...John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown Serial Killers Abstract John Wayne Gacy was a serial killer and rapist. John Wayne Gacy murdered and sexually assaulted young boys. John Gacy killed and hid his victim’s bodies in the crawl space of his home. John seemed like a normal man, he was well-respected in his community. John was a psychopath who had no remorse. When john was captured he was able to give a detailed drawing of where all the bodies could be found. John was sentenced to the death penalty. The term serial killer was a term no one had heard of until about forty years ago. There are many definitions to the term serial killer. Each definition differs by the number of murders, the serial killers motivation, and the characteristics of the murders. The most known one is the FBI’s definition, which is “the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender, in separate events.” Numerous people may confuse the term serial killer with mass murders and spree killers. There are six categories of motive types of serial killers. These categories are visionary, mission-oriented, thrill-orientated, lust, power and control, and gain motivated. The visionary type means they hear voices or have visions and they are psychotic. The mission-oriented serial killers will kill a certain type or person because they think that they are bettering the world. The thrill-oriented type will kill because they have fun doing it. The lust motivated killers will kill because it turns them...
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...sociable John Gacy became a successful building contractor and a married man and father. He was well known and respected in his suburban Chicago community. He became heavily involved in local politics and was named Jaycee (Junior Chamber of Commerce) “Man of the Year.” He even escorted President Jimmy Carter’s wife, Rosalyn, on one of her visits to Chicago. John Wayne Gacy’s childhood wasn't good and fun for him. Gacy’s father wasn’t a role model for him. John Gacy, Sr. was an alcoholic and would regularly beat Gacy, Jr. His father would also always beat his mother and he would always witness it and it was really hard for him. The beatings from his father were so bad that he would suffer and have seizure and blackouts and would go to the hospital. Gacy was also bullied in school because he was an overweight kid and this was because of his heart condition. His condition was never diagnosed so his father would think that he was just faking his condition to be in the hospital and so that he could get away from his father’s beatings. John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was also known as the Clown Killer...
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...John Wayne Gacy Summarize the case, including a description of the offense(s), the investigation, and the outcome (such as the trial and sentencing). Analyze the psychological history or path that took the criminal to commit his or her crime(s). Describe the psychological, behavioral, environmental, and cognitive factors that you believe led to the offender’s criminality. Consider the various theories we have discussed in class including the psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theory, the behaviorist/social learning theory, the cognitive/social cognitive theory, and the humanist and interactionist theories, and provide examples. The goal here is to provide an analysis of the psychological history or path that took the criminal to commit his or her crime(s). Explain the impact of social, psychological, and biological theories of aggression on your chosen criminal’s behavior. Describe the crime typology. Did the offender have a personality disorder that might have played a role in the criminal behavior? If so, explain and provide examples and supporting references. Discuss the laws that are in place for protecting individuals with mental disorders. Describe whether your case study was a homicide offender or sexual offender. Discuss the typology (i.e., single murderer, serial murderer, spree murderer, mass murderer, child molester, or rapist). If applicable, discuss whether your offender was given a competence to stand trial evaluation, or was found to be not guilty by reason of...
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...John Wayne Gacy Jr. The first link: • On December 12, 1976, a guy named Gregory Godzik dropped his date off at her house, a girl he had had a crush on for some while, and drove off towards his home. The following day police found Gregory's Pontiac, but Gregory was missing. • On January 20, 1977, nineteen-year-old John Szyc also disappeared much like the other young men before him. John Szyc was never seen alive again. Interestingly, a short while after John vanished; another teenager was picked up by the police, because he was driving the exact same car as John Szyc. • The youth said, that the man he lived with could explain, it was John gacy. Luckily the police neer checked the car title which had been signed 18days after Szyc’s disappearance, and with a signature which wasn’t his own. • Robert Gilroy was supposed to catch a bus with friends, to go horseback riding, but he never showed up. Although a big investigation was mounted, Robert was nowhere to be found. • More than a year later the investigation into Robert’s Piest mysteriously disappearing leaded to not only the discovery of his body, but the bodies of the other god damn victims!!! • Soon after learning the name if the contractor who offered Piest the job, they went to his house. John gacy answered, and the police told him about the missing boy and took Gacy with them for questioning at the police station. • Gacy went to the police station and gave his statement and said the he didn’t know about the boys...
