Crime Timeline of serial killer John Wayne Gacy's life, case

CHICAGO (AP) — John Wayne Gacy was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities found most of his victims' remains in a crawl space under his suburban Chicago house or buried elsewhere on the property. In 2011, they exhumed the remains of eight victims in the hopes of identifying them through DNA testing. On Monday, authorities identified the third of those eight people as Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina man who had moved to Chicago shortly before disappearing. That left the names of five victims still unknown. Here is a timeline of Gacy’s life and the case:

‘Horrorscope’ study links serial killers and their astrological signs

Pisces, Cancer, Scorpio, and Sagittarius represent a high number of psychos. Geminis less soA study of 485 serial killers reportedly found a correlation between those murderers and their astrological signs. To be sure, that’s not the same as a clinically tested causal link between psychopathic behavior and birthdates. But with Halloween coming, real-life horror takes a backseat to Ouija boards, ghosts, goblins and the brighter side of darkness.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office, authorities exhume a box with the remains of unidentified victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy's victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Office, File)

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - In this undated file photo provided by the Cook County Sheriff's Office, authorities look through buckets containing jaw bones and teeth of victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s. Authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of Gacy's victims. (AP Photo/Cook County Sheriff's Office, File)

March 17, 1942: Gacy is born in Chicago.

Atlanta Child Murders victim receives headstone more than 40 years after his death

A group of activists, family members, and local business owners banded together to unveil a memorial Sunday for Anthony Bernard Carter, who was found stabbed to death in July 1980 when he was 9. The headstone, which is made of granite and features small engraved flowers, was placed near where the family believes Carter was buried, in a cemetery in his hometown of Hogansville, Georgia, to provide some closure for his family, who hope the reopened investigation into the Atlanta child murders definitively solves Carter's case.

1972-1978: Gacy, a building contractor who works as “Pogo the Clown” at children’s parties, lures young men and boys to his home just outside of Chicago for sex, then strangles them. He stabs one victim.

December 1978: Gacy comes to the authorities' attention after 15-year-old Robert Piest goes missing in Des Plaines.

© Provided by Associated Press FILE - This 1978 file photo shows serial killer John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the Chicago area in the 1970s and executed in 1994. More than 40 years after a collection of decaying bodies was found beneath Gacy's house, authorities announced Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, that they have identified the remains of one more of his victims. (AP Photo, File)

Dec. 21, 1978: Police executing a search warrant find the first set of victim remains in a crawl space under Gacy's ranch-style house. Other Gacy victims were also found stashed under the home, buried elsewhere on his property or in waterways south of Chicago.

North Carolina man identified as victim of John Wayne Gacy

CHICAGO (AP) — A North Carolina man who moved to Chicago was one of the victims of John Wayne Gacy, who was convicted of killing 33 young men and boys in the 1970s, authorities said Monday. Francis Wayne Alexander would have been 21 or 22 years old when Gacy killed him sometime between early 1976 and early 1977, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at a news conference in announcing the identification of Alexander's remains. In a statement,Francis Wayne Alexander would have been 21 or 22 years old when Gacy killed him sometime between early 1976 and early 1977, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said at a news conference in announcing the identification of Alexander's remains.

March 1980: Gacy is convicted of killing 33 young men and boys, which made him one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.

May 10, 1994: Gacy is executed by lethal injection at the Stateville Correctional Center in Joliet.

Oct. 12, 2011: The Cook County Sheriff’s Department announces that it is undertaking a new effort to identify the remains of eight Gacy victims whose names still were not known. The agency says DNA testing that wasn’t available when the remains were found in 1978 could help.

Nov. 29, 2011: The county identifies one of the victims as William George Bundy, a 19-year-old construction worker from Chicago.

July 19, 2017: The county identifies 16-year-old James “Jimmie” Byron Haakenson as another of Gacy’s victims. The teenager had left his Minnesota home in 1976 and was last heard from in August of that year.

Oct. 25, 2021: Authorities identify another victim as Francis Wayne Alexander, a North Carolina man who had moved to Chicago not long before disappearing. That leaves the names of five victims still unknown.