The Killer Clown Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Killer Clown - Case Study Example However, on December 12, 1978, a teenage boy, Robert Piest was reported as missing by his mother with the information that he was offered a job by Gacy's contracting company (Lohr, 2001). The following day, the police searched his house and recognized the odor of a decaying body, but found none. They did, however recover relevant pieces of evidence. On December 22, 1978, he voluntarily confessed to the police that he raped then killed a minimum 30 people whose remains he buried under the crawl space of his house (Bell & Bardsley, n.d.). So the digging began. The police then uncovered the bodies of 29 people underneath the crawl space of his house (Montaldo, n.d.). All of his victims were male, whose ages range from nine to the early twenties (Montaldo, n.d.). He was then dubbed as the "Killer Clown" because of his perfected act as "Pogo the Clown" when entertaining kids (Montaldo, n.d.). His trial began on February 6, 1980, and was declared guilty of the murder of 33 people and was sentenced to die on March 13 of the same year. Finally, a little after midnight on May 10, 1994, John Wayne Gacy, Jr, the Killer Clown, was executed by lethal injection with the three last words "kiss my ass." (Lohr, 2001; Taylor, 2003) Analysis Psychological Characteristics John Wayne Gacy seemed to have led a normal life. He was successful with his professional life and popular among his friends and neighbors. However, beneath this faade of normalcy, lies a man who has raped, tortured, and killed 33 young men. Gacy aimed to please. Gacy was also a very determined and industrious individual who strived for success. He devotes himself to community organizations and is an exemplary member, if not a leader of these organizations (Bell & Bardsley, n.d.). He performs as a clown for entertaining children in hospitals and during parties, and hosts extravagant parties himself. To his friends and neighbors, John Wayne Gacy was a model citizen. Patterns Inferred About the Individual Gacy was a hardworking man. Hence, it is no surprise if he worked hard at keeping his marriage as well. However, it seems that after a few years of marriage, Gacy gets tired of keeping pretenses from his wife, and eventually his sexual preference is discovered by the wife. After these divorces, Gacy would recover and then strive harder in his professional and community life. Recovering from rumors was also a relevant pattern in Gacy's life. When there are rumors going on about his sexual preference and sexual deviances, Gacy would use his charm and wit to subdue the nasty rumors. Document Findings Behavioral Variables Gacy's father was a very strong figure in his behavioral outcome. Because of the prescribed drugs for his epilepsy, Gacy's mood swings were progressing, and he was becoming more and more dependent of the mood-altering highs that the drugs were giving him. Accordingly, his father became increasingly contemptuous toward his son, and called him names such as "he-she" (Giannangelo, 1996). Consequently, during his killings, he referred to his victims as "worthless little punks," and called his victims names like his father did