John Wayne Gacy (38 page)

“Until something is done to correct this injustice, I will no longer have anything to do with my attorneys, and I am taking back my word in regards to not saying anything in the courtroom.

“The prosecution continued to tries to make me mad while the trial is going on with the taking of my PDM contractor labels and putting them all over the place. That’s receiving of stolen properties, as I have never given my permission, and when yesterday, Greg Bedoe came up to me in open court and told me that I should stop smiling, and swore at me. I don’t have to take that; I don’t think anyone should come forward to the prosecution tables until I am out of the courtroom.

“I await to hear from you, and I will abide by your word.”

Judge Garippo declared, “Well, first, with regard to the mistrial, I have made my ruling on the question of a mistrial. As far as your bringing in experts, at no time have you been denied the opportunity to bring in experts—any expert that was requested. The court has allowed any expert requested to come in and make examinations and testify. As far as reimbursement, I have indicated that each expert will be paid a reasonable amount. So that that is clear in your mind, at no time have you been prevented from obtaining any witness because of expense.”

Then the judge leaned forward on the bench. His eyes bore a hole in Gacy.

“You said you would no longer have anything to do with any of your attorneys, is that your position?”

“That’s correct,” Gacy answered.

Garippo seemed exasperated. He wanted this to be over.

“I will continue for now the balance of the trial,” he said, “and we will take that up—why won’t you have anything to do with your attorneys?”

“Because I’m not running the trial.”

“Are there any tactics that the defense is using … that your attorneys are using that you don’t agree with?”

“I was against the insanity defense from the beginning.”

“You were against the insanity defense from the beginning?”

“That’s correct. While I may not be capable of defending myself, I was against the insanity defense. I’m sure Mr. Amirante, Mr. Motta will both tell you that.”

“Have a seat,” Garippo said. Gacy moped off and sat down at the defense table. Garippo looked at me.

“Do you have any statements to make, Counsel?”

I could barely talk. The only statement I could make was, “Mr. Motta and I have been indicating to Your Honor since prior to the inception of this trial on the record, I think we have just had an example of the problem with the degree of a defendant’s mental illness addressed in our laws right now. Mr. Gacy should have been committed prior to trial. He should be committed now and because of the degree of his mental illness, we wind up with problems like this.”

“Explain yourself,” Garippo said.

I went on to explain that it had been my position from the beginning of trial that, although Mr. Gacy complied technically within the competency statute, the statute itself was unconstitutional as it applied to Mr. Gacy.

“Obviously, Judge, based on what you just saw and heard, he’s actually not fit for trial.”

The judge allowed us to make our record, during which Gacy blurted out from his seat at the defense table, “I did not commit the crimes!”

However, the judge was not about to end the trial and rule that Gacy was unfit. After an impromptu hearing ensued outside of the
presence of the jury, in which Bob and I argued the merits of our contention that the competency statute was unconstitutional as it applied to our client, the judge began to nudge the trial back onto the tracks from which it had derailed.

“All right,” he declared. “I make a further finding that based on my observations of the defendant in the courtroom, his demeanor, and all of the evidence in the trial, I would enter a finding right now. In a hearing as to fitness under Section 1005-2-1, I would enter a finding that the defendant is, in fact, fit to stand trial.

“Now, with respect to the question of dispute with his attorneys, is there anything you wish to say, Mr. Amirante or Mr. Motta, with respect to that?”

Bob said, “No.”

I said, “Nothing,” both of us looking behind us at our client.

“Mr. Gacy, if you will step forward again,” the judge said.

Gacy trudged up to the bench like a surly teen.

“Do you stand by your statements relative to your disagreement with your attorneys?”

At that point, Bernard Carey, the elected state’s attorney of Cook County, Illinois, a very high-profile and powerful figure in Illinois State politics, had wandered into the courtroom to check on the progress of his trusted assistants and to check on the progress of the biggest and most widely publicized trial his office had ever prosecuted. He had heard about the commotion that Mr. Gacy was causing with his letters and his craziness.

