The Chicago Killer: The Hunt for Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy

By Joseph R. Kozenczak and Karen M. Kozencz

THE CHICAGO KILLER: The Hunt For Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy is the story of the capture of John Wayne Gacy, as told from the perspective of the former Chief of Detectives of the Des Plaines, Illinois Police Department , Joseph Kozenczak. The conviction of Gacy on 33 counts of murder is significant in the archives of the criminal justice system in the United States. Two additional articles give the reader a comprehensive insight into the use of psychics and the lie-detector in a serial murder investigation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 3, 2003
• ISBN: 9781465332523

Joseph R. Kozenczak

Joseph R. Kozenczak is a private investigator in Chicago. He is the former Chief of Police for the City of Des Plaines, Illinois and also served as the Chief of Detectives. Mr. Kozenczak was the arresting officer and chief investigatior in the John Wayne Gacy serial murder investigation. Mr. Kozenczak is recognized as a national expert in missing person issues. Mr. Kozenczak is an accomplished artist, sculptor and photographer. He may be reached at the Email forwarding service via the author web page. (www.xlibris.com) Karen Henrikson is the Public Relations Director for the City of Des Plaines, a suburb of Chicago, Illinois. She is the author of numerous articles published in a variety of periodicals, many of which she also co-authored with Mr. Kozenczak. In addition to writing, Ms. Henrikson enjoys music, jogging, photography, golf and the theater.

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Copyright © 2003, 2010, 2011 by Joseph R. Kozenczak & Karen M. Kozenczak.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2003090839

ISBN :      Hardcover      978-1-4010-9532-1

Softcover       978-1-4010-9531-4

eBook           978-1-4653-3252-3

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/04/2014

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Chapter One   When All is Said and Done

Chapter Two   He Leads Me Beside Still Waters

Chapter Three   A Message in the Night

Chapter Four   A Shadow from Another Time

Chapter Five   Gathering the Pieces of a Puzzle

Chapter Six   One More Step

Chapter Seven   Hide and Seek

Chapter Eight   Enter: The Spirit World

Chapter Nine   Nothing Is For Sure

Chapter Ten   On the Threshold of Tragedy

Chapter Eleven   A Message from the Morgue

Chapter Twelve   In the Company of Death

Chapter Thirteen   Other People’s Trouble

Chapter Fourteen   Auld Lang Syne

Chapter Fifteen   They Gave a Funeral and Nobody Came

Chapter Sixteen   Where Then Are Your Wisemen?

Chapter Seventeen   And Justice for All

Chapter Eighteen   The Evil Man’s Treachery Is His Undoing

The Use Of Psychics In A Serial Murder Investigation

The Polygraph In Relation To A Serial Murder Investigation

Authors’ Biographies

Epilogue

Kenneth L. Piest, M.d. Press Release

Also by Joseph R. Kozenczak & Karen M. Kozenczak

· A Passing Acquaintance

· Still Beyond Belief

· Police Involvement in Arson Investigations

· In Pursuit of a Serial Murderer

· Countering the Serial Murder Threat

· Using The Lie Detector in Serial Murder Investigations

· Tracking Down Serial Murderers with M.A.I.T.

· Enhancing Crime Scene Analysis

· New Horizons in Specialized Training

This book is dedicated to the memory ofRobert Jerome Piest,Walter Bud and Catherine Greene,andWalter and Estelle Kozenczak.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It has been many years since being cast into the role of commander of investigations for the City of Des Plaines Police Department. This fortuitous circumstance intervened to set me on the path of hunting for one of America’s most notorious serial killers.

Of all my associations during my law enforcement career I must pause to thank a very special colleague, mentor and friend, Lee Alfano, who was my Chief of Police during the Gacy Case. Without his direction and guidance I would not have crossed paths with John Wayne Gacy. Because of his trust in my investigative abilities the City of Des Plaines Police Department became known worldwide for its expertise and professionalism. It was because of Lee Alfano that I was honored to attend the prestigious FBI National Academy, Quantico, Virginia. Most of all I know that if not for Lee, I would not have become the Chief of Police for the City of Des Plaines. For this I am forever grateful.

During the passing years I have had the great privilege and honor of becoming friends with some of America’s criminal justice elite. During the heat of the Gacy investigation I met one of the pioneers of criminal profiling, FBI Profiler Robert Ressler. He was one of the original agents in the newly formed FBI Behavioral Science Unit. Ressler introduced me to the concept of who and what serial killers are. It was with his guidance and insight that our investigation was strengthened and we were able to apply unique investigative methodologies.

During the Gacy Case I was also introduced to FBI Agent Roy Hazelwood, an original member of the Behavioral Science Unit and a world-class expert in homicide, a true gentleman and an outstanding teacher. I was privileged to arrange for Roy to teach his homicide investigative trade through seminars in the Chicago area.

