Throughout history, American society has known many tyrants, killers, people with serious psychological deviations and behavior anomalies. And among them, John Gacy occupies his own separate, terrifying niche. This serial sexual maniac in his life brutally mocked and then killed 33 young people, most of whom are teenagers. The whole world knew about him as a “killer clown”, a man who for many years under the guise of a patron and respectable citizen hid his perverted desires.
Biography
Psychologists are still trying to understand what is a decisive factor for the development in a person of a desire to kill to satisfy sexual fantasies. Many call genetic predisposition, others - social prerequisites and serious stress in childhood. In the story with John Gacy, all these factors took place.
He was born in 1942 in Chicago. The family was dysfunctional, the father drank a lot, beat his wife and son, so aggression was commonplace for the boy. In addition, according to researchers of the biography of the killer, the mother was already at the age when she gave birth to Gacy, the birth was difficult, the woman in labor and the baby had some complications. The boy was painful, grew weak, and from the age of 5 he suddenly began to faint. A tumor was found in the hospital, which they were able to remove in time.
Another factor that influenced the development of abnormal tendencies in Gacy John Wayne, was sexual harassment by adults. So, according to the criminal, in early childhood he was molested by a mentally retarded girl living in the neighborhood, and in his teens he was seduced by his father's friend, gay and pedophile.
Psychological abnormalities
Already at the age of 17, John Gacy began to have problems in his sexual life. During sexual intercourse with a woman, he lost consciousness, and this incident in many respects affected the decrease in self-esteem. He began to avoid girls, unnatural desires appeared in his brain, which, by the way, he could soon realize.
Gacy dropped out of school and left Chicago for Las Vegas. Here he managed to get into the local morgue and even work for several months. But the owner of the morgue soon with horror discovered what the young employee was doing, namely, sex with corpses. The indignant man reported to the police, but this statement was not satisfied. So, law enforcement made a mistake for the first time, did not pay attention to the future maniac, who in a few years will commit his first murder.
Usual life
In the next 5 years, the fate of John Gacy was no different from the average American. In 1964, he moved to Iowa, settled in the small town of Waterloo, and even got married. His wife's stepfather owned a KFC fast food restaurant and a young husband got a job as a manager in a cafe. From the first days, he established himself as a good and responsible worker, did not leave the cafe for 12 hours a day. True, this zeal was largely caused not so much by the desire for career growth as by the desire to be alone with adolescents who worked at KFC.
In general, he led an ordinary life. Rested with family and friends, went to the cinema and restaurants. But unsatisfied desires continued to torment the man, and soon his sick fantasies were embodied.
First arrest
Geisy John Wayne's perverse inclinations didn’t go anywhere, he continued to be attracted to the male sex and found particular pleasure in forcing boys to have oral sex. All adolescents silently endured, fearing revenge from the boss. Only one, Donald Vohorhiz, was not afraid of threats from Wayne or even the brutal beating initiated by Gacy.
The statement was accepted by the police and brought to court. However, the dodgy criminal confessed everything and completely repented of his deed. Therefore, the sentence was relatively lenient, only 10 years, while for this crime threatened with punishment up to life imprisonment.
And again, the US executive did not see this person as a potential dangerous individual, after 18 months in prison, John Gacy Jr. went ahead of schedule for good behavior.
First kill
He did not stay in the town where everyone knew about his crime and would hardly approve of living next door. Moreover, the first wife divorced him shortly after the announcement of the verdict. Gacy returned to his native Chicago and settled in a small suburb of Norwood Park metropolis. Here, neither a criminal record, nor a lack of education prevented an enterprising young man from buying a house, starting his own construction business, and even joining the US Democratic Party. The future "Clown Killer" led an active life of a citizen, joined a charitable organization, where he even became a treasurer, participated in political and public activities.
He even remarried a former classmate who already had two children. By the summer of 1972, he had already committed his first murder. An unintended victim of John Gacy was his young lover. After a stormy night, the young man without any thoughts went up to lying Gacy with a knife, as he was preparing breakfast for both of them. Wayne thought he wanted to attack, a fight broke out, as a result of which Timothy McCoy was killed. True, the killer did not repent of his deeds at all, it was at that moment that he felt an extraordinary rush of sexual attraction. His perverted fantasies finally took on a complete form, Gacy experienced the extraordinary pleasure of the torment and struggle of his victim.
