Gacy has been dead seventeen years now, but its strange how new developments in this case have surfaced just recently, the first being a new victim identified of the eight who were previously unknown. Now they are saying Gacy may not have acted alone in the murders.

I never would have thought this, I wouldn't have thought Gacy would be able to find someone sick enough to go along with the grotesque things he did, but this is a very interesting read and claims they even have definite suspects that may still be alive!

Don't know what to make of this, serial killers generally act alone, especially ones as sick as Gacy was. But there have been exceptions, the Hillside Stranglers, Kenneth McDuff, ect........... didn't know Gacy copied other murderers either.

Here is the article:

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/10/10374067-serial-killer-john-wayne-gacy-had-accomplices-lawyers-say

was he on uM??

was he on uM??

I haven't seen every single episode of UM, but I know he was on the Diabolical Minds episode.

It featured Ted Bundy, Gacy, Saddam Hussein, and the Oba Chandler case.

I think it's weird how some serial killers have accomplices. I don't get what's going on in their minds with that. You'd think killers wouldn't want to have witnesses but maybe the types like Gacy wanted someone with the shared experience so they could talk about the crimes and relive them.

It's sickening, I know, but other than helping to procure victims, that's the only reason I could think of regarding why they'd actually want to have a witness.


Dean Corll used an accomplice to help lure victims.

Randy Kraft (just heard about him today in the "true crimes" section here) may have had an accomplice and they can't locate him.

Leonard Lake and Charles Ng were serial killers who committed their crimes together.

The Speed Freak Killers, Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog also killed people together.

I know there must be lots of others. It adds a new kind of creep factor, imo, (as if serial murder could actually get any more terrifying).

One of the kids who got away from Gacy told police there was another person w/ Gacy helping to torture him. His account is in the book Buried Dreams.

Gacy thought the kid was nuts. Gacy apparently only could remember 2 or 3 of the murders as he killed in an altered state.

One of the kids who got away from Gacy told police there was another person w/ Gacy helping to torture him. His account is in the book Buried Dreams.

Gacy thought the kid was nuts. Gacy apparently only could remember 2 or 3 of the murders as he killed in an altered state.


Do you think it's wise that they have put so much info. out there. "The friend" must be keeping up on this case.

A lot of criminals say they don't remember. I don't buy it. Politicians too!

I think it's weird how some serial killers have accomplices. I don't get what's going on in their minds with that. You'd think killers wouldn't want to have witnesses but maybe the types like Gacy wanted someone with the shared experience so they could talk about the crimes and relive them.

It's sickening, I know, but other than helping to procure victims, that's the only reason I could think of regarding why they'd actually want to have a witness.


Dean Corll used an accomplice to help lure victims.

Randy Kraft (just heard about him today in the "true crimes" section here) may have had an accomplice and they can't locate him.

Leonard Lake and Charles Ng were serial killers who committed their crimes together.

The Speed Freak Killers, Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog also killed people together.

I know there must be lots of others. It adds a new kind of creep factor, imo, (as if serial murder could actually get any more terrifying).

More recently we had The D.C. Snipers - John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo.

Don't forget that David Courtney and his wife went on a multi-state killing spree in the 1970's together. They are suspected of abducting and killing Mary Ann Perez, who was featured on Unsolved Mysteries.

I just remembered another duo, "The Hillside Stranglers" - Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono.

They were cousins.

On another note, have they named who they think was Gacy's accomplice?

Yes, he was on the Diabolical Minds segment.

I know he was only briefly mentioned but its been somewhat slow on here lately.

On another note, have they named who they think was Gacy's accomplice?

No one has been named yet, but they apparently do have tangible known suspects.

Maybe there is truth to it, maybe not.

I had heard rumors for years that other people had access to Gacy's house, never really took it seriously just thought it was sick rantings from Gacy trying to transfer blame elsewhere. The things he did were so sick with burying sexually molested men in his crawl space that I found it hard to believe anyone would actually go along with it, but maybe there was truth to it. As they say where there is smoke there is usually fire.

Really hard to believe other people might have known before the police did Gacy had bodies buried in his crawlspace but maybe its true.

I dunno about this one... Where is the evidence if there were others involved? You can't just go prancing through a place with that much mayhem and not get noticed in some way. They'd had to have left behind something. Also I find it hard to believe they'd be able to keep it a secret before the bodies were discovered. Afterall "Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead".

I dunno about this one... Where is the evidence if there were others involved? You can't just go prancing through a place with that much mayhem and not get noticed in some way. They'd had to have left behind something. Also I find it hard to believe they'd be able to keep it a secret before the bodies were discovered. Afterall "Two can keep a secret if one of them is dead".