When John Wayne Gacy saw Bernard Carey, he went off.

“What the hell is he doing in here?” Gacy screamed, pointing and turning toward Carey.

Immediately, the sheriff’s deputies came off the walls and out of seats, their designated positions, and moved closer to Gacy.

“You have no business in here! Leave this trial to the guys that know how to handle it, who know what they’re doing! You aren’t qualified to be in here. You have three of the best attorneys in your
office working on this case—real attorneys, not political hacks like you!”

Bernard Carey was a Republican. To see an actual Republican in a Chicago courtroom was a rarity. John Gacy was a lifelong Democrat, a democratic precinct captain for his voting district. I guess John didn’t like Mr. Carey.

By now, the sheriff’s deputies were closing in on Gacy. The judge put an end to the disturbance right quick. He waved off the uniformed deputies. The whole exchange had lasted only a few seconds. Gacy had turned back to face the bench.

“John,” he said, “you will be the democratic precinct captain till the end.”

The judge was waiting for an answer to his previously posed question.

Finally, Gacy complied. “I don’t know,” he said sheepishly.

“You don’t know?” The judge just shook his head, bewildered. “All right, have a seat.”

Gacy shuffled off back to the defense table. As he walked, the judge went on. “While we are on the subject right now, between now and the time …” Gacy stopped. Garippo pointed at the defendant’s chair. “You may sit right there. I will address you, Mr. Gacy. Between now and the time your attorneys rest your case, you have to decide whether or not you wish to testify before this jury. Do you understand that?”

Gacy had sat down. “Yes,” he said from his chair.

“OK,” said Garippo, always the protector of the record. “Call the jury.”

After the jury was seated, and for a very short time, the courtroom was treated to more mind-numbing testimony from a doctor. This time, Dr. Tobias Brocher was called to sing everyone a lullaby. I shouldn’t say that. He was our witness, but doctors bore me.

Thankfully, it was almost lunchtime.

______________________

O
VER THE LUNCH
break, the entire courthouse was abuzz with the rumor that Gacy had fired Bob and me. It has always been amazing to me how a story like that can be felt in the air. It’s like static electricity. People look at you differently. Some avert their eyes. Others come up and pat you on the back and say things like, “Tough break,” or “You’re better off,” and walk away, leaving you wondering what the hell they meant.

Outside the courthouse the talking heads could hardly contain themselves; they barely even took a breath while reporting the breaking news. Everyone wanted to scoop everyone else. They broke into soap operas and afternoon game shows with bulletins. It was hilarious to Bob and me. Funny that we were not informed.

When Gacy heard about the news in prisoner holding, he was flabbergasted. He had already forgotten all about his earlier miff over his own lawyers in favor of his shining moment with Bernie Carey. He wanted to hear the judge’s compliment about him being a democratic precinct captain to the end on the air. Where was that story?

After lunch, Gacy called us back into prisoner holding and told us he wanted to make a statement concerning the morning’s brouhaha.

We informed the court.

Upon reconvening, the entire courtroom was treated to a little piece of insanity, compliments of John Wayne Gacy.

“All right, before the jury comes out, do we have a statement to make?” Garippo was sitting tall on the bench with that familiar twinkle in his eye. He went on. “Mr. Gacy wants to make a statement. You wish to make a statement, Mr. Gacy?”

Gacy simply said, “Yes.” I believe the words “Your Honor” stuck in his throat. He could never seem to get them out. Then a miracle occurred.

The judge said, “All right.”

And Gacy said, “Your Honor,” and then he was off. His statement was priceless.

“It seems to me like, as with everything else in this whole case, everything I seem to say has been misconstrued in the press. And I would like to set the record straight that I did not fire my attorneys.

“I did not ask for their leave from this case. It’s just that I stated and will state again that I do not understand everything that is going on, and I am against the insanity defense because I lack the understanding or the appreciation of it because I don’t truly understand it myself.

