Can someone help me with this project about John Wayne Gacy?

Question

we have to pick an icon, dress up as him/her, research info about them, and make a presentation as if i were the person. i decided to choose john wayne gacy because he seems very twisted and interesting. i can't find enough solid information about him to make a 4-page essay about him. can someone give me some ideas on how i should present myself? like should i come in as a normal man or as a clown? all i really know about him is that he raped boys and young men then buried them underneath his house. is there anything more to the story? please, any ideas on how i should write this essay would be appreciated.

Answer 1

John Wayne Gacy, (March 17, 1942[1] – May 10, 1994[2]) was an American serial killer[3]. He was convicted and later executed for the rape and murder of 33 boys and young men, 28 of whom he buried in the crawl space under his house, between 1972 and his arrest in December 1978[4]. He became notorious as the "Killer Clown" because of the many block parties he attended, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup.

Life
Gacy was born and raised in Chicago. He had a very distressing and distant relationship with his stern, alcoholic father. He worked briefly in Las Vegas before returning to Illinois. He attended a business college and started a moderately successful career as a shoe salesman in Springfield, Illinois, where he became a prominent member of the Jaycees. In his study, Extraordinary Behavior: A Case Study Approach to Understanding Social Problems (2000), Dennis L. Peck, Professor of Sociology at the University of Alabama, writes: "John Wayne married in 1964. This also was the year a homosexual encounter was experienced for the first time." He moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where he managed a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant belonging to his wife's family.

However, Gacy's first marriage fell apart after he was convicted of child molestation in 1968. He was sent to prison for this crime, but he was a model prisoner and was paroled in 1970 after serving only 18 months. After he was released, he moved back to Illinois. He successfully hid this criminal record until police began investigating him for his later murders.

In 1971 he bought a house in an unincorporated area of Norwood Park Township, which is surrounded by the northwest side Chicago neighborhood of Norwood Park, and established his own construction business, PDM Contracting. He married a woman he had known since high school, she and her two daughters moved in with him. He became a prominent and respected member of the community. In addition to his clown act, he became active in the local Democratic Party, first volunteering to clean the party offices, eventually becoming a precinct captain. [1] In this capacity, he was even able to meet and be photographed with future-First Lady Rosalynn Carter [2]. Mrs. Carter even signed the photo: To John Gacy. Best Wishes. Rosalynn Carter. During the search of Gacy's house, this photo caused a major embarrassment to the U.S. Secret Service, as the photo depicted Gacy wearing an "S" lapel pin, which meant the Secret Service had given him a high-level security clearance (Sullivan and Maiken, 1983).

It was also during this time that he claimed his first known victim, a teenage boy he picked up at a bus depot. His marriage fell apart and his wife divorced him in mid-1976. Gacy began a double life: respected member of the community by day, sexual predator and murderer by night.

No suspicion fell on him until December 12, 1978, when he was investigated following the disappearance of a teenage boy, 15-year-old Robert Piest, who was last seen with Gacy. A search of his house, by Des Plaines detective Joseph Kozenczak, revealed a number of incriminating items related to other disappearances. On December 22, 1978 Gacy went to his lawyers and confessed. He claimed he had first killed in January 1972. He confessed to 33 murders, indicating where the bodies were in 28 of the cases—buried under his house and on his property. The other 5 he said were thrown into the nearby Des Plaines River after he ran out of space beneath the crawlspace under his house. Most of the victims were young male prostitutes or teenage runaways. Some victims were also teenage boys whom Gacy had hired through his contracting firm. At least one of the victims was picked up at the bus station. The youngest victim was nine years old. The oldest was around 20. Nine of the victims were so badly decomposed that they were never identified. The bodies were uncovered from December 1978 to April 1979, when the last known victim was found downstream in the Illinois River.


[edit] Trial and execution
On February 6, 1980, Gacy's trial began in Chicago. During the trial, he made a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. However, this plea was rejected outright—his lawyer, Sam Amirante, made the claim that Gacy had moments of temporary insanity at the time of each individual murder, but before and afterwards, somehow regained his sanity to properly lure and dispose of victims. While under trial Gacy joked that the only thing he was guilty of was "running a cemetary with out a license" At one point in the trial, Gacy's defense also tried to claim that all 33 murders were accidental deaths as part of erotic asphyxia, but the Cook County Coroner immediately provided evidence that this was impossible. Also, Gacy had made an earlier confession to police, and was unable to have this evidence suppressed. He was found guilty on March 13 and sentenced to death (Sullivan and Maiken, 1983).

