Who Was John Wayne Gacy? The Killer Clown

Who Was John Wayne Gacy?


John Wayne Gacy was a serial killer and rapist who murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men in Cook County, Illinois, burying most under his house. Sometimes known as the “Killer Clown” for his habit of dressing in a clown costume and makeup, Gacy had an abusive childhood and struggled with his homosexuality. Gacy committed all the murders in his Norwood Park home, luring his victims there with the promise of construction work or some other ruse, then sexually assaulting and torturing them before killing them, usually by strangulation. Gacy was arrested in 1979, and the following year, he was convicted of 33 murders. Gacy was executed in 1994.


In 1971, Gacy started a construction business called PDM Contractors, which grew rapidly and became financially successful. Also that year, Gacy also became engaged to Carole Hoff, who he briefly dated in high school. The two were married in 1972. Most of his employees at PDM Contractors were high school students and young men, who he would proposition for sex, sometimes under the threat of violence. Nevertheless, Gacy kept up a public front as a community man, hosting summer parties that were popular and well-attended, according to Buried Dreams.

John Wayne Gacy’s Victims

Gacy committed his first known murder in January 1972, after luring the 16-year-old Timothy McCoy to his house for sex. The next morning, Gacy saw McCoy standing in the bedroom doorway with a knife and rushed to attack him, wrestling the knife away and stabbing McCoy to death. Afterward, Gacy belatedly realized that McCoy hadn’t been attacking or threatening Gacy but rather was holding the knife because he had just made them breakfast. Nevertheless, Gacy discovered he received sexual gratification from killing McCoy, and later said, “That’s when I realized that death was the ultimate thrill,” according to Buried Dreams.