John Wayne Gacy, born on March 17, 1942, was an American serial killer and sex offender. Responsible for the murders of at least 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978 in Norwood Park Township, near Chicago, Illinois. Infamously dubbed ‘The Killer Clown,’ Gacy gained notoriety for his public performances as “Pogo the Clown” before his crimes were uncovered.
A respected businessman, he lured victims with promises of work or money, only to torture and murder them in a hidden killing ground beneath his Norwood Park residence.
What made Gacy uniquely monstrous was his ability to weaponize normalcy. While neighbors smelled decay, he blamed “dampness.” When victims’ families inquired, he feigned concern. For six years, his construction business literally built atop his crimes—until December 1978, when 15-year-old Robert Piest’s disappearance exposed his house of horrors.
NAME: John Wayne Gacy
ALIAS: The Killer Clown
DOB: March 17, 1942
DIED: May 10, 1994
COUNTRY: Chicago, Illinois, United States
VICTIMS: 33 confirmed
ARREST: December 21, 1978
SENTENCE: March 13, 1980 – Death
IMPRISONED AT: Was imprisoned at Menard Correctional Center, Chester, Illinois.
SPOUSE: Marlynn Myers (1964-1969), Carole Hoff (1972-1976)
SPAN OF CRIMES: 1972 – 1978
Where is John Wayne Gacy now?
SENTENCE: Sentenced to death – for 12 post-1977 murders (when Illinois reinstated capital punishment)
John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994 at the Stateville Correctional Center, Crest Hill, Illinois.
Gacy spent 14 years on death row in the Menard Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison in Chester, Illinois. He was transferred to the Stateville Correctional Center on May 9, 1994 to face execution, and on May 10, 1994, he was executed by lethal injection.
On his final day, Gacy remained talkative, casually discussing topics like the Chicago Cubs’ season with prison staff, according to a Stateville prison spokesperson. For his last meal, he had fried chicken, shrimp, french fries, and fresh strawberries. [1]
Appeals:
Gacy was initially scheduled to be executed on June 2, 1980, but his numerous unsuccesful appeals delayed his execution by almost 14 years. His final 3 appeals came just days before his execution, on May 6, 1994 in Cook County Circuit Court, U.S. District Court and the state Supreme Court.[2]
- May 10, 1994 John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection
- Oct 25, 2021 Previously unnamed victim revealed
May 10, 1994 John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection
John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center, Crest Hill, Illinois. Execution proceedings began shortly after midnight on May 10, 1994. The lethal injection process encountered complications when the I.V. line clogged during administration of the three-drug cocktail. After sodium thiopental rendered Gacy unconscious, a 10-20 minute delay occurred before prison staff could administer pancuronium bromide. The final drug, potassium chloride, successfully stopped his heart. Officials pronounced Gacy dead at 12:58 a.m. [1]
Oct 25, 2021 Previously unnamed victim revealed: Francis Wayne Alexander
After more than four decades, forensic investigators have identified Francis Wayne Alexander as one of John Wayne Gacy’s previously unnamed victims. Alexander’s remains—discovered in Gacy’s crawl space on December 26, 1978—were identified through advanced DNA analysis conducted by the DNA Doe Project and Chicago-area authorities. The breakthrough came after a tooth sample underwent specialized genetic sequencing in California and Alabama laboratories. [3]
Alexander, a North Carolina native who moved to Chicago, was 21 or 22 when Gacy killed him between early 1976 and early 1977. His remains were among 26 sets found beneath Gacy’s Norwood Park home, with three additional victims buried on the property and four others discarded in waterways south of Chicago. [3]
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart’s office has worked diligently to identify Gacy’s unknown victims. In 2011, they exhumed eight sets of remains and appealed to families of missing men from the 1970s to submit DNA samples. This effort previously led to the identification of 19-year-old William Bundy (2011) and 16-year-old Jimmy Haakenson (2017), who had disappeared after calling his mother from Chicago.
Crimes Committed
Gacy lured his victims—mostly teenage boys and young men aged 14 to 21—through various ruses: impersonating a police officer, offering money for sex, or inviting them to his Chicago-area home to drink and smoke. Once inside, he would handcuff them, subjecting them to hours of rape and torture before strangling them.
