John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy was born in Chicago on St Patrick 's Day 1942 to John Stanley Gacy and his wife Marion . He had two sisters , Joanne and Karen and his childhood was fairly unexceptional , apart from his father 's violent temper . John Gacy Sr appeared to have something of a chip on his shoulder and he took it out on his children , especially John Jr

On one occasion the boy , who worshipped his father , went on a fishing trip with him . When John Sr failed to

catch anything he blamed it on his son and lashed out verbally and physically . John Sr was an alcoholic with a violent hatred of homosexuals . He would accuse his son of being gay and would also taunt him about his health problems and claim he was malingering to gain attention

John Jr suffered blackouts from the age of 11 , after being hit in the head by a playground swing . They were eventually cured by medication but in his teenage years John Jr also suffered from a heart condition , which he also complained of in adult life . John Jr dropped out of high school without graduating , after a brief and unhappy sojourn working in Las Vegas he ended up training as a salesman in a Chicago shoe shop

Despite his lack of education John Jr was no fool and quickly proved his business acumen and ability as a natural salesman . He managed a clothes shop for a while and in 1964 married co-worker Marilyn Myer . Her father Fred , persuaded the couple to up sticks and move to Waterloo , Iowa , Gacy was given a job running his father-in-law 's Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises in the town (Wikipedia , 2006

Marriage

In September 1964 , Gacy met and married a co-worker named Marlynn Myers whose parents owned a string of Kentucky Fried Chicken fast food restaurant franchises in Waterloo , Iowa . Fred W . Myers , Gacy 's new father-in-law , offered him a position with one of his franchises . Soon after that Gacy and his new wife moved to Iowa . Life seemed to hold a lot of promise for Gacy at this time in his life . Gacy began working for his father-in-law , learning the business from the ground up . On average he worked for twelve hours a day , yet it was not uncommon for him to work fourteen or more hours a day . He was enthusiastic and eager to learn , with hopes of one day taking over the string of fast food restaurants . When Gacy was not working , he was active in the Waterloo Iowa , Jaycees

Gacy worked tirelessly performing volunteer work for his community through the Jaycees . It was there that he made most of his friends and spent most of his time

However , Gacy managed to find some time with his wife when not working for his father-in-law or doing volunteer work . Marlynn gave birth to a boy shortly after their move to Iowa and soon after the birth of their son they celebrated the birth of a daughter . The Gacys had every reason to be happy during the first few years in Iowa . They had a nice house in the suburbs and a loving and healthy family . Marlynn enjoyed looking after the children and John was happy in work and with the Jaycees . He was even working on a campaign for the presidency of the Jaycees Everything seemed almost too good to be true , and indeed it was

Rumors

Everything seemed to be looking good for John Wayne Gacy , Jr . Yet , his lucky streak would not last too much longer . Rumors were spreading around town and amongst Jaycee members regarding Gacy 's sexual preference . It seemed that young boys were always in Gacy 's presence Everyone heard the stories that Gacy was homosexual and made passes at the young boys who worked for him at the fast food franchises . Yet people close to him refused to believe in the gossip , until May of 1968 when rumors became truths

In the spring of 1968 , Gacy was indicted by a grand jury in Black Hawk County for allegedly committing the act of sodomy with a teenage boy named Mark Miller . Miller told the courts that Gacy had tricked him into being tied up while visiting Gacy 's home a year earlier , and had violently raped him . Gacy denied all the charges against him and told a conflicting story , stating that Miller willingly had sexual relations with him in to earn extra money . Gacy further insisted that Jaycee members opposed to him becoming president of the local chapter organization were setting him up

However , Miller 's were not the only charges that Gacy would have to face . Four months later Gacy was charged with hiring an eighteen-year-old boy to beat up Mark Miller . Gacy offered Dwight Andersson ten dollars plus three hundred more dollars to pay off his car loan if he carried out the beating . Andersson lured Miller to his car and drove him to a wooded area where he sprayed mace in his eyes and began to beat him . Miller fought back and broke Andersson 's nose and managed to break away and run to safety . Soon after Miller called the police , Andersson was picked up and taken into police custody where he gave Gacy 's name as the man who hired him to perform the beating

