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Gacy meets death at midnight

Execution: Unless last-minute appeals succeed, the killer of 33 will meet a drug-induced death

By Terry H. Burns

Joliet -- Time is quickly running out for convicted serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Instead of measuring his life in terms of weeks or years, the 52-year-old Gacy has only a matter of hours.

Unless last-minute appeals forestall the inevitable, the former building contractor who killed 33 young men and boys has a date with the executioner.

They plan to meet just once, shortly after midnight in the old Captain's Court Building at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill. Unlike convicted killer Charles Walker, executed in 1990 after surrendering his rights to appeal, Gacy plans to fight his execution to the bitter end. In the meantime, the state is making final preparations to kill him. Gacy has been moved from his cell on death row at the downstate Menard Correctional Center to the death house at Stateville.

The one-story, yellow brick building -- once the home of mass murderer Richard Speck -- is the state's only designated death chamber. Gacy -- the former party clown, Jaycee and Democratic activist -- will begin his "death watch" in cell E1E, the same cell used by Walker. The 6-by-12-foot cell sits at the end of the east wing, one of eight in the unit and only 20 feet from the death chamber. His stark "death watch" cell has been specially fitted with a stainless-steel toilet and sink, a steel-framed single bed and a makeshift writing table and chair.

In addition, the tile walls have been covered with reinforced steel plating "to prevent any escape," said Nic Howell, an Illinois Department of Corrections spokesman.

Gacy will be watched around the clock by a correctional officer sitting at a desk directly across from his cell. From inside his cell, Gacy should be able to see a small enclosed courtyard that at one time was used as a basketball court by death row inmates. "It all depends on his attitude, but he will be allowed (into the courtyard) for some fresh air. We'll be as cooperative as we can," Howell said.

<H3> Gacy's last day</H3> On his final day, Gacy will be allowed the customary visits from family and friends and, of course, his last meal. At about 9 p.m., any family or friends will be asked to leave, but Gacy can spend the next few hours with a minister "if that's what he chooses," Howell added.

At about 11 p.m., the final preparations begin, and Gacy will be offered a sedative, something Walker refused. Then, at exactly 12:01 a.m., the serial killer will be taken from his cell, strapped onto a gurney and given an intravenous saline solution in his arm. Ironically, one of the last things Gacy will see as he's wheeled into the death chamber is an exit sign hanging over the door. Once in the chamber, the saline tube is removed and replaced by an intravenous line running to the drug-filled syringes in the "delivery module" attached to the wall.

Although corrections officials contend that they "have a handle" on carrying out the procedure, Gacy's attorneys say the lethal-injection machine in prone to malfunction. As part of their appeal, attorney John Greenlees said state prison officials botched the 1990 Walker execution when an intravenous line carrying the deadly chemicals developed a kink. Instead of dying quickly and painlessly, "it appears highly likely that Mr. Walker was literally tortured to death," he said. Prison officials dispute that charge.

"I was there, and 27 or 28 others were in the room, and nobody said boo about anything going wrong," Howell said. "Obviously, the system worked, because Charles (Walker) is no longer with us," he added.

<H3> The execution</H3> As for Gacy, once his arms are cuffed at the wrists, and restraints fastened around his waist and upper chest, a white sheet will be placed over him to cover everything but his head.

The two executioners -- chosen by corrections Director Howard Peters III -- stand behind a one-way mirror just above Gacy's head. From behind the glass, the execution team can see Gacy's feet, but not his face. At a few minutes after midnight, Warden Sal Godinez will give Gacy a chance to say any last words, and then signal the executioners to simultaneously push buttons on a small machine that starts the flow of lethal drugs. Although there are two executioners, the machine randomly selects the one who actually triggers the drugs.

Three drugs will be administered in 30-second to one-minute intervals -- sodium pentathol, an anesthetic; pancuronium bromide, to paralyze the respiratory system; and potassium chloride, to stop the heart. If all goes as planned, Gacy should be pronounced dead within 10 to 15 minutes.

John Wayne Gacy poses in a clown costume in front of his Des Plaines, Ill., home in 1976. Barring successful appeals, the former building contractor will die tonight for killing 33 young men and boys.