Killer clown calamity causes a community conundrum constituting continuous confusion coinciding with the comprehensive case of clue collecting consequently cognizant of the culprit’s conviction.

Various interviews were conducted between November 1979 and April 1980 by John Wayne Gacy‘s legal defence team with over 60 hours of recordings recovered. This was the basis for Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes, which is currently available on Netflix as a miniseries with three installments running about an hour each.

Gacy, who had a successful career as a contractor, was well known in his town as an entrepreneur and public figure who liked rubbing elbows with local politicians. He was known for throwing lavish parties and his love of the limelight while entertaining people is where the creation of Pogo the Clown came from.

This deep dive into Gacy’s past covers how he found himself as a person of interest to the police thanks to the smell of corpses coming from his home. After a couple searches of his house the police had found enough bones to make up three different and unknown bodies, but that was just the start. The total number of bodies found was over 33 and Gacy admitted to dumping countless more in nearby lakes and rivers, but he claims to have lost track of just how many after a while.

Gacy eventually confessed to several killings and mentions how after getting away with the first couple of murders he just kept doing it. He enticed his victims with weed, booze, or work that would bring them to his home. Once he had them alone there was one method, in particular, Gacy found effective–the handcuff trick. Gacy would cuff himself, escape the restraints, then suggest his soon-to-be victims give it a try. Once they were handcuffed, Gacy would tie a rope around their neck and rotate an attached stick until they strangled to death.

The six week trial, where Gacy plead insanity, was highly covered by the media in 1980. Several of his victim’s parents testified while Gacy stared straight ahead, emotionless. He was found guilty of 33 murders, which was the most in US history at the time, and received the death penalty on May 10, 1994. In 2017, DNA evidence allowed two of the unknown victims to be identified and in 2021 another victim was also identified. There’s a loving tribute to the victims with commentary from friends and family.

One of the most shocking aspects of Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes are the interviews with two who survived Gacy’s reign of terror. They recount how he threatened their lives several times and wanted to commit sex acts, but then he let them go. They never reported it because they were too ashamed and afraid to talk about it.

Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes is a detailed investigation covering interviews with police, lawyers, and people that knew Gacy both professionally and personally. It’s a suspenseful true crime story full of interesting facts about the infamous serial killer with each person’s insight acting as a window into his life and the lives he impacted. The chilling conversations with Gacy provide an in-depth and vivid look into his point of view and the horrific way he sees the world. It’s unnerving, uncomfortable, and unbelievable. And remember, sometimes fact is scarier than fiction.

9 out of 10