John Wayne Gacy discovered... serial killer clown...

Item # 722531

December 26, 1978

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, Dec. 26, 1978

* John Wayne Gacy arrest
* Best title to be had ? - very rare

Here is nice issue on the discovery of John Wayne Gacy's crimes in a Chicago suburb. The top of page 3 has a heading: "Police seize records at Gacy home". (see) Gacy was arrested just a few days earlier. Great to have this in a Chicago publication. I expect this to be an extremely rare item because there was really no reason to save it at the time.
Complete with all 96 pages, tabloid size, nice condition.

AI notes: The arrest of John Wayne Gacy in late December 1978 marked the end of a harrowing surveillance operation triggered by the disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest. Although Gacy was officially taken into custody on December 21 following a second search of his Norwood Park home, the days surrounding Christmas 1978 were characterized by a grisly forensic excavation that shocked the nation. Driven by a search warrant that uncovered a human femur in his crawlspace, investigators spent the holiday week unearthing remains from the damp, cramped earth beneath Gacy's house. By Christmas Day, while Gacy remained in a holding cell, recovery teams were working in shifts to remove dozens of victims, eventually totaling 29 bodies found on the property and four others discarded in the Des Plaines River. This period transformed a standard missing persons case into the discovery of what was, at the time, the most prolific serial killing spree in American history, forever linking the 1978 holiday season with the chilling revelation of Gacy's "Killer Clown" double life.