A judge ed Gacy to undergo psychiatric evaluation at several mental health facilities to find if he were mentally competent to stand trial Upon evaluation , Gacy was found to be mentally competent . However , he was considered to be an antisocial personality who would probably not benefit from any known medical treatment . Soon after health authorities submitted the report , Gacy pleaded guilty to the charge of sodomy

When the judge finally handed down the sentence , Gacy received ten years at the Iowa State Reformatory for men , the maximum time for such an offence . John Wayne Gacy , Jr . was twenty-six years old when he entered prison for the first time . Shortly after Gacy entered prison , his wife divorced him on the grounds that Gacy violated their marriage vows

While in prison Gacy adhered to all the rules and stayed far from trouble . He was a model prisoner , realizing that there was a high possibility of an early parole if he remained non-violent and well behaved . Eighteen months later , Gacy 's hopes came true : his parole was approved . On June 18 , 1970 , Gacy left the confines of the prison gates and made his way back to his place of birth in Chicago

New Beginnings

John Wayne Gacy , Jr . immediately began to put his life back on track again after moving back to Chicago . He knew he could not afford to let the past disrupt his future if he could help it . The only thing that seemed to have weighed Gacy down was the death of his father while Gacy was in prison . Gacy went through difficult periods of depression after his release from prison because he regretted never saying goodbye to his father . He felt cheated that he never had a chance to improve his relationship with John W . Gacy , Sr , a man whom he loved dearly despite of his abusive behavior . However , although deeply saddened by unresolved conflicts with his father , Gacy refused to let it ruin his future . Gacy moved in with his mother and started working as a chef (in a Chicago restaurant , a job which he enjoyed and worked at with enthusiasm

After four months of living with his mother , Gacy decided it was time he lived on his own . His mother had been impressed with how her son had readjusted to life outside the prison walls and she helped him obtain a house of his own immediately outside Chicago 's city limits . Gacy owned one-half of his new house located at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in the Norwood Park Township and his mother and sisters owned the remaining half of the home

Gacy was very happy with his new two-bedroom 1950 's ranch style house that was located in a nice , clean , family oriented neighborhood . He was quick to make friends with his new neighbors , Edward and Lillie Grexa who had lived in the neighborhood since the time it had been first built . After only seven months of living in his new home , he was spending Christmas evening with the Grexas , whom he had invited over for dinner with his mother . The neighbors became fast friends and often gathered together for drinks or a game of poker in the comfort of their homes . The Grexas had no idea of Gacy 's criminal past or his most recent run in with the law

A little more than a month after the Grexas had visited for Christmas dinner at Gacy 's home , he had been charged with disly conduct . The charges stated that Gacy had forced a young boy , whom he had picked up at a bus terminal , to commit sexual acts upon him

Gacy had been officially discharged from his parole for only a few months before he was already breaking the law again . However , Gacy slipped through the system when all charges against him were dropped due to the no-show of his young accuser at the court proceedings . Gacy was a free man once again

And New Love

On June 1 , 1972 Gacy married Carole Hoff , a newly divorced mother of two daughters . Gacy had romanced the woman who was in a state of emotional vulnerability and she immediately fell for him . She was attracted to Gacy 's charm and generosity and she believed he would be a good provider for her and her children . She was aware of Gacy 's prison experience , yet she trusted that he had changed his life around for the better

Carole and her daughters quickly settled into their new home with Gacy The couple maintained a close relationship with their neighbors and the Grexas were always invited over to Gacy 's house for elaborate parties and barbecues . As flattered as they were to receive such invitations by their young neighbors , they were always bothered by a horrible stench that prevailed through the house . Lillie Grexa was sure a rat had died beneath the floorboards of Gacy 's house and she urged him to solve his problem . However , Gacy blamed the horrible stench on the moisture build-up in the crawl space under his house . Yet , it wasn 't a problem with moisture beneath the house . Gacy knew the real and more sinister cause for the stench and he kept the truth from everyone for years

