John Wayne Gacy: Clown Murderer

This psychopath terrorized the people of Wisconsin and Ohio for thirteen years. This man committed a series of murder, rape, and dismemberment amongst his seventeen 17 victims. This paper will go one to talk about his early life, first victims, killing spree, arrest and imprisonment, and also his death.

Gacy was a well respected man who wouldn’t be suspected of committing multiple murders. “His first known killing was in 1972, taking the life of Timothy McCoy after luring the teen to his home” (Biography 1). Gacy’s strategy into luring kids (mostly boys) into his home was to roam the streets in search for these young kids and force them to go with him. In 1978 Robert Piest who was 15 years old went missing. His mother said Robert had went to Gacy’s home in search of a job but Robert never came back. “This time the Des Plaines police got involved and searched Gacy’s home” (Crime museum 1). When the police got involved they found things that weren’t his and items that were suspicious. Later on, “On December 22, 1978, facing mounting physical evidence against him from subsequent searches of his home, Gacy confessed that he had killed thirty-three young men and boys and buried most on his property” (Luongo 1). Gacy would torture, strangle, and rape these young men. Gacy was found guilty on all of the murders he committed and he was sentenced to the lethal injection.

This paper is based on the life of Ed Gein. He was an unusual character, born on a farm, and raised by a religious crazy, domineering mother. In the space of a few years his entire family passed away and he was left to take care of his farm all by himself. In the next few years he became a grave robber, a necrophiliac, a cannibal, and also took up arts and crafts in body parts. He is known as one of the weirdest serial killers of the twentieth century. He also inspired movies like Psycho, Silence of The Lambs, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

On March 17, 1942, John Wayne Gacy was born into an Irish middle-class family. His parents were Marion Gacy and John Gacy Sr. Gacy Jr. had enjoyed a uninteresting childhood until he suffered a head injury at a playground when he was 11. Up until age 16, Gacy had suffered blackouts due to the injury. After all he was put through, he worshipped his father like a hero, despite the fact that his father was an abusive alcoholic with a bad temper and an intense hate for homosexuals. Gacy was often accused and beaten by his father for being sickly.

In our readings, we Define Visionary serial killers as someone who commits incomprehensible active serial fatal victimization. We described the crime scene as chaotic.

His father, whom he was named after, often beat Gacy. When Gacy was 11 years old, Gacy was knocked unconscious by a brutal swing and through out his teen years would have black outs. Gacy left school without graduating and traveled to Las Vegas in hopes of becoming somebody with money. Instead, he ended up working in a mortuary where he showed unhealthy interested in the bodies that would come through.

John Wayne Gacy was born on May 17 (St. Patrick’s Day), 1942 to Marion Elaine Robinson Gacy and John Wayne Gacy, Sr. at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago. He was the second of three children. His older sister Joanne had preceded him by two years and two years after his birth came his sister Karen. The Gacy children were raised as Catholics and attended Catholic School (Taylor 2003).

Jeffrey Dahmer, also commonly known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, is one of America’s most notorious serial killers. In the span of nearly 15 years, between the years 1978 and 1991, it is estimated that Dahmer was responsible for the death of fifteen to seventeen young men (Radford University). As his nickname suggests Dahmer was known for drugging his victims, then raping them, then disembodying them, and if the mood fit him, cooking and eating his victims. Dahmer’s unique case resulted in him being psychologically analyzed and diagnosed by at least seven different psychologists during his trial (Palermo & Bogaerts, 2014). This paper seeks to explore the diagnostics given to Jeffery Dahmer and prove, through the use of available information, their accuracy.

The investigation into the disappearance of Gacy's final victim, Robert Piest, ultimately became the demise of serial murderer John Wayne Gacy. While working at a local pharmacy, Piest overheard Gacy talking about a big project his company PDM Contracting was taking on. Interested in working with Gacy, Piest told his mother

On September 1, 1956, Peter woodcock had committed his first murder (Bourrie, 2010). Peter Woodcock lured a 7-year-old boy named Wayne Mallette into toronto’s exhibition where he then killed him¬¬¬¬ (Bourrie, 2010). The next month on October 6, 1956, Mr. Woodcock picked up a 9-year-old boy named Gary Morris. Woodcock drove Gary Morris on his bike to cherry beach where he then strangled and killed him (Newton, n.d.). About three months after Peter Woodcock offered a ride to a 4-year-old girl named Carole Voyce. Peter Woodcock sexually assaulted her and killed her (Liam, 2015). Mr. Woodcock was then arrested but then was found not guilty by reason of insanity (Liam, 2015). Mr. Woodcock was placed at Oak Ridge (a psychiatric

Jeffrey Dahmer killed and committed acts of necrophilia on 17 males between 1978 and 1991. In the article “Jeffrey Dahmer Biography”, it states that “Dahmer initially pleaded not guilty to all charges, despite having confessed to the killings during police interrogation, but he eventually changed his plea to guilty by virtue of insanity” (Biography.com). His defense then described all the gorey details of his behavior and murders, trying to prove that only someone who had psychopathic tendencies could commit such horrendous acts, but the jury decided to believe the prosecution's statement that Dahmer was fully aware that his acts were evil and chose to commit them anyway. The trial was so complicated that “on February 15, 1992, they returned after approximately 10 hours' deliberation to find him guilty, but sane, on all counts” (Biography.com). He was then sentenced to 15 life sentences in prison, which were going to be run consecutively, with a 16th term added on in May. Another well known serial killer was John Wayne Gacy. Gacy would dress up as “Pogo the Clown” and perform for children’s birthday parties, but no one knew that he would eventually murder and rape 33 boys. He would then hide the bodies in a crawl space in his house and kept them there for years until he was caught. The article states that “the discovery of his murders and subsequent arrest shook the community as he

John Wayne Gacy was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 17 1942. Gacy had an uneventful childhood up until the age of eleven. While out playing he had been struck on the head by a swing. Subsequently he suffered fainting fits for many years.

These are some of the most infamous names in the history of murder, but they hid in plain sight, and Manson did not even commit murder. He was so manipulative he could convince others to do his bidding for him. How is that even possible? Surely one would be able to recognize someone who is such a dangerous threat or would they? One of the reasons these killers can be so successful is their ability to blend into their surroundings and at times even be considered a stand up member of the communities they live in, but what is going on inside their brains?

Gary Ridgway grew up like any other ordinary suburban kid. He had a problem of wetting the bed which his mother would make fun of him and embarrass him in front of family and friends. As a young teen, he was always getting into trouble such as stabbing a six year-old boy in the ribs when he was a young teen. In high school Gary continued to go down hill and get bad grades. Gary graduated high school and joined the Navy. While he was in Vietnam, he discovered prostitutes and ended up getting sexually transmitted diseases. Soon after being home from Vietnam, Gary was killing and raping prostitutes on the streets of Seattle, Washington. Gary would go on to murder about 71 young women who he targeted because they were either prostitutes or runaways.

The majority of his victims were strangled to death. One unfortunate child just 14 years old was sexually assaulted, drugged, strangled, dismembered, and his corpse pulverized with a sledge hammer (Hickey, 2016, p. 156). Some of his victims would have holes drilled into their heads as they lay unconscious in hopes they would turn into a zombie and become his sex slaves. He also consumed some of his victims believing they would become a part of him making him more