Sheriff Barred From Digging for More Gacy Victims
Sheriffs want to excavate the backyard of a Chicago apartment building in a search for more victims
Friday, Mar 30, 2012 | Updated 6:27 AM CDT
John Wayne Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 young men from 1972 through 1978.
Officials of the Cook County sheriff's office say they have been stymied in their effort to excavate the backyard of a Chicago apartment building in a search for additional victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
The site on the city's Northwest Side was dug up in November 1998 after a former Chicago homicide detective told authorities he saw Gacy in the yard with a shovel.
Sheriff's department spokesman Frank Bilecki says the site is "another piece of the Gacy puzzle." However, the Cook County state's attorney's office denied Sheriff Thomas Dart's request to seek a search warrant for the property, citing insufficient evidence.
Gacy was convicted of murdering 33 young men from 1972 through 1978. He buried most of the bodies in a crawl space under his home.
In November, the Cook County Sheriff's Department identified a 19th victim, labeled as such because he was the 19th victim removed from the killer's basement. The victim was identified as William "Bill" George Bundy.
