THE KILLER CLOWN

John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer known as the "Killer Clown".

John Wayne Gacy Jr. was born in Chicago in 1942 and had a traumatic childhood: he was beaten and called "sissy" by his alcoholic father, suffered a head injury at age 15, and in 1968 was arrested for practicing sex acts with a couple in the bathroom of a bar. Gacy began killing in 1972, and his victims were all men. The boys received job offers went to Gacy's house, were drunk, tied to a chair and sexually abused.

In 1978, the Chicago police made a search in his house, number 8213 West Summerdale Avenue, interrogating him, John Wayne Gacy, amateur clown beloved by children of the city and that would never commit a crime. Big mistake.

Before leaving the police felt a strange smell in the house: "It's just a blockage in plumbing," said Gacy. But the police decided to investigate anyway.

In the basement, hidden under a trap door, were found the remains of twenty-nine boys between nine and twenty-seven years, with signs of torture, sexual assault and strangulation.

Between 1972 and 1978, the year he was arrested, convicted, and later executed, Gacy raped and murdered at least 33 young men and boys. Although some of his victims' bodies were found in the Des Plaines River, he buried 29 of them in the small crawl space underneath the basement of his home. He became known as "Killer Clown" because of the popular block parties he would throw for his friends and neighbors, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup under the alias "Pogo the Clown".

In 1988, Gacy was sentenced to 21 life sentences and 12 death sentences. While waiting on Death Row in Menard Correctional Center in Illinois, Gacy spent his time drawing pictures for children, especially the clowns. His illustrations are considered collectibles, and reach high market prices.