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==Execution== On the morning of May 9, 1994, Gacy was transferred to [[Stateville Correctional Center]] to be executed. That afternoon, he was allowed a private picnic on the prison grounds with his family. For his [[last meal]], Gacy ordered a bucket of KFC, french fries, a dozen fried shrimp, fresh strawberries and a Diet Coke.{{sfn|Hunter|2022|p=210}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Peck|first=John|url=https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/last-meals/Content?oid=1082921|title=Last Meals|newspaper=[[Tucson Weekly]]|date=January 5, 2006|access-date=November 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303221106/https://www.tucsonweekly.com/tucson/last-meals/Content?oid=1082921|archive-date=March 3, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> That evening, he received the [[last rites]] from a [[Catholic priest]] before being escorted to the Stateville execution chamber.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/dp/dpill/dpgacy1.txt|title=All Appeals Fail: Gacy is Executed. Serial Killer Dies of Lethal Injection|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=May 10, 1994|author1=Susan Kuczka|author2=Rob Karwath|via=[[Northern Illinois University]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970627032945/http://www.soci.niu.edu/~critcrim/dp/dpill/dpgacy1.txt|archive-date=June 27, 1997}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1994-05-09-9405100001-story,amp.html|title=Gacy Lawyers Working Overtime as Sand Runs Out|first=Susan|last=Kuczka|newspaper=The Chicago Tribune|access-date=May 27, 2021|date=May 9, 1994|archive-date=April 24, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220424090214/https://www.chicagotribune.com/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Braun|first=Stephen|date=May 10, 1994|title=Gacy Executed in Illinois for Murders of 33. Crime: He Receives Lethal Injection After Last of His Appeals is Rejected. The Serial Killer was Convicted in 1980 for the Slayings of Boys and Young Men |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-10-mn-55926-story.html |access-date=January 5, 2023 |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|language=en-US}}</ref> In the hours leading up to Gacy's execution, a crowd estimated at over 1,000 gathered outside the correctional center; a vocal majority were in favor of the execution, although a small number of [[Opposition to capital punishment in the United States|anti-death penalty]] protesters were present.{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|pp=36–37}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38761407/1994-may-11-gacy-execution-article/|title=Gacy: End of the Nightmare|work=[[The Journal Gazette]]|date=May 11, 1994|access-date=February 7, 2022|archive-date=February 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220207031404/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38761407/1994-may-11-gacy-execution-article/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/in-joliet-little-sympathy-for-convicted-killer/article_f7d646be-9c16-5bf1-853f-c845a302ef5b.html|title=In Joliet, Little Sympathy for Convicted Killer|access-date=July 22, 2017|newspaper=[[The Times of Northwest Indiana]]|date=May 10, 1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104160601/https://www.nwitimes.com/uncategorized/in-joliet-little-sympathy-for-convicted-killer/article_f7d646be-9c16-5bf1-853f-c845a302ef5b.html|archive-date=January 4, 2020}} {{Open access}}</ref> Some of those in favor of the execution wore T-shirts hearkening to Gacy's previous community services as a clown and bearing satirical slogans such as "No tears for the clown".<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Economist]]|title=Poster Child|date=May 14, 1994|volume=331|issue=7863}}</ref> At 12:40 a.m., the procedure to administer the lethal injection began, although the chemicals used in the execution solidified unexpectedly, clogging the [[IV tube]].{{sfn|Cavendish|1997|p=37}} The execution team replaced the clogged tube and the execution resumed. The entire procedure took 18 minutes.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980752,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130604232956/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,980752,00.html|archive-date=June 4, 2013|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=May 23, 1994|ref=seideman|title=A Twist Before Dying|last=Seideman|first=David|url-status=dead|access-date=January 14, 2010}}</ref> [[Anesthesiologist]]s blamed the problem on the prison officials' inexperience at conducting an execution. This error apparently led to Illinois' adopting an alternative method of lethal injection. One prosecutor at Gacy's trial, William Kunkle, said, "He got a much easier death than any of his victims."<ref name=Deseret>{{cite news|url=https://www.deseret.com/1994/5/10/19108035/serial-killer-executed-by-injection-in-illinois|title=Serial Killer Executed by Injection in Illinois|newspaper=[[Deseret News]]|date=May 10, 1994|access-date=February 12, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190920225430/https://www.deseret.com/1994/5/10/19108035/serial-killer-executed-by-injection-in-illinois|archive-date=September 20, 2019}} {{Open access}}</ref> According to published reports, Gacy was a diagnosed psychopath who did not express any remorse for his crimes.{{sfn|Hare|1999|p=23}} His [[final statement]] to his lawyer before his execution was that killing him would not compensate for the loss of others, and that the state was murdering him.<ref name=Deseret/> His final spoken words were reported to be "Kiss my ass",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/21/movie-documentary-could-be-adapted-from-book-by-gacys-lawyer/|title=Movie, Documentary Could Be Adapted From Book By Gacy's Lawyer|publisher=CBS Local|date=December 21, 2011|access-date=December 21, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111030141/https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2011/12/21/movie-documentary-could-be-adapted-from-book-by-gacys-lawyer/|archive-date=January 11, 2012}}</ref> although prosecutor William Kunkle stated in 2020 that these words were spoken to a prison official, and were not part of any official statement prior to Gacy's execution.{{sfn|Nelson|2021|p=297}}<ref>{{Cite news|last=Tanner|first=Lindsey|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111346845/gacy12/|title=Gacy Grunts Once Before he Dies|newspaper=[[Lancaster New Era]]|date=May 10, 1994|access-date=March 11, 2023|agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref> After Gacy's death was confirmed at 12:58 a.m. on May 10, 1994, his brain was removed. It is in the possession of [[Helen Morrison]], a witness for the defense at Gacy's trial, who has interviewed Gacy and other serial killers in an attempt to isolate common personality traits of violent sociopaths.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|pp=350–354}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kifner |first=John |date=May 11, 1994 |title=Gacy, Killer of 33, Is Put To Death as Appeals Fail |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/11/us/gacy-killer-of-33-is-put-to-death-as-appeals-fail.html |access-date=April 23, 2025 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He was cremated, and the whereabouts of his ashes remain undisclosed.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ideas.time.com/2013/05/07/unwanted-bodies-where-terrorists-serial-killers-and-assassins-are-buried/slide/john-wayne-gacy/|title=Tamerlan Tsarnaev Is Buried in Virginia: Where Other Notorious Criminals Were Laid To Rest|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=May 7, 2013|author1=Bess Lovejoy|access-date=March 27, 2021|archive-date=November 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114233047/https://ideas.time.com/2013/05/07/unwanted-bodies-where-terrorists-serial-killers-and-assassins-are-buried/slide/john-wayne-gacy/|url-status=live}}</ref> ===Amber Alert=== In 1984, Sam Amirante authored procedures that were incorporated by the [[Illinois General Assembly]] into the Missing Child Recovery Act of 1984. At the time of the Gacy murders, Illinois police had to wait 72 hours before initiating a search for a missing child or adolescent;{{sfn|Amirante|2011|p=395}} the Missing Child Recovery Act removed this waiting period. Other states subsequently adopted similar procedures. As a result, a national network aimed at locating missing children was gradually formed. This has since developed into the Child Abduction Emergency—commonly known as an [[Amber Alert]].{{sfn|Amirante|2011|p=395}}
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