John Wayne Gacy's Last Words Explained - and Why His Death Row Meal Was Fast Food
Peacock's new dramatic series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is now streaming in its entirety.
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The life and death of convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy remains one of the most disturbing examples of a sociopathic predator living among society and not getting discovered until too many lives were lost. Gacy's story, and the story of many of his victims, are dramatized in Peacock's new scripted series, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy.
Based on Peacock's 2021 docuseries John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise, the new dramatic series created by Patrick Macmanus (Dr. Death) approaches Gacy's (Michael Chernus) notorious crimes with an intentional focus on the serial killer's victims, their families and the law enforcement investigators who caught him. It starts with Gacy's last victim, Robert Piest, who went missing on December 11, 1978. Piest was lured by Gacy to his home with the promise of a potential job, but instead Gacy murdered the young man and then disposed of his body in the Des Plaines River.
RELATED: Everything to Know About Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy on Peacock
On December 21, law enforcement executed a second warrant to search Gacy's home, where they found buried bodies in the crawl space. The next morning, Gacy confessed to murdering approximately 30 young males at his residence. He was arrested and eventually charged with 33 murders. On February 6, 1980, Gacy was brought to trial, and on March 12, was found guilty on all 33 charges of murder, as well as sexual assault and taking indecent liberties with a child (Piest).
When was John Wayne Gacy scheduled for execution?
Gacy resided at Menard Correctional Center in Illinois for 14 years on death row, until all of his appeals were denied. On May 9, 1994, Gacy was then transferred to Stateville Correctional Center in Illinois where he was administered lethal injection and pronounced dead at 12:58 a.m. on May 10, 1994.
What was John Wayne Gacy's last meal?
Food photographer Henry Hargreaves' book, No Seconds, which recreates many death row final meal requests, confirmed that Gacy requested 12 fried shrimp, a bucket of original recipe KFC, french fries, and a pound of strawberries. (In 1964, Gacy married Marlynn Myers and moved with her to Waterloo, Iowa, where he managed three KFC restaurants owned by his father-in-law.)
What were John Wayne Gacy's last words?
Gacy's last words remain disputed to this day. Uncorroborated urban lore says it was: "Kiss my a--." The Associated Press reported that Illinois State Corrections Director Howard Peters relayed Gacy's last words as: "Taking [my] life would not compensate for the loss of the others and that this was the state murdering him." However, state prosecutor William Kunkle told A&E True Crime that he was a witness in the front row and said "that no words were spoken."
All eight episodes of Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy are available now, exclusively on Peacock.
