The perfect Murders

John Wayne Gracy

Gacy was a prolific serial killer in the 1970s in the US. He gained notoriety as the Killer Clown for dressing up as “Pogo the Clown” and performing at parties and events. He later raped and killed 33 young boys and men in Chicago. He claimed that he lost count of how many of his victims he had buried in a crawl space which he dug, and had thrown 5 of them into the Des Plaines River because it had run out of room. The discovery of his murders and subsequent arrest shook the community as he was known for his active involvement with local projects and his volunteer work as the said clown, even meeting the First Lady Rosalynn Carter who personally thanked him for his efforts. Many of his victims were lured into his home and then murdered by means of asphyxiation by a tourniquet, not strangulation. This meant that they were cut off from most, but not all of the oxygen supply; resulting in the victims convulsing for an hour or two before the eventual death. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity, and was able to produce psychiatric experts who would testify for his case. This was rejected by the prosecution team due to the extensive measures Gacy took in avoiding detection, including ordering his own construction company’s employees to dig the crawl space which he claimed to be a drainage trench. Also, his defense team actually attempted to argue that all of the 33 murders were due to accidental erotic asphyxiation, a claim which was quickly refuted by the county coroner. Gacy was found guilty of each murder and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. Even after his sentencing, he continued to draw controversy. During his 14 years spend in death row, Gacy painted various drawings which were sold for amounts up to $9,500. This drew the ire of the community towards Gacy for making money from the sales and the art exhibitions held in his name, leading to communal bonfires in which the paintings were bought for the sole purpose of being burned. Not only that, Gacy also inspired films and books which chronicled his killings and life. One of the more notable books was written by Jason Moss, who was so fascinated by serial killers that he established communication with Gacy in death row, pretended to be a gay hustler, visited him face to face, and claimed he was almost Gacy’s final victim. He was dubbed as a serial killer groupie due to his intense fascination and in 2006, Moss committed suicide from a gunshot to the head.
Credit goes to
http://listverse.com/2012/04/11/top-10-most-notorious-insanity-defense-cases/

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