I was also privileged to meet Pierce Brooks, a Los Angeles Police Department Homicide Detective, a visionary and an outstanding law enforcement professional who realized that many killers have a pattern to their crimes. The concept of profiling is currently used because of Brooks’ direction and insights. Because of Brooks, I was honored to serve on the federal task force that was responsible for establishing the first set of guidelines for investigating serial killings in the United States.

On several occasions I had the opportunity to gain investigative knowledge from one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier serial killer investigators, Robert D. Keppel. Keppel is the retired chief criminal investigator for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office. One of the many fascinating insights I gained from Keppel came from reading and studying his book, The Riverman: Ted Bundy and I Hunt for the Green River Killer. It was a true learning experience and I will always be grateful.

The authors wish to thank Joseph P. Buckley of John E. Reid and Associates for his technical advice, friendship and guidance and the late John E. Reid and Fred Inbau for their expertise and contributions to the polygraph profession and the fascinating field of criminal interrogation and interviews.

Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank the Gacy Investigative Team. I was honored to be your commander (both through good and difficult times). I thank each and every one of you for your outstanding investigative skills and especially thank the families of Sergeant Ken Fredricks, Detective Ron Adams, James Kautz, Detective Jim Pickell and Mike Olsen, who are no longer with us. My very best regards to Dave Hachmeister, David Sommerschield, Ron Robinson, Walter Lang, Ralph Tovar, James Ryan, Bob Schultz, and Mike Albrecht. I also want to thank all of the professional and dedicated ladies of the Des Plaines, Illinois Police Department’s Communications Center for their outstanding service during the Gacy investigation. These include Ruth Hunsinger, Betty Fluegge, Rennee Degler, Karen Puetz, Lynn Van Spankeren, Loretta Roney, Betty Jo Stamper, and Rhonda Lang. All of these ladies epitomize the sentiment expressed in the words of the late Coach Vince Lombardi, Green Bay Packers: The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. Thank you for a job well done!

He escapes who is not pursued

-Sophocles

FOREWORD

Spring 2003

With the 1978 Christmas holiday just a week away, I had taken two weeks leave from my assignment as a Special Agent Criminologist with the famed FBI Behavioral Science Unit, located on the Marine Base at Quantico, Virginia. Traveling with me in the family station wagon was my wife and three children. I just passed Indianapolis on I-65, heading north to Chicago when I was stopped by an Indiana State Patrolman for excessive speed and my young son was amazed that his dad, an FBI agent, was being chewed out by an ISP [Indiana State Police] officer. I would have to deal with that later but what had my attention was a radio announcement that I had picked up from a Chicago station stating that six bodies of young men had been exhumed from the crawlspace of a Chicago suburban residence owned by a building subcontractor. This announcement was of particular interest to me as I would pass through Des Plaines, Illinois on the way to my final destination. According to the radio announcement, the Des Plaines Police had a key role in the ongoing investigation as the subject of the investigation was directly linked to a young male victim who disappeared from a Des Plaines pharmacy where he had worked as a stock boy.

After dropping my family at my in-law’s residence in Arlington Heights, I grabbed my 35 mm camera and headed to the local FBI residence agency that was also located in Des Plaines. The Senior Resident Agent (SRA) briefed me on the recent developments in Des Plaines, where young Robert Piest had disappeared from Nisson Pharmacy and the exhumation and investigation that was going on in the nearby suburb of Norwood Park at the residence of one John Wayne Gacy. Although it was the first time I heard that name, I got a cold chill and somehow knew that I would hear it many times in the years to come.

The agent from the Des Plaines FBI Office took me to the residence of John Gacy where there was considerable police activity. The entire residence at 8213 W. Summerdale was cordoned off by the Cook County Sheriff’s Office and police officers from Cook County and Des Plaines were busy at work inside and outside of the location. There was considerable interest by neighborhood residents who mingled with press representatives from Chicago area newspapers and TV stations. I was introduced to Chief of Detectives Joseph Kozenczak who was overseeing the investigative activity at the house on Summerdale. Joe and I hit it off immediately and he gave me a thorough tour of the exterior and the interior of the subject dwelling. The scene inside the residence was right out of a horror movie as police raised bodies out of the soil. Each body site was identified by a small white flag, numbering that particular grave. I was introduced to Dr. Robert Stein, the onsite forensic pathologist who was directing the collection of human evidence. As we viewed the activity, Joe continued to brief me on the investigation that had gone on up to that time.

At the end of my tour of Gacy’s residence, Joe and I had a cup of coffee and we continued to discuss the case. I gave Joe some ideas along the lines of upcoming interrogations of Gacy and told him to be watchful of souvenirs or trophies that Gacy may have collected from his victims. As the body count was now over two-dozen victims, I advised Joe that he was involved in a serial murder case that may well be the biggest in U.S. history. This information settled over Joe like a lead blanket.

