A Killer Halloween /// Part 2 /// 881 | Forensic Files

Ever wonder why so many people regain weight after stopping a GLP-1? Up to 40% of the weight lost can come from lean
muscle. This weakens the body, slows metabolism and makes it easier to put the pounds back on, creating a cycle of
dependency. Prolon's 5-day fasting mimicking diet offers a drug-free way to maintain results and support long-term
metabolic health when paired with proper diet and exercise. In just 5 days, it activates fasting pathways to burn fat,
protect muscle, and rejuvenate cells, all while letting you enjoy real food. Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when
you subscribe at prolonglife.com/pendor promo. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are
not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. See site for details.
>> [music] [music] [music] >> Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, thanks
for listening. I'm your host, Nick, and with me as always, ladies and gentlemen,
the lemonade and biscuits of True [music] Crime. Here is the captain. >> Yeah, it's good to be seen. Good to see
you. Thanks for listening. Thanks for telling a friend. Today we are still sipping on this
fantastic double IPA, Graffiti Highway by Trogues. This one is sneaky, people, so watch your back. They mask the high
alcohol content perfectly with a fruit forward IPA. Tastes too good to be 9.5% ABV. So step lightly, friends. Garage
grade four and a quarter bottle caps out of five. And let's give some thanks and
praise to our good garage friends. First up, a shout to Hannah from Scranton, Pennsylvania.
>> And a big we like your jib and tall cans in the air goes to Caitlyn in Princeton,
Texas. >> And let's go out west and give a cheers. And a shout to Christy in Fresno,
California. And last, but certainly not least, also in Cali, we have Charlie from Venicia, California. Everyone we
just mentioned, they went to trimegar.com and helped us out with this week's beer
fund. And for that, we thank you. >> Yeah. BW are you in beer run? If you're in the spooky season mood and you want
to support the garage, go to true crimegar.com [music] and check out our store page. And
Colonel, that's enough of the Business. >> Yeah, check out the store page. It'll
scare the hell out of you. All right, everybody. Gather around, grab a chair, grab a beer. Let's talk some true crime.
>> [music] [music] [music] [music] >> as strange and just as out there as the Ed Gene story is House of a Thousand
Corpses. Weird. There is another guy from the same state, Wisconsin, down in Milwaukee, where after several police
blunders, they eventually found a lot of similar trophy/necro hobby materials like they did at Ed
Gain's House of Horrors. This is the Dmer apartment of horrors >> located in Milwaukee
>> from Martin Phto's The Chronicle of Crime. The big headline in his book says Jeffrey Dmer Milwaukee cannibal monster
and it goes on to say gay cannibal monster caught in Milwaukee. Parts of his 17 victims stored in his flat. And
there's a picture of the Journal newspaper out of Milwaukee with the headline that reads, "Body parts litter
apartment." >> Yeah. Every time I hear the the name Jeffrey Dmer, I think to myself,
what was that smell? >> Yeah. Phto writes of what finally led to the discovery of
Jeffrey Dawnmer's apartment. And anybody that's familiar with the story, and a lot of our listeners are here because
it's been told so many times, told in the garage. We've talked about it on Off the Record
several times, but FTO writes here, "Despite the failure of Milwaukeee's finest, Dmer had only two months and
four more victims to go." So, this is after they basically returned a victim to Jeffrey Dmer. Phto writes, "On July
23rd, Dmer picked up 32year-old Tracy Edwards, a heterosexual who was not willing to join in sex play or drink
drugged coffee. But Dmer got a handcuff on one of Edwards's wrists and used that
and a knife to hold him prisoner for four terrifying hours. Edwards escaped when Dmer's attention flagged. He
stopped two policemen in a patrol car and asked them to release him from the handcuff. After hearing his story, they
went back to Oxford Apartments to investigate this strange homosexual kidnapper. Dmer offered the stolen
explanation, quote, I just lost my job and I wanted to drink some effing beer. end quote. He resisted their attempts to
come into his flat. An attempt to arrest him resulted in a struggle which ended with Dmer screaming on the floor. A
thorough inspection of the flat uncovered. You know, it's a a fine Englishman when he's referring to the
apartment constantly as a flat, >> right? >> Shout out to the late great Martin Phto.
I was a big fan of his work for many years. So, a thorough inspection of the flat uncovered the following. A human
head in the fridge. Three heads. >> Well, that's where you keep a severed head >> in the floor freezer. Well, apparently
he keeps them in multiple spots. >> As long as they're the freezer. >> A human heart in the fridge freezer
compartment. A blue barrel jammed with body parts and bones. Two skulls in a computer packaging box. Three skulls and
some bones in a filing cabinet. Two skulls in a kettle, a penis in some hands, and another kettle.
>> Well, this was such a blunder by law enforcement cuz it wasn't just that they
released a victim back into the custody of Dmer. But like I said, this this neighbor, she called law enforcement
multiple times and she called the landlord multiple times because there was a funky smell coming.
>> Yeah, funky is probably pretty >> an understatement, right? >> Yeah. Phto goes on to write, "The
Milwaukee cannibals career was over and Dmer was dragged away in custody, howling like a mad dog." He has a little
small caption in here. So, what's cool about this book is, and it's completely at Phto's discretion here, but some of
the larger cases, you know, when you come across them, when you turn the page, and it takes up two full pages,
cuz this is this is one of those large coffee table style books. Dmer takes up two full pages. some of these other
