John Wayne Gacy: the never-ending aftermath of a serial killers crimes

Table Of Content

• West Summerdale Avenue
• Slain Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca mourned at visitation: ‘an attack on the entire community’
• January 3, 1972: Gacy kills his first victim
• Second murder
• Possible additional victims
• Suspected Serial Killer Stayed Under the Radar in Suburban Chicago, But How?
• Where is John Wayne Gacy Buried?
• Des Plaines River

When compiling the evidence, Gacy’s known victim count reached a staggering 33, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in US history. Months after his release, when he and his mother were living in Des Plaines, Illinois, John Wayne Gacy lured a teenage boy into his house and tried to rape him. Gacy was charged with sexual assault, but the charges were dropped when the boy failed to show up to court. When he was finally arrested, a search of his Norwood-area home recovered a horrifying 26 bodies under the crawl space of his house. A further four bodies were found in the nearby Des Plaines river, with three more buried around the property.

West Summerdale Avenue

A Victim of John Wayne Gacy Is Identified 4 Decades Later - The New York Times

A Victim of John Wayne Gacy Is Identified 4 Decades Later.

Posted: Mon, 25 Oct 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In the end, the story of the demolition and rebuilding on the site of John Wayne Gacy’s house is a testament to resilience and the power of moving forward. It’s vital that we learn from our past, ensure that victims are not forgotten, and work to prevent such unspeakable crimes from happening again. After Gacy’s arrest in 1978, the shocking discoveries inside his house shook the nation. In an attempt to erase the dark past of the property, the house was razed in 1979, shortly after the gruesome discoveries were made. The vacant lot was later sold in 1986, and a new house was built over the harrowing site.

'Smelled Like A Morgue!' The Brazen (And Stupid) Way That John Wayne Gacy Got Caught - Oxygen

'Smelled Like A Morgue!' The Brazen (And Stupid) Way That John Wayne Gacy Got Caught.

Posted: Thu, 25 Mar 2021 07:00:00 GMT [source]

Slain Chicago police Officer Luis Huesca mourned at visitation: ‘an attack on the entire community’

He claims it was least partly because his mom, Tracey Brown, was too mouthy about what she saw as strange and inappropriate behavior on the set, which was run by the then-king of children’s television, Dan Schneider. Bryan Hearne never became a big star like Amanda Bynes, Ariana Grande or Drake Bell when he was one of many child actors in the Nickelodeon universe that dominated children’s TV in the late ’90s and early aughts. Included with the provenance parcel is a letter written by a relative of the laborer(s) who removed the debris in 1979. Plus, private correspondence from Gacy to a Chicagoland Judge whose father ordered Gacy's home demolished and who, decades later, owned the debris.

January 3, 1972: Gacy kills his first victim

Gacy's youth was marked by long stays in the hospital for a separate, undiagnosed condition that caused him to experience seizures and blackouts. John Wayne Gacy performed as a clown at charitable events and childrens’ parties. John Wayne Gacy was found guilty of all 33 murders of which he was accused. Gacy was arrested, and used an insanity plea in the hopes of a not guilty verdict. To many people, John Wayne Gacy was a friendly man who loved to entertain young children. He frequently dressed up as his alter ego, Pogo the Clown, at parties that he hosted for his entire neighborhood.

In 1968, after his conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, he was confined in the Iowa State Men’s Reformatory (Anamosa State Penitentiary) and forced to undergo psychological evaluation. After his release in 1970 and while still on parole, he was again arrested for sexual assault, but the charges were later dropped. Gacy then became a fairly successful independent contractor and bought a house in suburban Chicago. Gacy had previously been convicted in 1968 of the sodomy of a teenage boy in Waterloo, Iowa, and was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment, but served eighteen months.

He was also found guilty of sexual assault and taking indecent liberties with a child. Excavation and investigation at the John Wayne Gacy house played an essential role in unraveling this gruesome case. When authorities began digging, they discovered human remains that led to charges against Gacy for 33 murders.

He and Myers had two children and what was seemingly a perfect life. Gacy had a congenital heart condition that limited his physical activity and plagued him with lifelong obesity. When he was 11, doctors discovered that he had a blood clot in his brain. They were able to treat it, but even that didn’t spare Gacy from his father’s wrath. But during the 1950s, homosexuality was still taboo, so he pretended to be straight his entire life.

Karen Engstrom/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty ImagesInvestigators carry the remains of one of John Wayne Gacy’s victims found under his garage floor. Gacy would then have the gall to participate in the search parties for some of these boys, as he was friendly with their parents and was considered an upstanding member of the community. One of Gacy’s favorite acts of torture was to sit on his victim with all of his weight — which was substantial — and force the victim to fellate him. He strangled and revived his victims, sometimes even partially drowning them in his bathtub. He lured some into his car by impersonating an officer, or to his house with the offer of a job, a place to party, or even money.

The case of Gacy’s house still sends shivers down the spine of anyone intrigued by the dark world of crime and mystery. It has been immortalized in true crime media, captivating audiences that seek to understand the horrifying depths of one man’s depravity. As enthusiasts and followers of cold cases, we continue to dissect and analyze the chilling elements that surrounded the disturbing events at Gacy’s residence. A few months later, he paid a KFC employee $300 to beat up Voorhees, hoping to scare him from testifying in court. But Voorhees escaped and reported the attempted beating, and the case against Gacy only escalated.

Little is known about Gacy’s children because, like the rest of the Gacy family, they have tried to avoid the public eye. It’s likely that both Michael and Christine have changed their name at some point in order to avoid being known as the children of the Killer Clown. Carole was friends with John’s sister and she had even once gone on a date with him when she was 16.

Once he had his victim in his space, Gacy coaxed them with drugs or alcohol or a sick magic trick, during which he’d handcuff them and dangle the key in front of their face. But after his divorce, the “Killer Clown” had the freedom to bring more victims into his home. Save for his final four victims, who he dumped into a river, all of his victims were killed in and stored under his house. He taught himself how to apply clown makeup and turned himself into Pogo the Clown as he had imagined him in his drawings. He performed as Pogo the Clown at all sorts of local parties, including Democratic Party functions and charitable events.

Under the guise of offering them part-time work for cash, Gacy would entrap them before torturing, sexually assaulting, and strangling or asphyxiating them to death. In 1978, after one of Gacy’s victims, Robert Piest, was reported missing, police learned that Gacy was the last person known to have seen him. After obtaining a search warrant, police discovered the bodies of 29 boys and young men in or near Gacy’s house; four other bodies were found in the nearby Des Plaines River. Indeed, the area of the house had emitted a foul stench for years, but Gacy had told his houseguests and his wife that the smell was the result of moisture buildup. When the ruthless killer wasn’t working or performing as “Pogo the Clown” at children’s birthday parties, he was raping and killing adolescents. The deranged serial killer only became suspect to police when several teenage boys reported him for sexual assault.