John Wayne Gacy Research Paper

During the times of 1972 to 1978, John Wayne Gacy Jr. killed 33 people in the Chicago area. He was known for raping, torturing, then strangling his victims (SC4). Then he would dispose of the bodies by either dumping them into a river or hiding them beneath his house. He wasn't caught until after the murder of his final victim in 1978. Then he became one of the most famous serial killers in American history. His first known victim was Timothy McCoy, who was only 18 and was murdered on January 2, 1972. This incident would start Gacy’s reign of terror of six years in Chicago. His main target was teenagers to young men, ranging in ages from fourteen to twenty-one (Rosewood). When he found the right person to murder, he would find a way to lure them into his house. His two popular ways of doing this were by either offering them

Inside the crawlspace underneath his home were 26 of the 33 victims and scattered around his property were three other victims. The rest of the four bodies were dumped into the nearby Des Plaines River. To speed up the time of decomposition, Gacy would spray lime on the bodies. Gacy was able to make excuses for the smell of the decomposing bodies for years which allowed him to continue his murderous spree (Rosewood).

In addition to the 33 murders that were committed, Gacy was also accountable for many, many rapes. A couple of times before his killing period, he was found guilty of sodomizing several minors. Even during the period of his murders, he would commit numerous acts of rape. Gacy would chloroform the victim, or sometimes hold gunpoint, take them back to his house, and then brutally rape and torture the victim. Even with complaints by the numerous victims, the Chicago police department did not take action (Blanco). One possible explanation for this was because of his involvement in the community. He was a successful businessman and he would often do charities dressed up as a