John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy (born March 17, 1942, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—died May 10, 1994, Statesville, Illinois) was an American serial killer whose murders of 33 boys and young men in the 1970s received international media attention and shocked his suburban Chicago community, where he was known for his sociability and his performance as a clown at charitable events and childrens’ parties. Gacy was convicted of murder in 1980, and he was executed in 1994.

Early life and first crimes

Gacy was born into a blue-collar family, the only son of Marion (née Robinson) Gacy and John Stanley Gacy; the family also included two sisters. He was named after the movie star John Wayne. Gacy’s father was an alcoholic, and he was reportedly abusive to his son. John Wayne Gacy dropped out of high school and briefly lived in Las Vegas. He worked at a mortuary for several months before returning to Illinois. Shortly thereafter he enrolled at Northwestern Business College and graduated in 1963.

In 1964 Gacy married Marlynn Myers. The couple moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where Gacy managed several Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises owned by his father-in-law. Gacy and his wife later had a son and daughter. Gacy was active in the community and was a prominent member of the Jaycees. However, he also began exhibiting a growing tendency toward sadism, which resulted in several encounters with the law. In 1968 he pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a teenage boy and was confined in the Iowa State Men’s Reformatory (Anamosa State Penitentiary). Other boys made similar allegations, though no additional charges were filed. Gacy’s wife filed for divorced, and it was finalized in 1969. Gacy had no subsequent contact with her or his children.

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Although sentenced to 10 years in prison, Gacy was paroled in 1970, and he moved back to Chicago. In 1971 he was arrested for sexual assault on two separate occasions, but the charges were dropped in both cases. During this time Gacy, with help from his mother, purchased a home in Norwood Park Township, outside Chicago. He was extremely well liked in the community, and he hosted annual summer parties that were hugely popular. He later appeared as a clown (“Pogo the Clown” or “Patches the Clown”) at various events.

In 1972 Gacy married Carole Hoff, a former high-school classmate. Two years later Gacy founded PDM, a contracting business that became successful. Many of Gacy’s employees were teenaged boys. Carole began to question his involvement with young men, especially after she found pornographic magazines featuring boys and men. In addition, she grew suspicious of his frequent nights out. In 1976 the couple divorced.

Murders and arrest

Gacy committed his first known murder in 1972. He met 16-year-old Timothy McCoy at the Greyhound bus station in Chicago. The teenager had a layover on his way home to Nebraska, and he agreed to go to Gacy’s house. There Gacy fatally stabbed him. Over the next six years, Gacy murdered 32 other young men. His crimes typically followed a pattern. He would lure victims to his house—sometimes offering a job at his company—and then give them alcohol or drugs. At some point he would mention a “magic trick,” which would involve the young men putting on handcuffs. Gacy would then rape and murder them, usually by strangulation or asphyxiation.

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In 1978 Gacy killed his final victim, 15-year-old Robert Piest. After his parents reported him missing, police learned that Gacy was the last person known to have seen him. (Piest had gone to his house to talk about a construction job.) After obtaining a search warrant, police searched the house and found suspicious items, including syringes, various drugs, and licenses belonging to other people. Gacy was placed under surveillance as detectives conducted an investigation, which included talking to young men who had previously accused Gacy of assault. In addition, several men mentioned digging trenches and spreading lime in the crawl space under the house.

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Police obtained a second warrant, and they discovered the bodies of 29 boys and young men in the crawl space or near Gacy’s house; four other bodies, including Piest’s, were later found in the nearby Des Plaines River. The area of the house had emitted a foul stench for years, but Gacy had told his houseguests and his wife that the smell was the result of moisture buildup.

Trial and conviction

Soon after being arrested, Gacy admitted to the murders. He later plead innocent by reason of insanity, and his trial began in 1980. The defense called several psychologists who had diagnosed him as schizophrenic. However, the jury found him guilty of all 33 murders, and he received the death penalty. While in prison, Gacy claimed to have committed other murders, though those were never confirmed. After all his appeals were denied, Gacy was executed by lethal injection in 1994.

While on death row, Gacy became a prolific painter, and many of his works were of clowns. His paintings later became popular at auctions and were among highly sought-after “murderabilia” (items connected to killers).

To learn more about his paintings, see our article John Wayne Gacy’s Artwork.

Books and documentaries

Gacy was the subject of numerous books, movies, and documentaries. Notable docuseries include Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes (2022) and Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy (2025); the latter is a dramatized series.