Childhood

John Wayne Gacy was born at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago, Illinois,^[1] on March 17, 1942, the second of three children and only son of John Stanley Gacy and Marion Elaine Robison.^[2][3] His father was an auto repair machinist and World War I veteran, and his mother was a homemaker.^[4][5] Gacy was of Polish and Danish ancestry, and his family was Catholic.^[6][7]

Gacy was close to his mother and two sisters, but had a difficult relationship with his father, an alcoholic who was verbally and physically abusive to his family.^{[2][8][9][lower-alpha 1]} The elder Gacy frequently belittled his son, calling him "dumb and stupid" and comparing him unfavorably with his sisters. One of Gacy's earliest childhood memories was of his father beating him at age four for accidentally disarranging car engine components.^[11] His mother tried to shield her son from his father's abuse, which resulted in accusations that he was a "sissy" and a "mama's boy" who would "probably grow up queer".^[4][8][12] In 1949, Gacy's father whipped him after he and another boy were caught sexually fondling a young girl.^[13] The same year, a family friend began to occasionally molest Gacy.^[8][9] Gacy never told his father, afraid that his father would blame him.^[14] Despite their challenging relationship, Gacy loved his father,^[9] but felt he was "never good enough" in his father's eyes.^[15]

Gacy was an overweight and unathletic child. Because of a heart condition, he was told to avoid sports.^[2] In the fourth grade, Gacy began to experience blackouts. He was hospitalized on occasion because of these episodes and also, in 1957, for a burst appendix.^[16] Gacy later estimated that between the ages of 14 and 18, he had spent almost a year in hospital; he attributed the decline of his grades to missing school.^{[1][lower-alpha 2]} Gacy's medical condition was never conclusively diagnosed; his father suspected he was malingering. On one occasion, he openly accused Gacy of faking as he lay in a hospital bed.^[18]

Career origins

In 1960, at age 18, Gacy became involved in politics, working as an assistant precinct captain for a local Democratic Party candidate. This led to more criticism from his father, who called him a "patsy".^[19] The same year, Gacy's father bought him a car. He kept the vehicle's title in his own name until Gacy had paid for it, which took several years. His father would confiscate the keys if Gacy did not do as he said. In April 1962, Gacy purchased an extra set of keys. In response, his father removed the distributor cap, keeping the component for three days.^[12] Hours after his father replaced the cap, Gacy left home and drove to Las Vegas, Nevada, with $136 to his name in the hope of residing with a cousin.^[20]

Gacy worked in the city's ambulance service before being transferred to Palm Mortuary. He worked as a mortuary attendant for three months, observing morticians embalming bodies and occasionally serving as a pallbearer.^[21] He slept on a cot behind the embalming room and later confessed that one evening, while alone, he clambered into the coffin of a teenage male, embracing and caressing the body before experiencing a sense of shock.^{[8][lower-alpha 3]} This experience prompted Gacy to return home.^[23]

Shortly thereafter, Gacy enrolled at Northwestern Business College, despite having failed to complete high school. He graduated in 1963 and took a management trainee position with the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company.^[12][16] In 1964, the company transferred him to Springfield, Illinois, to work as a salesman, and eventually promoted him to department manager.^[8] In March of that year, he became engaged to Marlynn Myers, a co-worker.^[16]

During their courtship, Gacy joined the local Jaycees.^[2] That same year, he had his second homosexual experience. According to Gacy, a colleague in the Jaycees plied him with drinks and invited him to spend the evening on his sofa; the colleague then performed oral sex on him while he was drunk.^[24] By 1965, Gacy had risen to the position of vice-president of the Springfield Jaycees^[16] and was named the third most outstanding Jaycee in Illinois.^[12]

KFC manager

Gacy and Myers married in September 1964.^[13] Marlynn's father subsequently purchased three Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurants in Waterloo, Iowa. The couple moved there so Gacy could manage the restaurants, with the understanding that they would move into Marlynn's parents' former home.^[8][16] The offer was lucrative: Gacy would receive $15,000 per year (the equivalent of about $153,000 as of 2024), plus a share of the restaurant's profits.^[12] Gacy opened a "club" in his basement where his employees could drink alcohol and play pool. Although Gacy employed teenagers of both sexes, he socialized only with the young men. Gacy gave many of them alcohol before he made sexual advances; if they rebuffed him, he would claim his advances were jokes or a test of morals.^[8]

Gacy's wife gave birth to a son in February 1966 and a daughter in March 1967. Gacy later described this period of his life as "perfect"—he had finally earned his father's approval. When Gacy's parents visited in July 1966, his father privately apologized for the abuse he had inflicted before happily saying, "Son, I was wrong about you," as he shook Gacy's hand.^[25]

Waterloo Jaycees

In Waterloo, Gacy joined the local Jaycees chapter, regularly offering extended hours to the organization in addition to the 12- and 14-hour days he worked managing the restaurants. At meetings, Gacy often provided fried chicken and insisted on being called "Colonel".^[12] He and other Waterloo Jaycees were also deeply involved in drug abuse, pornography, prostitution and wife swapping.^[8][24] Although Gacy was considered ambitious and a braggart, the Jaycees held him in high regard for his fundraising work: in 1967 he was named "outstanding vice-president" of the Waterloo Jaycees^[16] and served on the board of directors.^[26]

