an offense, ten years at the Iowa Reformatory for men. John Wayne Gacy was 26 when he first entered prison. Shortly after he entered prison, his wife divorced him contending he broke their wedding vows.While in prison, Gacy adhered to all of the rules and stayed far from trouble. He was a model prisoner, realizing the possibility of early parole if he remained non-violent and well behaved. Eighteen months later, Gacy’s hopes came true and his parole was approved. On June 8, 1970, he left the confines of the prison walls, and made his way home to his birthplace, Chicago. Soon after moving to Chicago, John got his life back on track again. He knew he couldn’t afford to let his past effect the future. The only thing that weighed Gacy down was the death of his father while he was in prison. Gacy went through serious bouts of depression because of this. Gacy moved in with his mother and started working as a chef in a local restaurant. He enjoyed this job and worked with much enthusiasm. After four months of living with his mother, he decided to move out on his own. His mother was so impressed with John’s progress that she helped him buy a home of his own. This was just outside of Chicago’s city limits. He owned half of the house sharing the remainder with his mother and sisters. Gacy was happy with his ranch style house, located in a family oriented neighborhood. He was quick to make friends with his new neighbors, Edward and Lily Grexa. They had lived in the neighborhood since it had been built. After only seven months, he was spending Christmas Eve with the Grexas, whom he shared dinner with his mother. The neighbors were soon good friends and spending free time in each other’s homes. The Grexas had no idea of his criminal past, or his time in jail. A little more than four months after Christmas dinner at the Gacy’s, he was charged with disorderly conduct. The charges stated that Gacy, who picked up a bo...
