Killer clown John Wayne Gacy showed off the ‘trick’ during a 1992 CBS interview
Warning: This article contains details of torture and murder that some readers may find disturbing
Chilling footage shared to YouTube shows the exact method John Wayne Gacy would utilise to kill his victims after hours of torture.
In 1978, notorious serial killer and sex offender Gacy was arrested and convicted of at least 33 counts of murder in the area of Des Moines, Illinois.
The man, who was known more commonly as ‘The Killer Clown’, gained his infamous moniker due to performing at children’s hospitals under the guise of ‘Pogo The Clown’.
John Wayne Gacy died by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center (Bettmann / Contributor)
After spending a whopping 14 years on death row, Gacy was eventually executed by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center.
Ahead of his death on 10 May 1994, the 52-year-old participated in a Special Report series with CBS, where he professed to be a ‘loving and caring’ father as well as claiming he was just a ‘misunderstood victim of circumstance’.
During one of the videos, Gacy showed journalist Walter Jacobson exactly how to perform the signature ‘rope trick’ he used to cut off his victim’s airways.
“The only knot I ever learned from Boy Scouts was a tourniquet knot,” the mass murderer could be heard saying in the video.
After trying to demonstrate on his own arm, Gacy managed to persuade the interviewer to give him his.
Gacy proceeded to grip the man’s forearm before tying the rope twice.
The serial killer demonstrated the ‘trick’ during a 1992 interview (CBS)
Then, he slotted in pen between the gaps in the rope so he could swivel and therefore tighten up the knots.
As per CBS, this type of knot was found on the ropes wrapped around the necks of the victims discovered at his home in Summerdale Avenue, Norwood Park Township.
However, instead of using a pen to tighten the knot, he would reportedly use a hammer handle.
It’s understood that sometimes his victims would convulse ‘for an hour or two’ before losing consciousness and eventually dying.
After watching the terrifying clip, one YouTube user wrote: “Chilling how normal he seems. Chilling how he’s boasting about his killing method. Wow.”
A second typed: “I can’t believe that reporter fell for that trick from that monster. That’s exactly how he did it to them. Trying to ‘teach’ them how to do knots.”
“That interviewer had balls of steel dude, leaning in that close then letting him demonstrate the knot,” remarked a third, while someone else added: “Me casually just sitting here watching a serial killer expose a magic trick…”
Following his victims’ brutal deaths, Gacy was known to store their bodies in the crawl space of his home while the remains of others were discarded in the Des Plaines River in Illinois.