8213 West Summerdale Avenue

With financial assistance from his mother, Gacy bought a ranch house at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in unincorporated Norwood Park Township, Illinois, part of metropolitan Chicago. He lived there until his arrest in December 1978 and, according to Gacy, committed all his murders there.^[45]

Gacy was active in his local community and helpful towards his neighbors; he willingly loaned his construction tools and plowed snow from neighborhood walks free of charge.^[46] From 1974 to 1978, he hosted themed annual summer parties. These events were attended by up to 400 people, including politicians and business associates.^[47]

Second marriage and divorce

In August 1971, shortly after Gacy and his mother moved into the house, he became engaged to Carole Hoff, whom he had briefly dated in high school.^[8] Carole and her two young daughters from a previous marriage moved into Gacy's home soon after.^[41] They were married on July 1, 1972.^[8] His mother moved out of the house shortly before the wedding.^[8]

By 1975, Gacy had told his wife that he was bisexual.^[48] After the couple had sex on Mother's Day that year, he informed her this would be "the last time" they would do so.^[42] He began spending most evenings away from home, only to return in the early morning with the excuse he had been working late, or conducting business meetings.^{[49][lower-alpha 5]} Carole observed Gacy bringing teenage boys into his garage in the early hours and also found gay pornography and men's wallets and identification inside the house. When she confronted Gacy about these items, he informed her angrily that it was none of her business.^[41]

In October 1975, after a heated argument, Carole asked Gacy for a divorce.^[51] He agreed although, by mutual consent, she continued to live at the West Summerdale house until February 1976. On March 2, the Gacys' divorce—decreed on the false grounds of Gacy's infidelity with women—was finalized.^{[46][52][53][lower-alpha 6]}

PDM Contractors

In 1971, Gacy established a part-time construction business, PDM Contractors (for "Painting, Decorating, and Maintenance").^[41] With the approval of his probation officer, Gacy worked evenings on his construction contracts while working as a cook during the day. Initially, he undertook minor repair work, but later expanded to include projects such as interior design, remodeling, and landscaping. In mid-1973, Gacy quit his job as a cook so he could commit fully to his construction business.^[42]

By 1975, PDM was expanding rapidly and Gacy was working up to sixteen hours per day. In March 1977, he became a supervisor for PE Systems, a firm specializing in the remodeling of drugstores. Between PE Systems and PDM, Gacy worked on up to four projects simultaneously and frequently traveled to other states.^[55] By 1978, PDM's annual revenue was over $200,000.^{[54][lower-alpha 7]}

Clown

Gacy as Pogo the Clown

Through his membership in a local Moose Club, Gacy became aware of a "Jolly Joker" clown club, whose members regularly performed at fundraising events and parades in addition to voluntarily entertaining hospitalized children.^[51] In late 1975, Gacy joined the clown club and created his own characters "Pogo the Clown" and "Patches the Clown", devising his own makeup and costumes. He described Pogo as a "happy clown", whereas Patches was a "more serious" character.^[57]

Gacy seldom earned money for his performances and later said that acting as a clown allowed him to "regress into childhood". He performed as both Pogo and Patches at numerous local parties, political functions, charitable events, and children's hospitals.^[51] Gacy's voluntary public service as a clown throughout the years of his murders led to him being known as the "Killer Clown".^[58]

Politics

Gacy with First Lady Rosalynn Carter on May 6, 1978, six years after his first murder and seven months before his final arrest

Gacy entered local Democratic Party politics, initially offering use of his employees to clean party headquarters at no charge. He was rewarded with an invitation to serve on the Norwood Park Township street lighting committee, subsequently earning the title of precinct captain.^[41][44][54]

In 1975, Gacy was appointed director of Chicago's annual Polish Constitution Day Parade.^[6][66] Through his work with the parade, which he would supervise until 1978, Gacy met and was photographed with First Lady Rosalynn Carter wearing an "S" pin, indicating a person given special clearance.^[54][67] The event later became an embarrassment to the United States Secret Service.^[67]

Murder of Timothy McCoy

Timothy McCoy

Gacy's first known murder occurred on January 3, 1972. According to Gacy's later account, following a family party the previous evening, he drove to the Civic Center in the Loop in the early morning to view a display of ice sculptures.^[82] He then lured 16-year-old Timothy Jack McCoy from Chicago's Greyhound Bus Terminal into his car. McCoy was on his way to his father's home in Omaha, Nebraska, and informed Gacy his bus to Nebraska was not due until noon.^[83][84] Gacy took McCoy on a sightseeing tour of Chicago and then drove him to his home with the promise that he could spend the remainder of the night and be driven back to the station in time to catch his bus.^{[85][lower-alpha 11]} Prior to McCoy's identification, he was known as the "Greyhound Bus Boy".^[87]

