AMERICAN SERIAL KILLER’S ARTWORK SOLD IN MIDLANDS
A SET of sinister death row oil paintings by notorious “killer clown” John Wayne Gacy have been sold for thousands at auction after being found gathering dust in the cupboard of a West Midlands house.
The American serial killer created the creepy artwork during the 90s.
Now, at Mullock’s Auctioneers’ sale in Church Stretton, Shropshire, a depiction of a skull in a clown has realised £1,200. His Christ image made £1,100, but an image of the Seven Dwarfs were unsold.
The paintings were uncovered at a property in the West Midlands after the owners died, leaving a perplexed son to make the discovery in his parent’s cupboard.
The pieces, all signed by Gacy, provide a chilling insight into the warped mind of one of the USA’s most deadliest serial killers.
Gacy, the inspiration for Stephen King’s novel ‘It’, sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered at least 33 boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in Chicago.
His twisted crimes are currently subject of a Netflix series “Conversations with a Killer: The John Wayne Gacy Tapes”.
It has been described by some viewers as one of the most disturbing documentaries ever made while others said they were left “sick to the stomach” watching the show.
Gacy was sentenced to death and was killed by lethal injection in May 1994 after confessing to 33 murders.
He worked as an entertainer at children’s birthday parties while dressed as Pogo The Clown, leading him to be dubbed the “killer clown”.
He often promised victims alcohol and drugs to gain their trust – but he would handcuff their hands together before killing them at his home on West Summerdale Avenue.
A total of 29 bodies were discovered by police buried underneath his property while other corpses were disposed of in the Des Plaines River when he ran out of room.
Gacy began painting behind bars while awaiting execution and in 1994, his attorney auctioned off his artwork.
Some of it was purchased and destroyed in a bonfire attended by hundreds of people, including some family members of Gacy’s victims.
Other paintings have caused controversy by being exhibited in galleries across America but it is rare to find them in Britain.
Ben Jones, consultant at Mullock’s Auctioneers, said: “These particular paintings all come from the same
home. They were purchased by the vendor’s parents many years ago and simply left in the house for decades. When the parents passed away, they were found in the cupboard, with no further details or paperwork as to where or when they were purchased.
“The vendor had no idea the parents had them so was a little surprised when they did come across them. He believed they could have been purchased when his parents toured the USA. Gacy’s artwork can be found quit widely in America but it is rare to find his paintings here.
“They are quite fascinating but are, of course, incredibly sinister knowing what this man did.
“We wish we knew a bit more about their origin, but it’s a bit of a mystery how these paintings came over here and ended up in a cupboard for so long.”