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...Katina Douglas Crime Causation In 1980, an Illinois jury convicted John Wayne Gacy for killing 33 young boys and men. Sarcastically, after his conviction, the infamous killer (also known as “The Killer Clown”) said “I should have never been convicted of anything more serious than running a cemetery without a license” (Star Quotes, 2009, p. 1). Obviously, something intrusively wrong resonated in Gacy for him to make such a statement that negated the intensity of his actions. Gacy buried majority of his victims under the crawl space of his home and discarded other victims in the Des Plaines River (Bell & Bardsley, 2011). People often question what would make someone do such vicious and torturous acts on another person. Criminologists developed theories explaining the reasons people deviate from societal norms and commit immoral acts laws prohibit (Schmallenger, 2003). Particularly, in this case, John Wayne Gacy is a person suitable to study. Certainly, a few crime causation theories explain how his upbringing, life experiences, and other deep, underlying issues led him to committing crimes to the extent he did. Gacy’s Background Information Gacy was the only son of three children born to Marion and John Gacy. He had an older sister (Joanne) and younger sister (Karen). The Gacy’s were a middle-classed, Catholic family who lived on the north side of Chicago. As a young boy in middle school, Gacy kept busy by working part-time as a bag boy, delivering newspapers...
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...John Wayne Gacy Criminal Profile Michael Vass Marshall University One of the most terrifying things that can happen within a community is to find out that a serial killer is on the loose. Nothing can draw in the attention of millions of people worldwide quite like news of mass killings. For whatever reason, after all of the chaos and danger that can potentially come from a serial killer, people become extremely interested in these killers. Movies and documentaries are made, books are written, and countless numbers of people like to spend their free time learning about these killers. Due to this obsession, it might appear to some that serial killings are common, especially in the United States. This, however, is simply not the case. According...
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...and John Wayne Gacy. Though they both possess similarities, such as their love for torture and their gender, they had different ways of going about their planned murders. Holmes held his victims in building that was used still being used for public use. On the other hand, Gacy tortured his victims in the privacy...
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...What makes a serial killer want to kill? What pushes them over the edge or drives them to keep killing? Many researchers including psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists and FBI Agents, all have theories of what makes them tick. They come across these accusations by talking to actual serial killers themselves. They have come up with these theories by talking with Albert DeSalvo (The Boston Strangler), Albert Fish, Andrei Chikatilo, Bobby Joe Long, Carl Panzram, Charles Manson, Christopher Wilder, David Berkowitz (Son of Sam), Dennis Nilsen (the British Jeffrey Dahmer), Eddie Gein, Edmund Kemper(The Coed Butcher), Fritz Haarmann (The Butcher of Hannover), Henry Lee Lucas, Herbert Mullin (Santa Cruz Killer), Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, John Haigh (Acid Bath Murderer), Joseph Kallinger (the Enigmatic Cobbler), Kenneth Bianchi (Hillside Strangler), Leonard Lake, Patrick Mackay, Peter Kurten (The Vampire of Dusseldorf), Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker), Richard Speck, and Ted Bundy, William Heirens (the Lipstick Killer). All of them were successful serial killers and caught by authorities. First off, what makes someone a serial killer? The FBI has guidelines on how to classify a serial killer from a murderer. To be classified as a serial killer, you have to have a minimum of three to four victims with a grace period or “cooling off” period in between, you’re a stranger to the victim so the murders appear random, the murders somehow reflect a need to sadistically dominate...
