Peacock’s true crime drama Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy delves into the murders of the Killer Clown, and the reality of his crimes is simply as horrific as depicted within the present. Serial killers have at all times fascinated folks because of their twisted psychology and their nearly inhuman actions.
Whereas many shows about serial killers exist, among the best true crime sequence lately is Peacock’s John Wayne Gacy present. Relatively than leaning into the exploitative and salacious strategy of the ever-popular sequence Monster, the reviews of Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy respect how the sequence dealt with such a delicate case respectfully.
There are fictionalized components throughout the present, however they largely stick with the information of the serial killer’s crimes and the lives of the victims earlier than their deaths. Sadly, John Wayne Gacy killed nearly three dozen teenage boys.
John Wayne Gacy Murdered At Least 33 Teen & Younger Grownup Boys
John Wayne Gacy has remained some of the infamous serial killers due to the brutality of his crimes and the truth that he primarily focused teen boys. Most of his victims had been tortured and/or raped earlier than their deaths. Finally, he’s identified to have killed 33 folks.
In keeping with PEOPLE, Gacy buried 26 our bodies within the crawl house beneath his home, three had been beneath the backyard, and 4 extra had been dumped within the waterways. Due to the excessive variety of victims, they’re too usually lumped collectively as a statistic as a substitute of particular person folks.
Satan in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy does a superb job of exhibiting them as folks. I additionally really feel it’s essential to say all of them individually. Listed here are the names of John Wayne Gacy’s recognized victims and their ages on the time of dying:
- Timothy McCoy, 16
- John Butkovich, 18
- Darrell Sampson, 18
- Randall Reffett, 15
- Sam Stapleton, 14
- Michael Bonnin, 17
- William Carroll, 16
- James Haakenson, 16
- Rick Johnston, 17
- Kenneth Parker, 16
- Michael Marino, 14
- William Bundy, 19
- Gregory Godzik, 17
- France Wayne Alexander, 21
- John Szyc, 19
- John Prestidge, 20
- Matthew Bowman, 19
- Robert Gilroy, 18
- John Mowery, 19
- Russell Nelson, 22
- Robert Winch, 16
- Tommy Boling, 20
- David Talsma, 19
- William Kindred, 19
- Timothy O’Rourke, 20
- Frank Landlingin, 19
- James Mazzara, 20
- Robert Piest, 15
Initially, eight victims had been unidentified, however the our bodies had been exhumed in 2011 in an effort to determine who they had been (by way of BBC). 5 victims stay unnamed on the time of writing.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office remains to be in search of assist with figuring out the opposite victims, so if in case you have any info. Please attain out to them.
As with most serial killers, there’s an opportunity that the quantity is larger than what’s identified. What’s extra, Gacy solely admitted to 30 of the 33 identified victims, then he modified the quantity to 45. Which means he’s already lied concerning the variety of victims. Plus, he’s a serial sexual offender and assassin, so he’s routinely untrustworthy.
How John Wayne Gacy Was Actually Caught
Like within the true crime drama Satan in Disguise, the serial killer was caught after Robert Piest went lacking. His dad and mom filed a lacking individuals report. His final identified location was with Gacy, as he was attempting to get a development job. The police surveilled him and executed two warrants on his home.
Whereas he initially tried to play it cool, based on John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster by Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick, Gacy confessed his crimes to his lawyer, Sam Amirante, and his workers, David Cram and Michael Rossi. In the meantime, Gacy maintained his innocence with the police till they discovered our bodies buried within the crawl house.
At that time, he confessed to all the things. He admitted to killing “at the least 30” teen boys and younger males, however later mentioned “45 feels like a superb quantity (by way of The Wrap). He even defined the place the our bodies had been, drawing a diagram and driving them to the place the place he dumped our bodies over a bridge.
John Wayne Gacy Was Discovered Responsible & Died By Deadly Injection
The protection tried to make John Wayne Gacy appear incompetent to face trial. As proven in Satan in Disguise, John Wayne Gacy additionally tried to persuade folks he had dissociative identification dysfunction with 4 personalities: the contractor John, the political John, the clown John, and Jack – who does the dangerous issues. As an alternative, he was recognized with delinquent character dysfunction.
John Wayne Gacy pleaded not responsible by purpose of madness. Nevertheless, his methods didn’t work. In keeping with the ebook John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster, the jury solely contemplated 1 hour and 50 minutes earlier than discovering him responsible of all 33 counts of homicide. On Might 9, 1994, John Wayne Gacy was executed by deadly injection, placing an finish to his saga because the Satan in Disguise.
Sources: PEOPLE, BBC, Cook County Sheriff’s Office, The Wrap, John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster by Sam L. Amirante and Danny Broderick
- Launch Date
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October 16, 2025
- Community
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Peacock