crimes. I will say to Phto, it's a little surprising that that they only took up a a portion, but again, he's
covering two full centuries of true crimes of true crime in this book. And the caption here that I wanted to get to,
Captain, this discusses DMER and race. And phto writes, "While Milwaukey's policemen regrettable failure to take
the complaints of black witnesses seriously may justify the race protest demonstrators led by the Reverend Jesse
Jackson in the wake of the murders. The secondary suggestion that Dmer himself was racially motivated seems illfounded.
Dmer's victims breakdown into the following categories. One American Indian, one half Jewish Puerto Rican,
one Hispanic, one Asian, two Caucasian, 11 black or Africanamean. This mix is very close to the
demographic population of the poor districts of Milwaukee and Chicago where Dmer made his pickups. So it seems
certain that he took his victims opportunistically at random. With all his faults, Jeff
Dmer is no racist, although he found the worst possible way of demonstrating his
freedom from prejudice. The So in fact, what we kind of learn about Dmer over the years was quite the opposite, wasn't
it? He had a an attraction to >> right >> African-American men. He was sexually attracted to African-American men. That
was kind of his preference. It appears and very much less has to do with some of these killers trying to uh target a
certain race because they don't like them for whatever reason. Not here with this one. It it it appears his crimes
were all sexually motivated. as disturbing and as bizarre as they were all sexually motivated. And it appears
to me he was attempting to get men that he was physically attracted to and in some weird ways, wouldn't you say, kind
of emotionally attracted to them in in Dmer's weird way as well, back to his apartment to to ultimately become his
possession. Not his not his companion, but his possession. He seemed to want to keep them forever.
>> Yeah. He almost wanted like a >> play things, >> live sex dummy. And then or a live sex
doll that he could control. But I think the the lack of seriousness that the law
enforcement took in this case was more so uh because they didn't want to deal with the homosexual community as opposed
to well we're not taking this serious because they're coming from minorities. I think it was more like well we don't
want to get involved. this is a homosexual spat and >> well right and correct in a way
homosexual would be minority as well but I get what I totally get what you're saying and and you're you're absolutely
right it's it was a different kind of prejudice as far as the Milwaukee police go as you're saying not so much against
African-Americans more of >> I'm a I'm a beat cop this appears to be some kind of
>> gay spat that I don't understand. And that's when you take when you don't take the time to attempt to understand a
situation, regardless of who's involved in it, you're not doing your job as a police officer. And in fact,
horrifically so. In one of these cases, we know that they the police sent the victim right back into the the clutches
of the killer. Now, I would argue that anybody in that apartment complex that was calling law enforcement or calling
anybody to, hey, something's going on here. Somebody needs to look into this. I mean, all I would have took was one
call being answered by the landlord and doing a a house inspection to go, "Oh, [ __ ] We need to call We need to call
law enforcement. We need to call a lot of people, right? We need to get We need to get
>> This guy has a lot of freezers in here. >> Who you going to call? Uh because it
seems like there would be everybody that you want to want to call. So, you know,
we had talked about Dmer wanting to control his victims, keep them, make them his his sex slaves or play things.
In in Johnny's book, the the serial killer travel guide across America, he there's a lot of dark very dark humor in
the book. And he refers to this as bang zombies, which is, you know, pretty grotesque term, but but really does kind
of sum up probably what Dmer had, at least in his mind, >> right, >> of what he was attempting to do. And
then from that book, the serial killer travel guide across America, there's a stop, just like we're stopping here in
Milwaukee today, there's a stop there in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And they write, "Jeffrey
Dmer, aka the Milwaukee monster, kill 17, span of activity from June 1978 to July 1991,
stating, "Fun fact, Dmer's favorite movies were The Exorcist, The Exorcist Part Two, and The Exorcist Part
[laughter] Diverse." >> Yeah, he he was really into that franchise. >> Yeah. Johnny goes on to write,
"Milwaukee is also home to the apartment building where Dmer committed his atrocities. While the building where
Dmer committed his horrific murders was torn down in 1992, the lot still sits empty today." They
say if you listen closely on a moonless night, you can hear the distant cries of
those who suffered within its walls. Johnny goes on to write, "Dommer took his first life in the summer of 1978,
a few weeks after he graduated high school. He picked up a hitchhiker named Steven Hicks and brought him back to his
house, ostensibly to drink beer, but the goal was to have sex. Hicks wasn't into
that. When he tried to leave, Dmer killed him by hitting him in the head with a 10B dumbbell. Sorry to go into
the the graphic nature of this, but we would later learn, >> right, >> because Jeffrey Dmer later stated and he
he spoke at length about some of his crimes with with law enforcement, with documentarians and and his father. But
Jeffrey Dmer later stated regarding the Hicks murder that he struck Hicks twice from behind with a dumbbell as Hicks sat
in a chair. When Steven Hicks fell unconscious, Dmer strangled him to death with the bar of the dumbbell, then
stripped the clothes from Steven's body. He says before exploring his chest with
his hands and then masturbating as he stood over the corpse. Hours later, Jeffrey Dmer dragged the lifeless body
down to the basement. The following day, Dmer dissected Hicks's body in that basement. He later buried the remains in