Although many friends , family members and neighbors complained about the strange smells coming from Gacy 's house , it certainly didn 't stop them from attending his theme parties . Gacy threw two memorable barbecue parties in which he invited all those close to him . On one occasion more than three hundred guests showed up to attend one of Gacy 's parties . The two that were attended by the most people were a luau theme party and a Western theme party . Both were huge successes . Gacy thrived on the attention he received from people who had either been to or heard of the parties . He liked to feel important (MendenHall and Harlen

Old Urges Return

In 1974 , Gacy decided he wanted to go into business for himself . He began a contracting business named Painting , Decorating , and Maintenance or PDM Contractors , Incorporated . He hired young teenage boys to work for him

He told friends that he hired such young men to keep the costs low However , that was not Gacy 's only reason for hiring teenage boys : Gacy intended to seduce his young employees . His homosexual desires and urge to inflict harm were slowly becoming more apparent to those around him especially his wife

Carole and John had drifted apart by 1975 . Their sex life had come to a halt and Gacy 's moods became more unpredictable . He would be in a good mood one moment and the next moment he would be flying into an uncontrollable rage and throwing furniture . He was an insomniac and his lack of sleep seemed to have only exacerbated his other problems . Gacy was rarely home in the evenings and when he was , he was either fixing something with the outside of the house or working in the garage However , there was one thing that Carole was extremely worried about

It was not only that Gacy showed no sexual interest in her that hurt Carole , but also what pained her even more was when she began to find magazines with naked men and boys in her house . She knew that Gacy was reading them and he acted nonchalantly about his new choice of reading material . In fact , Gacy had told Carole that he boys to women

Naturally , Carole was distressed and she soon d for divorce . The couple 's divorce became final on March 2 , 1976 . Although Gacy was having marital problems , he refused to let it hold him back from realizing his dream of success . Being a man who thrived on and delighted in recognition and attention , Gacy turned his sights to the world of politics . It was in politics that Gacy hoped to make his mark in the world . He had high aspirations and hoped to one day run for public office

Political Ambitions

Gacy realized that he had to get his name out and make himself known by participating in volunteer projects and community activities . He also knew that if he were to succeed in politics he had to win over the people . Gacy had a natural talent when it came to persuading others and he creatively came up with a way to gain the recognition he sought . It was not long before Gacy caught the attention of Robert F . Matwick , the Democratic township committeeman for Norwood Park . As a free service to the community , Gacy and his employees volunteered to clean-up Democratic Party headquarters . Gacy further impressed Matwick when the contractor dressed up as "Pogo the Clown " and entertained children at parties and hospitals

One of the rumors stemmed from an actual incident that took place during the time Gacy was involved with cleaning the Democratic Party headquarters . One of the teenagers who worked with Gacy on that particular project was sixteen-year-old Tony Antonucci . According to the boy , Gacy made sexual advances towards him , yet backed off when Antonucci threatened to hit him with a chair . Gacy joked about the situation and left him alone for a month

The following month while visiting Gacy 's home , Gacy again approached Antonucci . Gacy tried to trick the young man into handcuffs and believing he was securely cuffed he began to undress the boy . However Antonucci had made sure that one of his hands was loosely cuffed and he was able to free himself and wrestle Gacy to the ground . Once he had Gacy on the ground he handcuffed him , but eventually let him go after Gacy promised he would never again try touching him . Gacy never made sexual advances towards Antonucci again and the boy remained working for Gacy for almost a year , following the incident (Clifford L . Lindecker 1994

Missing

Seventeen-year-old Johnny Butkovich was like most young men who enjoyed cars and he took great pride in his 1968 Dodge on which he was continually working . He particularly loved to race his car , a hobby that cost quite a bit for a young man of seventeen . In to pay for new parts to sustain his hobby , he knew he had to get a job