Over the months following my initial visit to the house on Summerdale Avenue, I would continue to contact Joe regarding the impending prosecution of John Wayne Gacy. Years after his conviction of 33 homicides, I would visit Gacy often at the prison located at Menard, Illinois, desperately trying to convince him to give information on other homicides in the fourteen states that he traveled to during the five years that he murdered in the Chicago area, without any appreciable success. Gacy never denied committing other homicides around the country, he just never admitted any. His final statement to me was, Why should I play ball with the State of Illinois that wants to kill me!

Over the sixteen years that I worked in the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, I would conduct research of numerous serial, spree, mass and sexual homicides. I noted that many of these crimes, particularly the serial murder cases, remain unsolved to this day. In addition to the cases in the U.S., I worked on serial murder cases worldwide to include the ABC Murders in South Africa (40+ murders) and the Andre Chikatilo Murders in Russia (50+ murders), still the murders of John Wayne Gacy number the highest victim count in the United States. Of all of the serial murder cases that I had contact with, the case of John Wayne Gacy stands out in my recollection as the best in the area of overall investigation, evidence collection, prosecution and meticulous handling by law enforcement authorities. All too often serial murderers get away with their crimes due to errors made during the crucial early days of the investigation. None of these errors were made under Chief of Detective Joe Kozenczak’s watch in the Gacy investigation. Joe Kozenczak faced many hurdles during the Gacy matter and like most law enforcement managers, Joe had little experience in multiple victim murder cases, much less than that of a vicious serial killer. Gacy was a master manipulator and displayed intelligence and charisma uncharacteristic of a human monster. He first tried to befriend the police and later threatened the Des Plaines Police with legal action. Lieutenant Kozenczak persisted in his efforts and increased the pressures that finally lead to Gacy’s downfall through prosecution, conviction and execution, which finally took place on May 10, 1994.

Years later I would reunite with Joe when he attended the FBI National Academy Course at Quantico, Virginia. Joe signed up for my Applied Criminology Course and, of course I had him make a presentation to the class of 50 law enforcement officers on the biggest case of serial murder in the U.S., the case of John Wayne Gacy. This was a surprise to the class and a rare treat as Joe Kozenczak represented the best of the best in serial murder investigation – and he was right there in their class as one of their colleagues.

Joe returned to Des Plaines and eventually was promoted to the position of Chief of Police. Joe and I both retired from our law enforcement careers, yet we continued to pursue parallel careers in the criminal justice arena. Joe is now a licensed private investigator and I am a private practice criminologist working as a consultant and expert witness. Joe and I still work together on occasion and I always pay him a visit when I come to the Chicago area. I know in my remaining years there will never be another serial murder case of the magnitude of the case of John Wayne Gacy, nor will there ever be another friend, colleague or dedicated law enforcement officer like Joe Kozenczak.

Colonel Robert K. Ressler (Retired)

FBI

Behavioral Science Unit

Quantico, Virginia

CHAPTER ONE

When all is said and done, a murder is a murder

-Joseph Brodsky

Summer, 1977

A t first, l ights seemed to be getting brighter as the black Olds made its way past Chicago’s out-of-the-way northside bars and lounges. Then suddenly as if the driver ha d crossed the very heart of the city and come out the other side, the lights seemed to dim. The streets became dingier, the skies greyer-the air danker as the vehicle neared great Lake Michigan. Squinting would make the halo effect around the street lights go away, but it wouldn’t alleviate the creeping darkness. The driver’s hands gripped the wheel with a twisting motion—he had felt that before, but the darkness—the ever increasing darkness—why it was almost like being buried.

The Olds slowed down as it approached the Washington Park area. Here his search would begin. The stout driver reached inside the pocket of his black leather jacket for his conversation piece—a Chicago Police Department badge. He had been so anxious to get on with the night’s activity that he had almost forgotten to take it out of the terrarium when he left his brick ranch home on the northwest side. Sure, his one young construction cohort kidded him about keeping it there, but who would ever think of looking in the terrarium? Probably not even the police.

Reaching down to his belt he felt for the handcuffs which, on nights like these, dangled from his waist for more than one purpose. After all, it was part of the process, a process even the police, with all their training and street smarts couldn’t pick up on. The good thing about being a cop was the way they attracted a person’s attention. You might not like to hear what they say, but you listen even if it’s just for a little while.

That was really all it had taken to convince these kids that he was Officer Jack Hanley—a little while. Then the night’s activity would begin. lt had worked before and it would work tonight. Just put the spotlight on one of these kids coming out of the bars and slowly follow them down the street.

As the Olds passed the Man Country Bar on Broadway three young men exited the establishment. Two dark haired men walked south while a lanky, shoulder-length blond headed north. That’s fine—he liked the looks of him better anyway. Young, slender, blonds were his type.