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...SOC 414: Written Assignment 5 The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Are serial killers born with the lust for murder, or are their desires developed through years of abuse and torment? Many believe it is impossible for an innocent child to be born with the capability to commit a horrible act such as murder. But at the same time, how could we have corrupted society so much as to turn an innocent child into a homicidal maniac? Forensic psychologists have picked apart the minds of serial killers to find an answer as to what forces them to commit such perverse acts. Their ultimate goal is to learn how to catch a serial killer before he commits his first crime. In many cases, serial killers began their lives as remotely normal human beings. Most, however, have detectable characteristics of murderers before they hit puberty. Otis O’toole, for example, started a neighborhood fire when he was six. George Adorno was even younger when he first displayed his pyromaniac tendencies by setting fire to his own sister when he was four. Along with pyromaniac behavior, other often-cited warning signs are enuresis (bed-wetting) and cruelty toward animals. Often, serial murderers are abused physically, psychologically, and sexually as children, sometimes from a stranger, but in most cases from a trusted family member or friend. Serial killers tend to be white heterosexual males in their twenties and...
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...Case Identification: Pietrylo v. Hillstone Rest. Group, Civil Case No. 06- 5754 (FSH), UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW JERSEY, 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 108834 Facts of the Case: (Plaintiffs) Brian Pietrylo and Doreen Marino were employees of a restaurant by the name of Houston’s at Riverside Square, which was owned by (Defendant) Hillstone Restaurant Group. Mr. Pietrylo while employed there created a private, invite-only MySpace page with the group title “Spec-Tator.” This was a page where, according to Pietrylo, once added, employees could, “vent about any BS [they] deal [with],without work, without any outside eyes spying in on us.” Marino was a member of said group. The first post by Pietrylo was, “let the shit talk begin.” As one employee of said establishment, Karen St. Jean was invited to the group. After accepting the invitation, Ms. St. Jean visited the web group while at TiJean Rodriguez’s, a manager of Houston’s, home and showed Mr. Rodriguez the site. The other managers got some type of access to Spec-Tater . Soon after the General Manager Robert Anton asked St. Jean for the login information to the group without any threat of action against her. Anton then printed copies of the discussions on the website and subsequently terminated both Pietrylo and Marino, though the statements made were only in jest. On November 30, 2006, Pietrylo and Marino filed a complaint against Hillstone Restaurant Group for wrongful termination due to invasion of privacy...
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...Nathan Pullen Maenz English 9 Honors 12/3/2014 John Dillinger John Dillinger was born on June 22, 1903. Throughout his life he committed many dastardly deeds and acts of atrocity. Some believed that the acts against the government were called for. Throughout his life, John Dillinger earned the title “Gangster” by committing crimes, breaking out of jail, and evading government apprehension for his whole life. John grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana. Even during childhood, Dillinger was often in trouble. He quit school and worked at a toy shop. He quickly became bored and started staying out late at night. His dad became worried that the city was not good for his son and sold the house to move to a farm in Mooresville, Indiana. He was arrested for auto theft and given the opportunity to join the navy. He even got in trouble there and soon deserted while his ship was docked in Boston. He returned to Mooresville, married sixteen year old Beryl Hovius, and moved to Indianapolis. (Fischer) To some this would be a lifetime of trouble, but for Dillinger it was only his teenage years. In Indianapolis, Dillinger met Ed Singleton, the local pool shark. Together they attempted to rob a local grocer in Indianapolis but were easily caught. Singleton pled not guilty and was given a...
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...Dahmer had difficulty socially following his parents divorce. Ted Bundy grew up without a father, he lived his life being lied to about his father identity, when he discovered this he was very angry. John Wayne Gacy grew up in an abusive home, he struggled seeking the approval of his father. Another similarity between these three killer was early thoughts of fetishism. All three of these men participated in necrophilia, and all had unusual sexual fantasies from a young age. Another similarity between the three men was they were charismatic. For Dahmer when one of his victims escaped naked, he convinced them that they were just drinking and that they had a consensual relationship. While bundy was in prison he behaved so well that guards often left him unattended. This eventually lead to his escape showing that he was a master manipulator. For Gacy on multiple occasions when he was questioned about raping young boys he was able to convince police that they were all consensual relationships. This shows that many serial killers share similar traits with each...
