John Wayne Gacy Research Paper

All serial killers usually share one dark life experience with each other. This life experience happens during childhood and involves abuse and a poor upbringing. These life experiences correlate perfectly with notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy, also known as “The Killer Clown”. These life experiences helped shape John Wane Gacy and other serial killers into the stuff of nightmares that still haunt people today. To learn about John Wayne Gacy we must look at his early life, crimes, and his sentence.
John Wayne Gacy had a tough childhood like many other serial killers. John Wayne Gacy came into the world on March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. His parents, John Wayne Gacy and Marion Elaine Robinson came from Danish and Polish decent. He had an abusive and terrible childhood. Gacy and his sister Karen suffered beatings with a razor strop whenever their father thought that they had misbehaved. Gacy’s alcoholic father would also beat his mother in a drunken rage in front of the children. Gacy later said that the beatings he received toughened him up as a kid. Gacy did not enjoy school either and suffered from alienation by his peers. He also lied compulsively and couldn’t gain trust from his peers. Later
in his childhood Gacy realized that he liked men. This knowledge scared Gacy and caused him a lot of turmoil in his life. He didn’t want to let his father down by telling him he liked men, but at the time he couldn’t control his urges. One of his Gacy’s early childhood experiences came when he stole a truck from a store. His mom made him take the truck back and apologize to the storeowner. When his father found out he beat Gacy and when his mother tried to stop the beating, his father called Gacy a “mama’s boy” who would grow up a queer. In 1949, a family friend molested Gacy. The friend, a contractor, would take Gacy for rides in his truck and then fondle him. Gacy feared telling his father because he feared his father would blame him for what happened. Gacy spent most of his time in the hospital for illness during the ages of 14 to 18. This only reinforced his father’s disappointment in his son (“John Wayne Gacy”).
John Wayne Gacyhad horrific and disturbing crimes like many other serial killers. In 1966, Gacy began to manage three KFC restaurants his father-in-law purchased. Gacy had to complete a managerial course and later that year Gacy and his wife, Marilyn Myers, who he had married in 1964, moved to Waterloo, Iowa. When Gacy worked at KFC he would tell customers his relatives founded KFC which he lied about. Gacy also joined the Jaycees (The United States Junior Chamber of Commerce) and would spend 12 to 14 hours a week working there. In 1967, Gacy earned an honor, named the “Outstanding Vice-President” of the Waterloo Jaycees. Gacy’s wife gave birth to two children, one son and one daughter and described this period in his life as perfect, also saying that at this stage in his life he had earned the approval of his father. Gacy lived a double life in the Jaycees though, one that involved wife swapping, prostitution, porn, and drug use. He involved himself in many of these activities and cheated on his wife with prostitutes. He committed sexual assault on a 15-year-old boy named Donald Voorhees in 1967. Gacy lured the boy to his house promising him porn, and loaded him up with alcohol. Gacy then persuaded the boy to perform oral sex on him. Gacy did this with several other youths from Jaycees as well and sometimes gave the boys 50 dollars to perform in his homosexual experiments. In 1968, Donald Voorhees told his father Gacy assaulted him and his father told the police immediately. A judge charged Gacy with oral sodomy and attempted assault of a 16-year-old boy. Gacy denied these accusations vehemently. He received a 10-year prison term but gained release on parole in 1970. Gacy continued his double life, he did a lot of charity, and even dressed up as Pogo the clown for kid’s birthday parties. He also built a successful home contractor business which he used to lure victims and make money (Schechter 8).

(Gacy W John)
On December 21, police searched Gacy’s home in Norwood Park Township, Illinois, and uncovered evidence of his horrific acts.
Police found a two-foot long dildo Gacy used in torture, and 18 inches of the dildo was covered in blood and feces. Neighbors would complain about smells coming from Gacy’s houses, he would lie saying a sewer pipe broke. It became determined that Gacy killed 33 boys and young men. He would bury his victims under the house, garage and more victims’ bodies by the Des Plaines River. Gacy lured his victims to his house with the promise of construction work. He then captured his victims, sexually assaulted them, and then strangled them with rope. Sometimes he even dressed as “Pogo the Clown” when he killed his victims (Philbin & Philbin
65-78).
John Wayne Gacy’s trial contained disturbing and shocking facts. His trial started on February 6, 1980. Gacy eventually received a guilty charge of committing 33 horrific murders after a short deliberation by the jury. With his conviction Gacy became on the worst serial killers in United States history. He officially received a sentence of 12 death sentences and 21 natural life sentences. He served his time in the Menard Correctional Center for ten and a half years. He continued to appeal his sentence and told different stories about the murders in interviews. He even said he didn’t commit his crimes and recorded a 12-minute recorded statement talking about why he was innocent.

(Gacy,John)

When he stayed in prison, Gacy found some solace in art. He took up painting and some of his paintings made it to a Chicago art exhibit. Art lovers have described his art as disturbing ,while other say it provides an insight into the mind of a madman. His last words contained the simple phrase, “Kiss my ass”. People have voiced some concerns following his death about the number of victims he killed. Police continue to search for bodies that could be linked to “The Killer Clown”
John Wayne Gacy’s life can trace itself back to his abusive childhood. He constantly sought his father’s approval and lived his life to make his father happy. He suppressed his homosexual feelings and feelings of disappointment and this led to violence and torture. Deep down the man came as close to the devil as a human can get. Murdering 33 young boys who had their entire lives in front of them. Sexually assaulting boys that trusted him and thought that he demonstrated trust and compassion. He also cheated on his wife and betrayed her and his children. Overall, he disappointed his father and everyone he cared about. “The Killer Clown” involved himself in horrendous murderous deeds that left family members torn apart and heartbroken.

Works Cited
Philbin, Michael. "John Wayne Gacy." The Killer Book of Serial Killers. By Tom Philbin. Illinois: Source, 2008. 65-78. Print.
Schechter, Harold. "John Wayne Gacy." The Serial Killer Files. New York: Balatine, 2003. 8+. Print.
Editors, Biography. "John Wayne Gacy." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 10 Nov. 2015. Web. 07 Mar. 2017.
John Wayne Gacy. 2015. Theline-up.com, n.p.
Gacy, John W. Hi Ho the Clown. N.d. Miaminewtimes.com, n.p.