a shallow grave in his backyard. Several weeks later, he unearthed the remains and paired the flesh from
the bones. So paired, you know, basically very intricately taking the flesh, removing it from the
bones. He dissolved the flesh in acid before flushing the solution down the toilet. He crushed the bones with a
sledgehammer and scattered them in the woodland behind the family home. Remember, he's still living at his
parents' home at this time. His parents are completely on the outs at this time.
He says that he threw Steven Hicks's necklace and the knife that he used to dismember him from the Bathro bridge
into the Kyhoga River. >> Do we have a a better understanding of the dismemberment? Because a lot of
times the killer will dismember the victim to dispose of them, but it doesn't seem like that was necessary in
this case. Well, to me it feels like he Dmer had the privacy and a lot of time to put in the efforts to make making
sure that the victim was never found. Right. So then 1978 back then there's not a lot of
convictions without a body. There's not a lot of even murder charges when when you have a nobody case,
>> right? And unfortunately, with everything that we just went through, I mean, there's no body. He
pretty much obliterated the the entire body, and he had the time to do so. Keep in mind, too, one thing about Dmer is he
had some level of understandment with things like taxiderermy and and roadkill and dead animals,
>> right? that he >> So maybe it was just a contin maybe it was just a continuation of what he was
doing with those animals. >> Well, and I I think that he had a level of knowhow too that the first time
killer probably would not have had. So example here would be he buries the body in a shallow grave in the backyard and
then several weeks later he unearthed the remains to then remove the flesh muscle tissue from the bones. Okay? And
then he's going to completely destroy the flesh muscle tissue in one manner and then use a different method to
destroy the bones. You can look at this in a couple different ways. Very likely two things are happening here. He is
probably haunted by the body in the backyard in the shallow grave. Haunted in a sense of it could be easily found,
right? The ground may appear to be disturbed. And we talked about this with several serial killers that we have
covered in the past where they some of them say that, you know, right after I killed
this person, I just immediately expected to hear police sirens that everybody knew what I had done and it was only a
matter of time before they came to get me, before they came to collect the evidence and lock me up and throw away
the key. So, he may have been haunted by the body in the backyard by that sense.
He also probably may have known going into this that it's going to be far easier to commit this act of removing
the flesh from the bone if I simply wait. Right? The decomp starts to set in. The breaking down of the tissues and
the cells is going to make this less of a tedious effort on my part. It's going to go much quicker. I hate to say it,
Captain, but he he did an excellent job of completely destroying and obliterating this body and the evidence.
I mean, with with the exception of maybe the knife and the victim's personal belonging necklace could be found in the
Kyhoga River, but that's, you know, that's no small river, >> right? And and how far did it travel
from his property? >> And time is the killer of evidence and water. >> Yeah. Yeah,
>> a lot of times killer of evidence, >> but it's also fascinating with these killers how there's so many similarities
like you were talking about the the isolation that Dmer had for a time period in his family home in his
childhood home, but there's nobody there. They just left him alone. And you see those similarities and like Ed Gene
the isolation on the on the farm. >> Yes. and very likely the some level of mental illness. I hate to use that term
because I feel like it these guys you don't want to lump them in with people that are clearly nonviolent
people that don't have the that have no desire to do any of the terrible stuff that we've just discussed today
is a spectrum. Right. >> Right. It's it's it's an all kind of encompassing term. But this to me is
mental illness. Be damned. This is mental disturbency. Like it this is this is a whole another level here. And and
to put it in its simplest of forms, Jeff Dmer did that for us because later he says it wasn't just that, you know, I
desire to have sex with this man that I brought back to my home and we're having
drinks and we're getting along, we're hanging out, we're pinging around. It wasn't just that he he wasn't into what
I was into. There the part of his psychosis too is as he put it to police was well
I killed Steven Hicks because the guy wanted to leave and I didn't want him to. >> Right. And so in a way he's keeping him.
And then you have to wonder with the bang zombies or whatever, whoever wants to call it, whatever.
We've we've reviewed plenty of serial killers that mention things like slaves for the afterlife or that my victims are
forever my slaves or my property. And this seems and appears to be the first step nay giant leap toward
that mindset. Well, these [clears throat] individuals become monsters. We don't become monsters our ourselves just
because we show some sympathy to these killers that showed no sympathy to other humans and viewed [clears throat] humans
as less than. And and again, somebody could go, well, well, he was isolated, so he wanted to keep this individual
there. But let's remember this is this is an individual that didn't care about the life. It was more his wants and
desires and he's going to do anything to carry out those wants and desires. >> Well, and the other thing too is he
turned away from any other type of companionship, relationship, human interaction that he could have that was
available to him at the time. Now, his his mom was a bit of a train wreck herself. Her the dad was a bit check his
dad was a bit checked out. Uh there was a lot of problems between mom and dad, but he he had a a sibling. He had a
