Frank Gacy Revenge Case

This illusion that Gacy had continued to portray for years as the good neighbor, citizen, and friend would eventually come to end upon the disappearance of Robert Priest in December of 1978. According to Cartel, “Gacy was supervising a drug store construction job in nearby Des Plaines when he spotted fifteen year old Robert Piest. Gacy told the boy that he would pay him five dollars an hour if he worked for him during that 1978 summer. When Robert’s mother came to pick him up he told her about the offer…” (1985, p. 201-202). After going back to talk to the contractor, the boy never returned. Piest’s mother went to the police to file a report, and instead of dismissing it as another run away case, Lieutenant Joseph Kozenczak took personal …show more content…
220). However, the prosecution still had their work cut out for them, as Gacy entered a plea of guilty by reason of insanity. Not guilty by reason of insanity is a defense strategy, that has often been used by serial murderers in the past once an offender has been charged; however, contrary to popular belief, this defense has been used in less than one percent of all criminal cases. According to Hickey, “The legal system uses the term insanity to define the state of mind of an offender at the time of the offense; offenders may be deemed insane at the moment of the crime and only for that period of time” (2016, p. 75). Therefore, the prosecution had to prove that Gacy was sane during the murders, by showing that he not only premeditated these murders, but also knew right from wrong while committing the acts. The focused on presenting the testimony of the witnesses and the evidence surrounding the investigation, where as the defense focused on witnesses to attest to John’s sanity, as well medical examiners. Many psychiatrists concluded Gacy was insane at the time of his crimes, where as others had not, but Linedecker noted, “The name Jack Hanley, which Gacy sometimes used, was merely a ploy to prevent his identification…” (1980, p. 231). Gacy was able to recall a tremendous amount of information about his murders, where as people who suffer from multi personality disorder often do not recall events while another personality is in control. However, Gacy was able to recall many details about his murders, even where the investigators could find the bodies in the crawl space. Gacy had drawn a diagram demonstrating where he had buried each body almost spot on. After the arguments