Moran has also traced some of Gacy’s travels across the country, looking for missing men and boys along the way. I don’t think the magnitude could ever occur again like this,” he said. “I just don’t see a scenario where it would happen.” I thought this would go into more detail about the legal process, but it kind of skimmed over the trial. The book mainly talked about JWG's quirks and personality problems, which was interesting enough. It didn't get too much into the gory details, which I appreciated. We did not end up hiring him, but we seriously considered it. So, like I said, I knew him. I thought I knew him pretty well. What I didn't know, however, what he didn't mention during our short telephone conversation, was this:

Sam, could you do me a favor?” Thus begins a story that has now become part of America’s true crime hall of fame. It is a gory, grotesque tale befitting a Stephen King novel. It is also a David and Goliath saga—the story of a young lawyer fresh from the Public Defender’s Office whose first client in private practice turns out to be the worst serial killer in our nation’s history. That's precisely what Judge Sam L. Amirante has done with John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster. Sure he tells us the basics of the Gacy killings, sure he talks a bit about the Gacy he knew, but mostly Amirante is telling us what it was like to be him as he "defended the monster." Admittedly, many of the things he relates about himself are damn interesting, but too much of his book is spinning a myth about his own awesomeness (though he wouldn't be so crass as to say that explicitly) or lecturing us on the "greatness" of the US legal system: its nobility, its idealism, its importance, hell ... its preeminence. Too much bla bla bla for my taste.

In the following 17 days, bodies are found and some remains are identified. On Jan. 8, 1979, Gacy is charged with seven murders, and on April 23, a grand jury indicts him for 26 more. At the time, the total of 33 murders is the largest number charged to one person in the U.S. The state says it will seek the death penalty. On December 11, 1978, 15-year-old Robert Piest went missing after telling his mother he was going to meet Gacy to discuss a potential construction job. Piest’s family filed a missing person report with the police, which led to a search of Gacy’s house in Norwood Park. Authorities discovered several suspicious items there, including police badges, a pistol, hypodermic needles, pornographic films, and items that they later learned belonged to some of Gacy’s victims.

Police departments and schools nationwide joined forces for massive public service campaigns tasked with teaching parents and children about “stranger danger.”Not a fan of the way the author describes people's bodies (large bodies, ladies' bodies, trans bodies). He doesn't describe thin bodies at all, but feels the need to describe every lump or roll of a fat person's. A trans witness is on the stand and he calls her a he/she and aggressively deadnames her. Rob looked up, squinting into the bright lights over the plow. John switched them off, allowing Rob to see who was talking to him. On March 12, 1980, after a short jury deliberation, Gacy was found guilty of committing 33 murders, and he became known as one of the most ruthless serial killers in American history. He often would build up trust with his victims, so they wouldn’t need to be on guard,” Moran said. “He was their employer, their friend. He may have been someone who provided them with alcohol and drugs and maybe a place to sleep at night. That’s an easy way to kill someone.” The other portion of this book that deeply bothered me was the intense transphobia that transpires during a cross examination of one of the witnesses, Donita. He spends ample time describing how she is a stunning woman, gorgeous and holding the eye of every person in the courtroom. The author even says at one point “I had to expose the fact that she’s living a lie” when that’s obviously not the truth. I understand it’s a “sign of the times” or what have you, but it had zero place in this book and the book would have been fine without this chapter.

Image p2p slug: ct-john-wayne-gacy-investigation-major-players-004 Detective Sgt. Jason Moran, of the Cook County sheriff's office, stands in the room where evidence from the Gacy case is kept in Chicago. Since 2010, Moran has helped to identify two previously unknown victims, William George Bundy and Jimmy Haakenson. Six unidentified victims remain. (Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune)Personally, I wanted a bit more of the crime(s) in my true crime book rather than the law and the trial, you know? And what better present could you give to your mom on her birthday than to make her happy? Isn't that the purpose of a present?" Serial killer John Wayne Gacy poses for his Des Plaines Police Department mug shot in December 1978. Getty Images Gacy was a member of a Chicago-area “Jolly Joker” clown club and frequently performed in clown attire and makeup at children’s parties, charity fundraisers, and other events as his alter egos “Pogo the Clown” or “Patches the Clown.” Years later, during a conversation with detectives while he was under surveillance, Gacy discussed his work as a clown, remarking, “Clowns can get away with murder.” Amirante said he believed a killer with Gacy’s personal demons would be less likely to exist today.