"Something Was Fishy": WLS-TV on the Missed Gacy Leads, February 1979

Name: "Something Was Fishy": WLS-TV on the Missed Gacy Leads, February 1979
Uploaded: 2018-03-25T00:00:00Z
Duration: 6 min 14 s
Description: A WLS-TV Channel 7 report from February 1979, preserved on a viewer's home tape: Jay Levine traces the police contacts with John Gacy that failed to stop him, with the parents of two victims. Gacy is not heard.

A WLS-TV Channel 7 report from February 1979, preserved on a viewer's home tape: Jay Levine traces the police contacts with John Gacy that failed to stop him, with the parents of two victims. Gacy is not heard.

Subject: John Wayne Gacy
Recorded: February 13, 1979
Runtime: 6:14

Content warning: Concerns the murders of teenage boys and young men, and refers to kidnapping, rape and assault. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview with John Wayne Gacy, who is not heard. It is a segment of WLS-TV Channel 7's Eyewitness News at 6:00 p.m. from Chicago, broadcast on February 13, 1979, and preserved because a viewer taped it at home. After a brief preview and an anchor item on a lawsuit by the family of victim John Butkovich, reporter Jay Levine presents an installment of his "Close-Up" series on the Gacy case. An unnamed former Gacy employee, John Butkovich's father and Greg Godzik's mother speak.

Historical Context

Gacy was arrested on December 21, 1978, after the disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest from a Des Plaines pharmacy. The remains of most of his victims were found in the crawlspace of his house in Norwood Park Township. In the weeks that followed, Chicago reporters began to ask why earlier reports involving Gacy had not led police to him.

Circumstances

Levine's report rests on police and other official documents examined by the station. It recounts the disappearance of John Butkovich, 18, whose car was found abandoned in August 1975 after he had gone to confront Gacy about back pay; the disappearance of Taft High School senior Greg Godzik in December 1976; and the case of John Szyc, 19, whose 1971 Plymouth Satellite was sold to Gacy associate Mike Rossi. The station says it compared the signatures on the original title of Szyc's car and on the later transfer.

What the Recording Covers

Levine says Gacy came into contact with authorities more than half a dozen times, in matters ranging from kidnapping to rape and assault, and talked his way out each time. Butkovich's father says that if Gacy would not talk to his son, "something wrong right there." Godzik's mother says she called Gacy, who told her Greg had phoned and that he had the call on tape, but that he had erased it. Levine says police closed the Szyc missing person file after a 1977 gas-station complaint brought them to Gacy's home, and he reads the letter police sent Szyc's parents. He says officers also took Gacy's word over that of a 19-year-old abducted at gunpoint in December 1977, who told the station that Gacy bragged of having killed others, and that a second young man succeeded in having Gacy arrested in 1978; it was while that case was pending that Rob Piest disappeared. Butkovich's father returns to say police did not do a good job for his son or the other boys, and that if they had followed up, maybe only Johnny would be dead. The report ends with Superintendent James O'Grady declining an interview, citing a gag order, and with word that three former Gacy associates were still under investigation and that Rossi had hired former state's attorney Ed Hanrahan.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It is an early press investigation, eight weeks after the arrest, of the police failures that became a lasting part of the Gacy story, and it includes the voices of two victims' parents describing the warnings they gave.

Archival Importance

A rare surviving off-air recording of Chicago local news from the first weeks of the case, preserved by The Museum of Classic Chicago Television from a donated home tape. No copy from WLS itself was found online.

Important Caveats

Gacy is not heard. The report's account of what police did and did not do is the station's, as of February 1979, and the statements about Rossi and the other associates were allegations under investigation at the time, not findings. The anchors and the two parents are identified only from the uploader's description. About 20 seconds at 05:12, a second remark by John Butkovich's father, were missed by the first machine pass and come from a second machine pass; they should be checked by ear. The 19-year-old abducted in December 1977 is not named in the recording and must not be named on the page; the second survivor, named by the reporter, is withheld in the transcript pending James's decision.

Preview Voice-Over: [preview begins mid-sentence] [unclear: "Kogel police"; probably "Chicago police"] may have passed over crucial clues in the mass murder investigation. Details on these stories and others next on Eyewitness News.

Anchor: A $6 million lawsuit has been filed against mass murder suspect John Gacy. Parents of slain teenager John Butkovich hope to be awarded proceeds from any publications about the Gacy case. They also want any funds from the alleged killer's contracting firm. Tonight, Jay Levine continues his close-up look at the Gacy case and how police may have overlooked evidence that could have prevented the murder spree.

