Have you ever heard of Pogo the Clown (aka John Wayne Gacy), the serial killer? He dressed up as a clown to disguise himself as a “good” person but murdered 33 young boys in the Chicago-land area.

Childhood/Early Life

Gacy was born March 17, 1942, in Chicago, Illinois. He and his two sisters were born into a blue-collar family. Growing up, Gacy’s dad was an alcoholic and was reported to be abusive towards Gacy. This caused Gacy to start having an identity crisis as he began doubting his own masculinity. When he turned 11, he suffered from a huge blow to his head. After that, he experienced blackouts for the next 5 years of his life. He later found out he had a blood clot in his brain, but it was able to be removed with medication. Gacy ended up dropping out of high school and living in Las Vegas for a few months before he returned to Illinois. Shortly after, he enrolled in Northwestern’s Business College and graduated in 1963.

What caused John Wayne to murder?

• His abusive childhood
• The need for attention
• His self-hatred
• His need to reenact abuse
• His lack of remorse
• His shame
• His hidden trauma

His First Crime:

After he graduated, he began to work as a shoe salesman, where he then met his (ex) wife, Marlynn Myers. He started working as the manager of his wife’s family owned KFC business, where he was arrested for sexual misconduct with an underage male employee. Gacy tried to hire a thug to beat up the witness who reported him but failed. This caused him to have an increased charge. He pleaded guilty to sodomy and was sentenced to 10 years but was let out early, serving only 18 months. Gacy’s wife ended up filing for a divorce, which was finalized in 1969.

John Wayne Gacy Survivors

• Jeffery Rignail: Jeffrey survived torture and sexual assault by John Wayne Gacy in March of 1978.
• Mickel Ried: Mickel survived a hammer attack by John Wayne.
• Art Peterson and Dominique Josczinski: Peterson and Josczinski survived sexual advances and threats by John Wayne.

After he was released from prison in 1971, he was arrested again for sexual assault on two separate occasions, both of which were dropped. Gacy grew to be very liked in his neighborhood. He often threw house parties during the summer and appeared as Pogo the Clown at events. In 1972, he married Carole Hoff, who was an old high school classmate. Gacy then founded PDM, his own construction business; many of his employees were young, teenage boys. His wife began to question his relationship with these young boys after she had found pornographic magazines that featured men and young males. She became suspicious of Gacy’s loyalty and actions and divorced him in 1976.

Gacy was a very stubborn and “full of himself” kind of guy; he always made himself out to be better than others. He played himself off as a good guy but was selfish and stuck up. It was like he was living a double life as a sexual predator. To the cops, he said he was “bisexual”, which back in the day meant that he would perform sexual acts with people with no romantic feelings attached.

In December 1980, Gacy was captured. Police started to suspect Gacy after Robert Piest went missing right after him and Gacy went outside to talk about a job. Lt. Kozenczak called Gacy to have him come to the station to have a conversation. Not long after, the police had gotten a warrant to search his house, and soon they found suspicious items like a syringe, drugs, and licenses that belonged to other people. As they continued to search, they found a crawl space under his house. Gacy claimed that it was just old and moldy, as the scent had once attracted the attention of a police officer. But, there, they found numerous bodies under the crawl space.

Gacy’s Trial

Gacy’s trial started June 6, 1984, with his defendant lawyer, Sam Amirante, and attorney, Robert M. Motta. His lawyer tried to get him out of the death penalty by admitting he was guilty on account of insanity. They fought for a lesser sentence and/or for Gacy to be sent to a mental institution instead of prison. Gacy was charged with 33 counts of murder, one count of deviate sexual assault, one count of indecent liberties with a child, and one count of aggravated kidnapping. Gacy was sentenced to death on 12 counts of murder and to terms of natural life on each of the remaining murder counts. He was then executed by a lethal injection in 1994.

Death

The killer clown, Gacy, was convicted of murdering 33 young men and boys; he claimed to have no remorse or guilt for the crimes he committed. Before his death, he made paintings of clowns and other figures that sold for thousands of dollars while he was in prison. For his last meal, he chose to have a bucket of KFC chicken, along with 12 fried prawns, a pound of strawberries, fries, and a diet coke. He was sentenced to death with a lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Ill. He was given three different chemicals: one to knock him unconscious, another to stop his breathing, and one to stop his heart. However, during the process, there was an error. There was a clog in the second chemical that stopped it from going into Gacy, which caused his death to last 18 minutes, 4 times longer than what they expected. Just before his execution, Gacy spoke his notorious last words, “Kiss my ass”. His heinous crimes were finally put to an end.

 References

Comiter, J. (2025, May 10). How Did John Wayne Gacy Die? Inside the Killer Clown’s Death 31 Years Ago, Including His Notorious Last Words. People.com. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://people.com/john-wayne-gacy-death-what-to-know-11730476
history.com. (2009, November 13). John Wayne Gacy confesses to dozens of murders | December 22, 1978 | HISTORY. History.com. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/december-22/john-wayne-gacy-confesses
Jenkins, P. (2025, September 5). John Wayne Gacy | Biography, Murders, Execution, Paintings, & Facts. Britannica. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wayne-Gacy