Accordingly, Mr. Gacy was dubbed the “Clown Killer” by the American media and his unsavory celebrity grew as his trial for multiple murders gripped the nation. Seeking to understand the particularly heinous crimes of Mr. John Wayne Gacy, this brief research paper will discuss the life and times of this violent murderer, the crimes he was charged with and the various impacts of his crime on our society. Following this complete overview of the crimes of John Wayne Gacy, this paper will discuss how two different criminological theorists would have viewed the crime as well as the causes of the crime. In sum, we will conclude with a discussion of where the perpetrator is now and the controversies surrounding his punishment (Bell and Bardsley 2009).
John Wayne Gacy was born during the height of the Second World War during the relative tranquility of suburban Chicago and was the second of three children. It was reported that his father was both physically and mentally abusive as the young Gacy grew up in a strict Polish-Danish household. Teased about being overweight and supposedly demonstrating feminine characteristics as a young boy, John Wayne Gacy faced a series of challenges growing up. His scholastic record was shoddy and although he became a somewhat successful businessman, his previous academic record gave no indication that Mr. Gacy would achieve much financial success in life. As a young man who had dropped out of school and ventured to Las Vegas to win a livelihood, John Wayne Gacy married the first woman who paid him any attention, the unsuspecting Marlynn Myers. A daughter of wealthy parents and franchise owners of multiple KFC outlets in Chicago and the mid-west, the Myers entrusted John Wayne Gacy with the management of their fast-food outlets following his marriage to their daughter in 1964.
