Do you think Pennywise in the movie It is scary? Wait until you hear the story of this real-life killer clown where the popular Hollywood picture is based on! He has a track record that will make you wish you never heard a thing about him.
To most people, John Wayne Gacy was an upstanding member of his community. He was known to entertain the children in his community with his clown act. He also went the extra mile with his make-up on and entertained sick children in the local hospital and performed for free at fund-raisers. However, the man behind the clown was not so kind…
Born on March 17, 1942, in Chicago Gacy suffered severe childhood abuse at the hands of his alcoholic father. After he escaped this nightmare, he went on to find success as a businessman. He first managed three separate KFC restaurants before starting his construction firm. He also marries his wife Marlynn Myers, and he fathered a son and a daughter with her. The marriages would not last long though…
In 1968 Gacy was convicted of sexually abusing a 16-year-old. His wife filed for divorce on this basis and he was thrown in jail. When he got out in 1970, he started his own construction business and threw himself into the community. He then started his second marriage with divorcee Carole Hoff in 1972, and all seemed well…
In his free time, Gacy would put on his clown costume and pretend he was Pogo. His clown alter-ego was chirpy but helped the man “regress into childhood.” As a keen Democrat, Gacy was very involved with politics and served on several local committees. He even met with First Lady Rosalynn Carter through his community work. But nobody had any idea about the sick man behind the clown mask…
Gacy lured many of his victim’s to him by telling them he needed their help with “scientific research,” for which he would pay them up to 50 dollars each. He would then ply them with alcohol or trick them into putting handcuffs on, using his clown routine. Then, while defenseless, he would torment his victims and eventually take their lives with his “rope trick”…
Throughout his disturbing career between 1972 and 1978 33 people fell victim to Gacy’s awful clown act. Eventually inspiring the movie IT and the killer clown hype. He bundled the bodies into his home’s crawl space, buried them on his property or dumped them in the local Des Plaines River. Let hope we never hear another story like this again!
