Why Journalists Feared the 'Killer Clown': The Unsettling Questions That Turned the Tables
From newspaper articles to true crime podcasts, stories about serial killers have always intrigued audiences and attracted journalists who wouldn't miss an opportunity to interview them. John Wayne Gacy, better known as the 'Killer Clown,' was one such individual who got multiple offers from journalists who wanted to interview him, but many of them backed off after going through his demands, according to LAD Bible.
Gacy was arrested in Cook County, Illinois in 1979 for a series of murders in the Des Moines area, as per the FBI's records. In 1980 he was convicted of murdering 33 young men between the ages of 14 and 21. The murders were carried out on Gacy's property in Norwood Park and officials found 29 dead bodies buried in the garden of the property, while the remaining four had been thrown into the Des Plaines River, according to LAD Bible.
Gacy was popular in the community since he dressed up as 'Pogo the Clown' for parties, which is why The neighborhood was shocked to see him being convicted for such a crime. John Kelly, a profiler who has conducted multiple interviews with serial killers, wanted to add Gacy to his list and requested a conversation with him, as per LAD Bible. But the 'Killer Clown' sent him a pamphlet where he proclaimed his innocence and asked Kelly to fill out a questionnaire before he could conduct an interview. Gacy also asked him to send a picture along with the questionnaire.
In the self-produced pamphlet, Kelly questioned the evidence that was used to sentence him to death, Fox News reported. In the questionnaire, Gacy asked Kelly his date of birth, marital status, political orientation, biggest fear, New Year's resolution, and 'current hero,' Fox News reported. Some of his questions also had sexual overtones like 'thoughts on sex' and 'what your [sic] thinking now'.
"My policy is simple no photo, no answer with bio sheet in full," Gacy wrote to Kelly in April 1993, almost a year before he died from a lethal injection, Fox News reported. Gacy also agreed to answer questions in writing, as long as they were not related to his case, and added that his reasoning behind the questionnaire was to familiarize himself with his interviewer. "In doing so whenever I talk with anyone I like to know who that is and some common facts about them enclosed is a bio sheet which you can fill out and return with a photo," he explained.
Kelly did not fill out the questionnaire because he viewed the 'demands' as the serial killer's attempt to gain leverage on him, according to a Fox News report. The profiler believed that by getting personal information about him, Gacy planned to blackmail him into proclaiming his innocence.
"He was trying to find ways to manipulate me, based on what he wanted to see, and based on the propaganda he wanted me to peddle for him," Kelly stated as per Fox News.
Eventually, journalist Alec Wilkinson managed to get an interview with the serial killer, and in his piece for the New Yorker, he revealed Gacy's answers to some of the queries in the questionnaire, Fox News reported. Gacy stated that his political orientation was 'liberal, with values', and added that his biggest fear was 'dying before I have a chance to clear my name.'