A Mundane Letter from Serial Killer - John Wayne Gacy: The Killer Clown

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Here's another rather mundane letter written by a serial killer, which willmgives you a different and more interesting insight into them as a person.

This week, we have two different letters written by American serial killer John Wayne Gacy. As a bit of background; Gacy was a man with two distinct lives; on the one hand he was professional contractor, a community volunteer, a business man and a children’s entertainer who dressed as “Pogo the Clown”, and on the other side, he raped, tortured and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978, and buried their bodies under the crawlspace of his home. The evidence against him was overwhelming to say the least.

Which is why this first letter is so fascinating, it’s a typed letter, by Gacy. It’s undated but appears to have been sent in the early 1980’s, whilst serving on Death Row and awaiting his appeals and was sent to Mr Luis Kutner, Attorney at Law in Chicago.

"Dear Mr Kutner. I have recently read about you in the newspapers and wondered if you might be interested in working on my case, at a point of Post Conviction. I have included a clipping on my appeal, while I feel I have good issues, I don’t feel I will get justice in the Illinois courts, because of public pressure and mass publicity surrounding my case.

The state appellate defender is handling my appeal at this point, but may not be when I get to Post-Conviction. I was railroaded to where I am now on Death Row, not only by incompetent counsel, but by constitutional law, judicial misconduct and Prosecutors misconduct along with procedural errors.

Since you’re as famous as I am infamous, and the vetos you have behind you, I wonder if you would handle the case of a mass murderer who is not one, but can’t seem to get anyone to look at the facts instead of mass publicity, fantasy and state theories. And now in the courts with political pressure.

If your interested, I would like to hear from you one way or another, and maybe be able to fill you in on more of the facts so that you would see what I have to work with. I am told that if you would put all of the facts in my case into a computer (ooh) along with all the Illinois law, my case would be thrown out, as there is no evidence to tie it all together. I have been made into a media monster, through mass publicity and the facts seem to just go right out of the door.

Thanks for taking time to read this. Look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely.
John Wayne Gacy"
 
Yes, John Wayne Gacy, you’re absolutely right, put all of the facts to do with the 33 dead bodies who were mysteriously found under your house and the entire US legal system into a computer, which in that era would have been at best a BBC Micro with the computing power of gnat with an abacus, you could press ENTER and it would print GACY IS INNOCENT. Case closed.

And secondly, is a handwritten letter, by Gacy, dated 6th May 1994, it is signed John Wayne Gacy and was sent just four days before he was executed. It’s on headed paper, and has at the top (in red ink) “John Wayne Gacy, N00924, Lock Box 711, Menard, Illinois” and as a tag-line “Execution… revenge for a sick society!!!”. Given what we know about him, know this, the letter is written to an unnamed boy who Gacy was corresponding with whilst on Death Row, having murderer young boys his age.

“Hi Ho. Hey it was nice talking with you, and keep up with a positive attitude. I understand what your going through with your parents splitting up. But just remember, it’s not your fault, grown-ups do crazy things, but it doesn’t mean they still both don’t love you. You have to accept things you can’t change, change the ones you can, and always think positive for yourself as you have a lot going on for you. I enjoy your letters. I’ve enclosed some art work of mine. Take care for now. Best regards. Your friend up north. John Wayne Gacy”.

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Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London”, nominated "one of the best true-crime  podcasts at the British Podcast Awards 2018", and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totaling 50 deaths, over just a one mile walk