Gacy claimed he woke early the following morning to find McCoy standing in his bedroom doorway holding a kitchen knife.^[22] He jumped from his bed and McCoy raised both arms in a gesture of surrender, accidentally cutting Gacy's forearm.^{[lower-alpha 12]} Gacy disarmed McCoy, banged his head against the bedroom wall, and kicked him against his wardrobe.^[89] McCoy kicked Gacy in the stomach, doubling him over. Gacy then grabbed McCoy,^[89] wrestled him to the floor and stabbed him repeatedly in the chest.^[48]

As McCoy lay dying, Gacy claimed he washed the knife in his bathroom, then went to his kitchen and saw the makings of breakfast on the table. McCoy had set the table for two; he had walked into Gacy's room to wake him while absentmindedly carrying the knife.^[22] Gacy buried McCoy in his crawl space and later covered his grave with a layer of concrete.^[48] In an interview several years after his arrest, Gacy said that immediately after killing McCoy, he felt "totally drained", yet noted that as he stabbed McCoy and as he listened to the "gurgulations" and gasping, he had experienced a mind-numbing orgasm. He added: "That's when I realized that death was the ultimate thrill."^[22]

Second murder

Gacy said he committed murder for the second time around January 1974.^{[90][lower-alpha 13]} This victim remains unidentified; he was strangled and placed in Gacy's closet before burial.^[92][93] Gacy later stated that bodily fluids leaked from the victim's mouth and nose, staining his carpet. Gacy regularly stuffed rags, the victim's own underwear, or a sock into the mouths of subsequent victims to prevent such a leakage.^[94]

Murder of John Butkovich

John Butkovich

On July 31, 1975, John Butkovich, an 18-year-old PDM employee, disappeared.^[95] Butkovich's car was later found abandoned with his jacket and wallet inside and the keys in the ignition.^[96]

The day before his disappearance, Butkovich had confronted Gacy over outstanding back pay. Butkovich's father called Gacy, who claimed he was happy to help search for his son but was sorry Butkovich had "run away". When questioned by police, Gacy said Butkovich and two friends had arrived at his house demanding the overdue pay, but they had reached a compromise and all three had left. Over the following three years, Butkovich's parents called police more than 100 times, urging them to investigate Gacy further.^[46][96]

Gacy later admitted to encountering Butkovich exiting his car, waving to attract his attention. According to Gacy, Butkovich approached him, stating, "I wanna talk to you." Gacy invited Butkovich into his car, then invited him back to his home, ostensibly to settle the issue of his overdue wages.^{[lower-alpha 14]} At his home, Gacy offered Butkovich a drink, then conned him into allowing his wrists to be cuffed behind his back. Gacy later confessed to having "sat on the kid's chest for a while" before he strangled him. He stowed Butkovich's body in his garage, intending to bury the body later in the crawl space. When his wife and stepdaughters returned home earlier than expected, Gacy buried Butkovich under the concrete floor of the tool room extension of his garage in an empty space where he had intended to dig a drain tile.^[96]

Cruising years

In addition to being the year his business expanded, Gacy freely admitted that 1975 was also when he began to increase the frequency of his excursions for sex with young males.^[42] He often referred to these jaunts as "cruising".^[47] Gacy committed most of his murders between 1976 and 1978, as he largely lived alone following his divorce.

Although Gacy remained gregarious and civic-minded, several neighbors noticed behavioral changes after his 1976 divorce, including seeing him keeping company with young males, hearing his car arrive or depart in the early morning, or seeing lights in his home switch on and off in the early hours.^[52] One neighbor later recollected that, for several years, muffled high-pitched screaming, shouting, and crying had repeatedly awakened her and her son in the early morning. She identified the sounds as emanating from a house adjacent to theirs on West Summerdale Avenue.^[80]

Murder of Robert Piest

Robert Piest

On the afternoon of December 11, 1978, Gacy visited the Nisson Pharmacy in Des Plaines, to discuss a potential remodeling deal with the store owner, Phil Torf.^[133] While he was within earshot of 15-year-old part-time employee Robert Piest, Gacy mentioned his firm often hired teenage boys at a starting wage of $5 per hour—almost double the pay Piest earned at the pharmacy.^[134]

Shortly after Gacy left, Piest's mother arrived at the store to drive her son home so the family could celebrate her birthday together.^[54] Piest asked his mother to wait, adding that "some contractor wants to talk to me about a job". He left the store at 9:00 p.m., promising to return shortly.^[134]

Piest was murdered shortly after 10:00 p.m. at Gacy's home.^[134] Gacy later stated that at his house, he gave Piest a soft drink before asking whether there was anything he "wouldn't do for the right price", to which Piest replied that he did not mind working hard. In response, Gacy stated "good money" could be earned by hustling, although Piest was dismissive. Gacy then duped Piest into donning handcuffs.^[135] Gacy's subsequent statements regarding the events varied,^[20][136] although in one of his initial statements, he claimed Piest failed to resist as he removed the boy's trousers. He also stated that as he placed the rope around Piest's neck, the boy was "crying, scared".^[137] Gacy admitted to having received a phone call from a business acquaintance as Piest lay dying.^[54]

