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Just what goes on in a mass killer's mind?

Answers sought: Researchers plan to look at Gacy's brain for flaws

By Terry Burns COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

Chicago -- Medical researchers plan to study the brain of executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy, hoping to discover what triggered him to murder 33 young men and boys.

The study will be performed by a pathologist at the University of Chicago Medical Center at the request of an outside researcher, spokesman John Easton confirmed Wednesday.

Gacy's brain is being sent to the university with his family's approval and should arrive sometime in the next two weeks. The initial exam should take about an hour, but a microscopic study of the brain tissue will take about a week, Easton said. Dr. John Crayton, director of psychiatric research at Loyola University Medical Center, said studies of the brain "are a fairly typical" procedure following an autopsy.

"We're learning that changes in brain structure and biochemistry can be correlated to alterations in behavior," he said. Changes in the size of certain portions of the brain have been found in people suffering from psychiatric disorders. "The pathologist might well want to be examining the size and shape of different brain areas to see if Mr. Gacy's brain was abnormal in any way," he said.

Researchers probably will be looking for signs of viral infections, birth defects or other subtle changes "that alter brain function and predispose someone like Mr. Gacy to suffer abnormal behavior." The chances of researchers discovering an answer for Gacy's need to kill are unlikely.

"If I were betting on it, I wouldn't bet very much," Crayton said. Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil said an autopsy done shortly after the execution showed that physically "Gacy was a fairly healthy man." His body later was turned over to a funeral home for cremation. O'Neil said he plans to conduct an inquest into Gacy's death within the next two weeks.