John Wayne Gacy

Serial Killer

John Wayne Gacy: Crimes, Victims, and Investigation

Background and Double Life

John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer and sexual predator who murdered 33 teenage boys and young men in the Chicago area between 1972 and 1978. Born in Chicago on March 17, 1942, Gacy eventually became a successful building contractor and lived at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in unincorporated Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois. To neighbors and business associates, he often appeared outgoing, hardworking, and active in his community. He attended political and civic events, held large parties at his home, and occasionally entertained people while dressed as the clown characters "Pogo" and "Patches." This public image concealed a long history of sexual violence and increasingly serious criminal behavior. Gacy had already been convicted of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in Iowa in 1968. He received a ten-year prison sentence but was paroled in 1970 after serving approximately eighteen months. After returning to the Chicago area, he established PDM Contractors, a remodeling and construction business that frequently employed teenage boys and young men. Several of his later murder victims either worked for him, believed they were being offered employment, or encountered him while he was looking for young workers.

Methods Used in the Crimes

Gacy used several methods to gain control of victims. Some were approached with offers of construction work or money. Others were encountered at bus stations, on city streets, in bars, or while hitchhiking. At his house, Gacy sometimes demonstrated what he described as a handcuff "trick." After persuading a victim to allow himself to be handcuffed, Gacy could take control of him. Survivor accounts and evidence presented during the investigation established that Gacy sexually assaulted, restrained, tortured, and threatened young men inside his home. Most of the known murder victims died from strangulation or other forms of asphyxiation. Gacy frequently used rope or another ligature, although forensic examinations showed that some victims had cloth or other material forced into their throats, causing suffocation. His first known victim, Timothy McCoy, was killed with a knife. Because many victims were not discovered until months or years after death, decomposition prevented investigators from determining a precise cause of death in every case. Gacy concealed most of the bodies beneath or around his Summerdale Avenue house. Numerous victims were placed in shallow graves in the cramped crawl space beneath the building. Others were buried beneath the garage, dining-room area, or backyard. As the available burial space filled, Gacy began disposing of victims in the Des Plaines River. Ultimately, investigators connected 29 victims to remains recovered on or beneath his property and four victims to bodies recovered from the river. ...

Confirmed Victims: (33)

Timothy McCoy Age: (16), Date of Death: 1972-01-03

Suspected Victims:

Rickey Enochs Age: (18), Date of Death: 1977-06-30

Charles Hattula Age: (25), Date of Death: 1978-05-13

Survivors:

Donald Voorhees, Jr. Age: (15), Date of Attack: 1967-08

Tony Age: (15), Date of Attack: 1970

Anthony Antonucci Age: (15), Date of Attack: 1975-07

David Cram Age: (18), Date of Attack: 1976-08-22

Robert Donnelly Age: (19), Date of Attack: 1977-12-13

Jeffrey Rignall Age: (26), Date of Attack: 1978-03-21

Jack Merrill Age: (19), Date of Attack: 1978

Steve Nemmers

John Wayne Gacy - Wikipedia