John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy (alias The Killer Clown) was an american serial killer and sex offender who assaulted and murdered at least 33 young boys.

Background
Gacy was close to his mother and two sisters, but endured a difficult relationship with his father, an alcoholic who was physically abusive to his wife and children. His father also belittled him, calling him "dumb and stupid" and comparing him unfavorably with his sisters. One of Gacy's earliest memories was being beaten with a leather belt for accidentally disarranging car engine components his father had assembled. His mother tried to shield her son from his father's abuse, which only resulted in accusations that he was a "sissy" and a "Mama's boy" who would "probably grow up queer". Despite his mistreatment, Gacy still loved his father,  but felt he was "never good enough" in his father's eyes.

In 1949, Gacy's father was informed his son and another boy had been caught sexually fondling a young girl. His father whipped him with a razor strop as punishment. The same year, a family friend and contractor would sometimes molest Gacy in his truck. Gacy never told his father about this, afraid that his father would blame him.

Gacy was an overweight and unathletic child. Because of a heart condition, he was told to avoid all sports at school. During the fourth grade, Gacy began to experience blackouts. He was hospitalized on occasion because of the seizures and in 1957 for a burst appendix. Gacy later estimated that between the ages of 14 and 18, he had spent almost a year in hospital and attributed the decline of his grades to missing school. His father suspected these episodes were an effort to gain sympathy and attention and openly accused his son of faking the condition as Gacy laid in a hospital bed. Although his mother, sisters, and few close friends never doubted his illness, Gacy's medical condition was never conclusively diagnosed.

One of Gacy's friends at high school recalled several instances when his father ridiculed or beat his son without provocation. Once in 1957, he witnessed Gacy's father shouting at his son for no reason, then begin hitting him. Gacy's mother attempted to intervene. The friend recalled that Gacy simply "put up his hands to defend himself", adding that he never struck his father back during these altercations.

Conviction and Execution
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.

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. At his trial Gacy’s plea of innocent by reason of insanity was supported by the testimony of several psychologists, who diagnosed him as schizophrenic, but was rejected by the jury, which found him guilty of all 33 murders of which he was accused; he was executed by lethal injection in 1994.

Known Victims

 * Jan 2, 1972:
 * Tim McCoy
 * 1975-1976:
 * John Butkovich
 * Darrell Sampson
 * Randall Reffett
 * Samuel Stapleton
 * Michael Bonnin
 * William Carroll
 * Rick Johnston
 * Gregory Godzik
 * 27 unnamed victims
 * 1977-1978:
 * John Szyc
 * Jon Prestige
 * Matthew Bowman
 * Robert Gilroy
 * John Mowery
 * Russell Nelson
 * Robert Winch
 * Tommy Baling
 * David Talsma
 * William Kindred
 * Tim O'Rourke
 * Frank Wayne Landingin
 * James Mazzara
 * Robert Piest