John Wayne Gacy was an American serial killer and rapist who raped and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Cook County, Illinois. Most of Gacy’s victims were buried in the crawl space under his home. He was convicted of 33 murders in 1980 and sentenced to death, but he maintained his innocence until his death by lethal injection in 1994. Who Is John Wayne Gacy: Here’s What We Know
Where is John Wayne Gacy’s house?
The home is at 8213 W. Summerdale Ave. in unincorporated Norwood Park Township, a 25-minute drive north of downtown Chicago. The 1979 investigation into the residence resulted in its demolition because the large number of corpses discovered necessitated further searches.
After Gacy’s house was destroyed, the lot was sold and then resold, changing hands multiple times over the years. To avoid attracting attention, it was given a new number to prevent it from being connected to the previous sale.
According to realtor.com, it took five years for someone to buy the property after what happened there, with the home being sold to a savings and loan institution in 1984. According on Realtor.com, the house was converted into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom residence in 1986, with the purchase made by a woman for her elderly parents. Nevertheless, the site’s horrors continue to haunt it, and its value has continued to fall over time.
“The stigma runs with the land, not the house,” real estate appraiser Orell Anderson told the site. “When these houses come up for sale, some people buy the place thinking if they tear it down and change the address a little bit and do some cosmetic fixes, the stigma will go away. But it typically doesn’t.”
In 2016, it was sold for $390,000 after two years on the market (according to NBC Chicago), when it was initially listed for $489,000. It was originally listed at $489,000 but owing to a lack of interest, it had several price reductions, resulting in a loss of almost a fifth of its value. According to reports, the purchasers of the house were unaware of its past until journalists informed them.
What happened to John Wayne Gacy?
On May 10, 2004, John Wayne Gacy was sentenced to death for his crimes. He was charged with all 33 murders and was convicted of all of them. He was sentenced to die for 12 murders, while the remaining 21 were given life sentences.
He was also found guilty of one count each of “deviate sexual assault” and “indecent liberties with a minor.” All his appeal bids were denied. He attempted to argue that he was not responsible due to an insanity defense at one point.
Before the murders, Gacy had been arrested for sodomy and sexual assault, and was sentenced to 10 years in Iowa State. In preparation for the trial, Gacy spoke openly to his attorneys about his crimes, which included the rape and attack of several other men.
For more than 60 hours, the attorneys recorded Gacy’s testimonies in November 1979 and April 1980. Conversations With A Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes is a film that contains survivors’ recollections of their assaults at the hands of Gacy, alongside Gacy’s chilling dismissals and twisted vision of the same occurrence.
After being caught, Gacy remained unrepentant for what he did. His final words before dying were reportedly “kiss my ass”. Gacy was survived by two sisters, two ex-wives, and five children. As of 2022, five of the men found on the property remain unidentified.