John Wayne Gacy Psychological Analysis

Psychological Profile of John Wayne Gacy

John Wayne Gacy was an American rapist and serial killer who murdered at least 33 young men between 1972 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois. He lured his victims to his Norwood Park Township home using force or deception. All of his victims, except for one who was stabbed to death, were killed due to asphyxiation or strangulation. Twenty-nine of his victims were buried in the crawl space under his house. Three other victims were buried outside his home on his property. The four remaining bodies were dumped in the Des Plaines River. Gacy was convicted of 33 murders and was sentenced to death for twelve of the killings. He was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center on May 10, 1994.

Gacy experienced a rough childhood. His father, John Gacy Sr., was an

During his time as a mortuary attendant, he observed how the morticians preserved the dead bodies. Gacy later admitted to climbing into the coffin of a dead teenage male, hugging and lovingly touching the body. His disturbing actions could have reciprocated the nurturing that he longed for, yet never received from his father. His actions also indicated to his perversion to young boys and death. It wasn’t until Gacy had a family of his own and a successful career that his father acknowledged him and apologized for the physical and mental abuse he caused his son during his childhood.

While being convicted of sodomy in 1968, Gacy was court ordered to be subjected to psychiatric evaluation by two doctors over a seventeen-day period. The doctors determined that Gacy had antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). Although most cases can be helped with treatment the doctors confirmed that he was unlikely to benefit from such, though he was mentally competent to stand trial. They also stated that his behavior could lead him to repeated conflicts in