Editing John Wayne Gacy (section)

==Death row==
On being sentenced, Gacy was transferred to the Menard Correctional Center, where he remained on death row for 14 years,{{sfn|Amirante|2011|pp=387–388}} repeatedly proclaiming, often via conflicting claims, his alleged innocence.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wilkinson |first=Alec |date=April 10, 1994 |title=Conversations with a Killer |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1994/04/18/conversations-with-a-killer |access-date=April 25, 2025 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref>

Isolated in his prison cell, Gacy began to paint, with his artwork occasionally produced via commission.<ref>{{cite news|title=State Suing to Recover Cash from Gacy Artwork|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/10/06/state-suing-to-recover-cash-from-gacy-artwork/|access-date=December 12, 2024|work=[[The Chicago Tribune]]|date=October 6, 1993}}</ref> He drew inspiration from a wide range of sources for his artwork, depicting subjects as diverse as clowns (including himself as Pogo or Patches), [[Christ]], the [[Seven Dwarfs]], skulls, his own home, [[Elvis Presley]], and [[John Dillinger]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/john-wayne-gacy-artwork-for-sale-13599562|title=For Sale: Serial Killer's Artwork|access-date=July 8, 2021|newspaper=ABC News|date=May 13, 2011|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184754/https://abcnews.go.com/US/video/john-wayne-gacy-artwork-for-sale-13599562|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Cahill|1986|p=351}} Gacy's paintings have been displayed at exhibitions<ref>{{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191214175110/https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/illinois/articles/the-controversy-of-killer-john-wayne-gacys-artwork/|archive-date=December 14, 2019|url=https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/illinois/articles/the-controversy-of-killer-john-wayne-gacys-artwork/|title=Controversy of Killer John Wayne Gacy's Artwork|work=TheCultureTrip.com|date=November 25, 2016|access-date=February 13, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/05/13/serial.killer.art/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190912085959/http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/05/13/serial.killer.art/|archive-date=September 12, 2019|title=Controversial Serial Killer's Paintings go on Display in Las Vegas|publisher=[[CNN News]]|date=May 13, 2011|access-date=May 15, 2011}}</ref> and sold at auction.{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|pp=36–37}}

Before his trial, Gacy initiated contact with journalist [[Russ Ewing]], to whom he granted numerous interviews between 1979 and 1981.<ref>{{cite news|date=June 27, 2019|title=Russ Ewing, TV News Reporter Who Convinced More Than 115 Suspects to Turn Themselves In, Dies at 95|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/06/27/russ-ewing-tv-news-reporter-who-convinced-more-than-suspects-turn-themselves-dies/|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref> Ewing later collaborated with author [[Tim Cahill (writer)|Tim Cahill]] to publish the book ''Buried Dreams''.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|p=vi}} The information Gacy divulged to Ewing regarding the circumstances of his first murder would prove instrumental in establishing the identity of his first victim.<ref name=locin>{{cite news|last=Locin|first=Mitchell|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-10-8602020800-story.html|title=Gacy's 1st Victim Finally Identified|newspaper=[[The Chicago Tribune]]|date=May 10, 1986|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303222247/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-05-10-8602020800-story.html|archive-date=March 3, 2020|access-date=October 12, 2018}} {{Open access}}</ref>

On February 15, 1983, Henry Brisbon, a fellow death row inmate known as the I-57 killer, stabbed Gacy in the arm with a sharpened wire. He received treatment in the prison hospital.<ref>{{cite news|last=Koziol|first=Ronald|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Suo0AAAAIBAJ&pg=6608,4021186|title=Gacy Stabbed in Prison|newspaper=[[Boca Raton News]]|date=February 16, 1983|page=11A|via=Google News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929100019/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Suo0AAAAIBAJ&pg=6608%2C4021186|archive-date=September 29, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref>

After his incarceration, Gacy read law books and filed voluminous motions and appeals, although he did not prevail in any. His appeals related to issues such as the validity of the first search warrant granted to the Des Plaines police on December 13, 1978, and his objection to his lawyers' insanity plea defense. Gacy contended that, although he had "some knowledge" of five of the murders (those of McCoy, Butkovich, Godzik, Szyc and Piest), the other 28 murders had been committed by employees who had keys to his house while he was away on business trips.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=342–351}}

In mid-1984, the [[Supreme Court of Illinois]] upheld Gacy's conviction and ordered his execution by lethal injection on November 14.{{sfn|Cahill|1986|pp=342–351}} Gacy filed an appeal against this decision, which was denied by the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] on March 4, 1985. The following year, Gacy filed a further post-conviction petition, seeking a new trial. His then-defense lawyer, [[Richard Kling]], argued that Gacy had been provided with ineffective legal counsel at his 1980 trial. This petition was dismissed on September 11, 1986.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-09-12-8603080188-story.html|title=Mass Killer Gacy Denied New Trial|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=September 12, 1986|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190708185913/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1986-09-12-8603080188-story.html|archive-date=July 8, 2019}} {{Open access}}</ref>

Gacy appealed the 1985 decision that he be executed. The Illinois Supreme Court upheld his conviction on September 29, 1988, setting a new execution date of January 11, 1989.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FKgeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5611,6110201|title=Death sentence upheld for John Wayne Gacy|newspaper=[[Spartanburg Herald-Journal]]|via=Google News|date=September 30, 1988|page=A2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929095409/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FKgeAAAAIBAJ&pg=5611%2C6110201|archive-date=September 29, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref> After the U.S. Supreme Court denied Gacy's final appeal in October 1993, the Illinois Supreme Court formally set an execution date for May 10, 1994.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1993/12/18/long-delayed-execution-set-for-john-wayne-gacy/|title=Long-delayed Execution Set For John Wayne Gacy|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160111235418/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1993-12-18/news/9312180642_1_gacy-john-wayne-supreme-court|archive-date=January 11, 2016|newspaper=[[Orlando Sentinel]]|date=December 18, 1993|url-status=live|access-date=December 7, 2011}} {{Open access}}</ref>