Gacy's murders consisted of thirty three young boys
Twelve of Gacy's Identified Victims
When Gacy was arrested in 1978 he was found guilty of a total of 33 murders ranging from ages nine to twenty years old. His first murder dates back to January 2, 1972 when he killed a 15-year-old by the name of Jack McCoy. Gacy was driving past the Chicago bus station when McCoy first caught his eye. McCoy was traveling from Michigan to Omaha but was required to stay the night in Chicago due to the departure time of the next bus. Gacy lured McCoy in by asking to join him in a sightseeing tour around the city. Gacy promised that McCoy could spend the night at his house and would have him back to the station in time for the departure of the next bus. Unfortunately, McCoy never made it out of Gacy’s house. Early the next morning, Mccoy was making breakfast for the two of them to show gratitude for letting him stay the night. McCoy had a kitchen knife in hand when he woke Gacy to surprise him that he was making breakfast. However, Gacy did not realize this until after he brutally murdered McCoy. Gacy later told police that he wrestled the knife out of McCoy’s hands by slamming his head against one of the bedroom doors. Once Gacy managed to obtain the knife, he stabbed McCoy in the chest several times until he stopped breathing. After murdering McCoy, Gacy proceeded to cover the child in concrete and bury him under the crawlspace in his home.
After the success Gacy had luering McCoy into his home, he continued lurk the city with the motive to find the perfect victim. Bus stations were one the most common locations where Gacy abducted his victims. Gacy also claimed that he started a construction company in which he hired younger males aged from 15 to 18. Many of these hired employees became victims of his gruesome killing spree. At times, Gacy would use chloroform on individuals who resisted his demands. After convincing individuals to come back to his house, his murdering process escalated quickly. He would begin by demonstrating a magic trick that involved the use of handcuffs. This trick would eventually end with the victim hopelessly restrained to a bed or chair. Gacy then proceeded to stuff various clothes in their mouth so they wouldn’t alert surrounding neighbors. Before Gacy would kill his victims, he would rape them with various sex toys and also forced them to do sexual favors until they were basically unconscious. Once his victims were defenceless, Gacy would usually strangle or suffocate them by forcing articles of clothing down their throat. Gacy confessed that one of his favorite killing methods was the “rope trick”. In this method, Gacy would strangle his victims with a tourniquet and would watch as victims slowly died. He even told police that sometimes his victims would convulse for one to two hours before actually dying. Other killing techniques that inspired Gacy included ones that he read from the Houston Mass Murders. Most of his murders consisted of only killing one person, however, on occasions he would do “doubles” where he would kill two boys in one night.
The number of murders Gacy committed started to increase. He discovered various ways in which he could hide and dispose of his victim’s corpses. The most common disposable area was found in the crawl space underneath his house. Various reports say that 29 bodies were found buried underneath the crawl space. Gacy used a product known as Quicklime to help decompose some of his victim’s corpses so the crawlspace wouldn’t reach maximum capacity. Corpses that couldn’t be completely decomposed were doused with concrete to mask the wretched smell of human flesh. Towards the end of Gacy’s killing spree, he was forced to dispose corpses elsewhere. A total of five victims were thrown off a nearby bridge which overlooked the Des Plaines river.
Although Gacy killed the majority of boys that stepped into his house, there was a small amount who were lucky enough to escape and survive. Jeffrey Rignal was one of the few who survived. Rignal vaguely remembered that horrific night due to being chloroformed several times. However, Rignal remembered the black Oldsmobile Gacy drove the night he was abducted. Rignal and a group of his friends noticed the same car about a month later and followed it to back to Gacy’s home. Rignal quickly went to the police to press charges on Gacy which helped lead police to the arrest of Gacy.
