Inside John Wayne Gacy's Twisted Double Life — and the Families Still Shattered by Killer Clown's Actions

John Wayne Gacy appeared to be a normal, respected member of his Chicago-area community in the 1970s, but beneath his house, a terrible secret went unnoticed for years.

He ran a thriving remodeling business, acted as director of the annual Polish Constitution Day Parade, and even volunteered at children’s hospitals dressed as “Pogo the Clown.”

In reality, he had kidnapped, raped, and murdered dozens of young men and boys — crimes that Gacy ultimately confessed to in 1978, the day after his arrest.

The heartbreaking stories of Gacy’s victims and the immense grief and trauma that their families endured is explored in a new scripted drama series titled Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. All eight episodes will premiere on Oct. 16 on Peacock. 

(A teaser can be seen below.)

The show “peels back the twisted layers of Gacy’s life while weaving in heartrending stories of his victims; exploring the grief, guilt, and trauma of their families and friends; and exposing the systemic failures, missed opportunities and societal prejudices that fueled his reign of terror,” a synopsis explains. 

Inspired by Peacock’s 2021 six-part docuseries of the same name, the limited series is executive produced by Patrick Macmanus (Dr. Death, The Girl From Plainville) and stars Michael Chernus (Severance), Gabriel Luna (The Last of Us), Michael Angarano (Oppenheimer), Chris Sullivan (This Is Us) and Marin Ireland (The Irishman). 

Peacock’s newly released teaser features minimal dialogue, instead focusing on the eerie sounds that filled the house where the killings took place. It concludes with a brief cameo by Chernus’ Gacy character, who opens the front door with a seemingly shocked face after hearing a knock from someone who addressed him by name.

In 1980, Gacy was convicted of luring, sexually assaulting, and murdering at least 33 teen boys and young men between 1972 and 1978.

The killings occurred in his suburban Norwood Park ranch house. Most of the victims were strangled or asphyxiated, and Gacy buried 26 of the bodies in the crawl space beneath his home; others were found in Chicago waterways, per NPR.

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The investigation into the disappearance of Robert Piest, a 15-year-old sophomore at Maine West High School, led to Gacy’s arrest in December 1978, per The Chicago Tribune.

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Five of Gacy’s victims remain unidentified, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, which notes that many of his known victims were never even reported missing to law enforcement. Gacy was known to have targeted bus stations and hitchhikers, seeking victims who were traveling, per the sheriff’s office.

Gacy was sentenced to death for 12 of the killings, and he was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994 at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Ill. He was 52. Just before he was executed, Gacy spoke his notorious last words: “Kiss my a–.”

Dubbed the “Killer Clown,” Gacy explained how the “clowning” was “relaxation” for him in an interview from prison included in the 2021 Peacock docuseries.

“When I got into clown makeup, I regressed into childhood,” the serial killer said. “It was fun being a clown because you could be yourself or just let yourself go and act a fool.”

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy premieres Oct. 16 on Peacock with all eight episodes.