brother that he could have attempted to make an emotional connection and have a a good solid relationship with. He he he
knew people at school, you know, there were people in his high school there. There were people in his neighborhood.
He didn't he didn't go to great lengths and efforts to have real meaningful relationships with other people. He went
to great lengths and efforts to attack, >> possess >> possess, sexually assault this poor this
poor young man, this victim. >> Yeah. And because there's so much information about Jeffrey Dawnmer, you
you see individuals that try to reach out to him, try to look after Jeffrey in high school, in the army,
after the army, in college, even at that apartment complex. There's individuals there that try to look after him, try to
invite him to gatherings or even try to set him up on on dates. the woman that that alerted the police that something
was going on, the woman that that alerted the landlord that something was going on, she tried to befriend him and
seems like would been would have been an incredible an incredibly wonderful neighbor to have. So, yeah, he he turned
his back on on all that. Yeah, he turned his back on. So, so yeah, let's not let's not feel an inch or
[clears throat] an ounce of sadness for this man telling us later that he that he was very much alone.
>> Well, that's where I disagree. I think we can view these people with some sadness or sympathy or and that doesn't
make us monsters in turn. That that shows that we have humanity. The court found Jeffrey Dmer sain surprisingly
guilty on 15 counts of murder and sentenced him to 15 life terms totaling 957 years in prison. Jeffrey Dmer was
severely beaten by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver with a metal bar. Oddly enough, a metal bar very similar
to how Dmer killed his first known victim. a metal bar from the prison gym and then died while incarcerated.
Scarver claimed, quote, "God told him to do it." End quote. All right, Captain. Trick or treat.
>> I'll start with trick. >> I have a feeling you'll get this one for sure. I know it. In fact, what kind of
ship has two mates but no captain? >> I know nothing about ships. >> A relationship. All right. treat.
[laughter] >> This is >> These are not good. >> Well, the relationship one's pretty
fitting for all the stuff we discussed about Dmer. >> Uh, from the serial killer travel guide,
here comes your treat. They say if in Milwaukee, which >> which I say I will certainly go to
someday. In fact, a while back, the boys from Generation Y were talking to us about setting up uh some kind of event
with both podcast involved. And I kept saying, "Let's do Milwaukee. It's like the like the northern middle between
Kansas City and Columbus." So, I assume it's a great sports town, a great beer drinking town, of course. Anyway, the
travel guide says, "Check out the Miller Brewery Tour. It's a 170year-old factory with an awesome
outdoor beer garden. [music] [music] What if I told you the biggest crime story of our time is happening right
under our noses and we're all witnesses? Introducing Lawless Planet, the new podcast from Wondery that exposes the
dark underbelly of the climate crisis. From the Amazon rainforest to smalltown America, host Zack Goldbomb uncovers
shocking tales of murder, corporate cover-ups, and greed. You'll hear about the brave activist risking their lives
for their beliefs, the corrupt tycoons destroying ecosystems for profit, and the ordinary people caught in the
crossfire. This isn't some distant threat. It's happening right now. Each episode drops you into a battle for our
planet's future. We're talking mysterious deaths, daring heist, and billion-dollar scams. All with the fate
of our world hanging in the balance. This is Lawless Planet. Follow Lawless Planet on the Wondery app or wherever
you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and adree right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery
app, Apple Podcast, or Spotify. If you're still overpaying for wireless, it's time to say yes to saying no. At
Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no. No contracts, no monthly bills, no overages, no hidden fees, no BS.
Plans start at $15 a month at Mint. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the
nation's largest 5G network. Use your own phone with any Mint Mobile plan and bring your phone number along with all
your existing contacts. It's just that easy. Start saving money and get the same great quality wireless service that
you are used to with Mint Mobile. People are saving 40, 50, $60 a month with Mint
Mobile and getting the same great service. Ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch at mintmobile.com/tcg.
That's mintmobile.com/tcg. Upfront payment of $45 required, equivalent to $15 a month. Limited time
new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra.
See Mint Mobile for details. Ever wonder why so many people regain weight after stopping a GLP-1? Up to 40%
of the weight lost can come from lean muscle. This weakens the body, slows metabolism and makes it easier to put
the pounds back on, creating a cycle of dependency. Prolon's 5-day fasting mimicking diet offers a drug-free way to
maintain results and support long-term metabolic health when paired with proper diet and exercise. In just 5 days, it
activates fasting pathways to burn fat, protect muscle, and rejuvenate cells, all while letting you enjoy real food.
Get 15% off plus a $40 bonus gift when you subscribe at prolonglife.com/pendor promo. These statements have not been
evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. See site for
details. [music] All right, we are back you ghost and ghouls. [music] Cheers mates.
Cheers to you captain. Now this for our next stop, our fourth stop. This is from
another great Martin Phto book. This time he is paired up with Paul Beg. Another fascinating gentleman. Paul Beg
is acknowledged worldwide as one of the leading authorities on the Jack the Ripper mystery. He has worked
in newspapers, television, and publishing. He has written extensively on Jack the Ripper. This is from
