John Wayne Gacy had a troubled past and the events that occurred as a result of his choices on how to deal with his past are horrific to say the least. Gacy had a rough childhood to say the least. He was subject to multiple beatings by his father as was the rest of his family. His father was an alcoholic that seemed to become more of a bully than a father figure to his children. Gacy had a heart problem that made it difficult for him to form relationships with other children because he could not play with them. As Gacy grew into an adult it seemed that he had recovered well from these skewered childhood experiences as he was gainfully employed and even dressed up as a clown for children (Editors, 2016). He was well known and people in his neighborhood thought highly of him because he was a proven hard worker and functioning part of the community. John was religious, friendly and hard working so by all outward appearances he was a good man, but the hidden truth was he had a more volatile side than anyone knew (Taylor, 2016). The thirty three boys that lost their lives because of this killer would lead you to automatically deem it a serial killing but there are many things that must be considered when profiling a killer before you can put the serial killer definition as a label on one. There have been multiple attempts to define a serial killer but the FBI has come up with a list of profiling typologies that must exist to determine that a person is in fact a serial killer. The person must by definition be responsible for killing more than one person and this must occur at different times to distinguish the killer from a mass murderer (Investigations, 2016). Profiling a killer helps the FBI determine who might have committed the crime. John Gacy was someone who used his construction business as a ploy to get young boys to trust him so that he could take advantage of them and murder them. The FBI is able to use this information as a way to determine who might have been with the victims and this helps them catch the offender. This and other habits can show the investigators the signature or pattern that the killer follows when luring and killing there multiple victims (Freeman, 2007).
Typology
Serial killers may have multiple or one typology that they can be identified by. Some typologies include how often they kill or the time of day. There are typologies that are considered depending on what the investigators think the serial killer might be like and also what might make the killer want to commit such horrific crimes. Holmes typology examines different character traits of a killer. It is not yet a scientifically proven approach however, it is something that allows investigators to look at things that a killer does to determine why killed people. Some cases show evidence of a traumatizing childhood filled with abuse like in the case of John Wayne Gacy. First to be determined is if Gacy was an organized killer or not. Another way of defining this is if the killer is good at hiding his crime and the evidence or if the killer leaves a lot of evidence out for anyone to see. It is thought that an organized killer usually commits his crimes as a result of something upsetting in their life. They are thought to be highly intelligent and to use conversation to get there victims. A disorganized killer usually kills because the opportunity suits them. They are thought to have issues having close relationships with others and to be abnormal. They may even commit rape as part of the killings. There is a third type of killer typology which is a mix between both the organized and disorganized offender. This type of offender may plan out who the victims will be but is usually not very organized about concealing evidence of the crime. They are also known to be very violent with the people that they kill (Maria, 2016). In the case of John Gacy he seemed to be a mix between the two because he was caught multiple times for his offenses leading up to the discovery of the victims he killed. He was very violent with the people that he murdered however he was able to gain the trust of his victims through conversation and job offers which makes him the type of person who is able to appear normal and social while he is actually very disturbed (Editors, 2016).
How the crimes were solved
John Gacy was apprehended on several occasions and even served time in prison for attacking boys and raping them before it was discovered that he had escalated his crimes and was now a serial murderer. In the 1960’s John was the manager of a fast food restaurant and he worked as a self-employed construction person. He led a fairly normal life having his own children and having been married twice during his life time. Johns history with crime was something else altogether. In 1968 he was charged and convicted of having been involved in two sexual assaults of teenage boys. John received ten years in prison for this but only two years later he was free on parole until he was accused of another similar crime a year later. John Gacy was caught because after one of the boys he assaulted and killed didn’t come home his mother was able to lead police to Gacy because she was aware that her son was meeting with him to discuss construction work. When police were able to search Gacy's house they were able to find plenty of evidence that connected him to the rape and murder of thirty three young boys. It was discovered at a later date that john began his killings in 1972, only two years after he made parole. Investigators were also able to determine that the boys who John Gacy was responsible for murdering were buried in close proximity. Some were buried underneath John Gacy’s house and others were under his garage. The evidence that was left behind was able to show detectives that Gacy raped his victims then strangled them with a rope until they died (Editors, 2016). Investigators did not know who all of the victims were when they charged Gacy with thirty three murders and today they are still putting things together and giving family’s answers about what happened to their young boys and this will continue as new evidence appears (Bothelo, 2016).
References
Bothelo, G. (2016). John Wayne Gacy probe yields break in another case. CNN. Retrieved 17 April 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/23/us/john-wayne-gacy-cold-case-breakthrough/
Editors, B. (2016). Biography.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from http://www.biography.com/people/john-wayne-gacy-10367544
Freeman, S. (2007). How Serial Killers Work. HowStuffWorks. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from http://people.howstuffworks.com/serial-killer6.htm
Investigations, F. (2016). Serial Murder. FBI. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder
Maria, W. (2016). Holmes Typology - Introduction | Twisted Minds - a website about serial killers. Twistedminds.creativescapism.com. Retrieved 16 April 2016, from http://twistedminds.creativescapism.com/serial-killers-introduction/holmes-typology/
Taylor, T. (2016). JOHN WAYNE GACY -- THE CLOWN THAT KILLED. Prairieghosts.com. Retrieved 17 April 2016, from http://www.prairieghosts.com/gacy.html