Johnny began doing remodeling work for Gacy at PDM Contractors - a position that he enjoyed and that paid well . He and Gacy had a good working relationship , which made the long hours pass by more quickly However , their working relationship ended abruptly when Gacy refused to pay Johnny for two weeks of work - something Gacy did often to his employees in to save money for himself

Angered that Gacy had withheld his pay , Johnny went over to his boss 's house with two friends to collect what he believed was rightfully his When Johnny confronted him about his pay check , Gacy refused to pay him and a large argument erupted . Johnny threatened that he was going to tell authorities that he was not deducting taxes from earnings . Gacy was enraged and screamed at him . Finally , Johnny and his friends realized that there was little they could do and they eventually left Gacy 's house . Johnny dropped off his friends at their house and drove away never to be seen alive again

Michael Bonnin , also seventeen , was not too different from Johnny in that he enjoyed working with his hands . He especially liked doing wood working and carpentry and he was often busy with several projects at a time . In June of 1976 , he had almost completed work on restoring an old jukebox , yet he never had a chance to finish the job he had begun . While on route to catch a train to meet his stepfather 's brother , he disappeared

Billy Carroll , Jr . was the kind of boy who seemed to be always getting into trouble ever since his parents could remember . At the age of nine he was in a juvenile home for stealing a purse and at age eleven he was caught with a gun . Billy was mischievous and spent most of his time on the streets in Uptown , Chicago . At the age of sixteen , Billy was making money by arranging meetings between teenage homosexual boys and adult clientele for a commission . Although Billy came from a very different background than Michael Bonnin and Johnny Butkovich , they all had one thing in common - John Wayne Gacy , Jr . Just like Johnny and Michael Billy also disappeared suddenly . On June 13 , 1976 , Billy left his home and was never seen alive again (BBC

The First Link

Gregory Godzik loved his job with PDM Contractors and he didn 't mind doing the odd jobs that his boss required of him , such as cleaning work The money from his job also allowed for him to buy parts for his 1966 Pontiac car , a time-consuming hobby . He was proud of his car and although it was a bit of an eye sore , it served its purpose . On December 12 , 1976 , Gregory dropped his date off at her house , a girl he had had a crush on for some while , and drove off towards his home . The following day police found Gregory 's Pontiac , but Gregory was missing . He was seventeen years old

On January 20 , 1977 , nineteen-year-old John Szyc also disappeared much like the other young men before him . He had driven off in his 1971 Plymouth Satellite and was never seen alive again . Interestingly , a short while after the young man vanished , another teenager was picked up by police in a 1971 Plymouth Satellite while trying to leave a gas station without paying . The youth said that the man he lived with could explain the situation . The man was Gacy , who explained to police that Szyc had earlier sold him the car . Police never checked the car title which had been signed eighteen days after Szyc 's disappearance with a signature that was not his own

Robert Gilroy was an outdoorsman , avid camper and horse lover . On September 15 , 1977 , eighteen-year-old Gilroy was supposed to catch a bus with friends to go horseback riding but he never showed up . His father who was a Chicago police sergeant , immediately began searching for Robert when he heard that his son was missing . Although a full-scale investigation was mounted for his son , Robert was nowhere to be found

More than a year later another young man named Robert Piest would vanish mysteriously . The investigation into his disappearance would lead to not only the discovery of his body but the bodies of Butkovich , Bonnin Carroll , Szyc , Gilroy and twenty-seven other young men who had suffered similar fates . It would be a discovery that would rock the foundations of Chicago and shock all of America

Robert Piest was only fifteen when he disappeared from just outside the pharmacy where he had worked just minutes earlier . His mother , who had come to pick him up from work , had been waiting inside the pharmacy for Robert , who had said he 'd be right back after talking with a contractor who had offered him a job . Yet , Robert never returned . His mother began to worry as time passed . Eventually her worry turned to dread . She searched the pharmacy area outside and inside and still Robert was nowhere to be found . Three hours after Robert 's disappearance , the Des Plaines Police Department was notified . Lieutenant Joseph Kozenczak led the investigation