American Justice, Great Crimes and Trials. For you old school followers of true crime television, this is American
Justice, the TV series in book form. Stop number four. Here we go. Captain Norwood Park is neither part of the city
of Chicago nor part of the city of the plains. The city police departments are the two conerbations
have no jurisdiction over crimes committed here and have to leave them to the county sheriff's department. In
December 1978, the citizens of Norwood were not a little surprised to find the Delplaines police staking out 8213 West
Somerdale Avenue, home of nice Mr. Gayy, the fat and friendly building contractor
who had lived there for 7 years. So heading out to Chicago, Old Gayy. Old Gayy. Both Gene and Gayy are, as we said, if
true crime were a town, they would be the talk of the town right now with uh making headlines again once again, both
of them, with Netflix and Peacock exploring their lives and and their crimes and and
some of the stories about them. Yeah, I was a little disappointed in the Edge Gene monster series. So, I'm looking
forward to Peacock redeeming the true crime world with their biopic, if you will, of John Wayne
Gayy. And then we go back to the Chronicle of Crime 1978. The headline here, killer clown stuffed boys under
his house. And the picture that they chose to include that Phto included in the book
here, I'll read the caption to you. It says, "First lady Rosalyn Carter unwittingly shakes hands with America's
worst mass murderer, John Wayne Gayy." And of course, it's it's a picture of the first lady shaking hands with a
serial killer, an infamous serial killer that we now know is responsible for 33 murders.
From the serial killer travel guide across America, we have Norwood Park, Illinois. John Wayne Gasey, aka the
killer clown kills 33 plus. span of activity, January 1972 to December 1978. John Wayne Gayy. He was born on March
17th, 1942 in Chicago, Illinois. His father was an alcoholic who physically and verbally abused his son. Gayy
married into a wealthy family and relocated with his lucky bride to Waterlue, Iowa. Gayy took over
management of the family's Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and was well known in the community as a good family
man. And it goes on to say at the time he was a member of the local JC's where he would provide fried chicken and
insist on being called Colonel. [laughter] Yeah, thanks for including that. Well,
it makes sense if he was if he was running the Kentucky Fried Chicken, he would want to be called Colonel.
>> Yeah. >> Let the record >> reflect. Yeah. >> That I have never insisted that I be
called Colonel. I just uh they dubbed me that somehow. So when he's out in Waterlue, Iowa, right,
John Wayne Gayy, he gets convicted in 1968 of a sodomy charge of a teenage boy in Waterlue, Iowa. He gets 10 years
imprisonment for this. He served 18 months. [snorts] Let me read from the travel guide here.
It says, "After serving 18 months in prison, Gayy was parrolled in 1971 and moved back to the city of Chicago. That
July, he remarried. So, he got divorced, he remarries. But things didn't work out
all that well as Gayy was charged with the attempted rape of a young man. The charges were dropped when the victim
failed to appear in court. The marriage didn't last. Who would have saw that coming? Didn't last. Gayy's second wife
divorced him due to her husband's moodiness and obsession with homosexual magazines. Yeah, but also if your
partner is accused of something that you probably think they did, even though law
enforcement can't prove it, probably time to move on. >> Well, yes. And and look, I think the
travel guide there sort of only scratches the surface with what was going on, >> right? because
we have more than just the the pornography and and things like that that he's bringing into the house. So,
he's he's pushing back on his wife and the relationship and saying, you know, I don't really care about this marriage. I
don't really care about this relationship. I'm going to come and go as I please. And his business is sort of
taking he he's a contractor, but he owns his own businesses. And they're the businesses are taking off around this
time. So, he is coming and going as he pleases. and he's staying out very late. He's drinking a lot and he's not much
fun to be around. And then this is from Out of the Mouths of Serial Killers by Mary Brett. A bit of a caption here. It
says, "Gasey opened what he called a club in the basement of his home where he allowed teenage workers
of his to socialize, play pool, and drink. Gasey was known to only socialize with the young males."
>> Yeah. But again, what when we talk about these similarities, you go, there's people in society that were trying to
have relationships with these individuals and they they were choosing the the relationship that they were
going to have with their world. And I think some of it, if you really start dissecting the minds of these killers,
their obsession and drive for these sexual violent acts starts consuming their their whole life.
So every minute becomes about these obsessions. And so some people can go, well, there was isolation with Dmer.
Yeah, but he was still going out to clubs to be >> around a certain individual >> bathous,
>> which would have been his ideal type for a victim. And so, same way with Gayy.
Well, I'm going to have this hangout club for my victim type. It's It's really fascinating [ __ ]
>> Yeah, exactly. And then as far as, you know, see Gay is the exact opposite though, right? Like Gayy is gregarious.
He's he's fun to hang out with or at least puts on puts on a show >> until he tries to kill you.
>> Well, and he's raising money for the Democratic party. He's he's throwing parties at his house. He He had bodies
in the crawl space and he's inviting like hundreds of people to these backyard summer parties and hundreds of
people are attending these parties. Yeah, >> he's successful. There were people in
this community that said, "You know what? This is a guy that you should aspire to be like. This is a guy that is
