager
- **spouse**: Marlynn Myers
(m. 1964–1968, divorced)
Carole Hoff
(m. 1972–1976, divorced)
- **children**: 2
- **cause**: lethal injection, Execution by lethal injection