The Killer Clown: A Look into the Dark Legacy of John Wayne Gacy

October 16, 2025

John Wayne Gacy was a man of two faces. To his neighbors in suburban Chicago, he was a hardworking contractor, a gregarious participant in local politics, and a friendly face at children's parties, often appearing as "Pogo the Clown." But beneath this veneer of normalcy lurked a monstrous secret. For years, Gacy was one of America's most prolific and sadistic serial killers, responsible for the rape and murder of at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978.

His seemingly ordinary ranch-style house in Norwood Park Township held a gruesome secret in its crawlspace, where he buried 26 of his victims. Others were discarded in the Des Plaines River. Gacy's reign of terror was marked by a chilling pattern of luring young men and boys with promises of construction work or money, only to subject them to unspeakable horrors. He would often use a ruse, such as demonstrating a magic trick with handcuffs, to gain control of his victims before assaulting and ultimately strangling them.

The investigation into Gacy's crimes began to unfold after the 1978 disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest, who was last seen speaking with Gacy about a potential job. This final act of cruelty led police to Gacy's doorstep, where the full, horrifying extent of his crimes was eventually unearthed. In 1980, he was convicted of 33 murders and sentenced to death. He remained on death row for 14 years, during which time he was known to have painted clowns, before being executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994. His infamous last words were, "Kiss my a--."

Now, a new Peacock limited series, "Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy," revisits this dark chapter of American history. The scripted drama, starring Michael Chernus as Gacy, aims to do more than simply recount the gruesome details of his crimes. Instead, it focuses on the victims and explores the systemic failures and societal prejudices that allowed Gacy to prey on vulnerable young men for so long. Many of his victims were gay or bisexual, and the series suggests that rampant homophobia at the time contributed to the crimes going "mostly undetected or unsolved" for years.

The series also delves into the "heartrending stories of his victims; exploring the grief, guilt, and trauma of their families and friends." By naming each episode after a victim and closing with their image, the show seeks to honor their memory and ensure they are not just remembered as statistics. "Devil in Disguise" promises a captivating and harrowing look at how a monster could hide in plain sight, and the devastating impact of his actions that still resonates today.