John Wayne Gacy: Not Such a Friendly Face
In the 1970s, the people of Chicago, Illinois felt that John Wayne Gacy was a friendly and trustworthy member of the neighborhood. He was well-known by adults through the work he did throughout the community and by children as Pogo the Clown. What they did not know was that he was actually a serial killer who was murdering over thirty young boys right inside his home.
According to Biography.com, Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 and lived with an abusive father who would beat him and his siblings frequently. He was often isolated from other children and suffered from internalized homophobia, a state of mind where one acts negatively towards homosexuals in order to deny their own sexuality. As he grew older, Gacy made a name for himself by performing several jobs in the Chicago community. He worked as a successful contractor, a visitor to a children's hospital, and an occasional performer at children's birthday parties, where he dressed up as Pogo.
According to Biography.com, Gacy was born on March 17, 1942 and lived with an abusive father who would beat him and his siblings frequently. He was often isolated from other children and suffered from internalized homophobia, a state of mind where one acts negatively towards homosexuals in order to deny their own sexuality. As he grew older, Gacy made a name for himself by performing several jobs in the Chicago community. He worked as a successful contractor, a visitor to a children's hospital, and an occasional performer at children's birthday parties, where he dressed up as Pogo.
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| (Left) John Wayne Gacy's mugshot. (Right) Gacy dressed up as his persona, Pogo the Clown. |
Gacy committed his murders throughout the 1970s, beginning with sixteen-year-old Timothy McCoy in 1972. A 2017 article from The New York Times gives the time frame of 1972 to 1978 as the window for when he killed. All of Gacy's victims were young boys whom he had lured to his home. Some of the boys knew Gacy through working with him in construction while others were random victims that he would pick up on the side of the road. Gacy treated each of his victims differently, sexually assaulting most of them but using different methods in killing them. A 1978 article of the Chicago Tribune explained that Gacy told the police that he mainly used rope to strangle his victims after distracting them with a handcuff trick. Other times, he would strangle them with a board pressed against their neck. After they were killed, he would bury them either underneath his house or in a local river.
The fact that all of Gacy's victims were young boys and that he would sexually assault them indicates that the murders were committed to satisfy his internalized homophobia. Peter Vronsky writes in his novel, Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, that Gacy once stated that his victims were "worthless little queers and punks" and he was better than them due to being a "successful businessman" (201). These statements show that Gacy wanted to kill his victims so he could feel better about himself and his own insecurities. Vronsky classifies Gacy as a power/control killer (196), a person who kills in order to have dominance over their victims. He may also have traits of a missionary killer, due to only targeting young males whom he believed deserved to die. In regards to his methods, Gacy could be classified as an organized serial killer, as his method in luring and killing his victims was always planned out. He also maintained both a successful lifestyle and friendly demeanor, another attribute often given to organized killers.
Gacy's crimes were discovered by Chicago police in December of 1978, when fifteen-year-old Robert Piest went missing. According to a 2005 article of Forensic Examiner, Gacy was the last person known to have seen Piest so he was a prime suspect. Chicago police went to his home and noticed "a foul smell they believed to be caused by a sewage problem" (32). Before they could further investigate the house, Gacy turned himself in and confessed to having killed thirty-three teenage boys over a six-year period. The Chicago Tribune wrote that upon returning to his home, police found at least twenty bodies buried under various parts of Gacy's house, which was the source of the foul smells, and several bodies dumped in a nearby river. Biography.com says that Gacy tried to plead insanity as his defense during his trial in 1980. He was unsuccessful in his attempt, as he was declared guilty and given multiple life sentences as well as death sentences. While incarcerated, Gacy spent his time painting pictures of clowns, particularly of his Pogo persona. He was in prison for fourteen years before being executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994.
While Gacy did confess to committing his crimes, he never revealed the identities of his victims. According to an article of The New York Times, an ongoing investigation has been occurring since 2011 to identify the victims found in Gacy's home. The most recent victim identified was the body of James Byron Haakenson, a sixteen-year-old boy from Minnesota who went missing in 1976 and was last known to be in the Chicago area. As of July 2017, only six still remain unidentified.
John Wayne Gacy's story shows society that people are not always what they seem. While everyone knew him to be a great man, he was actually a horrible serial killer. He lured his victims into his home with a kind demeanor, leading them to trust him and be easily killed. Gacy's story teaches people to be on their guard with the people they meet in life and that they should not trust everyone they encounter.
Works Cited
The fact that all of Gacy's victims were young boys and that he would sexually assault them indicates that the murders were committed to satisfy his internalized homophobia. Peter Vronsky writes in his novel, Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, that Gacy once stated that his victims were "worthless little queers and punks" and he was better than them due to being a "successful businessman" (201). These statements show that Gacy wanted to kill his victims so he could feel better about himself and his own insecurities. Vronsky classifies Gacy as a power/control killer (196), a person who kills in order to have dominance over their victims. He may also have traits of a missionary killer, due to only targeting young males whom he believed deserved to die. In regards to his methods, Gacy could be classified as an organized serial killer, as his method in luring and killing his victims was always planned out. He also maintained both a successful lifestyle and friendly demeanor, another attribute often given to organized killers.
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| A crawlspace under Gacy's home that contained several of his victims |
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| James Byron Haakenson, the most recent Gacy victim identified |
John Wayne Gacy's story shows society that people are not always what they seem. While everyone knew him to be a great man, he was actually a horrible serial killer. He lured his victims into his home with a kind demeanor, leading them to trust him and be easily killed. Gacy's story teaches people to be on their guard with the people they meet in life and that they should not trust everyone they encounter.
Works Cited
"John Wayne Gacy." Biography. A&E Television Networks, 2017, www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.
Long, Leann. "Killer Clown Leaves Mass Grave of Skeletal Remains." Forensic Examiner, vol. 14, no. 4, 2005, pp. 32+38, eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=bbcf2c3d-812b-4c6a-b11d-ddeb55bbf57a%40sessionmgr101. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.
Mount, Charles, and Ronald Koziol. "Contractor is charged in murder." Chicago Tribune, 23 Dec. 1978, p. 1, www.newspapers.com/image/199062768/. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.
Stack, Liam. "John Wayne Gacy Victim Is Identified After Four Decades." New York Times, 19 July 2017, late ed., p. A19, www.nytimes.com/2017/07/19/us/john-wayne-gacy-victim-identified.html. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.
Vronsky, Peter. Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters. Berkly Books, 2004. Accessed 27 Nov. 2017.
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