Talk:John Wayne Gacy

Death by asphyxiation

I could be wrong, but I think Gacy stuffed his victim's throats to muffle their screams, not necessarily to kill them. Shouldn't this be mentioned? Do the sources clarify this? Not saying that they didn't die by asphyxiation, but it could have been an accident. LittleJerry (talk) 02:17, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Generally he did, yes. Those wads of cloth/clothing were wound and lodged deep in the rear of the mouths and blocking the upper trachea and esophagus of the victims, however. Cahill's book states Stein ruled the cause of death of these victims as asphyxiation. If memory serves me correct, Stein ruled that twelve victims found in the property - plus Piest - died of asphyxiation. Landingin was found with his own underwear in his throat; he asphyxiated on his own vomit (reflux lodged back into his bronchi) as a result of the body's response to the gag.--Kieronoldham (talk) 02:38, 24 November 2023 (UTC)

Didn't the defense attorneys claim that almost all of the victims (including Piest and Landingin) were killed by the "rope trick", and clothing in their throats was just padding added postmortum to block fluids from draining out of their mouths? Randomuser335S (talk) 16:21, 25 April 2024 (UTC)

Supposedly yes, Gacy said he started doing that after one of the victims leaked on his carpet, with a stain to prove it. Though it also seems Gacy's style to lie about/appeal to something real, like a stain. The inference seems to be that on a dozen or so victims the rope trick only knocked them out, while the padding added wasn't really post mortem and was what killed them. Saying it was to muffle screams is another idea. I believe it was the 2nd victim which Gacy said was leaking on his carpet, so that one is most interesting to me. Between McCoy and Butkovich, the first he used the handcuff trick on? He didn't use it on McCoy (allegedly), but was seasoned by Butkovich. Cake (talk) 19:51, 30 June 2024 (UTC)

Sorry for being a bit of late response (didn't see it until now), but it makes since to me that both the defense attorneys and Dr Stein's autopsy reports are correct in their own regards on this question. It seems likely in my opinion that Gacy mistakenly thought that the 12 victims that survived and rendered unconscious by the rope trick were deceased, and put in the padding on his own erroneous assumptions. Randomuser335S (talk) 05:03, 29 August 2024 (UTC)

Merger proposal

The Murder of John Butkovich article should be redirected to John Wayne Gacy. The murder is not significantly notable on its own and is better understood within the context of Gacy's broader criminal activities. The standalone article contains redundant and trivial details, making it more appropriate to integrate this information into Gacy’s main article. Mooonswimmer 22:07, 1 September 2024 (UTC)

There would be way too much detail (much of it superfluous) added to this article if it was merged. The article you note arguably should be deleted. Also, the original author of the article was exposed as a sockpuppet earlier this year. Kieronoldham (talk) 22:19, 1 September 2024 (UTC)

On that same topic, should we also delete the Timothy McCoy page that the sockpocket account also created? Or does it have its own merits? Randomuser335S (talk) 17:13, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

Perhaps so. Can see slightly more merit in the first murder Wiki. page staying given the circumstances and how Gacy discovered the sexual and psychological enjoyment, but I really do think only the Piest article should arguably have its own Wiki. page.--Kieronoldham (talk) 21:51, 4 September 2024 (UTC)

The McCoy article seems fine to me, but I could understand why others would have issue with it given the sockpocket creator. On a different note, I've tried to start a Piest page (here is a link to a draft https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft:Murder_of_Robert_Piest if you're interested), but it got shot down twice due to me really not knowing how to write a wikipedia article. Randomuser335S (talk) 02:55, 5 September 2024 (UTC)

I had actually made some edits to Butkovich's article today... I would say the only problems I've really found with the Piest article is some grammatical errors. If I do find time within the next week or so, I might be able to help with this...

I don't find the Butkovich article a bad article to have since he is one of the more known Gacy victims and it has decent enough information in my opinion.. though I recognize this isn't popular opinion. Anhedonicx (talk) 03:39, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

I see the article about the Murder of John Butkovich as being a sub-article of this biography. It goes into details about that particular murder that are not covered in this article. Merging the articles may result in an undue emphasis on this particular murder. I think the balance is currently about right. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 18:35, 23 October 2024 (UTC)

Inside His House

Message to @Kieronoldham It is true that Gacy did bury one of his victims in the backyard. Again, I’m sorry for all my edits if they seem unnecessary. And I didn’t even know his sister passed away but its definitely true his ashes most likely were given to his family. I actually have seen the Infographics Show and other reliable sources like the documentary “Conversations with a Killer.” I hope you can forgive me, and its nice to know where the tiki bar really was. I feel it was a little unnecessary to remove what was inside Gacy’s house, as the insdie was quite intriguing. TheWolverineScientist500 (talk) 18:49, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

The interior of the house was indeed interesting (described by Kozenczak in one book as "immediately apparent as lacking a woman's touch."). Would be deemed excessive detail for the article. Officially, Body 28 is the second murder victim but from what I have read, it seems he was murdered after Butkovich and before the July 4, 1976 annual party he hosted. A biological relative of this victim was traced about three years ago, and she had a half-brother who disappeared in Chicago but the link was not seen as strong enough to provide a positive match. Wonder if it is time for Othram to get involved.--Kieronoldham (talk) 20:32, 6 September 2024 (UTC)

@Kieronoldham Othram could definitely help. I can definitely get that adding what was inside would be considered “unnecessary detail”, but again, it is unknown when the victim found in the backyard was murdered or even his number as he still remains unidentified. He also painted a little more than just listed (I actually saw some images in his graveface museum where some of his belongings including his black jacket and Pogo costume were), and the majority of what he painted were of clowns (including that of himself as Pogo), and the Seven Dwarfs. He also painted other characters from Disney (including Mickey Mouse dressed as a magician), one painting of birds, and Elvis Presley. Would you agree though that Gacy’s ashes were most likely given to his family though? Hey, again, thanks for your understanding and I can see why even though I may have a valid source, it has to provide enough evidence to be true. Thanks for listening. -@TheWolverineScientist500 TheWolverineScientist500 (talk) 21:48, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Michael Marino

Would it by chance be worth having a seperate article on Michael Marino?

Why I ask is because of all the suspicious circumstances regarding his identification with Gacy and how it's frequently been a topic within itself. The only problem is there's really only one book that talks in detail regarding Marino so I felt it was better to ask since there's not many other sources except a few news reports/articles.. I've noticed the same for Russel Nelson... suspicious circumstances but the only book that really talks about this is Ominipotent: Don't Ask Don't Tell.. rather than a few articles/news reports. Anhedonicx (talk) 03:36, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

Michael Rossi/David Cram article

Apologies since I had also made a talk post regarding a page for Michael Marino...

Should there by chance be a page for both Cram and Rossi.. like a joint page?

There is a page for Phillip Paske.. which I might add him to the employee section of this article when I get the chance since he also did work for Gacy and that's not included in the employee section, I wanted to also see if by chance if we should add the Phillip Paske article to the see also section... Anhedonicx (talk) 03:52, 7 September 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 2 October 2024

Please add under: Film and Media the following: The John Wayne Gacy Murders: Life and Death in Chicago produced and directed by filmmaker John Borowski, is an eight-part documentary miniseries. The series was released on Blu-Ray and DVD on September 27, 2024.

Thank you! Filmmaker/author John Borowski Johnborowski (talk) 17:54, 2 October 2024 (UTC)

Added. Regards, --Kieronoldham (talk) 21:13, 2 October 2024 (UTC)