Soon after learning the name of the contractor who had offered the job to Piest , Lt . Kozenczak knocked at the man 's door . When Gacy answered the lieutenant told him about the missing boy and asked Gacy to go with him to the police station for questioning . Gacy said he was unable to leave his home at the moment because there was a recent death in the family and he had to attend to some phone calls . Gacy showed up at the police station hours later and gave his statement to police . Gacy said he knew nothing about the boy 's disappearance and left the station after further questioning

Lt . Kozenczak decided to run a background check on Gacy the next day and was surprised to find that Gacy had served time for committing sodomy on a teenager years earlier . Soon after Lt . Kozenczak 's discovery , he obtained a search warrant for Gacy 's house . It was there that he believed they would find Robert Piest

Grisly Find

During the days following the police search of Gacy 's house , some of his friends were called into the police station and interrogated . Gacy had told his friends earlier that police were trying to charge him with a murder but claimed he had nothing to do with such a thing . From the interviews police gathered little information on any connection with Gacy to Robert Piest . Friends of Gacy could not believe he was capable of killing a teenage boy

Frustrated due to the lack of evidence that police had linking Gacy to Piest they decided to arrest Gacy on possession of marijuana and Valium Unknown to police at the time , Gacy had recently confided in a friend and co-worker a day before his arrest that he had indeed killed . Gacy further confided in his friend that he killed about thirty people because they were bad and trying to blackmail him

Around the time Gacy was arrested , he was awaiting action on the Ringall case , in which he had been charged with rape . Determined to find his rapist , Ringall months earlier waited by one of the highway exits that he was able to remember during one of his wakeful episode in Gacy 's car before being chloroformed again . Finally , after hours of waiting by the exit , he spotted the familiar car and followed it to Gacy 's house . Upon learning Gacy 's name , he immediately d charges of sexual assault

Finally , after intense investigation and lab work into some of the items confiscated by police from Gacy 's house , they came up with critical evidence against Gacy . One of the rings found at Gacy 's house belonged to another teenager who had disappeared a year earlier named John Szyc They also discovered that three former employees of Gacy had also mysteriously disappeared . Furthermore , the receipt for the roll of film that was found at Gacy 's home had belonged to a co-worker of Robert Piest who had given it to Robert the day of his disappearance . With the new information , investigators began to realize the enormity of the case that was unfolding before them

It was not long before investigators were back searching Gacy 's house Gacy had finally confessed to police that he did kill someone but said it had been in self-defense . He said that he had buried the body underneath his garage . Gacy told police where they could find the body and police marked the gravesite in the garage , but they did not immediately begin digging . They first wanted to search the crawl space under Gacy 's house . It was not long before they discovered a suspicious mound of earth . Minutes after digging into the suspicious mound investigators found the remains of a body

That evening , Dr . Robert Stein , Cook County Medical Examiner , was called in to help with the investigation . Upon his arrival at Gacy 's house , he immediately recognized a familiar odor -the distinctive smell of death Stein began to organize the search for more bodies by marking off the areas of earth in sections , as if it were an archaeological site . He knew that the excavation of a decomposing body must be done with the utmost care to preserve its integrity and that of the gravesite Throughout the night and into the days that followed the digging progressed under the watchful eye of Dr . Stein (Terry Sullivan and Peter Maiken

Death Count

On Friday , December 22 , 1978 , Gacy finally confessed to police that he killed at least thirty people and buried most of the remains of the victims beneath the crawl space of his house . He further confessed that he would lure his victims into being handcuffed and then he would sexually assault them . To muffle the screams of his victims , he would stuff a sock or underwear into their mouths and kill them by pulling a rope or board against their throats , as he raped them . Gacy admitted to sometimes keeping the dead bodies under his bed or in the attic for several hours before eventually burying them in the crawl space