is successful. He's outgoing. He's gives back to the community. He's he's offering jobs to to many people. I mean,
you want to talk, we talk about cubism with BTK and how he was able to fool his family and and his community and church
and and where he worked. Gayy is that times 10. And I mean he managed to get married
twice to smart and in one case wellto-do women. And I I think what happened with
him was once they got in a living situation, he could no longer keep up that image full time.
>> Right. The cubism. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah, >> but also one of the things that all
these serial killers that you've talked about so far have in common is smell. >> There's a lot of stench involved.
>> A lot of stink. Something stinks here. >> So, this says, remember, he served that
18 months. And then it says he murdered his first victim in 1972, had murdered twice more by the end of 1975, and then
murdered at least 30 victims after his divorce from his second wife. That divorce took place in 1976. And the
travel guide goes on to say, "Investigators obtained a warrant to search Gasey's house. While searching
his home, investigators entered the crawl space and you said it, you said stink. You said stench." A rancid odor
was quickly noticed. And then during that search, they found what belonged to a teenager who had disappeared. a ring
that had belonged to a teenager that had been missing for a year. And then with that finding, investigators were able to
obtain a second search warrant for Gasey's home because of this evidence. Ultimately, going off of memory here,
Captain, it was the investigation into the disappearance of the plain's teenager, Robert Past, that led to
Gasey's arrest that took place December 21st, 1978. >> Well, I'm sure they show this in the the
Peacock dramatization of John Wayne Gayy, but many times law enforcement was in his house.
>> Mhm. and then openly asking him, "What's that smell?" >> Yeah. So, so listen to this. We talked
about the arrest on December 21st, 1978. And the travel guide says on December 22nd, 1978, so the next day, Gary Gary
Gasey realizing that the police were going to find out what he had been up to. He confessed to some of the murders.
Later, we learned that 28 of those victims were buried in shallow graves under his house.
He later explained to police, quote, "There are four John's. John the contractor, John the clown, and John the
politician." The fourth John went by the name of Jack Hanley, who was the actual killer. I guess
police decided to settle on arresting the John that was sitting in in front of them. Well, I think a fascinating angle
if you want to research somebody like John Wayne Gasey is is the angle because he was such a community
uh driven individual or at least one of his personalities were and I and I guess
you can make an argument that was it a split personality or or was it just a side that he was choosing to show? But
so many victims were they were those victims just victims of his alone. Is it possible that some of the victims
weren't just victims of Gayy but Gasey and somebody else or or multiple people? Because we do have that eyewitness that
claims that that got away. And it seems like especially these serial killers that have a high body count, you go
there there's normally somebody that got away. But I I believe his eyewitness account was that there was more than one
person there. >> Yeah. And I think thankfully I and luckily I think that there in Gayy's in
the Gayy story there there may have been more than one that got away. There is a
lot. You're right. There's a lot of suspicion on that there. And then we talked about in in this book that was
the inspiration for today's episode a lot of sort of dark humor along the way. Here's some here's some dark humor from
from the the colonel world. Not to be mistaken with uh Chubby Gasey there. So Gayy gets busted in 1978, right? The
authorities are very much busy digging up his house, crawl space, garden, garage, yard.
He put some of the bodies in the river. He was he he had said something sort of sly on the sly to a neighbor or someone
that he he was thinking about moving because he was running out of room. Meanwhile, he's living alone in this
nice house, >> right? But again, isolation. He is well I don't know that I would say
isolation with with Gayy. I mean he he stayed in this guy was the oppos opposite complete opposite of isolation
and with him and Bundy it was weird that they kind of shared that very outgoing nature and trait both of them being
politic politically involved as well and and very much involved with their communities at times. And I had often
wondered with Bundy and Gayy, was that all a part of the ruse? But but I think it goes back to something you're talking
about. Is it some form of split personality? And Gayy almost says that to the police, right? There's four
John's. The contractor, the clown, the politician, and the killer. And I think I can agree with that. And I think
you're right that it is some kind of split personality because I don't see Bundy using his involvement in his
communities as a way to find and get victims or have access to victims. And I don't see that with the exception of
John Gasey, the contractor, the businessman. He doesn't appear to be using those avenues to get victims
either. So it must just be their outgoing nature that they have. Anyway, so back to the the dark humor here from
from my world. So Gayy gets busted in 1978. The authorities busy digging up his his home,
>> figuring out what happened, what number of victims do we have here, who are the
victims? It was years before they had identified some of these victims. Some were very quick. Some took a long time.
So years back, Captain, I knew this older dude from Chicago. He lived there in the later 70s, early 80s. So these
folks there were bombarded daily with gay news, right? Gayy news, serial killer clown news in their home city day
after day, each and every day. What do you call someone from Chicago? Chicagoan Chicago. I like uh how about Chai
Towner? That sounds much or Windy City native. All right. Anyway, so all that's going on in 1978 and they're busy
