John Wayne Gacy’s first known murder victim was 16-year-old Timothy McCoy. In 1972 Gacy met McCoy at the Greyhound bus station in Chicago. The teenager had a layover on his way home to Nebraska, and he agreed to go to Gacy’s house. There Gacy fatally stabbed McCoy. Over the next six years, Gacy murdered 32 other young men.
Gacy’s crimes typically followed a pattern. He would lure victims to his house—sometimes offering a job at his company—and then give them alcohol or drugs. At some point he would mention a “magic trick,” which would involve the young men putting on handcuffs. Gacy would then rape and murder them, usually by strangulation or asphyxiation.