On the first day that the police began their digging , they found two bodies . One of the bodies was that of John Butkovich who was buried under the garage . The other body was the one found in the crawl space As the days passed , the body count grew higher . Some of the victims were found with their underwear still lodged deep in their throats . Other victims were buried so close together that police believed they were probably killed or buried at the same time . Gacy did confirm to police that he had on several occasions killed more than one person in a day However , the reason he gave for them being buried so close together was that he was running out of room and needed to conserve space

On the 28th of December , police had removed a bodies from Gacy 's house . There was also another body found weeks earlier , yet it was not in the crawl space . The naked corpse of Frank Wayne Dale ' Landingin was found in the Des Plaines River . At the time of the discovery police were not yet aware of Gacy 's horrible crimes and the case was still under investigation . But , investigators found Landingin 's driver 's license in Gacy 's home and connected him to the young man 's murder . Landingin was not the only one of Gacy 's victims to be found in the river

Also , on December 28th , police removed from the Des Plaines River the body of James Mojo ' Mazzara , who still had his underwear lodged in his throat . The coroner said that the underwear stuffed down the victim 's throat had caused Mazzara to suffocate

Gacy told police that the reason he disposed of the bodies in the river was because he ran out of room in his crawl space and because he had been experiencing back problems from digging the graves . Mazzara was the twenty-ninth victim of Gacy 's to be found , yet it would not be the last

Discovery Continues

By the end of February , police were still digging up Gacy 's property They had already gutted the house and were unable to find anymore bodies in the crawl space . It had taken investigators longer than expected to resume the search due to bad winter storms that froze the ground and the long process of obtaining proper search warrants . However , they believed there were still more bodies to be found and they were right

While workmen were breaking up the concrete of Gacy 's patio , they came across another horrific discovery . They found the body of a man still in good condition preserved in the concrete . The man wore a pair of blue jeans shorts and a wedding ring . Gacy 's victims no longer included just young boys or suspected homosexuals , but now also married men . The following week another body was discovered

The thirty-first body to be found linked to Gacy was in the Illinois River . Investigators were able to discover the identity of the young man by a Tim Lee ' tattoo on one of his arms . A friend of the victim 's father had recognized the Tim Lee ' tattoo while reading a news story about the discovery of a body in the river . The victim 's name was Timothy O 'Rourke , who was said to be such a fan of Bruce Lee 's that he took the Kung Fu master 's last name and added it to his own name in his tattoo . It is possible that Gacy had become acquainted with the young man in one of the gay bars in New Town

Yet , another body was found on Gacy 's property around the time O 'Rourke was discovered and pulled from the river . The body was located beneath the recreation room of Gacy 's house . It would be the last body to be found on Gacy 's property . Soon after the discovery , the house was destroyed and reduced to rubble . Unfortunately , among the thirty-two bodies that were discovered that of Robert Piest was still unaccounted for . Piest was still missing

Finally in April 1979 , the remains of Robert Piest were discovered in the Illinois River . His body had supposedly been lodged somewhere along the river making it difficult to find his body . However , strong winds must have dislodged the corpse and carried it to the locks at Dresden Dam where it was eventually discovered . Autopsy reports on Piest determined that he had suffocated from towels being lodged down his throat . The family soon after d a 85-million suit against Gacy for murder and the Iowa Board of Parole , the Department of Corrections and the Chicago Police Department for negligence

Police investigators continued to match dental records and other clues to help identify the remaining victims who were found on Gacy 's property . All but nine of the victims were finally identified . Although the search for the dead had finally come to an end , Gacy 's trial was just beginning (Goffman

Trial

On Wednesday , February 6 , 1980 , John Wayne Gacy 's murder trial began in the Cook County Criminal Courts Building in Chicago , Illinois . Jury members , who consisted of five women and seven men , listened as prosecutor Bob Egan talked about Robert Piest 's life and his gruesome death and how Gacy was responsible for his murder thirty-two other young men . Egan told them about the investigation into Gacy , the discovery of bodies beneath his house and how Gacy 's actions were premeditated and rational