If Gacy was known to be out of town when some of the victims dissapeared, and an eye witness attacked by Gacy testified there was someone else involved, thats fairly strong evidence in itself. I'm sure there may be more, but in the interest of not spoling the investigation law enforcement does not want to reveal to much.

Like you, I find it hard to believe other people actually went along with the sick things Gacy did. But I don't know why the police would drudge all this up again if they didn't have at least some reason to believe there might be truth to it.

Mmm'kay... fair enough. What I wanna know is what exactly happened to this victim? what did Gacy and the alleged other person do to him? Just curious. it might shed some more light on this angle.

Have you ever read about the Sylvia Likens case? Sylvia was a teenage girl who went to live with an acquatence of her Father in the 60's. The mother began abusing Sylvia and her younger Sister Jenny for months on end. Sylvia eventually died from the abuse. Her sister survived.

The point is not only was her caretaker responsible for the abuse but her children's friends and neighborhood kids joined in on the abuse as well! It became a game to them. So perhaps it isn't so wild that someone else indulged in Gacy's sick endeavors.

Mmm'kay... fair enough. What I wanna know is what exactly happened to this victim? what did Gacy and the alleged other person do to him? Just curious. it might shed some more light on this angle.

Have you ever read about the Sylvia Likens case? Sylvia was a teenage girl who went to live with an acquatence of her Father in the 60's. The mother began abusing Sylvia and her younger Sister Jenny for months on end. Sylvia eventually died from the abuse. Her sister survived.

The point is not only was her caretaker responsible for the abuse but her children's friends and neighborhood kids joined in on the abuse as well! It became a game to them. So perhaps it isn't so wild that someone else indulged in Gacy's sick endeavors.

No, I'm not familiar with that case. But that must have been quite a terrible thing, can't imagine what it would be like to not only be the target of abuse by one person, but having other people in the area helping them against you as well! In that situation it would be that much harder to know who to turn to, not to mention that much harder to get anyone to believe you since it would be your word against even more than one person.

When I saw videos of Gacy's house and the surrounding area, what struck me is how thickly residential it was. I mean he had neighbors within fifty feet of his place! It was hard to believe that his neighbors apparently had no inkling of what was going on. On top of that I read Gacy often hosted parties and picnics at his place and everything. The guy was brazen as hell for sure to be killing people and dumping them in his basement while not only living in a thickly residential area, but having people over a lot as well.

You'd almost think if he was going to be engaged in these activities he would have found an out of the way place out in the country where it would have been a lot easier to get away with it, but thank God he didn't or he might have gotten away with murder for years.

Given all this it certainly seems plausible that other people were not only aware of Gacy's activities, but may have even taken part.

The Sylvia Likens case blew the doors open on child abuse and changed laws in Indiana. Back in the 60's attitudes about child abuse were alot more lenient then today. (People thought it was a right of discipline and best to be ignored!) I suggest watching the films "An American Crime" and Jack Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door" ("TGND" is a fictionalized account of the Sylvia Likens case) But be warned they are both disturbing films that pulls no punches. Both are worth watching though for the message of child abuse awareness.

As for Gacy it's scary that he had so much clout in society even shaking hands with Rossalyn Carter! and yet was a monster in his spare time. I also suggest watching the film "Dear Mr. Gacy". (Based on a book by Jason Moss) It's a good psychological film that really shows how manipulative Gacy was.

The sad part was that before Gacy moved to Chicago he was arrested for raping a male employee at KFC where he was a Manager . He paid off someone to beat the guy up but it backfired. Because Gacy didn't make any waves he let out of prison after serving only 18 months! It makes me sick that this piece of trash was let out to cause more mayhem and grief. After this he was charged with the same crime *again!* it just really frustrates me how these freaks get away with so much before being caught (if at all)

I also suggest watching the film "Dear Mr. Gacy". (Based on a book by Jason Moss) It's a good psychological film that really shows how manipulative Gacy was.

Yes, I saw this too and was blown away. Sorta-OT but what did you think of Gacy's relationship with the kid? I thought it was cool in a dysfunctional sort of way and I felt sad when the kid read Gacy's last letter. Obviously, the kid was out of his depth and playing with fire.

Back to the topic at hand, I do find this interesting the possibility of Gacy having accomplices. I wonder if the police suspected this all along or if there is some new evidence that would suggest this. For what it's worth, I thought Gacy never admitted to committing any of the murders, and blamed co-workers who had access to his house, but I could be wrong. It's been awhile since I studied the case.