putting together the case against Gayy in 1979. Pink Floyd drops their now incredibly
famous album. In the middle of all of this, the song Another Brick in the Wall part two is on the radio Friday,
November 23rd, 1979. The day after Thanksgiving, 1979. The album is released a week later on November 30th,
1979. And kind of a weird side fact here, did you know they were still recording portions of that album earlier
that that very month? >> Wow. >> Anyway, I'll save that for the Boom Boxes and Bangers podcast. So in some
very perverse humor, the Chai Towners because of Gayy and all the news that was coming about and that song coming
out all sort of at the same time, the Chai Towners were singing instead of another brick in the wall, another stiff
in the crawl. On the morning of May 9th, 1994, John Wayne Gayy was transferred to
Stateville Correctional Center to be executed. They are going to carry out his death sentence. Amen. That
afternoon, he was allowed a private picnic on the prison grounds with members of
his family for his last meal. You know, all the killers that we've talked about,
this is the only guy that made it to the execution. The other guys died of of cancer. Gayy died of sorry, Gene died of
some kind of complications to cancer. Groves died of hepatitis C and liver failure. Dmer was killed by another
inmate in prison. So, Gayy makes it to his execution. For his last meal, he ordered,
of course, a bucket of KFC, Kentucky fried chicken, French fries, a dozen fried shrimp, fresh strawberries, and
washed it all down with a diet coke. >> That evening, he received the last rights from a Catholic priest before
being escorted to the execution chamber. John Wayne Gasey was executed on May 10th, 1994. His final statement to his
lawyer before his execution was that killing him would not compensate for the loss of others and that the state was
murdering him. His final spoken words were reported to be, "Kiss my ass." Although prosecutor William Kungl later
stated this just recently in 2020 that these words were spoken to a prison official and were not part of any
official statement prior to Gayy's execution. John Wayne Gasey was 52 years old when he was executed by the state of
Illinois. Well, Chicago always reminds me of one of my favorite characters, Julius Pepperwood, ex- cop, ex-Marine,
and one of the best quotes. I'm from Chicago. Thin crust pizza. No, thank you. I'm from Chicago. Julius
Pepperwood. So, speaking of quotes, this from the book Out of the Mouths of Serial Killers. This is John Wayne
Gasey, a John Wayne Gayy quote. that says if Jeffrey Dmer doesn't meet the requirements for insanity, then I'd hate
like hell to run into the guy that does. >> Very good point. >> Well, the guy that did was Ed Gene from
the same state, right? Wisconsin's like, "Nope, Ed Gene. Unfit to stand trial." Um, DMER. Sure. Sure. All right, last
one for the week. Happy Halloween, everybody. Trick or treat, Captain. >> Let's do Trick season.
>> Okay, let's do Trick first. This is a nice Halloween themed riddle for you. >> I have got none of these right so far.
>> Well, in all fairness, you didn't know you were going to be peppered with riddles during [laughter]
>> Yeah. >> during today's garage appointment. All right, here's the riddle. I have a name,
but it isn't mine. You don't think about me while in your prime. People cry when
I'm in their sight. Others lie with me all day and night. What am I? >> I don't know. Ed Gene would tell you
that's a tombstone, baby. That's a tombstone. >> All right. Treat. Anybody in Chicago
knows this. Anybody that's been to Chicago more than once, I would think, would have to know this. Treat. If and
when in Chicago, you must must must go to the Super Dog Drive-In. They have been there since 1948 serving up the
best super burgers and shakes and of course hot dogs. So go and get you a Chicago dog. And just like my old high
school mascot nickname, that's D A WG Dog. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Want to thank everybody for joining us
here in the garage. Hope we kept you company during the spooky season. Hope we kept you company if you're running
around with your kids doing trickor treat. Colonel, do we have any recommended reading for the beautiful
listeners? >> Yeah. Yeah. And if you want to terrify the neighbors, just go out there and you
could bark at the moon like Aussie Osborne says or uh dance in the moonlight. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. Of course. This week, Captain recommending the serial killer travel guide across America, your coast to
coast tour of terror by Johnny Travisani with Brian Whitney. This isn't your typical road trip companion. This was
the inspiration for this week's episode. So, thank you to Johnny and Brian. The serial killer travel guide across
America is a darkly fascinating guide. An unconventional look that takes readers on a darkly
humorous journey through the United States exploring notorious locations linked to infamous serial killers. And
this one, we're going to go two books. Let's do two. And this one works well in tandem with the serial killer travel
guide. It's titled Serial Killer Quote of the Day. 365 Days of Serial Killer: Uncut and in
Their Own Words, also by Johnny Trevani. You can find those great titles and many
more wonderful recommendations on our recommended page at our website, truerimeg.com.
If you'd like to treat yourself and support the garage at the same time, go to true
crimegar.com, click on the store page. 2025 Halloween merch. It's only [clears throat] here once. We're not
going to sell it next year. It's done very soon. So, treat yourself. [snorts] Don't trick yourself. Just treat
yourself. And until next week, be good. Be kind. And don't live. >> [music] [music]
[music] >> Haday presents in the red corner, the undisputed, UNDEFEATED WEED WHACKER GUY,
champion of hurling grass and pollen everywhere. And in the blue corner, the challenger, extra strength,
eye drops that work all day to prevent the release of histamines that cause itchy allergy eyes.
And the winner by knockout is Saturday. Pity, bring it on.

