# Gacy was NOT a Killer Clown **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2024, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861 "2024-09-06T16:28:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/41 "2024-09-07T02:50:41Z")
John Wayne Gacy was a killer of children. Everything he did was designed to get himself access to his victims. Including dressing as a clown. You really think his dressing up as a clown was completely compartmentalized from his rapey- murderey side? ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/42 "2024-09-07T02:54:12Z")
I’m reading this like, “Serial youth killer misrepresented in media, let’s get it right this time.” Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/43 "2024-09-07T03:04:52Z")
Not all clowns are creepy pedos, But, all pedos are creepy. Close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/44 "2024-09-07T03:08:16Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > The only reason he dressed as a clown was to be near children. To find victims. That’s factually incorrect, though. Gacy cruised for his victims at the downtown Chicago Greyhound terminal and along a drag in the northside where gay hustlers were known to ply their trade, and also some men who had worked for his contracting business. He was specifically targeting young gay men who were runaways or otherwise wouldn’t be missed. None of his victims were lured by dint of his being a clown, and more than half of them were 18 or older (his known victims ranged from 14 to 21). > **[John Wayne Gacy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy#Murders)** > > John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered at least 33 young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, near Chicago, Illinois. He became known as the Killer Clown due to his public performances as a clown prior to the discovery of his crimes. > Gacy committed all of his known murders inside his ranch-style house. Typically, he would lure a victim to his home and dupe them into donning handcuffs on the pretext of... ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/45 "2024-09-07T03:10:23Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > John Wayne Gacy was a killer of children. Everything he did was designed to get himself access to his victims. Including dressing as a clown. > > You really think his dressing up as a clown was completely compartmentalized from his rapey- murderey side? Gacy’s known victims (all male) ranged from age 14 to 21, with an average age of approximately 18 years old. They were almost all minors, but not children, and certainly weren’t the demographic typically attracted to birthday-party clowns. Gacy got victims by offering them supposed jobs in his construction business, which is the kind of thing that would attract a teenage boy. I don’t actually think his clown activities had anything to do with his crimes. And I can see someone caring about this if they like clowns and don’t like them being unfairly associated with a serial killer. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/46 "2024-09-07T03:12:05Z")
> [@robby](#): > > I don’t actually think his clown activities had anything to due with his crimes. Supposedly he would trick them into letting themselves be handcuffed under the pretense of teaching them a magic trick, one of the moves he “borrowed” from Dean Corll. IIRC we only have his jailhouse confessions to go by for that, though. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/47 "2024-09-07T03:12:43Z")
There were no young child skeletons in that crawl space. Teenagers, particularly males, don’t generally hang out with clowns. Pogo was part of Gacy’s glad handing Jaycee gigs. That’s as far as the actual evidence goes. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/48 "2024-09-07T03:14:20Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > You really think his dressing up as a clown was completely compartmentalized from his rapey- murderey side? I will simply quote myself. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/49 "2024-09-07T03:16:05Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > I will simply quote myself If you have some evidence that Gacy lured victims using his clown persona, then please share it with the world, because the police never found any. ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/50 "2024-09-07T03:20:05Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@robby](#): > > > > I don’t actually think his clown activities had anything to do with his crimes. > > Supposedly he would trick them into letting themselves be handcuffed under the pretense of teaching them a magic trick… I don’t typically associate clowns with magic tricks, much less magic tricks involving handcuffs. More often clowns (especially the kind that go to children’s birthday parties and visit kids in hospitals) are associated with pratfalls, boutonnières that squirt water, and balloon animals. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/51 "2024-09-07T03:23:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > don’t typically associate clowns with magic tricks I would, but then again it’s only tangentially related to the clowning anyway - from what I’ve read he got the idea from reading about how Dean Corll killed his victims. IIRC, he would have the victim cuff him first and he’d escape from the cuffs, then tell them he’d teach them how to do it if they let him cuff them. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/52 "2024-09-07T03:27:28Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > If you have some evidence that Gacy lured victims using his clown persona, then please share it with the world, because the police never found any. 33(+) dead who can give no testimony, one living. Do you trust the police in their ability to investigate? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/53 "2024-09-07T03:29:28Z")
You’re just making things up. We know who Gacy’s victims were and how he lured them, and we have testimony from a survivor, in addition to his own confessions and plenty of other evidence. None of it had anything to do with his being a clown. ---
**Author:** ![DaveUnknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@DaveUnknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveUnknown)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/54 "2024-09-07T03:31:01Z")
This is one of those exclusive OR type logic traps, but using a serial killer for bait. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/55 "2024-09-07T03:37:12Z")
What did I “make up”? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/56 "2024-09-07T03:39:07Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > What did I “make up”? This; > [@Galactus](#): > > Everything he did was designed to get himself access to his victims. Including dressing as a clown. > [@Galactus](#): > > The fact that One Survivor doesn’t mention a clown outfit isn’t proof that he never did. > > The only reason he dressed as a clown was to be near children. To find victims This is false. Period. He never lured any of his victims by dressing as a clown. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/57 "2024-09-07T03:41:13Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > What did I “make up”? Did you read the Wikipedia article about him? Look under the “Murders” section. ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/58 "2024-09-07T03:41:47Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > We know who Gacy’s victims were and how he lured them, How do we “know” this with one survivor? 33 **known** victims. But, we know how he lured all of them. OK ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/59 "2024-09-07T03:43:03Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Did you read the Wikipedia Clown lovers, all of them ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861/60 "2024-09-07T03:45:32Z")
> [@Galactus](#): > > Clown lovers, all of them So you’ve got nothing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gacy-was-not-a-killer-clown/1006861.md?page=4)