First search warrant

Suspecting Gacy might be holding Piest at his home, Des Plaines police obtained a search warrant on December 13.^[140] This search revealed several suspicious items, including several police badges; a starter pistol; a syringe and hypodermic needle; handcuffs; books on homosexuality and pederasty;^{[141][142][143]} pornographic films; capsules of amyl nitrite; a dildo;^[144] a two-by-four with two holes drilled into each end; bottles of Valium and atropine; several driver's licenses; a blue hooded parka;^[140] and underwear too small to fit Gacy.^[143] They also found a class ring engraved with the initials J.A.S.^[145] and a Nisson Pharmacy photo receipt in a trash can, alongside a 36-inch (91 cm) section of nylon rope.^[69]

Surveillance

The Des Plaines police confiscated Gacy's Oldsmobile and other PDM work vehicles. Surveillance teams (consisting of officers Mike Albrecht and David Hachmeister, and Ronald Robinson and Robert Schultz) monitored Gacy as the investigation continued.^[146][147] The following day, investigators received a phone call from Michael Rossi, who informed the investigators of Gregory Godzik's disappearance and the fact that another PDM employee, Charles Hattula, had been found drowned in an Illinois river earlier that year.^[118][148]

On December 15, Des Plaines investigators obtained further details of Gacy's battery charge, learning the complainant, Jeffrey Rignall, had reported that Gacy had lured him into his car, then chloroformed, raped and tortured him before dumping him in Lincoln Park. In an interview with Gacy's former wife the same day, they learned of the disappearance of John Butkovich.^[145] The same day, the class ring was traced to a John Alan Szyc.^[118] An interview with Szyc's mother revealed that several items from her son's apartment were also missing, including a Motorola TV.^[149][150]

By December 16, Gacy was becoming affable with the surveillance detectives, regularly inviting them to join him for meals in restaurants and occasionally for drinks in bars or at his home. He repeatedly denied involvement with Piest's disappearance and accused the officers of harassing him because of his political connections or his recreational drug use. Knowing these officers were unlikely to arrest him on anything trivial, he taunted them by flouting traffic laws and succeeded in losing his pursuers more than once.^[151] That afternoon, Cram consented to a police interview, in which he revealed that, because of his poor timekeeping, Gacy had once given him a watch, explaining he got it "from a dead person".^{[152][lower-alpha 16]}

Investigators conducted a formal interview of Rossi on December 17. He informed them Gacy had sold him Szyc's vehicle, explaining that he had bought the car from Szyc because he needed money to move to California. A further examination of Gacy's Oldsmobile revealed a small cluster of fibers in the trunk, suspected to be human hair. That evening, three trained search dogs were used to determine whether Piest had been present in any of Gacy's vehicles. One laid on the passenger seat of Gacy's Oldsmobile in what the dog's handler informed investigators was a "death reaction", indicating Piest's body had been present.^[145]

That evening, Gacy invited detectives Albrecht and Hachmeister to a restaurant for a meal. Early on December 18, he invited them into another restaurant where, over breakfast, he discussed his business, his marriages and his clowning. During the conversation, Gacy remarked: "You know ... clowns can get away with murder."^[153][154]

By December 18, Gacy was beginning to display signs of strain from the constant surveillance: he was unshaven, looked tired and anxious and was drinking heavily. That afternoon, he drove to his lawyers' office to prepare a $750,000 civil suit against the Des Plaines police, demanding that they cease their surveillance.^[149] The same day, the Nisson Pharmacy photo receipt found in Gacy's kitchen was traced to 17-year-old Kimberly Byers, a colleague of Piest at Nisson Pharmacy. Byers stated that she had borrowed Piest's parka earlier in the evening and had placed the receipt in the pocket just before she returned the coat to Piest as he left the store.^[148][155]

Second search warrant

The same evening, Rossi was interviewed a second time. This time he was more cooperative. He informed detectives that in the summer of 1977, at Gacy's behest, he had spread ten bags of lime in the crawl space of Gacy's house.^[156]

On December 19, investigators began compiling evidence for a second search warrant for Gacy's house. The same day, Gacy's lawyers filed the civil suit against the Des Plaines police. The hearing for the suit was scheduled for December 22. That afternoon, Gacy invited the surveillance detectives inside his house again. As officer Robinson distracted Gacy with conversation, officer Schultz walked into Gacy's bedroom in an unsuccessful attempt to write down the serial number of the Motorola TV set they suspected belonged to John Szyc. While flushing Gacy's toilet, the officer noticed a smell he suspected could be that of rotting corpses emanating from a heating duct. The officers who had searched Gacy's house previously had failed to notice this, as the house had been cold.^[146]

Investigators interviewed both Cram and Rossi on December 20. When questioned as to where he believed Gacy had concealed Piest's body, Rossi replied Gacy may have placed the body in the crawl space.^[57][157] Rossi agreed to submit to a polygraph test. He denied any involvement in Piest's disappearance or any knowledge of his whereabouts. He soon refused to continue the questioning, and Rossi's "erratic and inconsistent" responses while attached to the polygraph machine rendered Kozenczak "unable to render a definite opinion" as to his truthfulness.^[156] Rossi did, however, further discuss the trench digging he did in the crawl space and remarked on Gacy's insistence that he not deviate from where he was instructed to dig.^[158]