Egan 's opening statement was followed by one of Gacy 's defense lawyers Robert Motta . He opposed Egan 's statement by claiming Gacy 's actions were indeed , irrational and impulsive , but asserting that he was insane and no longer in control of his conduct

If he had been found insane , Gacy would have become a ward of the state mental health system . Furthermore , there are no time limits on the incarceration of such a person and in many cases they are set free when they are deemed mentally stable enough to re-enter society . This is what Robert Motta believed was best for his client . Yet , an insanity plea is usually a very difficult one to prove . Although prosecutors were stung by Gacy 's insanity plea , it was something they had expected and were well prepared for

When the opening statements had concluded , the prosecution brought its first witness to the stand , Marko Butkovich , the father of Gacy 's victim John Butkovich . He was the first witness of many that included the family and friends of the murdered victims . Some of the witnesses broke down in tears on the bench , while others sadly recounted their last goodbyes to their loved ones

Following the friends and family of the victims came the testimony of those who worked for Gacy who survived sexual and usually violent encounters with their boss . Some of his ex-employees told of his mood swings and how he would trick them into being handcuffed . Others told of how he constantly made passes at them while at work . The testimony continued for the next several weeks , including that of friends and neighbors of Gacy , police officers involved in the investigation and arrest of Gacy , and psychologists who found Gacy sane during the killings . Before the state rested . It had called some sixty witnesses to the bench

The Defense

On February 24th , the defense began its proceedings and to the surprise of many in the courtroom , the first witness they had called was Jeffrey Ringall . It was expected that Ringall would testify in behalf of the prosecution . However , Ringall had previously mentioned his encounter with Gacy in a book and the prosecution believed that would damage their case if they took him on as a witness . Therefore , the prosecution did not call him as a witness because they believed his testimony would better help their case during cross-examination . Gacy 's other defense lawyer , Amirante asked Ringall if he thought Gacy was able to control himself . Ringall didn 't believe so , considering the savagery of Gacy 's attack . Testimony of Ringall did not last very long because he broke down while telling the court the details of his rape . Ringall was so stressed that he began to vomit and cry hysterically . He was eventually removed from the courtroom as Gacy sat by exhibiting no signs of emotion

In an effort to prove Gacy 's insanity , Amirante and Motta called to the stand the friends and family of the accused killer . Gacy 's mother told of how her husband abused Gacy on several occasions , at one time whipping him with a leather strap . Gacy 's sister told a similar story of how she repeatedly witnessed he brother being verbally abused by their father . Others who testified for the defense told of how Gacy was a good and generous man , who helped those in need and always had a smile on his face . Lillie Grexa took the stand and told of how wonderful a neighbor he was . However , Mrs . Grexa did say something that would prove damaging to Gacy 's case . She refused to say that he was crazy instead she said she believed Gacy to be a very brilliant man ' That statement would conflict with the defense 's story that he the defense then called Thomas Eliseo , a psychologist who interviewed Gacy before the trial . He found Gacy to be extremely intelligent , yet believed that he suffered from bline schizophrenia . Other medical experts that testified on behalf of the defense gave similar testimony stating that Gacy was schizophrenic , suffered from multiple personality dis or had antisocial behavior . They further stated that Gacy 's mental dis impaired his ability to understand the magnitude of his criminal acts In conclusion , they all found him to have been insane during the times he committed murder . After the testimony of the medical experts , the defense rested its case

Both sides emotionally argued their cases to the jury that sat before them . Each side recalled previous witnesses and experts who had testified . The prosecution reminded the jury of the heinous crimes committed by Gacy , talked of his manipulative behavior , his rape and torture of the victims and how his crimes were premeditated and planned

The defense insisted that Gacy was insane and out of control at the time of the killings and pointed to the testimony given by experts during the trial . After the closing arguments and the testimony of over a hundred witnesses over a period of five weeks , the jury was left to make their decision . It took only two hours of deliberation before the jury came back with its verdict . The courtroom was filled with silence and everyone within stood at attention when the jury marched in with its verdict . The silence was broken when the court clerk read , We , the jury , find the defendant , John Wayne Gacy , guilt . In 1994 he was killed by a lethal Injection (David Lohr , 2006

