John Wayne Gacy “The Killer Clown” “A clown can get away with murder.”

Life Before Crime (Background) John Wayne Gacy was born in Chicago, Illinois in the year 1942. Gacy was both physically and verbally abused by his father. At 9 Gacy was molested by a family friend , but was too afraid to tell anyone. He was overweight and unathletic this caused him to be subject to frequent bullying. He dropped out of school at the age of 18. At the age of 18, Gacy started working as an assistant precinct captain for a Democratic Party candidate in his neighborhood. Drove to Las Vegas where he found work as a mortuary attendant for 3 months before returning to Chicago. Gacy successfully enrolled in the Northwestern Business College from which he graduated in 1963. Gacy subsequently took a management trainee position within the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company he quickly rose the ranks to manager. Gacy joined the Jaycees and consistently worked for them through his life In 1964 he got married to Marlynn Myers In 1964 a colleague of his within the Springfield Jaycees plied him with drinks, invited him to spend the evening upon his sofa, then performed oral sex upon him while he was drunk. They moved to Waterloo to manage his new step fathers fried chicken resteraunts. He had a son named Michael was born in February 1966, followed by a daughter named Christine in March 1967

Criminal History In 1967 Sexual Assault on 15 year old Donald Voorhees. - Convicted and sentenced to ten years in prison at Anamosa State Penitentiary, but was granted parole and twelve months probation after serving only eighteen months there. In 1971 Sexual Assault on a minor. - The victim unfortunately never appeared at court and as a result the case was dismissed “Kiss my ass.”(final words) “The dead won't bother you, it's the living you have to worry about.”

Most Recent Crime Evidence Conviction His most recent conviction is the 1st Degree Murder of 33 young boys. 1st Degree Murder is the unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated, meaning that it was committed after planning or "lying in wait" for the victim. Evidence In December of 1978 27 bodies were found on Gacy’s property. 26 of these bodies were found in Gacy’s crawl space. The remaining bodies were also soon recovered at various locations. Several victims were found with the ligature (something used to tie or fasten) still tied around there necks IN his house there was clothing that was far too small to fit him. Nylon rope on his property used most likely for strangling. Conviction Was sentenced to death via lethal injection. “I should never have been convicted of anything more serious than running a cemetery without a license.”

Sociological Theory I feel that the theory that best explains John Wayne Gacy’s behavior is the social control theory. In criminology, social control theory proposes that exploiting the process of socialization and social learning builds self-control and reduces the inclination to indulge in behavior recognized as antisocial.. In this theory the deviance occurs when the attachment to the social bond is broken and severed. In the case of John Wayne Gacy his social bond was initially broken by his abusive father. Gacy’s father didn’t accept John for who he was and often beat his to show his displeasure with him. This was further broken when he attended school and was picked on for his size and personality. This made Gacy want to prove he was better than everyone and lash out. It also helps explain the superiority complex he held when he was older. The abuse he suffered when he was younger caused him to have a lack of internal control. This paired with the identity crisis of trying to conform and be a picture perfect husband with a wife and a father while he was a homosexual caused confusion in his life. The last factor was to prove his masculinity, showing he was better and stronger than others by killing them. This was to make up for the bullying he suffered due to his size and lack of athletic ability. All of these things combined created a monster who went on to kill 33 young boys all to prove his own superiority. In conclusion while I believe Gacy got the punishment he deserved his rough childhood was the main cause of why he became the killer he did.

Cultural References to Criminal Movies To Catch a Killer 8213: Gacy House Gacy Dear Mr. Gacy Books 29 Below A Question of Doubt: The John Wayne Gacy Story Buried Dreams: Inside the Mind of Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy Killer Clown: the John Wayne Gacy Murders And 6 more!!! Television Inspiration for twisty American Horror story Featured on the series “Most Evil” "What Lies Below“ episode of Psychic Investigators