Cram informed investigators of Gacy's attempts to rape him in 1976. He stated that after he and Gacy had returned to his home after the December 13 search, Gacy had turned pale after seeing a clod of mud on his carpet and had immediately entered the crawl space to look for evidence of digging. When asked whether he had been to the crawl space, Cram replied he had once been asked by Gacy to spread lime down there and had also dug trenches, which Gacy had explained were for drainage pipes. Cram stated these trenches were 2 feet (0.6 m) wide, 6 feet (1.8 m) long and 2 feet deep—the size of graves.^[156]

Arrest

After being informed that the police had found human remains in his crawl space and that he would now face murder charges, Gacy told officers he wanted to "clear the air".^[45] In the early morning hours of December 22, and in the presence of his lawyers, Gacy provided a formal statement in which he confessed to murdering approximately 30 young males—all of whom he claimed had entered his house willingly.^[45] Some victims were referred to by name, but Gacy claimed not to know or remember most of the names.^[167] He claimed all were teenage male runaways or male prostitutes, the majority of whom he had buried in his crawl space.^[45] Gacy claimed to have dug only five of the graves in this location and had his employees (including Gregory Godzik) dig the remaining trenches so that he would "have graves available".^[137] When shown a driver's license issued to a Robert Hasten which had been found on his property, Gacy claimed not to know him but admitted that this license had been in the possession of one of his victims.^[168] In January 1979, he had planned to conceal the corpses even further by covering the entire crawl space with concrete.^[54]

When questioned specifically about Piest, Gacy confessed to luring him to his house and strangling him on December 11. He also admitted to having slept alongside Piest's body that evening, before disposing of the corpse in the Des Plaines River in the early hours of December 13.^[169] On his way to the police station, he had been in a minor traffic accident after disposing of Piest. His vehicle had slid off an ice-covered road and had to be towed free.^[45]

Diagram of Gacy's Norwood Park residence, depicting the dimensions of his crawl space

Accompanied by police, his lawyers, and his older sister, Gacy was driven to the I-55 bridge on December 23 to pinpoint the precise spot where he confessed to having thrown the body of Robert Piest and four other victims into the river.^[54][170] Gacy was then taken to his house and instructed to mark his garage floor with orange spray paint to show where he had buried the individual he had supposedly killed in self-defense, whom he named as John Butkovich.^[64] To assist officers in their search, Gacy drew a rough diagram of his basement to indicate where their bodies were buried. Twenty-six bodies were unearthed from Gacy's crawl space over the next week; three others were also unearthed elsewhere on his property. As the flooring and walls of the property were dismantled, additional evidence including identification cards and further deviant sex books were discovered.^[99][171]

Closing arguments

On March 11, final arguments by both prosecution and defense attorneys began. Prosecuting attorney Terry Sullivan outlined Gacy's history of abusing youths, the testimony of his efforts to avoid detection and describing his surviving victims—Voorhees and Donnelly—as "living dead". Referring to Gacy as the "worst of all murderers", Sullivan stated, "John Gacy has accounted for more human devastation than many earthly catastrophes... I tremble when thinking about just how close he came to getting away with it all."^[102][168]

After the state's four-hour closing, counsel Sam Amirante spoke for the defense. Amirante accused Sullivan of scarcely referring to the evidence in his own closing argument, and of arousing hatred against his client. He attempted to portray Gacy as "driven by compulsions he was unable to control", contending the State had not met their burden of proving Gacy sane beyond a reasonable doubt.^[168] Amirante then urged the jury to put aside any prejudice they held against his client and asked they deliver a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity, adding that Gacy was a danger to both himself and to others, and that studying his psychology and behavior would be of benefit to science.^[177]

On the morning of March 12, William Kunkle continued to argue for the prosecution.^[177] Kunkle referred to the defense's contention of insanity as "a sham", arguing that the facts of the case demonstrated Gacy's ability to think logically and control his actions. Kunkle also referred to the testimony of one of the doctors who had examined Gacy in 1968 and had concluded he was an antisocial personality, stating that had the recommendations of this doctor been heeded, Gacy would not have been freed.^[168] At the close of his argument, Kunkle removed photos of Gacy's 22 identified victims from a display board and asked the jury not to show sympathy but to "show justice".^[168]

The jury deliberated for one hour and fifty minutes.^[187] Gacy was found guilty of 33 charges of murder; he was also found guilty of sexual assault and taking indecent liberties with a child, both in reference to Robert Piest.^{[168][188][189]} At the time, his conviction for 33 murders was the most for which any person in U.S. history had been convicted.^[190][191]

In the sentencing phase of the trial, the jury deliberated for more than two hours before sentencing Gacy to death for each murder committed after the Illinois statute on capital punishment came into effect in June 1977.^[168][192] His execution was set for June 2, 1980.^[193]

