John Gacy Case

On June 22, 1972, Gacy would yet again be arrested on charges of aggravated battery and reckless conduct. According to Linedecker, “A young man told police that he was standing on the street corner when Gacy swung his car toward the curb, flashed a badge and identified himself as a sheriff’s deputy. The young man was order into the car un the threat of arrest…After he got into the car he was forced to perform oral sex on the driver” (1980, p. 61). The case was never brought to trial, but for the next six years Gacy’s name would not be named to the police in a complaint. Gacy would often pretend to be a police officer, with a badge, and blue flashing lights to gain his victims trust or at times force them into his car against their will. This …show more content…
On numerous occasions, Gacy had been questioned by the police, but failure to investigate into the contractor’s past, allowed him the opportunity to continue his killing spree. If the police had done a thorough background check each time Gacy’s name was brought into question by the parents of the missing victims, he may have been able to be stopped much earlier than December of 1978. For example John Butkovich was a sixteen year old boy, who had worked for John Gacy at his construction company. Numerous young men who worked for Gacy would show up to work for him one day, and be vanished the next, as was the case with Butkovich. Although many individuals noticed this pattern, such as John’s neighbors, Gacy simply explained it away, and would replace the youth with another teenage boy days later. On August 1, 1975, Butkovich did not return home after threatening Gacy to pay him the money he owed him. The next day, his parents found his car parked, with the key in the ignition, with his jacket and money on the seat of the car. In fear something happened to their son, John Butkovich’s parents reported him missing to the police. As with most cases where youths are reported as missing, the police dismissed it stating they believed young Butkovich had run away and would return after he had run out of money. John Butkovich’s parents insisted they contact John Gacy, as he had been with him the night before arguing about money that was owed to him, but did not take the lead seriously. According to Linedecker, “Each week for more than two years Butkovich telephoned police, often asking if they had talked again to Gacy. Eventually police quit answering his calls” (1980, p. 85-86). If the police had followed up, they may have found Butkovich body before Gacy had time to bury it underneath in his crawl space. According to Sparks, after Gacy’s and Butkovich