“John Wayne Gacy,” an American serial killer best known for the 1970s killings of 33 young men and boys outside Chicago, was born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and died on May 10, 1994, in Statesville, Illinois. He was well-liked and well-known in the community where he lived and often performed as a clown at charity events and children’s parties.
Gacy was born into a working-class household and appears to have had an average upbringing. His sadistic tendencies, however, grew, and he had multiple run-ins with the law in the 1960s. For his sexual assault conviction in 1968, the Iowa State Penitentiary in Anamosa, Iowa, ordered him to undergo a psychological evaluation in the Iowa State Men’s Reformatory (now known as the Iowa State Penitentiary).
During his parole in 1970, he was detained for a second time for sexual assault, but the charges were eventually dismissed. At this point, Gacy was able to buy his own property outside of the city of Chicago.
Robert Piest went missing in 1978, and authorities discovered that Gacy was the last person to have seen him. The bodies of 29 adolescents and young men were recovered in or near Gacy’s residence after a search warrant was obtained; four more bodies were found in the neighbouring Des Plaines River.
Gacy’s house guests and wife were aware of the stink for years, but he had claimed that the odour was caused by moisture buildup. The testimony of many experts who diagnosed Gacy as schizophrenia backed up his claim of innocence by reason of insanity during his trial, but the jury rejected his plea and found him guilty of all 33 murders for which he was accused; he was executed by lethal injection in 1994.
What Happened to John Wayne Gacy?
May 10, 2004 was the date of John Wayne Gacy’s death by lethal injection.
Among serial killers, he was convicted of the most murders ever committed by a single individual in the United States. For 12 of those homicides, he received the death penalty, while for the other 21 he received a life sentence.
One case of “deviate sexual assault” and one count of “indecent liberties with a kid” were also brought against him. There were no takers for any of his appeals.
On the basis of an insanity defence, at one point he attempted to argue his innocence.
An earlier arrest for sodomy and sexual assault led to Gacy serving a 10-year prison term at Iowa State before his murderous spree began there in 2009.
Gacy was forthcoming with his counsel about his crimes, including the rape and assault of multiple individuals, in the lead-up to his trial.
More than 60 hours of Gacy’s accounts were recorded by the lawyers between November 1979 and April 1980. Previously unreleased, they can now be found in the book Conversations With A Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (available on Amazon today).
Some of the testimonies of Gacy’s victims are shared by filmmaker Joe Berlinger in conjunction with Gacy’s unsettling dismissals and distorted visions of the same incident.
Gacy refused to change his ways once he was apprehended.
“Kiss my ass,” he is said to have said before he died.
Two sisters, two ex-wives, and five children were Gacy’s surviving family members.
There are still five males who have not been recognised as of 2022.
A History of the Crimes Committed by John Wayne Gacy
According to legend, John Wayne painted thousands of dollars’ worth of clowns and other figures while he was on Death Row. In Waterloo, Iowa, in 1968, John was found guilty of sodomising a young boy and sentenced to 10 years in prison, but he only spent 18 months in prison. In 1972, he killed his first victim, and by the end of 1975, he’d slain a total of three more people. After his divorce from his second wife in 1976, he killed at least 30 more people. Convicted of 33 killings, John was then the most prolific killer in U.S. law.
The Killer Clown, John Wayne Gacy
Through his participation in a local Moose Organization, John learned of a local Jolly Joker clown club, which performs at fundraising events and parades to entertain children in hospitals. His first two clown identities, “Pogo the Clown” and “Patches the Clown,” were created by John in 1975 when he joined a local clown club. He described Pogo as a jovial clown, whereas Patches was a more sombre individual. Despite being labelled as a psychopath, John never expressed any remorse for his acts, according to the reports. Slaughtering John wouldn’t make up for the death of others, and the state was murdering him.
The Death of John Wayne Gacy
Lethal injection was used to put him to death. For his execution, John was moved from Menard Correctional Center to Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill. In the afternoon, he and his family were able to have a picnic on the jail grounds. For his final supper, he ordered a bucket of KFC, french fries, a dozen fried shrimp, fresh strawberries, and a Diet Coke. Before he was taken to the execution chamber, he had a chance to pray with a Catholic priest. At 12:58 a.m. on May 10, 1994, his death was officially certified. His brain was taken and his body was cremated.
Where Is John Wayne Gacy’s House?
The house may be found at 8213 W. Summerdale Ave. in Norwood Park Township, Illinois, about 25 minutes north of the city centre.
As a result of the inquiry conducted in 1979, the house was demolished because the large number of bodies uncovered necessitated additional searches.
It has been several years since Gacy’s home was demolished, and a property erected on the site has changed hands several times and been given a different number to avoid attracting observers.
After what transpired there, the house was sold to a savings and loan corporation in 1984, and it took five years for someone to buy it.
According to Realtor.com, a woman bought the property in 1986 for her elderly parents and had it converted into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home.
However, the land continues to be haunted by the events that occurred there, and its value has diminished with time.
According to real estate appraiser Orell Anderson, “the stigma goes with the land, not the house.” “It’s very uncommon for people to buy these properties thinking that if they take them down, change the address, and make a few cosmetic improvements, the stigma would go. However, this isn’t always the case.”
For the second time in two years, NBC Chicago reports that it sold for $391,000 in 2021. Lack of demand forced multiple price cuts, resulting in a drop in value of about one-fifth of the initial $489,000 listing price.
They were only made aware of the house’s past by reporters, according to the reports.