Of his 33 confirmed victims, 26 were stacked in the crawl space beneath his house, three were buried elsewhere on his property, and four were dumped in the Des Plaines River when space ran out. This grisly pattern continued until his arrest on December 21, 1978.
Despite advances in forensic identification, five of Gacy’s victims remain unnamed to this day. The complete list of his victims includes both identified individuals and unknown victims, with authorities acknowledging the possibility of additional undiscovered murders. When questioned about more victims after the grim discoveries, Gacy taunted investigators with the cryptic reply: “That’s for you guys to find out.”
Gacy’s murderous spree began in January 1972 when he killed 16-year-old Timothy McCoy. Gacy confessed his first murder occurred in winter 1972 – a teenage boy he’d picked up outside Chicago’s Greyhound Bus Station. Unlike subsequent victims who were strangled, this 15-year-old was stabbed in the chest before becoming the first body hidden in Gacy’s infamous crawl space. In 1986, dental records finally gave the victim a name: Timothy McCoy, a holiday traveler with a Chicago layover.
The murder of 15-year-old Robert Piest marked the end of Gacy’s killing spree. The teenager had last been seen discussing a summer job with Gacy at the pharmacy where he worked. When Piest disappeared, police investigated Gacy due to his known history of sexual offenses. Their search of his home uncovered 29 victims – though Piest’s body wasn’t among them. Four months later, on April 9, 1979, fishermen discovered his remains in the Illinois River, becoming Gacy’s 33rd and final known victim.
Capture & Investigation
In 1968, Gacy’s predatory nature first surfaced publicly when he was convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy—a crime he nearly escaped by convincing others to attack his victim to prevent testimony. Though sentenced to a decade in prison, his “model prisoner” act secured parole after just 18 months, costing him his marriage but not his freedom.
Unshackled and undeterred, Gacy immediately resumed hunting. In 1971, he lured another teen to his home for attempted assault, only to walk free when the terrified victim refused to testify. With his mother’s financial backing, he then purchased his killing ground—the now-notorious 8213 West Summerdale Avenue home where he would later bury most of his victims.
By 1978, Gacy’s crawl space overflowed with corpses, forcing him to dump four victims in the Des Plaines River. His empire of death collapsed when 15-year-old Robert Piest disappeared after a job meeting with Gacy. The subsequent search revealed 29 bodies crammed beneath floorboards and scattered across the property, 4 river victims tossed from an I-55 bridge, evidence like police badges, weapons, victim belongings and the stench of decay Gacy had long blamed on “dampness”.
A receipt placing Piest in Gacy’s home—shattered Gacy’s lies and exposed the crawl space’s ghastly contents. On December 21, 1978, America’s most prolific serial killer finally faced justice, his six-year reign of terror ended by the boy who wouldn’t stay buried.
Trial & Convictions
The courtroom drama unfolded on February 6, 1980, as prosecutors launched their case against America’s most prolific serial killer. What followed was a harrowing parade of grief—22 families of identified victims took the stand, one mother collapsing when shown her 14-year-old son’s bracelet.
Employees testified about Gacy’s sexual advances and being ordered to excavate his crawl space. Detectives detailed his chilling confession of the “rope trick” used to strangle victims. Forensic experts demonstrated how victims were asphyxiated. The actual trapdoor to Gacy’s crawl space stood as a silent witness in court.
Gacy’s lawyers claimed “multiple personalities” including “Bad Jack” rendered him legally insane. Their first witness—attack survivor Jeffrey Rignall—ironically undermined their case by demonstrating Gacy’s calculated brutality. Psychiatric experts countered that his meticulous burial methods proved sanity, diagnosing only a personality disorder.
After just 1 hour and 50 minutes of deliberation on March 12, the jury returned 33 guilty verdicts—a U.S. record. The next day, March 13, 1980 a jury condemned him to death for 12 post-1977 murders (when Illinois reinstated capital punishment). Gacy would spend 14 years on death row before execution. John Wayne Gacy was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994.
