The Truth About John Wayne Gacy's Final Moments

John Wayne Gacy's last words were "kiss my *ss," according to WTVR. Vile and defiant until the bitter end, the infamous "Killer Clown" had spent years fighting to have the last laugh. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel says he outlived two of the jurors who convicted him of rape and murder in 1980, and he would spend the last 14 years clogging up the courts with appeals, like a stubborn turd in the toilet of justice.

Gacy insisted he was innocent, despite the fact that he had kept festering corpses in the crawlspace of his house. As Psychology Today details, the floorboards of his home shook from the millions of pulsating worms which feasted on the 29 bodies that forensic anthropologists ultimately removed. Gacy murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men, between 1972 and 1978, per NBC. He had worked as a part-time party clown and even convinced victims to handcuff themselves, as part of a "trick." Really, he had tricked them into rendering themselves defenseless so he could strangle and prey on them.

Hiding behind Gacy's clown makeup was a facade of respectability and normality. He had a booming remodeling business, became active in the Democratic party, and took a photo with then-First Lady Rosalynn Carter. He wasn't what people pictured when they thought of serial killers. However, after his ultimate unmasking, masses of people could only picture him getting executed.

John Wayne Gacy spent his final days alive in an Illinois prison, trying not to die. Unlike his victims, though he wasn't defenseless. As reported by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, his lawyers filed 11th-hour appeals. In one of their last-ditch efforts, the attorneys objected to an Illinois law requiring a doctor to attend the executions to declare the inmate dead. They argued it was antithetical to medical ethics, but the court had a different opinion. On May 11, 1994, he would bid farewell to existence. His final meal consisted of fried chicken, french fries, fresh strawberries, and a soft drink.

Gacy was put to death by lethal injection, but even as he laid on the table, his final breath was delayed. The Chicago Tribune writes that two of the three drugs involved in the process flowed properly. But clogged tubing blocked the third, lethal chemical, potassium chloride, delaying his demise by 10 minutes. Two dozen people watched him die. Per the Independent, crowds had waited outside to celebrate his execution. When the bell finally tolled for him at 12:58 AM, the group erupted into cheers and chanted, "Goodbye, Gacy."