John Wayne Gacy, Jr was born on March 17, 1942 in Chicago Illinois. He was named after the heroic movie star John Wayne. He had two sisters and his childhood was fairly unecceptional. Apart from his fathers violent temper, John Gacy Sr. appeared to have a chip on his shoulder and took out on his children especially John Gacy Jr. Gacy was struck on the head with a swing and suffered from blackouts at age 11. Many believe Gacy's mind was altered because of this. Gacy attended four high schools during his senior year and never graduated. Gacy dropped out of school, and moved to Las Vegas and worked as a janitor for a few months later returning to his hometown of Chicago. Despite his lack of education Gacy was no fool and quickly proved his ability as a natural salesman. He managed a clothes shop, and in 1964 married co-worker Marilyn Myer. Her father, Fred Myer, persuaded them to move to Waterloo, Iowa where Gacy was given the job of running Kentucky Fired Chicken franchises owned by his father-in-law. Gacy and his wife settled down into a comfortable life. They had two children, a son and a daughter. From the outside it looked like a picture pefect family, but from the inside Gacy was harboring a secret. He had a liking for young men and in 1968 his aggressive homosexuality destroyed his marriage and foreshadowed potenta l harm in the furture. On of his employees at the KFC diner, Mark Miller, accused Gacy of sexual assault. Gacy was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to ten years in prison but only served only 18 months due to good behavior. In hindsight, in considering his reign of terror had lasted until 1978, had he remained in prison 33 people would not have been killed.
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