Killer's special handwriting
The maniac divorced his second wife after 3 years, in 1975, Carroll Hoff was tired of enduring her husband's perversions and left him. Now nobody was stopping him from embodying his fantasies, and John Gacy, or The Clown Killer, began his bloody “career”. He received the nickname "clown" because of an innocent hobby, he often performed in a clown costume at children's parties and parties.
Gacy committed his second murder when his wife did not finally move away from him, and the divorce was not officially filed. The good-natured uncle lured the teenager John Butkovich to his home, after which he raped and tormented the young man for several hours. During the crime, Carroll Hoff came into the house, but did not suspect anything. But this case scared the killer so much that he lurked for 8 months.
But Gais could not, and did not want to overcome the perverted fantasies completely. He continued to seduce and kill. The scheme of his actions was almost always the same. He drove out in the evening by car, rode around the city, met young people. He offered someone money, someone just had sex, and deceived someone. But everyone who agreed to visit Wayne did not return from there. Only two of his victims survived, their stories will be described below. He also used his construction company as a decoy. It was as if he invited me to an interview in his house, and then he attacked, tied and mocked him.
The maniac’s torture sometimes lasted several hours. He raped, beat and mocked the youths. Between executions, I read the Bible to them, but then strangled them and dumped them in a basement or river nearby.
Until now, historians and researchers of the biography of the maniac are wondering why the arrest of John Gacy was so late, because there were many suspicions and even direct indications of his involvement in the disappearance of adolescents. But the police continued to turn a blind eye, seeing in this monster only an active citizen and a generous sponsor.
Stories of victims
Impunity intoxicated the maniac. No one could suspect a good-natured, fat man in such crimes. Meanwhile, the number of victims was growing. Once he brought home two young people at once - Rendell Raffet and Sam Stapleton. After Gacy had plenty of fun with the young men, he killed them and buried them in the basement in pose 69, putting each other's penis in his mouth. Although the forensic investigators who later dealt with John Gacy's “Clown Killer” case noted that this was only one of the many perverted quirks of this creepy man.
Only two victims of the maniac managed to survive and tell about all the horrors of what happened to them, but they did not believe them. In 1977, a man named Donelly contacted the police with a statement. He accused Gacy of rape and beating. But this person was registered in a psychiatric hospital, so no charges were brought against an honest businessman. So law enforcement again allowed the killer to leave.
Also for unknown reasons, maniac John Gacy left alive 26-year-old Jeffrey Regal. The young man was homosexual and often sold his love for money. On May 22, 1978, he was walking around the city when Gacy approached him and offered to drink. Regal happily agreed. But, having driven off quite a bit, the driver began to strangle his victim with a rag with chloroform. Regal lost consciousness and came to his senses only occasionally. In the end, after hours of rape and torture, Gacy dropped a man in a park. Why this time he moved away from his scheme and did not kill the victim remained a mystery. Regal received multiple bruises, tears, and a liver burn due to chloroform.
Police action
Almost the main reason why serial killer John Wayne Gacy was not caught after his first crimes was the negligent attitude of the police. The man was repeatedly charged with the same accusation; he was tried for sexual harassment, but the authorities stubbornly continued to shield Gacy. Many argue that this behavior was caused by the maniac’s great connections, as well as by a wide charitable company. After all, his organization was a kind of sponsor of the local police station, and he himself joined the Masonic lodge.
Here is another case when, due to the negligent attitude of officers to work, a few months after the incident with Jeffrey Regal, a teenager from a prosperous family, Robert Pist, disappeared in the city. His parents knew that he went to get a job in the Gacy construction company, so the police went on a statement, and the killer himself was arrested. The officers searched his house, found handcuffs, dildos and other sex toys, and they all felt a strange smell, but did not attach any importance to this. Neither the attic nor the basement were searched; the case of John Gacy was closed, even without really starting.
