JOHN WAYNE GACY WAS THE ORIGINAL KILLER CLOWN

(The recent arrest of a Porter High School student and investigation of two others for perpetrating a hoax on social media about killer clowns threatening students there brought memories of the original killer clown John Wayne Gacy. We reprint this well-researched piece about Gacy to remind our of the horrific crimes committed by a man in a clown suit.)

By Troy Taylor

To everyone who met him, John Wayne Gacy seemed a likable and affable man. He was widely respected in the community, charming and easy to get along with. 

He was a good Catholic and sharp businessman who, when not running his construction company was active in the Jaycees and was also a Democratic Party precinct captain, when he had his photo taken with then First Lady, Rosalynn Carter. 

He also spent much of his free time hosting elaborate street parties for his friends and neighbors, serving in community groups and entertaining children as "Pogo the Clown". 

He was a generous, hard working, friendly, devoted family man, everyone knew that -- but that was the side of John Wayne Gacy that he allowed people to see.

Underneath the smiling mask of the clown was the face of depraved fiend.
John Wayne Gacy was a born on St. Patrick’s Day 1942 at Edgewater Hospital in Chicago. Johnny was the second of three children. His older sister Joanne had preceded him by two years and two years after his birth came that of sister Karen.

The Gacy children were raised as Catholics and all three attended Catholic schools where they lived on the north side. Growing up, Gacy was a quiet boy who worked odd jobs for spending money, like newspaper routes and bagging groceries, and busied himself with Boy Scout activities. 

He was never a particularly popular boy but he was well-liked by his teachers, co-workers and friends from school and the Boy Scouts. He seemed to have a normal childhood, except for his relationship with his father and a series of health problems that he developed.

When Gacy was 11, he was playing on a swing set and was hit in the head with one of the swings. The accident caused a blood clot in his brain that was not discovered until he was 16. Between the time of the accident and the diagnosis, Gacy suffered from blackouts that were caused by the clot. They were finally treated with medication. 

At 17, he was also diagnosed with a heart ailment that he was hospitalized for several times during his life. He complained frequently about it over the years but no one could ever find a cause for the pain that he claimed to be suffering. In his late teens, he began to experience problems with his father, although his relationship with his mother and sisters remained strong. His father was an alcoholic who physically abused his wife and berated his children.

His family problems extended out into his schoolwork and after attending four high schools during his senior year and never graduating, Gacy dropped out and left home for Las Vegas. He worked part time as a janitor in a funeral home and saved his money to buy a ticket back to Chicago. Lonely and depressed, he spent three months trying to get the money together. His mother and sisters were thrilled to see him when he returned.

After his return, Gacy enrolled in business college and eventually graduated. While in school, he gained a real talent for salesmanship and he put these talents to work in a job with the Nunn-Bush Shoe Company. He excelled as a management trainee and he was soon transferred to a men’s clothing outlet in Springfield, Illinois. 

Soon after his move, Gacy’s health took a turn for the worse. He gained a great deal of weight and began to suffer more from his mysterious heart ailment. He was hospitalized and soon after getting out, was back in the hospital again, this time with back problems.

While living in Springfield, Gacy became involved in several organizations that served the community, including the Jaycees, to which Gacy devoted most of his efforts and was eventually a vice-president and named "Man of the Year". 

Many who knew Gacy considered him to be ambitious and working to make a name for himself in the community. In September 1964, Gacy met and married a co-worker named Marlynn Myers, whose parents owned a number of Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants in Iowa. 

Gacy’s new father-in-law offered him a position with the company and soon the newlyweds were moving to Iowa. Life seemed to hold great promise for Gacy and there was no foreshadowing of the horrific events to come.
Gacy began learning the restaurant business from the ground up, working 12 to 14 hours each day. He was enthusiastic and eager to learn and hoped to take over the franchises one day. When not working, he was active with the Waterloo, Iowa Jaycees. 

He worked tirelessly performing volunteer work and he made many friends. Marlynn gave birth to a son shortly after they moved to Iowa and not long after, added a daughter to the happy family. They seemed to have the picture perfect life -- a loving and healthy family, a good job, a house in the suburbs -- and it seemed almost too good to be true. And it was…

Rumors were starting to spread around town, and among Jaycees members, about Gacy’s sexual preferences.

To read entire story, click on link: http://www.prairieghosts.com/gacy.html