Yes, I saw this too and was blown away. Sorta-OT but what did you think of Gacy's relationship with the kid? I thought it was cool in a dysfunctional sort of way and I felt sad when the kid read Gacy's last letter. Obviously, the kid was out of his depth and playing with fire.

Back to the topic at hand, I do find this interesting the possibility of Gacy having accomplices. I wonder if the police suspected this all along or if there is some new evidence that would suggest this. For what it's worth, I thought Gacy never admitted to committing any of the murders, and blamed co-workers who had access to his house, but I could be wrong. It's been awhile since I studied the case.

From what I understand he actually flip flopped a number of times, confessing back in the early 80's but later denied it, sometimes saying he did none of the murders, sometimes only a few of them.

I think its pretty obvious no credence can be put into anything he said, and I have little doubt he was the primary killer of the victims found in his crawl space. But if there is even a chance there was some truth to what he was saying it probably should be investigated. I think its entirely possible he may have had help in at least a few of the murders, possibly even more. If other people had access to his house its even possible he might have had no part of a couple of them.

Justin... I thought the movie was great. It really pulls you in. Their dynamics were very compelling. I own it on DVD. I thought the V.O of the last letter was a nice touch along with a picture of them. Very chilling and oddly touching. I really do feel on some cracked out level they had a genuine connection. I think it hints as to why Jason did what he did later in life.

As for the partner theory I dunno what is more scary. One person killing people or a group of people? yeesh. I can't imagine he'd pay off his employees to help him with torturing and killing someone. I'm shocked he had a boyfriend who lived with him for awhile before he was caught. Why did that kid get to live? what part did he play in the murders? It's been established he was driving a victim's car after he was murdered and it was one of the factors in investigating Gacy's house.

Have the Forensic People identified anymore of the Eight "John Doe" Bodies that were exhumed?

Horrible case when you think about it especially for the families :(

Have the Forensic People identified anymore of the Eight "John Doe" Bodies that were exhumed?

Horrible case when you think about it especially for the families :(

So far as I know, only the Bundy kid has been identified, the other seven are still unknown.

There was one guy who was actually thought to be a Gacy victim, he worked in contracting and dissappeared in 1977, which was when Gacy was at the height of his slayings. But fortunately they found him alive in Florida.

Can you imagine the relief of the family? I bet that guy must have really felt bad that people thought he was a serial killer victim and he was alive the whole time.

I did a little research on this case, its become a bit of a buff like fascination for me I suppose. Not sure why....... maybe its some sort of kinship with the victims, though I didn't know them or never even been to the area where it happened.

In any case, it seems that Gacy ran his contracting business out of his house too. He claims that some of the young guys who worked for his business would often hang out at his house to crash, drink beer or shoot pool. From everything I can gather it seemed like it might have been being used as some kind of hangout for some sort of sick homosexual gatherings and R & R hosted by Gacy and a couple of his buddies.

I don't know how true this is, but if it is, it does seem plausible that there might have been others involved in at least some of the murders, and Gacy in an interview apparently did actually give names. Don't remember any of them, but they were apparently some of the young men who worked for his business......... I guess its possible a few of the people who worked for Gacy were sickos like he was, and some of these young men got killed when they were invited to his house, ostensibly to pick up paychecks or engage in relatively innocent activity like shooting pool, watching football, drinking beer or maybe even doing some drugs. When in reality it might have been to entice them into some sick homosexual orgies or something, and some of them might have been killed when they refused to take part. Others Gacy probably went out and picked up on his own with varioues methods, drugs, chloroform, ect. I am pretty sure thats what happened with Robert Piebst and the guy who survived Gacy's attack.

Whether or not any of these guys were investigated, ruled out as suspects, still are today, is not clear. We may never know the extent of the involvement of these alleged other people, if there is any at all.

The way I see it, we can probably establish a few things as likely:

1. Gacy was at the very least primarily, if not solely responsible for the deaths of the young men buried on his property. He was by no means innocent at all regardless of his rantings. But that doesn't neccessarily mean there was not truth to them at all.

2. It seems Gacy did run his business out of his home, and its pretty well known fact he had at least one male lover and probably more who lived with him between 1975-1978, the years when most of the murders took place, and after his wife, mother and family moved out. Also, I'm fairly certain Gacy had help digging his crawl space. Probably there were more. Given these facts, it seems highly likely that someone other than Gacy was aware of the bodies in the crawl space prior to December 1978, making the accomplice theory seem more plausible. If Gacy was having this much activity going on at his place it would seem pretty risky to have these guys here that much, unless they had prior knowledge of his activities or even took part in them. And I am pretty sure its been established Gacy was known to be out of town when some of the dissapperances occured. I'm not sure how many.