“I stated earlier that I do not feel I committed the crime, and anything I say is considered self-serving. All the statements, in retrospect, that I have given are confusing enough to me, that at the time that I made the statement, I believe I would have confessed to the Saint Valentine’s Day massacre if it was put to me.

“I believe in this courtroom you have probably five of the finest attorneys that there are in the country. And I listen to them work as if it’s a pretzel factory twisting every which way other than the truth. The papers, the newspapers especially, have taken everything out of context and have actually run everything one way or the other without ever bringing out the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And I thought that’s what you are after.

“I can see with the seed planting done yesterday before the jury that no matter what you do or how you instruct the jury, you will never reverse what you have told the jury. I had stated before we started the trial to my attorneys that I would like to know myself if I committed the crime.

“I had talked to Dr. Friedman for a long time. As you know, I have seen doctors for over three hundred hours, and in so doing, I have been still left in the same confused state that I am right now.

“While I am not denying the commission of the crime, I don’t understand it. I don’t understand why—why it happened. And that is why I don’t understand the proceedings.

“I have been called every name under the sun in this courtroom, and half the time I leave the courtroom here not even knowing who I am—from an onion to a piece of swiss cheese to somebody that is sane and somebody that is crazy. And quite frankly, I am completely confused as to what has been going on.

“The state puts on a witness who claims to be my best friend, and in all actuality, it’s just a person that I felt sorry for because of his illiteracy. Mr. Rohde took the stand and claims he was my best friend. He was just a business acquaintance of mine. You put on different officers from the different varying police departments, and they all do self-serving statements. I am at a point where I don’t know what is right and what is wrong and what is truth and what is not the truth because of the mass confusion that has been going on since the thing started.

“I believe I have been tried and convicted and sentenced in the news media already. However, I understand that they are not the ones trying me, but I also feel that nowhere in this land can I get a fair trial—before this started and even now.

“I think it’s more prejudicial now than it was before, and again, I don’t blame, like I say, the counsel, because I think—as well as for my own defense and for the prosecution—I think you have got some of the finest lawyers here in the country. I can see why Bernard Carey is not here, because he is not qualified, but the thing of it is, is that be that as it may, everybody is going to twist everything to their own liking, and to me, its just like they’re playing a chess game. One move, and then another one moves, and I am totally confused as to what is going on. That’s why I told you I would abide by your decision and go on with the case.”

Garippo, very seriously but still with a twinkle in the eye, responded, “Well,” he said, “apparently from your statements, your attorneys are doing an excellent job of presenting, I think, the feelings that you have expressed here in open court.”

“The biggest problem,” Gacy continued, “I have had with my attorneys is that I have not been able to help them because I cannot remember. It’s not that I am denying anything—I have never denied any of it—it’s just that I don’t know if when it happened, was I aware of what I was doing?”

Garippo had seen enough of the Gacy show.

“All right, now, all right, you may be seated,” he said, dismissing Mr. Gacy. “All right, call the jury.”

The rest of the trial went pretty much without incident.

The State called Dr. Jan Fawcett, the last of their shrinks. He thought Gacy was crazy, but not crazy enough. Dr. Fawcett testified that John Wayne Gacy was able to understand the nature of the crimes committed and that he could have conformed himself to the law. Gacy, according to Dr. Fawcett, was quite sane.

This testimony was given with the sound of Gacy’s letter and statement still ringing in the jury’s ears.

All parties rested their case. It was time for closing arguments.

Bob and I had returned to feeling that our case was strong. The State had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the man sitting next to me was sane. Was that possible?

34

T
ERRY
S
ULLIVAN HAD
shepherded this case through each phase of the investigation from the very beginning to the present. Ever since Terry moved himself and his personal coffeepot into the makeshift command office in the Des Plaines Police Department, he had been the representative from the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office and the supervisor that kept the investigation on the straight and narrow. His closing argument in the
Gacy
case was the culmination of long hours, dedication, and hard work, on which he had spent just over a year of his life. This was his baby; and his passion was apparent as he spoke.