Execution
The man behaved very confidently and arrogantly, he was already used to impunity and thought that this time everything would work out. He even invited the police to a cup of coffee and again argued that all the charges were unfounded and invented in order to denigrate his pure name.
But this time, the authorities did not calm down, requested an old case from Iowa, and based on these data decided to do a full search. Nobody was ready for what they found in the basement. 29 bodies of varying degrees of decomposition lay in the most unusual poses, some had foreign objects. The forensics worked in special clothes and gas masks, because it was simply impossible to be indoors. It took several days to endure the remains of the victims whom John Gacy had killed for several years. The cause of death for almost everyone was strangulation. Later, the killer in an ironic form will say that he is innocent, and all these are accidents that occurred during sexual games.
Not all bodies were identified; some were very decomposed. The maniac admitted that he drowned 4 bodies of his victims in a nearby river. Needless to say, what resonance caused this case in the United States. The history of the maniac was an excellent occasion for the two political parties of the country to accuse each other of the most terrible sins. In such a situation, it could only be the death penalty for John Gacy. Although the maniac to the last hoped to save his life, talking about his insanity, and even claimed that faith in God allowed him to return heterosexuality, and now he can live a normal life.
But in 1980, a jury found him guilty and sentenced him to 21 life sentences and 12 executions. Gacy showed amazing insolence and resourcefulness, for 14 years he endlessly appealed and complained, trying to delay the moment of death. Finally, in 1994 the sentence was carried out. According to the well-known American tradition, on the last day, the maniac ordered himself for dinner KFC chicken, fried potatoes, strawberries and shrimp. Even leaving for the death room, he said to his overseer: "Kiss me in the ass."
His execution and subsequent days of celebration became a real show in the city and throughout the country. T-shirts with the inscription “Death of Gacy” were on sale, thousands of people went out to learn about the death of the monster. Walking on this occasion lasted all night, some were even taken to a sobering station.
Psychologists opinions
The biography of John Wayne Gacy will forever remain one of the most terrifying pages in the history of the world and America. This case shows that even the closest and most adequate people can turn out to be really scary monsters. At the interrogation, Gacy claimed that he had a split personality and that the latter commits these crimes. But, in addition to this, in studies, other serious psychological diseases were found, such as alcohol and drug addiction and deviations in personal perception.
The reason for the appearance of the maniac was a combination of factors: childhood injuries, physical inferiority, homosexual inclinations, as well as the habit of aggression. Today, many tests and approaches to the study of personality are based largely on the study of the behavior of maniacs. After all, if none of those around Gacy could understand who he really is, the same can happen to another person with similar inclinations.
After death, scientists removed the killer’s brain and tried to examine it for abnormalities, but found nothing suspicious.
Reflection in popular culture
The story of John Gacy can hardly leave anyone indifferent. The most remarkable thing was that he gave the impression of a perfectly normal, successful person. After moving to Chicago, his career went uphill. He joined the Democratic Party, openly at rallies or in the media, he denounced the Republicans for racism, for the disregard for the lower strata of the population. He even turned his criminal record for harassing a teenager to his advantage, accusing political opponents of intentionally discrediting his name. Many predicted his place in Congress.
After a search in his house, a photo was found where Gacy was captured with Rosalynne Carter, the future first lady of the United States. Moreover, a badge flaunts on the maniac’s chest, confirming his connection with the country's security services. Thus, Gacy had very extensive connections at the very top of the government.
The first film about John Gacy was shot during his lifetime, when he was in prison. The tape was called "Catch the Killer." After the execution, the documentary "The Gacy grave digger" was shot. The image of a maniac has repeatedly appeared in some horror films, as well as cartoons for adults. So, in the “South Park”, Gacy in one of the series, along with other famous sexual maniacs, becomes Satan's assistant. The famous horror king Stephen King, in the image of a clown killer, created his famous book “It”, which was also repeatedly shown on the screens of movie theaters.
An interesting fact, but Gacy is considered the most successful artist. In prison, he became interested in painting and painted mainly clowns and himself in this image. After his death, paintings began to be bought up actively by collectors of the world, and the cost sometimes exceeded $ 9 thousand. Relatives of the victims acquired many canvases in order to destroy them.