All this being said, none of this is neccessarily airtight proof of accomplices. It may all have just been Gacy's sick way of transfering some of the blame elsewhere to unload the responsability of so many horrible crimes. Just some interesting facts I researched to spark discussion of the accomplice theory. Hopefully this will all be cleared up someday. God knows the families of these victims have suffered enough, if others are out there who could have been responsible for the deaths of their loved ones, it needs to be brought out and permanent closure brought to this case, if the Chicago police do no already consider it closed. From everything I can gather they still take the accomplice theory seriously.

Just a quick thought - I thought the identity of the person who dug the graves in the crawl space was known - wasn't it one of Gacy's employees who later testified that Gacy had paid him to dig the holes? I thought Gacy told him he was doing something with the plumbing/pipes and that was why he needed the holes dug. I could be wrong. It's been years since I have read about the case.

I find the possibility of an accomplice interesting. However, I have a similar problem with this case that I do with the Son of Sam conspiracy theories - wouldn't the police have sought to explore and expose every angle of this at the time? Not that the police don't ever make mistakes or coverup, obviously, but these were high profile cases with a long list of victims. You would think that literally no stone would be left unturned in either case.

Just my two cents.

Just a quick thought - I thought the identity of the person who dug the graves in the crawl space was known - wasn't it one of Gacy's employees who later testified that Gacy had paid him to dig the holes? I thought Gacy told him he was doing something with the plumbing/pipes and that was why he needed the holes dug. I could be wrong. It's been years since I have read about the case.

I find the possibility of an accomplice interesting. However, I have a similar problem with this case that I do with the Son of Sam conspiracy theories - wouldn't the police have sought to explore and expose every angle of this at the time? Not that the police don't ever make mistakes or coverup, obviously, but these were high profile cases with a long list of victims. You would think that literally no stone would be left unturned in either case.

Just my two cents.


I will only touch on this briefly as I don't wish to get off topic, but I personally feel pretty decent information was presented that David Berkowitz didn't act alone. The varied descriptions of the shooters, the story about the Carr brothers, the cult, and Berkowitzs' testimony himself.

As to your argument for the police not covering all the angles, I would have to say they were under a lot of pressure to resolve this case, and having Berkowitz in custody at the time would probably be a situation where they were happy to close things out.

I know its easy to dismiss Berkowitz' word him being a convicted killer and all, and I know that many people don't buy the born again Christian story that Berkowitz claims to be. I am inclined to believe him myself, but even looking at it from a totally non partial point of view, Berkowitz admitted to being in on some of the shootings directly......... so he is not trying to be exonerated of any guilt and has nothing to really gain. So why deny some of the shootings and not all of them? I'm inclined to believe the testimony some have given of his transformation as a person, but then again, it could always be an act. I also felt his story about not revealing the names of the other shooters for fear of retaliation against his family was plausible. Although I do wonder how many there could be left alive if Berkowitz is telling the truth, because the Carr brothers are dead.

However, that is a discussion for another thread.

For years, I was pretty much like you in my thoughts, I dismissed the idea of other people being sick enough to go along with Gacy's deeds, I thought it was just his ranting....... but this article did make me wonder. Why drudge all this up again if there was no evidence that it could be true?

I personally doubt Gacy's story about having killed only one of the victims in the crawl space in self defense, but like I said it doesn't neccessarily mean there was no truth to any of it.

Regarding the earlier comment on Gacy's neighbors - they definitely heard screams of men from time to time. Sometimes muffled - sometimes not.

I think it's weird how some serial killers have accomplices. I don't get what's going on in their minds with that. You'd think killers wouldn't want to have witnesses but maybe the types like Gacy wanted someone with the shared experience so they could talk about the crimes and relive them.

It's sickening, I know, but other than helping to procure victims, that's the only reason I could think of regarding why they'd actually want to have a witness.


Dean Corll used an accomplice to help lure victims.

Randy Kraft (just heard about him today in the "true crimes" section here) may have had an accomplice and they can't locate him.

Leonard Lake and Charles Ng were serial killers who committed their crimes together.

The Speed Freak Killers, Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog also killed people together.

I know there must be lots of others. It adds a new kind of creep factor, imo, (as if serial murder could actually get any more terrifying).

Ice Man Kuklinski had Robert Pronge nicknamed Mr Softie because he drove around a Mr Softie Truck,Robert taught Ice Man all about Poisions,think Iceman ended up killing him after hed learned everything.

Theres also been couples aswell, like Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo and the British couple Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

New article referring to Gacy: http://news.msn.com/us/serial-killer-gacys-blood-may-solve-old-murders