A Killer Halloween /// Part 2 /// 881

Part 2 of 2

www.TrueCrimeGarage.com (http://www.truecrimegarage.com/)

Welcome into the terrifying Garage of horrors. It’s an old and dark structure filled with stories of murder and mayhem. This week we explore this great country by taking a “killer tour” of sorts. On tap we have tales of killers like John Wayne Gacy, Ed Gein and even more killers from different cities that are sure to have you looking over your shoulder this Halloween.

Beer of the Week - Graffiti Highway double IPA by Troegs Independent Brewing

Garage Grade - 4 and a quarter bottle caps out of 5

LIMITED EDITION 2025 HALLOWEEN shirts and other great True Crime Garage swag is available on our website’s “MERCH" page.

More True Crime Garage can be found on Patreon and Apple subscriptions with our show - Off The Record. Dozens of episodes of Off The Record plus a couple of Bonus episodes and our first 50 when you sign up today.

Thanks for listening and thanks for telling a friend. Be good, be kind, and don’t litter!

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com (https://pcm.adswizz.com) for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brief Summary

True Crime Garage discusses Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy's crimes and police failures in capturing them.

Key points

Discovery of Dahmer's Apartment. The shocking discoveries in Dahmer's apartment included human heads and body parts. This led to his arrest and the unraveling of his crimes.
The Milwaukee Cannibal. Jeffrey Dahmer, known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, committed horrific murders from 1978 to 1991. His gruesome methods and the police's failures led to a chilling legacy.
Dahmer's First Murder. Dahmer's first victim, Steven Hicks, was killed shortly after high school. His gruesome methods of dismemberment were chillingly detailed.
Jeffrey Dahmer's Sentencing. Jeffrey Dahmer was sentenced to 15 life terms totaling 957 years in prison.
John Wayne Gacy's Arrest. John Wayne Gacy was arrested after police discovered evidence of his crimes in his home.
John Wayne Gacy's Execution. On May 10, 1994, John Wayne Gacy was executed in Illinois. His last meal included KFC and shrimp.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What was that smell?

Reflecting on the discovery of Jeffrey Dahmer's apartment.

4:37WatchOct 29, 2025

Tension

65/ 100Some tension

More from True Crime Garage TV

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.