Execution

Gacy's certificate of death

On the morning of May 9, 1994, Gacy was transferred to Stateville Correctional Center to be executed. That afternoon, he was allowed a private picnic on the prison grounds with his family. For his last meal, Gacy ordered a bucket of KFC, french fries, a dozen deep-fried shrimp, fresh strawberries and a Diet Coke.^[206][207] That evening, he received the last rites from a Catholic priest before being escorted to the Stateville execution chamber.^{[208][209][210]} In the hours leading up to Gacy's execution, a crowd estimated at over 1,000 gathered outside the correctional center; a vocal majority were in favor of the execution, although a small number of anti-death penalty protesters were present.^{[198][211][212]} Some of those in favor of the execution wore T-shirts hearkening to Gacy's previous community services as a clown and bearing satirical slogans such as "No tears for the clown".^[213]

Before the execution began, the chemicals used to effect the execution solidified unexpectedly, clogging the IV tube. The execution team replaced the clogged tube and the execution resumed. The entire procedure took 18 minutes.^[214] Anesthesiologists blamed the problem on the prison officials' inexperience at conducting an execution. This error apparently led to Illinois' adopting an alternative method of lethal injection. One prosecutor at Gacy's trial, William Kunkle, said, "He got a much easier death than any of his victims."^[215]

According to published reports, Gacy was a diagnosed psychopath who did not express any remorse for his crimes.^[216] His final statement to his lawyer before his execution was that killing him would not compensate for the loss of others, and that the state was murdering him.^[215] His final spoken words were reported to be "Kiss my ass",^[217] although prosecutor William Kunkle stated in 2020 that these words were spoken to a prison official, and were not part of any official statement prior to Gacy's execution.^[218][219]

After Gacy's death was confirmed at 12:58 a.m. on May 10, 1994, his brain was removed. It is in the possession of Helen Morrison, a witness for the defense at Gacy's trial, who has interviewed Gacy and other serial killers in an attempt to isolate common personality traits of violent sociopaths.^[185] His body was cremated.^[220]

Crawl space

Gacy's sketch of burial locations in his basement (left), and investigators' later diagram (right)

Cook County medical examiner Robert Stein supervised the exhumations of the victims buried on Gacy's property.^[221] The crawl space was marked in sections and each body was given an identifying number. The first body recovered from the crawl space was assigned a marker denoting the victim as Body 1.^[112] He was identified as Jon Prestidge on January 6, 1979.^[121] No cause of death could be determined.

John Butkovich was labelled as Body 2; he was among the first to be identified, on December 29, 1978.^[121][168] On December 23, investigators returned to unearth the three corpses which had been buried in the same trench as Body 1.^[222] Body 3 (John Szyc) was buried in the crawl space directly above Body 4 (Gregory Godzik); both were identified December 29, 1978.^[99][121] Body 5 was buried directly beneath Body 1;^[112] this victim was discovered 36 inches (910 mm) below the surface of the soil, indicating he was the first to be buried in this common grave.^[223]

The search was postponed over Christmas. Four more bodies were unearthed on December 26.^[224] Body 6 (Samuel Stapleton, identified through dental records November 14, 1979) and Body 7 (Randall Reffett, identified through X-rays April 12, 1979) were buried in the same grave.^[57][121] Reffett was found in a fetal position with a cloth gag in his mouth, leading investigators to conclude he most likely died of asphyxiation.^[101][102] Body 8 (Matthew Bowman, identified January 29, 1979) was found with the tourniquet used to strangle him around his neck.^[121][225] Body 9 (Timothy McCoy, identified via dental records and a distinctive belt buckle in May 1986) was found beneath a layer of concrete and had several stab wounds to the ribs and sternum, suggesting he was Gacy's first victim.^{[48][201][226][227]}

On December 27, eight more bodies were discovered.^[228] Body 10, buried beneath the entrance to Gacy's home,^[112] remains unidentified; he is estimated to have been between 17 and 21 years old and between 5 ft 7 in and 5 ft 11 in (170 and 180 cm).^[229] Both Body 11 and Body 12 were found with ligatures around their necks and buried beside each other in the center of the crawl space;^[112] on September 11, 1979, they were identified as Robert Winch and Tommy Boling, respectively.^[121] Body 13 (still unidentified) was found beneath the spare bedroom; he is estimated to have been between 17 and 22 years old and between 5 ft 9 in and 6 ft 2 in (180 and 190 cm).^[230][231] Bodies 14 and 15 were recovered from a common grave; both were found with their head and upper torsos inside separate plastic bags.^[230] They were identified using dental records and radiology images as Michael Marino and Kenneth Parker on March 29, 1980 (too late to include among the victims identified before Gacy's trial).^{[110][232][233]} Body 16 (Russell Nelson, identified January 6, 1979) was found with a cloth rag lodged deep in his throat, causing him to die of suffocation.^[121][230] The seventeenth victim (identified as David Talsma using radiology images on November 16, 1979) was found with a ligature around his neck.^[230]

