Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy tells the story of one of the most notorious serial killers in America, John Wayne Gacy. Gacy was a suburban Illinois contractor, beloved and respected by his local community. However, many did not know the happy, go-lucky disposition Gacy portrayed was all a façade to mask the evil within him. Gacy kidnapped, then raped, tortured, and murdered at least 33 teen boys and young men between 1972 and 1978. Infamously, Gacy buried most of his victims’ bodies in a crawl space beneath his house.
The long-awaited and much-anticipated Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy has now been on Peacock since October 16, and it has received significant buzz in its short time on the platform. Critics and audiences alike have compared Devil in Disguise to Netflix’s Monster anthology. One key distinction is that Devil in Disguise tells an unromanticized, truthful account of Gacy while also highlighting the heartening stories of his victims.
The series predominantly focuses on themes of guilt, grief, and trauma that his victims’ families had to endure. Moreover, the series exposes the prejudices and systemic failures that ran rampant in the 1970s, and eventually cost the victims’ families crucial time and effort in the investigations that only fueled Gacy’s sinister atrocities. The series starts with Gacy’s last victim that led to his eventual arrest, 15-year-old Robert Piest.
The Truth in ‘Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy’
Was Gacy Really a Clown?
Yes, Gacy was a clown, and he did perform at children’s hospitals. He would also march in parades and make balloon animals, all as an act of rebellion against his conservative father. Gacy mainly performed as a clown to conceal his evil persona from the public and to project an image that was the opposite of who he truly was. The clown façade also helped him build trust within his community.
The series hit the nail on the head, quoting the real Gacy, who said he “regressed into childhood” and enjoyed how he could “go and act a fool.” In a 1992 interview with Gacy, he described putting on his clown makeup as “relaxing as drinking.” In the same interview, as well as the show, Gacy admitted he could get away with flirting as a clown and boasted that he could touch women without their consent. Most chillingly, he said, “Clowns can get away with murder.”
Robert Piest’s Disappearance Led to Gacy’s Subsequent Arrest
The series begins with the story of 15-year-old Robert Piest’s 1978 disappearance — Gacy’s last and final victim. Piest worked at a local pharmacy and met Gacy for a potential job, and never returned home. His mother filed a missing person report that very night. It was his disappearance that ultimately led police to Gacy after a dreadful seven years of terror. TIME described the events in a 1980 report:
“When police questioned him about the disappearance of a local 15-year-old named Robert Piest, Gacy began jabbering about a seven-year career of murder, of picking up boys and young men, forcing them to perform sexual acts and then strangling them. Police discovered 26 bodies in a 40-ft. crawl space beneath his house, one body under his dining room and two buried in his backyard. Four more bodies, including Piests’s, were dumped in the Des Plaines River.”
Prejudice Put Gacy’s Capture on Hold
Unfortunately, yes. While communication issues with police were certainly a factor as well, there’s no denying that police were “blinded and clouded by prejudice,” showrunner Patrick MacManus told TV Insider. Prejudice toward the gay community allowed Gacy to commit his atrocities for years. Police would dismiss missing persons reports involving young men, permitting Gacy to carry on for years. A New Yorker article reported:
“Gacy told the policeman who arrested him—for kidnapping and deviate sexual assault—that he had picked up the boy and made a deal for sadomasochistic sex. He implied that the boy had gone to the police because he had not paid him. The assistant State’s Attorney decided that in court Gacy would appear more believable than the boy, and the charges were dropped.”
Did Gacy Go to Prison for 18 Months in 1968?
As shown in the very first episode, Gacy really did go to prison for 18 months in 1968. Gacy was married to his first wife, with whom he had his two and only children, but his then-wife divorced him after he was charged with sexually assaulting one of his male employees in 1968. Gacy was specifically accused of sodomy. He was originally sentenced to 10 years, but was released within 18 months, due to good behavior.
Did Gacy Really Lead Police to the Bodies of His Victims?
Shockingly, yes. And the police tailing him and monitoring him throughout the show was very much real as well. After police were granted a search warrant for his property, just like in the show, they found bodies, drivers’ licenses that didn’t belong to him, a class ring, and more. He also invited the police in for dinner, thus initiating the search, given the horrid smell seeping out of his vents. Once Gacy knew the act was up, he cooperated with the police and discussed his horrific acts in depth. He provided a map of his house, labeling where the remaining, undiscovered bodies were, and he led the police into his garage to point out where one body was.
He also went on to describe his twisted modus operandi — luring in young boys and men by offering them contracting jobs, bringing them back to his house, and using the “handcuff trick,” in which he would convince them to restrain their wrists “before turning the game into a deadly assault.” As portrayed in the show, Gacy claimed he had accomplices, as his heart was too weak, and he couldn’t have possibly carried out so many murders by himself. He also asserted that he would commit some of the murders under the influence of his darker alter ego, “Jack Hanley.”
Gacy’s Sexuality
The series got this one right, too — Gacy vehemently denied he was gay, even up until his execution. In the Peacock series, he identifies as bisexual. Gacy, who was married twice to women and had two children with his first wife, had said: “I don’t deny that I engaged in sex with males, but I’m bisexual. My preference is women. I’ve been married enough times and have children.”
The Priest’s Lawsuit
Shown in the series, Elizabeth Piest did file an $85 million lawsuit against Gacy for murder and the Iowa Board of Parole, the Department of Corrections, and the Chicago Police Department for negligence. The case was eventually dismissed.
Gacy’s Mortician Job
Yes, Gacy really did work at a mortuary in Las Vegas, and yes, he really did climb into the coffin of a young, deceased boy. The interaction left him with an erection and startled him so much that he called his mom the next morning and asked to come home to Illinois after being there for only 90 days.
What ‘Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy’ Got Wrong
Gacy’s Execution
The series was largely accurate in its portrayal of the real events, though it fabricated minor details for dramatic effect, one of which was Gacy’s lethal injection. The series shows the families of Gacy’s victims being misled and told his execution had already occurred. In reality, reports indicated that most of the families were actually denied access in its entirety to the execution, due to space being taken up by media, prosecutors, and law enforcement officials.
Did Dale and Billy Know Each Other?
In Episode 5, aptly titled “Billy and Dale,” it focuses on the lives of Frank “Dale” Landingin and Billy Carroll, two of Gacy’s victims. The show takes a bit of creative liberty here, showing the two knew each other before their attacks, but that is not the truth. There are no sources to indicate that Billy and Dale knew each other in real life.
Gacy’s Lawyer Was Real, But His Sick Son Was Not
Gacy’s lawyer, Sam Amirante, was real, though the depiction of his son being in the hospital was fabricated for dramatic purposes. However, it was most likely included in the series to depict the strain Gacy’s case had on Amirante’s family life.
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is streaming on Peacock.