Should this person be found not guilty by reason of insanity

Today , insanity is an extremely rare defense , used in only about 1 percent of all felony murder cases . It is successful only about 25 percent of the time

It did not work for John Wayne Gacy , who strangled 33 young men and boys and buried 26 of them beneath the floorboards of his home in suburban Chicago . Could anyone who performed these gruesome deeds really be sane Their juries thought so , or at least the juries did not want to run the risk of ever putting this man back out on the streets (which is why most insanity defenses fail . A person who committed such heinous crimes can never be allowed on the streets . How can he be found not guilty due to being insane when Gacy had 33 "irresistible impulses " just how was it that he was digging graves in advance ? Can one plan for supposed spontaneous homicidal behavior ? And if his memory for what he did was so scattered , as Morrison indicates , how did he manage to draw maps of how he had buried each of the victims ? How was he able to carry on business over the phone , even as he was in the process of killing Rob Piest ? And when he realized he had all these bodies piling up in his crawl space (as he must have each time he buried one there , why didn 't he seek help

The Death Penalty he got was the right choice by the jury . A person like John cannot roam the streets as these people can be dangerous . He got what was coming to him . And thank god he is not among us anymore

Bibliography

Books

The Man Who Killed Boys by Clifford L . Lindecker (St . Martin 's backs , 1994

Erving `Asylums by Goffman

My Life Among the Serial Killers by Helen Morrison M .D

Killer Clown : John Wayne : The John Wayne Gacy Murders by Terry Sullivan and Peter Maiken (Mass Market back , 1997

Buried Dreams : Inside the Mind of a Serial Killer by Cahill and Tim (1986

Fall of the House of Gacy by Mendenhall and Harlan , Mass Market backs , 1998

Websites

John Wayne Gacy from Wikipedia (2006 . Retrieved on November 13 . From HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /John_Wayne_Gacy http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /John_Wayne_Gacy

The Clown that Killed by Troy Tailor (2003 . Retrieved on November 13 From HYPERLINK "http /www .prairieghosts .com /gacy .html http /www .prairieghosts .com /gacy .html

John Wayne Gacy by BBC . Retrieved on November 13 . From HYPERLINK "http /www .bbc .co .uk /crime /caseclosed /gacy .shtml http /www .bbc .co .uk /crime /caseclosed /gacy .shtml

Boy Killer : John Wayne Gacy by David Lohr (2006 . Retrieved on November 13 . From HYPERLINK "http /crimemagazine .com /boykillergacy .htm http /crimemagazine .com /boykillergacy .htm

John Wayne Gacy by Kristie and Mark fisher (2001 . Retrieved on November 14 . From HYPERLINK "http /www .carpenoctem .tv /killers /gacy .html http /www .carpenoctem .tv /killers /gacy .html

John Wayne Gacy by Fortune City . Retrieved on November 14 . From HYPERLINK "http /www .fortunecity .com /meltingpot /portland /12 /gacy .htm http /www .fortunecity .com /meltingpot /portland /12 /gacy .htm

John Wayne Gacy , Jr by Mitch D . Meredith (2003 . Retrieved on November 14 . From HYPERLINK "http /www .iejs .com /Criminals /john_wayne_gacy .htm http /www .iejs .com /Criminals /john_wayne_gacy .htm

John Wayne Gacy from serial Killers A-Z . Retrieved on November 14 . From HYPERLINK "http /www .geocities .com /verbal_plainfield /a-h /gacy .html http /www .geocities .com /verbal_plainfield /a-h /gacy .html

In the Mind of a Serial Killer by Chevon Deputy (2004 . Retrieved on November 14 . From HYPERLINK "http /serendip .brynmawr .edu /bb /neuro /neuro04 /web2 /cdeputy .html http /serendip .brynmawr .edu /bb /neuro /neuro04 /web2 /cdeputy .html

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