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REFERENCES / CITATIONS:
- A&E: John Wayne Gacy’s Execution: What Were the Serial Killer’s Final Days Like? – April 28, 2021
- LA Times: Serial Killer Gacy Loses 3 Appeals; Execution by Injection Set Tuesday – May 7, 1994
- The Guardian: New victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy identified using DNA – October 25, 2021
- JUSTIA: People v. Gacy – June 6, 1984.
Books about John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster
The True Story of the Lawyer Who Defended One of the Most Evil Serial Killers in History…
Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders
The definitive book on John Wayne Gacy, written by the prosecutor who spearheaded the investigation, arrest, and conviction of one of America’s most horrific serial killers…
Inside the Mind of John Wayne Gacy: The Real-Life Killer Clown
New York Post and Toronto Sun crime reporter and author of Cold Blooded Murder, Brad Hunter has spent over thirty years writing about some of America’s most horrific crimes. In this new book he enters the mind of John Wayne Gacy…
Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of John Wayne Gacy
This portrait of the complex personality and motivations of convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy, Jr., is based on exclusive interviews, research, and previously unreported material…
Boys Enter the House: The Victims of John Wayne Gacy and the Lives They Left Behind
As investigators brought out the bagged remains of several dozen young men from a small Chicago ranch home and paraded them in front of a crowd of TV reporters and spectators, attention quickly turned to the owner of the house…
Postmortem: What Survives the John Wayne Gacy Murders
In the vein of the bestselling I’ll Be Gone in the Dark, this compelling work of true crime explores the aftershocks of “Killer Clown” John Wayne Gacy’s crimes with a uniquely intimate slant…
The Chicago Killer: The Hunt For Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy
The Chicago Killer – The Hunt For Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy is the story of the capture of John Wayne Gacy, as told from the perspective of the former Chief of Detectives of the Des Plaines, Illinois Police Department Joseph Kozenczak….
TV Shows & Documentaries about John Wayne Gacy
Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes
Never-before-heard audio from the interrogation of serial killer John Wayne Gacy threads through this chilling look at his 1970s murder spree.
TV Mini Series / Documentary | 2022 | 3 episodes
NETFLIX
John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise
The chilling story of one of the world’s most notorious serial killers told through the words of Gacy himself, those who were forever changed by his unspeakable deeds and those who believe that the full truth remains concealed to this day..
TV Mini Series / Documentary | 2021 | 6 episodes
PEACOCK
Born to kill? S2.E2 – John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown
Community pillar John Wayne Gacy, one of the most prolific killers in American history, targeted teenage boys and young men for sexual assault, torture and murder.
TV Series / Documentary | 2011
World’s Most Evil Killers S1.E5 – John Wayne Gacy
Documentary profiling Chicago killer John Wayne Gacy, who was well-liked by his local community, until it emerged he had ended the lives of 33 men in the 1970s.
TV Series / Documentary | 2017
Murder Made Me Famous – S6.E1 – John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy, widely thought to be the inspiration for Stephen King’s character Pennywise the Clown, murdered 33 young men and teen boys, most of whom he buried in the crawl space beneath his home.
TV Series / Documentary | 2015
REELZ
Very Scary People S1.E1/E2 ∙ John Wayne Gacy: (2 PARTS)
The early life of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, living with an abusive alcoholic father, to his successful contracting company hiring young men, where he would trick them into handcuffs before he raped and murdered dozens of young men.
TV Series / Documentary | 2019
Making a Monster – S1.E7 – John Wayne Gacy
A group of the world’s leading forensic psychologists and psychiatrists come together to share their own first-hand experiences and insights into the mind of a serial killer.
TV Series / Documentary | 2020
PRIME VIDEO
YOUTUBE
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MORE ARTICLES ABOUT John Wayne Gacy
A selection of interesting articles about John Wayne Gacy, sourced and curated from around the web:
New victim of serial killer John Wayne Gacy identified using DNA
The Guardian | Author: Eric Lagatta | October 25, 2021
John Wayne Gacy’s Execution: What Were the Serial Killer’s Final Days Like?
A&E | Author: Adam Janos | April 28, 2021
The 33 Known And Unknown Murder Victims Of ‘Killer Clown’ John Wayne Gacy
Oxygen | Author: Benjamin H. Smith | November 26, 2018
