John Wayne Gacy

(The Killer Clown)

Background:

  • Born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois
  • His father was who was physically abusive to him and his mother
  • When Gacy was 6 years old he stole a toy truck and was beaten by his father for doing so
  • At the age of nine he was molested by a friend of the family.
  • As a child he was overweight and unathletic was caused him to be subject to frequent bullying.
  • He became interested in politics around the time of his 18th birthday, which earned him further criticism from his father
  • Despite never graduating high school he did however enroll the Northwestern Business College, from which he graduated in 1963
  • Finally, in 1964 Gacy had his first homosexual experiencein 1964 with a colleague while the two of them were both drunk

Criminal Involvement:

  • His first known crime was the sexual assault of a fifteen year old boy.
  1. His luring tactic was to promise the boy that he could view pornographic films.
  2. He was convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison at Anamosa State Penitentiary, but was granted parole and twelve months probation after serving only eighteen months there.
  • On February 12, 1971 Gacy once again committed another sexual assault on a teenage boy.
  1. The victim unfortunately never appeared at court and as a result the case was dismissed.

Most Recent Crime:

  • Gacy’s final and most recent conviction was the murder of over 30 male teenagers and young men.
  1. Authorities apprehended Gacy on December 21, 1978.
  2. The following day Gacy confessed to the murder of an estimated 25-30 young males.
  3. On February 26, 1980 Gacy was charged with 33 murders.

Evidence:

  • In December of 1978 27 bodies were found on Gacy’s property.
  1. 26 of these bodies were found in Gacy’s crawl space.
  2. The remaining bodies were also soon recovered at various locations.
  3. Several victims were found with the ligature (something used to tie or fasten) still tied around there necks.
  4. IN his house there was clothing that was far too small to fit him.
  5. Nylon rope on his property used most likely for strangling.
  6. Drugs and needles were also found at the scene.

Trial:

  • Gacy spent over 300 hours with doctors at the Menard Correctional Center before they determined that he was indeed mentally capable to stand trial.
  • His defense attempted to proclaim that the murders were accidental due to erotic asphyxiation (the act of cutting of one’s oxygen supply for sexual arousal).
  1. The jury however, did not buy into this theory.
  • On March 12, 1979 the jury found Gacy guilty on all 33 counts of murder.
  1. He was also found guilty of sexual assault and taking indecent liberties with a child (exposing one’s self to a child).

Sentence:

  • John Wayne Gacy was sentenced to death on March 13, 1979.
  • After his incarceration he remained on death row for fourteen years.
  • His execution date kept getting pushed back until it was finally set for May 10, 1994.

Execution and last words:

  • Gacy was sentenced to lethal injection on May 10, 1994.
  • The day before Gacy was granted permission to have a private picnic on the prison grounds with his family.
  • Just before his execution Gacy uttered his final words, which simply were, “Kiss my ass”.
  • John Wayne Gacy, The Killer Clown, was confirmed dead at 12:58 a.m. on May 10, 1994.

Nickname – The Killer Clown

Theory that explains the criminal’s behavior:

I feel that the theory that best explains John Wayne Gacy’s behavior is the social control theory. This theory says that people care about what others think about them and they try to conform to social expectations because they accept what people expect. In this theory the deviance occurs when the attachment to the social bond is broken and severed. The person who broke John Wayne Gacy’s social bond was his father. His father was abusive to him as a child and never showed him that he was proud of him. Gacy was often bulied as a child, but he wasn’t able to go to his father because much of the bulling came from him. Gacy felt that he never lived up to his father’s expectations of him, and this caused him to lash out.

Consequently, I feel that John Wayne Gacy committed these acts of deviance out of spite for his father. I think he was trying to say, “Look what I can do”. I believe that he was calling out to his father through his many murders as if to show him that he was capable of doing something masculine. Gacy was often picked on as a child because of his weight and lack of athletic ability. I believe that this lead Gacy to commit such violent crimes as a way to prove that he was competent of doing the very most physically enduring act one can do; murdering another human being. All in all, Gacy was an absolute monster. Gacy’s actions can never be condoned; however, I do feel that his rough and unloving upbringing had a lot to do with the person he finally became.

Deterrence or Rehabilitation:

John Wayne Gacy should be and rightfully was simply punished. Gacy’s actions are not condonable in any way and he should receive the laws fullest extent of punishment for what he has done. He killed over thirty people. Someone who has done something as horrible as what Gacy did can never be rehabilitated to a point where they could fit in with society. I feel that the right thing was done in the case of John Wayne Gacy. Gacy is an example that not everyone deserves another try. He had already been in trouble with the law prior to the murders and he sealed shut his chance at ever redeeming himself in the eyes of the public. Gacy had his second chance and he blew it. After doing what he did he doesn’t deserve to get another chance in society. Gacy was a malicious human being and I believe that the punishment of execution was very suitable for his actions.