Tears of a killer clown

John Wayne Gacy unconvincingly maintained his innocence to the very end.

While waiting for a medical appointment the other day, I read through Conversations With a Killer, the Kindle e-book version of Alec Wilkinson’s New Yorker article about notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

It was either that or look at Twitter, and I wanted the option with less negative energy.

You almost certainly know Gacy’s story: a self-employed contractor in the Chicago area, well known in his neighbourhood for big parties, political involvement and dressing up as “Pogo the clown,” Gacy also kidnapped, tortured and murdered several young men and kept their bodies in the crawl space of his home. (When he ran out of room he started dumping their bodies in a river.) Even during the heyday of the serial killer - Ted Bundy and several other serial murderers, some never caught, were active around the same time - Gacy stood out, mainly because of that damn clown outfit.

(A side note: it seems like the number of serial killers declined as the number of mass shooters increased. I…