Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

=== Second marriage and divorce ===
In August 1971, shortly after Gacy and his mother moved into the house, he became engaged to Carole Hoff, whom he had briefly dated in high school.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}} Carole and her two young daughters from a previous marriage moved into the house soon after.{{sfn|Linedecker|1986|pp=47–72}} They were married on July 1, 1972.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}} Gacy's mother moved out of the house shortly before the wedding.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=256–278}}

By 1975, Gacy had told his wife that he was bisexual.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=101–102}} After the couple had sex on [[Mother's Day (United States)|Mother's Day]] that year, he informed her this would be "the last time" they would do so.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=112–123}} He began spending most evenings away from home, only to return in the early morning with the excuse he had been working late, or conducting business meetings.<ref name="Seymour Tribune">{{cite news|last=Rossi|first=Rosalind A.|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/27515759/the-tribune/|title=Gacy Charged With Most Murders in U.S. History|newspaper=[[The Tribune (Seymour, Indiana)|The Tribune]]|agency=[[United Press International]]|date=August 15, 1979|access-date=April 8, 2023}}</ref>{{efn|Carole would later state that during their marriage, Gacy "rarely" slept more than two hours per night.<ref>{{cite news|title=Ex-wife Recalls Four Years With Gacy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GG0fAAAAIBAJ&q=john+gacy&pg=PA2&article_id=2595,673289#v=onepage|access-date=August 29, 2023|work=[[The Southeast Missourian]]|date=January 8, 1979}}</ref>}} Carole observed Gacy bringing teenage boys into his garage in the early hours and also found gay pornography and men's wallets and identification inside the house. When she confronted Gacy about these items, he informed her angrily that it was none of her business.{{sfn|Linedecker|1986|pp=47–72}}

In October 1975, after a heated argument, Carole asked Gacy for a divorce.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=140–147}} He agreed although, by mutual consent, she continued to live at his house until February 1976. On March 2, the Gacys' divorce—decreed on the false grounds of Gacy's infidelity with women—was finalized.{{sfn|Linedecker|1980|pp=83–87}}{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|p=28}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o64yAAAAIBAJ&pg=2634,556459|title=John Gacy: Businessman, Clown, Mass Killer|newspaper=[[The Ottawa Citizen]]|date=May 1, 1982|via=Google News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929092706/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=o64yAAAAIBAJ&pg=2634%2C556459|archive-date=September 29, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref>{{efn|Hoping to reconcile, Gacy and Carole began dating again in late 1977, but she became engaged to another man the following year.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=205–233}}}}