A new docuseries on the infamous ‘Killer Clown’ John Wayne Gacy has highlighted a chilling link between his first major job and the last meal he chose before being executed for his crimes.
For those not in the know, Gacy was responsible for the sexual assault and murder of at least 33 young men between 1972 and 1976.
The reason for his sinister nickname is because when he wasn’t butchering people, he would often dress up as one of his alter egos ‘Pogo the Clown’ or ‘Patches the Clown’ at parties hosted for his neighbourhood.
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When Gacy was eventually caught and sentenced in 1980, he went on to spend 14 years on death row and would create paintings of sinister clowns, which would go on to garner a cult following after his execution in 1994.
Netflix’s latest true crime offering, Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes, examines the events leading up to this moment, delving into 60 hours of unearthed audio files between Gacy and his defence team.
The three-part documentary also highlights a chilling link between his first job as a married man and his last meal request – KFC.
You see, alongside the audio recordings are new interviews with those involved in the case, including a shocking testimony from one of Gacy’s survivors, Steve Nemmers.
Speaking about his close encounter with the now-infamous serial killer, Nemmers reveals they first met through a friend who had been working at one of the KFC stores Gacy managed.
A few years prior, Gacy married a woman named Marlynn Myers in 1964 when he was 22 years old, and the pair moved to Waterloo, Iowa, where Myers’ father owned several KFC branches.
Although Gacy admits in the documentary that ‘I could never please my father in law’, he took on the position and became the manager of the three restaurants.
Outside of the documentary, it’s often claimed that Gacy was such a fan of his workplace, he would provide free fried chicken to his colleagues and even insisted on being called the ‘Colonel’.
It would seem his love for the chain continued right up until he was put to death by lethal injection at the age of 52. His last meal request? A bucket of original recipe KFC.
This detail is yet another chilling reminder that sometimes the most sadistic criminals often appear from the outside to be just ‘regular’ people.
The same can be said for notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, who was the subject of the first instalment of Netflix’s Conversations With A Killer docuseries.
Despite appearing to be an upstanding member of society, Gacy’s tapes reveal him to express no remorse for his shocking atrocities – right up until his final moments.
In a segment aired in the third and final episode, he says, “Hey I got news for you. I killed 33 times, you’re only gonna kill me once. Gacy outsmarted ‘em again.”
For a deeper understanding of his narcissistic mindset and the impact he had on his victims and the investigation team working tirelessly to crack the case, check out Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes, which is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Crime, True Crime, Netflix, KFC
Daisy Phillipson