The following day, four more bodies were exhumed.^[234] Body 19 was buried directly beneath Gacy's master bedroom; Body 18 (Michael Bonnin, identified January 6, 1979) was located beneath the spare bedroom, and found with a ligature around the neck.^[112][121] Body 20 (John Mowery, identified through dental records January 27, 1979) was buried in the northwest corner of the crawl space.^[112][121]

By December 29, six more bodies were unearthed. Bodies 22, 23, 24, and 26 were buried in a common grave beneath Gacy's kitchen and laundry room,^[99] with Body 25 (Robert Gilroy, identified January 6, 1979) located beneath Gacy's bathroom.^[112][121] Body 26, still unidentified, was estimated to have been between 23 and 30 years old and approximately 5 ft 4 in (160 cm) in height.^[235] Body 22 (identified using dental records as William Carroll on March 17, 1979)^[121] was found beneath Gacy's kitchen with cloth-like material lodged in his throat. Two socks were recovered from the pelvic region.^[101] He was buried directly beneath Body 21, recovered the previous day; this victim, who remains unidentified, is estimated to have been aged between 15 and 24 years old and approximately 5 ft 10 in (180 cm) in height.^[236] The bones of victims 23 (identified as Rick Johnston January 1, 1979) and 24 were commingled; cloth was found inside the mouth of Bodies 24 and 26.^[99][237] Body 25 was found beneath Gacy's bathroom with cloth lodged in the throat. The final victim recovered from the crawl space (William Kindred, identified May 16, 1979) was also found beneath the bathroom, with cloth lodged deep in his throat.^[112][121]

Operations were suspended due to the Chicago Blizzard of 1979, but resumed in March despite Gacy's insistence that all the buried victims had been found.^[31][238] On March 9, Body 28 was found wrapped in several plastic bags and buried beneath the patio in Gacy's backyard.^[239] Gacy's likely second murder victim^{[lower-alpha 19]} and still unidentified, he stood approximately 5 ft 9 in (180 cm) and is estimated to be aged between 14 and 18.^[126] On March 16, Body 29 (Darrell Samson, identified November 18, 1979) was found beneath the dining room.^[121][126]

All the victims discovered at Gacy's house were in an advanced state of decomposition. Dental records and X-ray charts helped Stein identify the remains.^[230][241] Twenty-three were identified via dental records and two via skeletal trauma. These identifications were supported with personal artifacts found in Gacy's home.^[242]

The head and upper torso of several bodies unearthed beneath Gacy's property had been placed in plastic bags.^{[lower-alpha 20]} In some cases, bodies were found with foreign objects such as prescription bottles lodged in their pelvic region, the position of which indicated the items had been thrust into the victims' anus.^[112] Stein concluded 12 victims recovered from Gacy's property died of asphyxiation.^[243] Gacy's vacant house was demolished in April 1979.^[244]

Des Plaines River

In June 1978, Gacy began discarding the bodies of his victims in the Des Plaines River (pictured), as his crawl space was full.

The victim found 6 miles (9.7 km) downstream from the I-55 bridge on June 30 was not connected initially to Gacy.^[99][245] On January 9, 1979, this victim was identified using fingerprint records and a distinctive tattoo as Timothy O'Rourke. An autopsy was unable to rule out strangulation as the cause of death.^[54][246] This victim was numbered 31. Following Gacy's arrest, investigators discovered he was a further victim.

Frank Landingin's cause of death was certified at autopsy as suffocation through his own underwear being lodged down his throat. His body was also identified via fingerprint records. A bond slip issued to Landingin the day before his death was found at Gacy's home;^[247] he was assigned victim number 32.^[80]

On December 28, one further body linked to Gacy was found 1 mile (1.6 km) from the I-55 bridge. This victim was identified two days later as James Mazzara, whom Gacy confessed to having murdered shortly after Thanksgiving.^[121][243] Mazzara had been strangled with a ligature.^[80][248]

On April 9, 1979, a man walking along a Grundy County towpath discovered a decomposed body tangled in roots on the edge of the Des Plaines River. The body was identified via dental records as being that of Robert Piest the same evening. An autopsy revealed that "paper-like material" had been shoved down his throat, causing him to suffocate.^[168][180]

Unidentified victims

Five victims have never been identified.^[249] Based on Gacy's confession, the location of the victims buried in the crawl space, and forensic analysis, police determined the most likely dates for when his unidentified victims were killed.^[250]

1. January 3, 1972 – July 31, 1975. Body 28. Backyard. Male aged 14–18.^[93]
2. June 13 – August 5, 1976. Body 26. Crawl space. Male aged 23–30.^[251]
3. August 6 – October 5, 1976. Body 13. Crawl space. Male aged 17–22.^[252]
4. August 6 – October 24, 1976. Body 21. Crawl space. Male aged 15–24.^{[253][lower-alpha 21]}
5. March 15 – July 5, 1977. Body 10. Crawl space. Male aged 17–21.^[255]

In the fall of 1979,^[256] forensic expert Betty Pat Gatliff used the skulls of the remaining unidentified victims to create facial reconstructions.^[257][258]

Recent identification efforts

Facial reconstructions of the unidentified victims, released to the media in 1980. Depicted left to right are Body 5 (later identified as Francis Alexander), Body 9 (later identified as Timothy McCoy), Body 24 (later identified as James Haakenson), Body 19 (later identified as William Bundy), Body 21, Body 28, Body 13, Body 26, and Body 10.

