Case file · Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, United States

John Wayne Gacy: charges, verdict and sentence

John Wayne Gacy was charged in Illinois with 33 counts of murder and was convicted in 1980. The jury found grounds for the death penalty on 12 of the murders, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed in 1984, and he was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center on 10 May 1994.

Charges and outcomes

Sentence

Death on 12 murder counts and natural life imprisonment on the remaining counts. Executed on 10 May 1994.

Court record, stage by stage

1. 1980
   verdictConvicted of 33 murders³

   Circuit Court of Cook County
2. 1980
   sentenceJury found aggravating factors warranting death for 12 of the murders, with natural life terms for the others²

   Circuit Court of Cook County
3. 1984
   appealIllinois Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and death sentences, People v. Gacy, 103 Ill. 2d 1^1,2

   Supreme Court of Illinois
4. 1985
   appealUnited States Supreme Court denied certiorari, ending direct appeals¹

   Supreme Court of the United States
5. 1993
   appealSeventh Circuit affirmed denial of the first federal habeas petition, Gacy v. Welborn, 994 F.2d 305¹

   U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
6. 9 May 1994
   appealSeventh Circuit denied a certificate of probable cause and a stay of execution on a second habeas petition, finding it an abuse of the writ¹

   U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
7. 10 May 1994
   executionExecuted by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Center³

Notable rulings

• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 9 May 1994. A second federal habeas petition that reargued rejected claims was an abuse of the writ, and a claim based on later case law would be a new rule barred by Teague v. Lane.¹

Sources

1. Public.Resource.Org (U.S. Court of Appeals opinion), Gacy v. Page, No. 94-2044, 24 F.3d 887 (7th Cir. 1994) (9 May 1994) · court or official record
2. CaseMine, Affirmation of Death Penalty Application in People v. John Wayne Gacy (7 June 1984)
3. Deseret News, Serial killer executed by injection in Illinois (10 May 1994)

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