Peacock’s Devil in Disguise followed John Wayne Gacy‘s crimes — and execution — but what details did the show change?
Gacy was a serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered dozens of young men and boys. After he was convicted, he was sentenced to death and died by lethal injection in 1994.
The limited series, which premiered on Thursday, October 16, made an effort to focus on Gacy’s victims — something other shows centered around notorious murderers have been chastised for allegedly ignoring. Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy addressed the trauma inflicted on the victims’ families, named each episode after a victim of Gacy’s and questioned investigative missteps and systemic failures that led to Gacy evading the law for so long.
“We knew that we wanted to focus it on the victims but we didn’t exactly know what that meant until we figured out the short stories and the idea that we were talking about these victims’ lives, their hopes and their dreams and their struggles,” creator Patrick Macmanus exclusively told Us Weekly. “All of the tragedies that were in their lives that had no connection to their murder at the hands of John Wayne Gacy.”
Devil in Disguise went out of their way to not show any murders on screen.
“We were showing stories that showed people struggling with their identity, people struggling with their socioeconomic conditions, people struggling with parent issues,” he continued. “There are millions and millions and millions of people who have all of that in their lives and they don’t kill 33 people. This allows us to talk about John Wayne Gacy without actually making it feel like we are focusing on him or that we’re excusing him. Because the last thing that we do in that show is excuse him.”
Macmanus added: “The decision on when to show [violence] or when not to show was very simple. We were not showing it and so we knew that there were going to be moments that we would tiptoe up to the line. We weren’t going to disgrace the memory of the victims by doing a reimagining of their violent final moments in this world. So I hope that at the end of the day — as disturbing as it may be — that people also recognize that we’re ultimately honoring the victims by not showing their final moments.”
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is now streaming on Peacock. Keep scrolling for a breakdown of every inaccuracy or onscreen shift the show made in order to create the TV show:
John Wayne Gacy’s Execution
The scripted series started with the 10-day investigation into the disappearance of teenager Robert Piest, which led to Gacy’s arrest in 1978. From there, Devil in Disguise followed the events that led to his conviction and subsequent execution.
In the final scenes, the families of Gacy’s victims found out that he had died but they weren’t allowed to be in an adjoining room to watch it happen. Other key players from the investigation and trial listened to the radio announce Gacy’s death before Gabriel Luna‘s Detective Rafael Tovar visited the serial killer’s home where dozens of bodies were dug up.
Devil in Disguise took some liberties with the ending since there were no reports that any victims’ families attended the execution or were denied access. At the time, the Chicago Tribune reported that some families were interested in attending but weren’t approved.
Members of the legal teams, law enforcement and some journalists were there as Gacy died by lethal injection.
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Relating Certain Victims to Each Other
One of the episodes — titled Billy and Dale — offers insight into Frank “Dale” Landingin and Billy Carroll‘s lives before their paths crossed with Gacy. While Dale and Billy had a friendship before their respective deaths, there don’t appear to be any reports of that in real life.
Insight Into John Wayne Gacy’s Lawyer
When Gacy’s attorney, Sam Amirante, was introduced on the show, it was revealed that he had a sick son. As the show went on, Sam’s marriage with his wife ended up strained — seemingly because of his decision to represent Gacy. In a flash forward, Sam was not remarried to someone new but details about his son appeared to be fictional for the sake of the plot.