In October 2011, Cook County sheriff Thomas Dart announced that investigators, having obtained DNA profiles from the unidentified victims, were to renew their efforts to identify them. At a press conference Sheriff Dart stated investigators were seeking DNA samples from across the United States related to any male missing between 1970 and 1979.^[259]

So far the identification of three victims has been confirmed, numerous other missing youths have been ruled out as being victims of Gacy,^[260][261] and four unrelated cold cases dating between 1972 and 1979 have been solved.^{[262][263][264][265]} Updated facial reconstructions of Bodies 10 and 13 were released in 2018.^[266]

In November 2011, William Bundy was identified through DNA testing.^[113] Shortly after Gacy's arrest, Bundy's family had contacted his dentist in the hope of submitting his dental records for comparison with the unidentified bodies, but the records had been destroyed after his dentist had retired.^[267] In July 2017, 16-year-old James Haakenson was identified using DNA testing.^[268] Francis Wayne Alexander was most recent victim to be identified, via forensic genealogy in October 2021.^[269]

Possible additional victims

At the time of Gacy's arrest, he had claimed to investigators that the total number of murder victims could be as high as 45.^[73] However, only 33 victims were ever linked to Gacy. Investigators excavated the grounds of his property until they had exposed the substratum of clay beneath the foundations, finding 29 bodies.^[270]

Shortly after his arrest, Gacy informed investigators that after he had assaulted and then released Jeffrey Rignall in March 1978, he began to throw his murder victims into the Des Plaines River. He confessed to having disposed of five bodies in this manner; however, only four bodies recovered from the Des Plaines River were linked to him.^[54][271] When asked whether there were more victims, Gacy stated, "That's for you guys to find out."^{[272][lower-alpha 22]}

Disputed DNA and dental tests conducted between 2012 and 2016 indicate that neither body found in the common grave in Gacy's crawl space and identified as those of Kenneth Parker and Michael Marino in 1980 was actually Marino.^{[274][275][276]} Marino's mother had always doubted her son's identification because the clothing found on Body 14 was inconsistent with what he had worn when she last saw him.^[277] DNA testing conducted on the exhumed body of Parker has proven that Marino's body had not been mistaken for his.^{[lower-alpha 23]} In addition, the dental X-ray conducted on the victim identified as Michael Marino had revealed he had all of his second molars; a dental X-ray conducted on Marino in March 1976 revealed one molar had not erupted.^[278] The original identification of the body has been disputed because the exhumed body had neither an upper nor lower jaw bone.^[279] Nonetheless, the orthodontist who had identified Marino's remains has stated his conviction in the accuracy of his findings.^[280]

On May 23, 1978, 25-year-old Charles Antonio Hattula was found drowned in the Pecatonica River near Freeport, Illinois. He had been missing since May 13.^[281] Hattula was an employee of PDM and had been linked to the initial investigation of Gacy after Michael Rossi informed investigators of both Godzik's disappearance and Hattula's death. Moreover, Rossi had stated that Hattula was known to have conflicts with Gacy, and when he had "failed to show up at work", Gacy had informed him and several other employees that he had drowned.^[149] At the time of Hattula's death, no more bodies could be stored in Gacy's crawl space, which leaves a possibility he had disposed of Hattula's body in the Pecatonica River. However, Des Plaines authorities had contacted Freeport during their investigation into Gacy, and were told Hattula had fallen to his death from a bridge. Hattula's death has been officially ruled as asphyxia by drowning.^[148]

Retired Chicago police officer Bill Dorsch stated he had reason to believe there might be more victims buried in the grounds of an apartment building on West Miami Avenue in Chicago, where Gacy had been the caretaker for several years.^[282] In 1975, Dorsch—then a Chicago police officer—observed Gacy (whom he knew on a casual basis) holding a shovel in the early morning. When Dorsch confronted him, Gacy said he was doing work that he was too busy to do during the day. Dorsch also said that several other residents of West Miami Avenue stated they had seen Gacy digging trenches at the property in the early to mid-1970s.^[283] Gacy was then still married to Carole Hoff.^[284] In March 2012, Cook County Sheriff's officials submitted a request to excavate the grounds of this property. The Cook County State's Attorney denied the request, citing a lack of probable cause, including the results of a 1998 search of the property.^[285] However, the sheriff's office noted that in 1998, a radar survey suggested fourteen areas of interest within the grounds, yet only two of these had been excavated; four of those remaining were described as being "staggeringly suggestive" of human skeletons.^[286] A second request to excavate the grounds was granted in January 2013, and a search of the property was conducted in the spring. Both FBI sniffer dogs and ground-penetrating radar equipment were used, but no human remains were found.^{[287][lower-alpha 24]}