Jay Levine: A careful examination of police and other official documents by Eyewitness News reveals that John Gacy came into contact with authorities more than half a dozen times, allegedly involved in crimes ranging from kidnapping to rape and assault. His name came up in connection with missing persons. He was even linked to a theft committed with the car of one of his victims. These police contacts came not with unrelated, relatively unsophisticated suburban departments, but with one of the biggest, best equipped and trained departments in the world. Even so, using the same combination of bluff and bluster with which he talked his way into being photographed with dignitaries, Gacy managed to talk his way out of each and every beef. Said one former employee:

Former Gacy Employee: He had a way of getting what he wanted. He was a master con man. He was good. I mean, he got whatever he wanted, you know. He did what he had to do to get what he wanted. That was his philosophy.

Jay Levine: In August of 1975, Johnny Butkovich's car was found abandoned at Lawrence and Sheridan, the 18-year-old's jacket, wallet, and keys inside. The last time his parents saw him, he was leaving to confront John Gacy about some back pay.

John Butkovich'S Father: And this youth police, he told me, [unclear: "he talked with the guests, he guess he refused to talk to him"; possibly "he talked with Gacy, Gacy refused to talk to him"]. And he should not run away. Something wrong. If Gacy don't want to talk to him, something wrong right there.

Jay Levine: Area 6 youth officers considered Butkovich a runaway. Youth division officers from Areas 5 and 6 were out looking for John Gacy again five months later. Responding to reports of a man named John cruising the Uptown area picking up young boys, they followed him for over a month, questioned youths going in and out of his Norwood Park Township home, and came up empty. Later that year, Taft High School senior Greg Godzik disappeared, just after telling his girlfriend that 1976 had been the best year of his life. His mother told Area 5 youth officers to check out the man Greg had worked for, John Gacy, and then called Gacy herself.

Greg Godzik'S Mother: I talked to him. I called him up to find out if my Gregory called, and he said he did, and that he was going to come to work. And I said, "Well, did he ever come?" He says, "No." And I says, "How do you know it was Gregory?" And he says because he had him on his tape, you know. And I asked him if, you know, if he could play it back. He said no, he erased it. So I wouldn't know.

Jay Levine: Did you ever tell the police about your conversation with John Gacy?

Greg Godzik'S Mother: Yes, I'm sure I did.

Jay Levine: Police would have had no way of tying Gacy to a 19-year-old who disappeared barely a month later, except, we've learned, that this time he got careless, taking and then selling John Szyc's 1971 Plymouth Satellite to Mike Rossi. Gacy and Rossi, other employees say, were like father and son. In December, Rossi was brought to the house on Summerdale to point out the location of holes he admitted digging in the crawlspace. He claims to know nothing about the bodies.

Jay Levine: It was Rossi's failing to pay for a tank full of gas in September of 1977 that brought police to Gacy's home once again. He and Rossi straightened out the beef about the gas, and in the process convinced police to close the Szyc missing person file. This letter was sent to Szyc's parents: "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Szyc, I was unable to locate your son, but I did learn that he sold his auto in February of 1977 and told the buyer that he needed the money to leave town."

Jay Levine: But no one seems to be able to explain why, if Szyc needed money, he left behind two paychecks, all his possessions, and even bought new license plates for the car the day he disappeared. Had Chicago police bothered to check, as we did, the original title to Szyc's car (note the signature) and compared it to the title transfer filed when the car was allegedly sold by Szyc to Gacy and Rossi (again, note Szyc's signature), it would have been obvious to them that something was fishy. When Szyc did not sign the second time, 18 days after he was reported missing, he was undoubtedly already dead.

Jay Levine: Area 6 homicide/sex officers and the state's attorney's office also took Gacy's word against that of the teenager he allegedly abducted at gunpoint near Lawrence and Western in December. During that assault, the 19-year-old youth tells me, Gacy bragged of having killed others. He claims he told all this to police. (name withheld) told a similar story three months later. He succeeded in having Gacy arrested last summer, but it was while that case was pending, Gacy free on bond, that Des Plaines teenager Rob Piest disappeared, and set in motion the chain of events that led to the gruesome discovery of bodies in Gacy's basement.

John Butkovich'S Father [second Machine Pass ; The First Pass Recognized No Speech Here]: Police not does good job for my son, not for the rest of those kids. If they follow those investigations, maybe Johnny will only be dead. Only Johnny, maybe the rest will be alive. [unclear: "Then we have to be dead" / "The rest of them will have to be dead"]

Jay Levine: We requested an interview with Chicago Police Superintendent James O'Grady, a man who's known to be quite upset about police handling of the Gacy case. The request was denied. O'Grady said any comment on his part would be improper and in violation of a gag order imposed by a circuit court judge.

Jay Levine: In the meantime, we've also learned that three former Gacy associates are still under investigation for their involvement in, or knowledge of, the assaults and murders. One of them, Mike Rossi, will be ordered to hand over handwriting samples in connection with a forged title transfer. Rossi, sources say, has already hired former state's attorney Ed Hanrahan to represent him. Jay Levine, Channel 7 Eyewitness News. [No further speech in the machine text to the end of the clip at 06:14.] ---