Experts analyzing the behavior of infamous 1970s “killer clown” John Wayne Gacy have branded him a “narcissist” with “no conscience.”
In a new Channel 5 documentary entitled The Killer Clown: 33 Murders & Counting, a group of psychologists analyzed the behavior of notorious killer Gacy in archive footage of an interview in which he denied his crimes.
During the documentary – which aired on Sunday evening – experts dissected the cryptic behavior of the infamous killer who violently raped and murdered at least 33 men in the 1970s.
In 1980, at the age of 38, Gacy, known as the Killer Clown for his appearances as Pogo the Clown at charity events, was charged with the rape and murder of 33 young men.
Thirteen years after the horrific acts, in 1992, the killer agreed to an interview with Chicago news anchor Walter Jacobson, but shockingly denied his crimes.
Expert psychologists analyzing the behavior of the infamous 1970s killer clown (pictured) have branded him a ‘narcissist’ with ‘no conscience’
Although he initially confessed his crimes to the police, he denied the murders in the interview more than ten years later.
In an attempt to clear his own name, he insisted that the “proof” of his innocence was that he had taken “truth serum” and yet had “no knowledge” of the crimes. There is no evidence that Gacy ever used truth serum.
Walter described how the killer tried to portray himself as a “good guy” and “an ethically hard-working family man.”
Walter said, “I spent two and a half hours with John Gacy listening to a whole new story in his case. He was impetuous, sometimes inconsistent and always very reserved.’
He theorized that Gacy was trying his luck at freedom one last time before his execution. But his efforts failed and Gacy was executed by lethal injection in 1994.
During the documentary, expert psychologists looked back on the 1992 interview in which Gacy tried to clear his name. But to experts, his lies were blatant.
Archived footage shows the ‘clown killer’ claiming he was a murderer. He denied: “The idea that I’m a gay thrill killer and all that shit. They painted this picture of me strolling down the street chasing and slaughtering young boys.
“If you could see my work schedule, you’d know damn well I’ve never been there.”
In 1980, at the age of 38, Gacy, known as the Killer Clown for his appearances as Pogo the Clown at charity events, was charged with the rape and murder of 33 young men.
The experts noted several telltale signs during the interview that Gacy was lying, as the documentary explained. “His tendency to laugh inappropriately or out of context was a sign that he was being deceitful.”
Former agent and FBI behavioral scientist Jana Monroe said, “This is humorous. He defers that he couldn’t possibly have been the homosexual who stalked boys because he was too busy.
‘There is no conscience for what he did, no remorse. And if you look at his ego, there is a trace of narcissism there. He always talks about himself.’
Discussing the same moment, body language and behavior expert Mark Bowden said: ‘This idea of a monster, you see there the complete retraction of the lip and a look to the side. So worry here about the idea of that category of monsters. There’s something he wants to say.
‘He regrets being seen as a monster. Being seen by society as something antisocial and terrible. He doesn’t like that at all.
‘He doesn’t like that at all, gay sensation killer, there is real concern in the eyebrows. That looks bad for the rest of society, so he wants to look the best possible member of society.”
The experts note several signs that Gacy lied during the interview. As the documentary explained, “His tendency to laugh inappropriately or out of context was a signal that he was being deceitful. And if you put him in the gay thrill-seeker category, he doesn’t like it.
‘While his moving eyes during the interview indicate that he is lying. And his habit of turning away from the person he is talking to indicates that he is dishonest.”
His distaste for the interview and closed body language also implied he was lying, experts explained.
Gacy (pictured in December 1978) was executed by lethal injection in 1994
John Wayne Gacy, above in 1978, often sexually abused his victims before killing them by asphyxiation or strangulation
Monroe said, “He believed that denying, relocating, or delaying would be persuasive.”
Mark Bowden noticed his hand gestures. He said: ‘His hands open and out is an example of what we might call the supplicant gesture, the eyebrows look at “you know me, I’m a good guy” and he starts looking at the paperwork as if saying ” Look, it’s all there, it can’t possibly be me.”
Gacy brutally murdered 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978. Five victims remain unidentified to this day.
He raped, tortured and strangled his male victims before disposing of them in the crawl space under his house. Gacy was executed by lethal injection in 1994 at the age of 52.
The first of his victims were discovered in the crawl space under his house in December 1978 and he was later charged for all of them. The jury took just two hours to convict him of all crimes and he was sentenced to death.
The serial killer was born in Chicago and was married to Marlynn Myers from 1964 to 1969, with whom he had two children.
Active in local politics, he met then-First Lady Rosalynn Carter in 1978 as head of Chicago’s annual Polish Constitution Day Parade.
The couple moved to Iowa, where Gacy agreed to manage Myers’ father’s KFC franchises.
Myers filed for divorce after Gacy was sentenced to 10 years in prison for oral sodomy against a 15-year-old boy, even though he had served only 18 months of his sentence.
He founded a contracting company called PDM Contractors in 1970. The company would later lead Gacy to his latest victim, a 15-year-old employee at a pharmacy that had remodeled PDM.
Gacy had led the teen to his home by promising him a job.
His mother reported him missing that night, and Des Plaines police Lt. Joe Kozenczak discovered that Gacy was the last person to see him alive, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Cook County sheriff’s deputies conducted a sweep of Gacy’s Illinois home in 1978 while searching for bodies. They found 26 under the house
Gacy brutally murdered 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978. Five victims remain unidentified to this day
The serial killer was born in Chicago and was married to Marlynn Myers from 1964 to 1969, with whom he had two children. Pictured, excavators work outside John W. Gacy’s home in suburban Chicago.
He was questioned by police and released. Gacy was arrested 10 days after Piest’s murder, when police saw him handing marijuana to a gas station attendant, and the extent of his more serious crimes began to emerge.
He was married from 1972 to 1976 to Carole Hoff, whom he had dated in high school. He was politically active and was appointed district captain of Norwood Park Township.
He oversaw the annual Polish Constitution Day parade in Chicago beginning in 1975. He met and took a photo with then-First Lady Rosalynn Carter while on the job in 1978, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The depravity of Gacy’s crimes shocked the nation, and he was executed in 1994 at the Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois after spending more than a decade on death row.