On May 10, 1994, Gacy was executed at Stateville Penitentiary in Crest Hill, Illinois, by lethal injection, after finishing his last meal consisting of shrimp, fried chicken, fresh strawberries and french fries. His execution was a minor media sensation, and large crowds of people gathered for "execution parties" outside the penitentiary, with numerous arrests for public intoxication, open intoxicants, and disorderly conduct. In an unusual display of gallows humor, the so-called "Gacy's Day Parade" (a parody of the "Macy's Day Parade") ensued. Vendors sold T-shirts and Gacy merchandise, and the people cheered at the moment when Gacy was pronounced dead.

Gacy's execution proved problematic when the chemicals used in the lethal injection were mixed in a way that caused them to solidify, and as a result, he reportedly took 27 minutes to die. This apparently led to Illinois' adoption of a different method of lethal injection.

According to reports, Gacy did not express remorse. His last words to his lawyer in his cell were to the effect that killing him would not bring anyone back, and it is reported his last words were "You can kiss my ***", which he said to a guard while he was being sent to the execution chamber. After the execution began, the lethal chemicals unexpectedly solidified, clogging the IV tube that led into Gacy's arm, and preventing any further passage. Blinds covering the window through which witnesses observed the execution were drawn, and the execution team replaced the clogged tube with a new one. Ten minutes later, the blinds were then reopened and the execution process resumed. It took 18 minutes to complete. 31 anesthesiologists blamed the problem on the inexperience of prison officials who were conducting the execution, saying that proper procedures taught in "IV 101" would have prevented the error.


[edit] Possible Explanations
Some have pointed to his poor relationship with his alcoholic father, his head trauma and subsequent blackouts in his teenage years as some basis for his acts. There has also been some speculation that murdering men and boys — whom he called "worthless little queers and punks" — was Gacy's subconscious expression of self-hatred for his own homosexuality (Gacy claimed to hate gays and "gay-acting people," and that he was bisexual).[3] However, his victims were mostly heterosexual males. The victims were not targeted because of their personalities or sexual histories or practices. Indeed, these were varied. Their most common attributes were youth and good looks.

After his execution, Gacy's brain was removed. It is currently in the possession of Dr. Helen Morrison, who interviewed Gacy and other serial killers in an attempt to isolate common personality traits held by such people. However, an examination of Gacy's brain after his execution by the forensic psychiatrist hired by his lawyers revealed no abnormalities. She has said Gacy did not fit into any psychological profile associated with serial killers, and the psychological reasons for his rampage (if, that is, there were any psychological reasons) will probably never be known. During Gacy's trial, Dr. Morrison herself appeared as a psychiatric witness and told the court that he had "the emotional makeup of an infant" (Sullivan and Maiken, 1983).

During his time on Death Row, Gacy took up oil painting, and his favorite subject was painting portraits of clowns. He claimed to have used his clown act as an alter ego, once sardonically saying that "A clown can get away with murder." After his execution, his paintings were sold at auctions. The main buyer burned the paintings after winning the bids. Another of his famous paintings is of transgressive punk rock singer/songwriter/performance artist GG Allin, who had visited Gacy in prison and corresponded with him until Allin's death in 1993; the painting is in the possession of Allin's brother and bassist, Merle Allin, and a black and white reproduction of the painting can be seen on the front cover of the soundtrack to the GG Allin documentary Hated: GG Allin And The Murder Junkies. His paintings were also used as artwork for the Acid Bath album When the Kite String Pops. As well, Gacy did some paintings for performance artist, musician and actor Glen Meadmore, who corresponded with him for a period of time. A portrait of Meadmore painted by Gacy appears on the front cover of Meadmore's recording Hot, Horny and Born Again. Another painting of Gacy belongs to Dani Filth, frontman of the death metal band Cradle Of Filth. Filmmaker John Waters owns one of Gacy's paintings, which Waters says hangs in his guest bedroom "so people don't stay too long".[4]

