John Wayne Gacy

1. John Wayne Gacy By: Baylee McCombs

2. Background • Born March 17, 1942 • Born in Chicago, Illinois, the middle child • As a child, Gacy was overweight and unathletic • Endured a difficult relationship with his father • Father was abusive and an alcoholic • Gacy was an average student with few friends • Bullied by neighborhood children

3. Crimes committed • Stole a toy truck at age 6 from neighborhood store • In August 1967, Gacy committed his first known sexual assault upon a teenage boy. • Several other youths were sexually abused over the following months • Gacy was convicted of sodomy on December 3, 1968, and sentenced to 10 years at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. • Granted parole with 12 months' probation on June 18, 1970, after serving 18 months • February 12, 1971, Gacy was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage boy. Charges dropped since teen wouldn’t show up to court • June 22, 1972, he was again arrested and charged with battery

4. Crimes Cont. • Started killing his victims • Police got a lead that Gacy was killing multiple teenage boys • Got a warrant to search his house • Found remains, items from victims, and a syringe • February 6, 1980, charged with 33 murders • Gacy was sentenced to death for the twelve counts of murder • An initial date of execution was set for June 2, 1980

5. Criminal term definitions • Sexual Assault- A statutory offense that provides that it is a crime to knowingly cause another person to engage in an unwanted sexual act by force or threat • Sodomy- sexual intercourse involving anal or oral copulation • Parole/Probation- the release of a prisoner temporarily (for a special purpose) or permanently before the completion of a sentence, on the promise of good behavior • Battery- the crime or tort of unconsented physical contact with another person, even where the contact is not violent but merely menacing or offensive.

6. Quotes/nickname • “The only thing they can get me for is running a funeral parlor without a license.”- John Wayne Gacy • AKA "Killer Clown“ • Dressed as “Pogo The Clown” and showed up at children events

7. Cultural references • John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster – Book • Gacy- Movie made in 2003 • To Catch a Killer- Movie made in 1992 • Dear Mr. Gacy- Movie made in 2010 • Gacy House- Movie made in 2010

8. Sociological theory John Wayne Gacy has done a lot of messed up things. His tactics for killing his victims were very gruesome and inhuman. He kept some of the dead bodies under his house in crawl spaces, and ended up burying some of the bodies in his back yard. Neighbors would complain about the horrible smells that came from his house. Not only did he have a messed up mind, he also had a messed up childhood. Gacy’s father was an alcoholic and very abusive. Gacy also got made fun of at school as a child, so this makes him fall under the social control theory. He falls under the social control theory because the attachment of social bonds was weakened with his family and kids at his school. As soon as he turned 18, he moved away from his family and started his new life dealing with politics. After he did all of his stuff with politics, he started his own business and only hired teenage boys. He ended up kidnapping some of the boys and killing them, but he would go through a daily routine the next day and act as if nothing happened. This also falls into another social theory called ritualism. He falls in the ritualism category because he would go about his daily job and act like he has done no harm, when in reality he has caused a lot of trouble.