Gacy’s 33rd and final victim, Robert Piest, was killed on December 12, 1978. Before going over to Gacy’s house, Piest told a close friend that the reason he was going over to his bosses house was to discuss the future of his job. Shortly after he went missing, his friend told police what he last heard from Piest. When the police arrived at Gacy’s house for questioning, they noticed an abnormal stench coming from inside. Police had already been skeptical because of the pending charges Jeffery Rignal had pressed, so they proceeded to obtain a search warrant. Once inside, police quickly took Gacy into custody when discovering the first of 29 dead bodies that were scattered throughout his home. In turn, Gacy's punishment was for him to be taken to death row, and injected with lethal poison in return for all of the murders he caused.
After the success Gacy had luering McCoy into his home, he continued lurk the city with the motive to find the perfect victim. Bus stations were one the most common locations where Gacy abducted his victims. Gacy also claimed that he started a construction company in which he hired younger males aged from 15 to 18. Many of these hired employees became victims of his gruesome killing spree. At times, Gacy would use chloroform on individuals who resisted his demands. After convincing individuals to come back to his house, his murdering process escalated quickly. He would begin by demonstrating a magic trick that involved the use of handcuffs. This trick would eventually end with the victim hopelessly restrained to a bed or chair. Gacy then proceeded to stuff various clothes in their mouth so they wouldn’t alert surrounding neighbors. Before Gacy would kill his victims, he would rape them with various sex toys and also forced them to do sexual favors until they were basically unconscious. Once his victims were defenceless, Gacy would usually strangle or suffocate them by forcing articles of clothing down their throat. Gacy confessed that one of his favorite killing methods was the “rope trick”. In this method, Gacy would strangle his victims with a tourniquet and would watch as victims slowly died. He even told police that sometimes his victims would convulse for one to two hours before actually dying. Other killing techniques that inspired Gacy included ones that he read from the Houston Mass Murders. Most of his murders consisted of only killing one person, however, on occasions he would do “doubles” where he would kill two boys in one night.
The number of murders Gacy committed started to increase. He discovered various ways in which he could hide and dispose of his victim’s corpses. The most common disposable area was found in the crawl space underneath his house. Various reports say that 29 bodies were found buried underneath the crawl space. Gacy used a product known as Quicklime to help decompose some of his victim’s corpses so the crawlspace wouldn’t reach maximum capacity. Corpses that couldn’t be completely decomposed were doused with concrete to mask the wretched smell of human flesh. Towards the end of Gacy’s killing spree, he was forced to dispose corpses elsewhere. A total of five victims were thrown off a nearby bridge which overlooked the Des Plaines river.
Although Gacy killed the majority of boys that stepped into his house, there was a small amount who were lucky enough to escape and survive. Jeffrey Rignal was one of the few who survived. Rignal vaguely remembered that horrific night due to being chloroformed several times. However, Rignal remembered the black Oldsmobile Gacy drove the night he was abducted. Rignal and a group of his friends noticed the same car about a month later and followed it to back to Gacy’s home. Rignal quickly went to the police to press charges on Gacy which helped lead police to the arrest of Gacy.
Gacy’s 33rd and final victim, Robert Piest, was killed on December 12, 1978. Before going over to Gacy’s house, Piest told a close friend that the reason he was going over to his bosses house was to discuss the future of his job. Shortly after he went missing, his friend told police what he last heard from Piest. When the police arrived at Gacy’s house for questioning, they noticed an abnormal stench coming from inside. Police had already been skeptical because of the pending charges Jeffery Rignal had pressed, so they proceeded to obtain a search warrant. Once inside, police quickly took Gacy into custody when discovering the first of 29 dead bodies that were scattered throughout his home. In turn, Gacy's punishment was for him to be taken to death row, and injected with lethal poison in return for all of the murders he caused.
Names, Ages, and dates of Gacy's thirty-three murders
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"John Wayne Gacy Jr." Criminal Minds. Wikia, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2012. <http://criminalminds.wikia.com/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy>.
"John Wayne Gacy." Wikipedia. N.p., 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 15 Dec. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy>.