Answer 2

John Wayne Gacy Psychological Profile

Answer 3

Okay, I don't know 'everything' about John Wayne Gacy, but I do know 'a bit more' than you do, and I also have some good 'resources' for you to look into/read about him. John Wayne Gacy was considered a 'good neighbor' and was 'friendly' with all he met. He would be the 'Clown' that people would hire for their children's birthday parties ... which is where he 'found' at least a few of his victims. He was also 'very helpful' to people who were 'down on their luck' ... he'd 'invite them to his house' when they were homeless ... and then he'd usually 'kill and bury them' and no one would 'notice' that anyone was 'gone' because the boys and young men he killed were already 'runaways' or lived 'on the edge of society'. He also thinks of himself as being a 'fine artist' and has actually sold many of his 'paintings' through 'fine art galleries' after painting them while he is in prison. John Wayne Gacy is among the 'very first known "serial killers"' in the U.S.
Mr. Gacy is one of the people 'talked about' in a book that was written by a former FBI 'profiler' ... this profiler is the man who actually 'coined' the term 'serial killer' as it is now used in the U.S. law enforcement community. Unfortunately, I can't remeber the books 'exact title' or the name of the author, but you should be able to 'locate' those if you go 'online' and do a search on 'The Abyss' ... which is from a 'quote' from Nietzche 'When you look into the abyss, beware, because the abyss can look into you' or something like that. You might also want to 'go a bit wider' and look at any/all books on 'serial killers' in general. Mr. Gacy is in most of them because he killed 'males' and not 'females' as most serial killers do ... and did you know that there are actually very 'few' FEMALE serial killers ... as far as I know, there is only the one who was a 'prostitute' working in Texas who killed many of her 'customers' ... GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

There is an biographical movie about him. I forget what it's called, maybe Gacy? I think he used to hire these kids to do odd jobs around his house and then he would kill them and bury them in his basement I believe. You could bring in a bunch of different tools, hand them out to specific boys in the class and let them hang on to them throughout your entire presentation. Then at the end you could inform the boys with the props that they represented the murder victims of Gacy. Maybe find the stats on how many victims he had and incorporate that into how many people you have participate (if he killed 70 people maybe choose 7 guys and have them represent 10 victims or something like that). You could also dress normally throughout the presentation and gradually add makeup, costume props etc to gradually make yourself more and more representative of Gacy. Maybe go through your presentation by giving clues as to who your topic person is (stats, facts, the costume, props etc) and the whoever figures out who it is receives a prize. This sounds like an interesting project, have fun with it!

Answer 5

Eww. You picked a gross "icon". Well, dressing like a clown would be more interesting. He did that for children's parties. I believe he was a contractor of some sort. And lured young men and teenagers over like that, offering a job. Then get them drunk or high and take advantage. I'm sure you can find a good source on the web. I saw a documentary on him once that was informative.

Answer 6

I would go dressed as a clown. You should be able to find plenty of info on him. Do a search on www.dogpile.com for his biography or autobiography. That should get you enough info for 4 pages. Good Luck. Also, I must say you made an interesting choice. Serial killers have always grabbed my attention.

Answer 7

I would say go as a clown, it is easier, but find a pic of the guy as Pogo to get the make-up right. There is a chapter on him in WHoever Fights Monsters by James Ressler, as I recall, and book stores in the true crime section have entire books on him. You could also try wikipedia.

Answer 8

I think you should come in as a normal man, and during your presentation pause a few times to put on clown makeup.

Better idea! Make yourself like this composite picture: http://unlicensedcemetery.com/images/gacy_home2.jpg

If you do dress as a normal man, you should come in carrying a bag of lime and a shovel.

Answer 9

Why such a terrible person to be presented? Perhaps you ought to ask yourself why this choice above all others!
I'm sure there are millions of uplifting women (or men) whose biography would make your audience feel empowered rather than demeaned.
Being a role model for your audience is a far nobler effort. Were I your teacher, I'd even give you a better grade for a different choice. Have you given a thought to your grade and why the wrong impression could be made with this current choice?
Think about it, please.

Answer 10

Out of all the people in the world, you want use John Wayne Gacy as an icon. As you are researching this animal, if you don't throw up all over yourself, I hope you fail the class

Answer 11

Don't be offended, but I'm sure you could surf the net and find enough info on him to write 1,000 pages.