“ I should have
never been
convicted of
anything more
serious than running
a cemetery without
a license.”
John Wayne Gacy
a.k.a "Pogo the Clown"
By: Shannon McCabe
Early Life
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Should have at least 12 different points about this
Born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois.
He was the son of Danish and Polish parents.
Gacy had two siblings, Karen and Joanne Gacy. Therefore,
he was the middle child.
Gacy grew up with a drunken father who would beat him
with a razor strap if he misbehaved.
He was an average student with a few friends.
He was often bullied by other classmates.
He was not able to play with the other children due to a
congenital heart condition.
He experienced great turmoil when he realized that he was
attracted to men.
Early Life
o Suffered a blow to his head from his father
and experienced frequent blackouts until
doctors found a blood clot in his brain. The
clot was later removed.
o He didn’t graduate from high school.
o He graduated from business college in1963.
o In the 1960s, he was a fast-food manager and
a self-made building contractor.
o He was involved in politics, working as an
assistant captain for a Democratic Party
Canidate.
o He was a clown performer and well-liked in
his hometown.
o He was married and divorced twice with two
children.
CRIME: Sexual
Harassment of two
boys.
DATE: 1968
VICTIM(s):
Mark Miller was one of the
boys.
CRIME: Was shortly DATE: 1971
accused again for
sexual harassment.
VICTIM: Unknown
CRIME: Gacy was
accused of murder
of around thirtythree victims.
VICTIM(s): Robert Piest was the victim that led the cops
to Gacy’s house because of evidence with Gacy talking
to him about doing a job together.
List of all his Victims:
Timothy McCoy
John Butkovitch
Darrell Sampson
Randall Reffett
Sam Stapleton
Michael Bonnin
William Carroll
Rick Johnston
Kenneth Parker
Michael Marino
Gregory Godzik
John Szyc
Jon Prestidge
Matthew Bowman
Robert Gilroy
John Mowery
Russell Nelson
Robert Winch
Tommy Boling
David Talsma
William Kindred
Timothy O'Rourke
Frank Landingin
James Mazzara
Robert Piest
DATE:
December
11,1978.
There were eight victims that were not found
PUNISHMENT: Ten
year term in prison,
but went on parole in
1970.
PUNISHMENT: The
accuser never showed
up to court, so the case
was dropped
PUNISHMENT:
His trails began on Feburary 6, 1980.
Gacy had confessed to the crimes, but the
jury was deciding if he should be
sentenced to death or if he should be
declared insane. Gacy was found guilty
by the jury. He was sentenced to serve 12
death sentences and 21 natural life
sentences.
Natural Life
Sentence: No time
off for good
behavior and no
parole hearings.
Evidence of Recent Crime
 When the cops visited Gacy’s house, they
had found victims buried within his home
and garage. They could smell the rotting
flesh as soon as they walked in.
 Robert Piest was said to be with Gacy
before he went missing because they were
going to do a construction job together.
 Gacy confessed to being guilty.
 When Piest went missing, Police put Gacy
under surveillance, and when it was
learned that two teenage employees of
Gacy, Gregory Godzik and John Butkovich,
also had recently disappeared, the police
obtained a search warrant for Gacy's
home.
 He told the cops where all the bodies
where located and drew a map of his
house, which showed where all the victims
were buried.
 During the five-week trial the prosecution
and the defense called more than 100
witnesses to testify.
Sentence
He was sentenced 12 death sentences and 21
natural life sentences. He was imprisoned in the
Menard Correctional Center for a decade and a
helf. He then died May 10,1994 by lethal injection
at the Stateville Correctional Center in Chrest Hill,
Illinois.
Books
 John Wayne Defending a Monster
Gacy
 Killer Clown
 The Chicago Killer
 John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown
 The Man who Killed Boys
Movies
 Dr. Mr. Gacy
 Gacy
 To Catch a Killer
 Episode of American Horror Story
 It
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAoFzDsMkkg
Songs
 John Wayne Gacy Jr by Surjan Stevens
 His father was a drinker
And his mother cried in bed
Folding John Wayne's t-shirts
When the swingset hit his head
The neighbors they adored him
For his humor and his conversation
Look underneath the house there
Find the few living things, rotting fast, in their sleep
Oh, the dead
 https://Gacy Song
Theory
Social
Control
Theory
Attachment,
Commitment
Involvement