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...of His Own John Ford is without a doubt one of the greatest film makers to have ever lived. This can be made evident by the long celebration of his work since the time it was made till now. His works have brought about feelings of both joy and sorrow and have been the focal point for many arguments about human nature and right versus wrong. It is through Ford’s use of imagery as well as his characters actions that we are able to see that he has a Sacramental image of the world that he wishes to share with his audience. Ford uses his view of the world to deliver messages he has learned in his life to his audience through his films. Ford tries to let his audience see that some widely accepted ideas of his time were not quite correct about both people of different religions, and ethnicities. The Sacramental imagination as we understand it today can be compared to a Christian’s outlook on life. This so called imagination, or way of thought simply means that God and Heaven are present here on Earth. Ford, as many others do, believed that the world is at its core, a good and moral place that is just in need of guidance. He did not believe that we were all pre-destined or that the world was basically evil like the dialectical imagination would have us believe, but instead that God guides us along our way and is involved in everything we do. Ford’s belief in the Sacramental imagination can be accredited to both his upbringing and ethnic background. John Ford, or Sean...
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...Sam Grudzien The Civil War to Modern America The Searchers Reflection Essay Tom Ford’s The Searchers is a Western film starring John Wayne who plays Ethan Edwards, a Civil War veteran, and spends the film on a search for his niece Debbie who was abducted by a Native American tribe called the Comanche. On his search, Wayne is accompanied by Jeffrey Hunter, who plays as Edwards’ nephew Martin Pawley. The two men search for five years before finding Debbie. Throughout the movie we learn as viewers that Ethan is a racist man and shows no respect towards Native Americans. We also find out that even though he has devoted five years of his life searching for Debbie, his plan is to murder her simply because he would rather see her dead than living as an Indian. John Wayne plays the role of Ethan Edwards in the film The Searchers and his character is a Western hero, but not a typical Western hero. Ethan is a hate-driven, racist outlaw and a loner with no wife or children. In the beginning of the film Ethan rides up to his brother’s home and has no explanation of where he has been or what he has been doing. He does whatever he wants and doesn’t care to let anyone know. Ethan also shows some anti-social behaviors during the funeral scene. While everyone is mourning the deaths of Ethan’s brother Aaron and his family, Ethan is eager to begin the hunt for the Native Americans. He ends the funeral by saying “Put an amen to it. There’s no more time for praying. Amen”. Ethan is not...
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...The cinematography of The Searchers (1956) has earned a well deserved reputation as the best in the Western genre for its use of framing and lighting to develop an important juxtaposition between the outside and the inside, and on a deeper level to explore the connotations of this juxtaposition in relation to the issue of racism. Set within the confines of a typical Cowboy-Indian feud, this film uses the concept of “home” to explore what it means to belong to something, or to be on the inside of it. The film eventually uses key character development through cinematographic techniques to allow viewers to understand how the lines between outside and inside can be blurred. One of the most notable cinematographic characteristics of The Searchers is the use of framing. In particular, the use of a doorway to frame important images is repeated throughout the film to emphasize the separation between the outside and inside, and to highlight whenever a character transitions from one to the other. For example, the movie begins with the opening of a doorway to show the main character Ethan in the distance, riding towards the house. The fact that this shot is a long shot, emphasizes that Ethan is alone in the wilderness, and gives viewers the sense that he is comfortable there. Similar long shot of Ethan are repeated throughout the film, underscoring this idea that he belongs to the outside. At the end of the film, Debbie is escorted back through the doorway inside, symbolizing her return...
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