American serial killer John Wayne Gacy was BOTD in 1942. Born in Chicago, he had a turbulent childhood, suffering physical and emotional abuse from his father, and was sexually abused by a family friend. As an adult, he worked briefly in a mortuary in Las Vegas, before moving to Chicago where he worked as a shoe salesman. Transferred to Illinois, he married his co-worker Marlynn Myers, with whom he had two children. He began having sexual encounters with young men, many of whom he paid, blackmailed and drugged. In 1968, he was imprisoned for sexually assaulting a 15 year-old boy, and was released two years later. Returning to Chicago, he married school friend Carole Hoff, became involved in the local Democratic Party and started performing as a professional party clown. He is thought to have abducted, tortured and killed at least 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978, burying them beneath his home. Many of his victims were young gay or bisexual men, sex workers or runaways, whose disappearances were ignored by local police. After the attempted murder of his final victim in 1978, Gacy was finally arrested, confessing to multiple counts of murder. Charged with 33 counts of murder, his trial became a media sensation, solidifying a homophobic narrative of gay men as deranged psychopaths. Found guilty on all counts, he was sentenced to death, but spent 14 years on Death Row, filing multiple appeals. He was executed by lethal injection in 1994, aged 52. His life and crimes have inspired a disturbing number of books, drama films and true-crime documentaries, reflecting America’s voyeuristic fascination with gay serial killers. His many onscreen portrayals include Brian Dennehy in the 1992 TV film To Catch a Killer.