An intense beam of light from the spotlight, mounted on the side of the Olds, fell on the blond, causing a moving silhouette to traverse the brick storefronts. The youth glanced at the driver and continued to walk as the spot followed. They had gone a half block when the blond stopped and turned to face the large, dark haired individual behind the driver’s wheel. Reaching inside his pocket the driver grabbed the badge and placed his arm out the window to expose the silver star in his palm. Police.

The blond youth shook his head back and rubbed his palms on his jeans. The thin face, now distinctly visible to the driver, looked white in the spotlight. The driver said, Police! Get in the car. A rather soft spoken voice inquired, For what?

When the driver opened his door as though he was getting out to seriously pursue the matter the youth raised his hands and walked around the vehicle mumbling, OK, OK.

It had worked and it would work again and again because he could not be caught. The police just weren’t that smart.

The youth entered the right side of the vehicle where his eyes immediately fell on the elaborate radio equipment and a red spotlight under the dash. His eyes met those of the driver. There was something sinister, almost evil about this husky, double chinned individual behind the wheel. The darkness swallowed up the two men.

December 12, 1978, Tuesday

W hen I walked into my office on the first floor of the Des Plaines Police Station that Tuesday morning the guys in the detective bureau were already at work. I followed the same routine I had every morning since July 1, when I had been made Chief of Detectives. I read the reports of the past 24 hours over a cup of coffee. Most of the reports this time described what typically took place on a Monday night in this northwest Chicago suburb: a domestic argument which ended with the police restoring peace, a break-in on Phoenix Drive, a report of an abandoned vehicle, several malfunctioning alarms in businesses requiring police assistance to restore quiet, some motorist assists, one or two people locked out of their house, violations, and traffic tickets. The winter weather, which had descended on the city’s 55,000 residents, had created an environment conducive to seasonal pastimes, and snowball throwing rated high among the local youth. Our dispatchers were kept busy.

I had become chief of detectives after sixteen years on the force, and I still missed the good old days when I was a patrolman. I remembered the midnight shifts that I had thrived on. My partner, Bob Ornberg, and I often joked that we were the only two cops on that shift who were awake, and we used to take considerable pleasure in harassing our fellow officers—and, now and then, a sergeant who we’d find catching a little shut-eye in an idling squad car behind a factory.

Patrol, with all its dirtbag encounters, episodes with the sap gloves, window peepers, pursuits of what turned out to be men of the cloth, and late night, early morning coffee was fulfilling. It had excitement and atmosphere, and you got to do a few good things that needed doing. No one would have ever thought that Joe Kozenczak, the smart ass kid from around Chicago’s Division Street, would be out tracking crooks. I could have just as easily turned into one of the types I was constantly pursuing. I had been a pretty tough kid, and Chicago was a rough town.

Since my promotion things had changed for me. I spent a lot more time at police headquarters supervising others than making arrests myself. Our department had around a hundred cops and the detective arm of it, which I ran, was divided into criminal investigations and juvenile investigations. The juvenile division or youth bureau, as it was called, covered everything from truancy to juvenile delinquency. It was also in charge of missing persons.

I had eight criminal investigators and five youth officers under me. They were a good team. I soon discovered that being a chief of detectives involved a lot more than just ordinary police work. Contacts and relationships played a major role in gathering information and getting you in the right places at the right times. Luncheons and meetings with detectives and commanders from the northwest suburban area became important social affairs. Chats with the chief of police were now extended beyond Good morning, Chief, how are you doing?

It was a learning process. I was forced to become a socialite, to learn the politics involved in dealing with agencies such as the State’s Attorney’s Office which was responsible for granting search warrants, for subpoenaing people to the grand jury and for authorizing the arrest of an individual for a felony.

Midway through my stack of paperwork that morning, I came across a missing persons report numbered 78-35203. It concerned a 15-year old boy named Robert Jerome Piest. The boy’s mother, Elizabeth, had reported him missing at 11:00 p.m. on Monday, December 11, 1978—the previous evening. Described as brown haired, brown eyed, 5’8," 140 lbs., with a shag haircut, Rob, as his friends and relatives called him, was a student at Maine West High School and a stockboy at Nisson Pharmacy, both in Des Plaines.

Mrs. Piest must still have been thinking rationally even under conditions of stress, because she had brought a photo of her son to the station the night before. It had been taken the previous year in downtown Chicago. Mr. Piest bought a camera for his son that day, and anxious to see what kind of

Reviews for The Chicago Killer

[Katie Sinclair · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well written and informative book with an invaluable insight into the Gacy case from the perspective of the late J. Kozenczak. An essential read for anyone interested in the rabbit hole that is the case of John Wayne Gacy.