Actor Jack Merrill there are some ideas as to why he survived his harrowing encounter with the serial killer John Wayne Gacy.
In his one-man show Savewhose performance he attended Us Weekly On Friday, Jan. 17, Merrill, 65, says he was “kidnapped and raped by John Wayne Gacy” in Chicago when he was just 19 years old. The show explores the reasons why a notorious serial killer let her go free.
“The whole reason I do Save is to connect with people in a way that is vastly different from what most would expect from someone who has been through what I have been through,” Merrill said. We after his performance on Friday. Merrill's screen credits include small roles in shows such as Law and order, Hannah Montana, Grey's Anatomy and Sex and the City.
Between 1972 and 1978, Gacy kidnapped, sexually abused and killed at least 33 young men before he was finally caught. In 1980, he was found guilty of 33 murders and sentenced to death. His execution took place 14 years later in 1994.
According to Merrill, he was one of the lucky ones, despite his horrific kidnapping and difficult childhood.
Growing up, Merrill said both of his parents were emotionally, physically and verbally abusive to him and his sisters, describing his childhood home as “an unhappy and disturbing place.” He endured his mother's “anger” all his life for his survival in the Gacy home.
“My mom and me having to sleep during my tantrums were the same thing,” he explained during the show, adding, “My family gave me some serious tools that I could use to defend myself.”
Merrill explained that he likes and trusts Gacy. He told Meryl that he was not “like the others.” He even removed Meryl's handcuffs so they could sit together at the bar at Gacy's house, have a couple of beers, smoke and talk, but only if Meryl promised he would be “okay”.
“I could tell he didn't like others,” the playwright explained. “He wanted to separate me. I knew that if I listened to him, he wouldn't hurt me. I had to accept that it was normal. There was no other choice.”
Gacy's trust in him didn't save Meryl from harm—he was still sexually assaulted by the killer. “That's how I lost the last bit of my innocence,” Merrill said, adding that at the time of the attack, he “told myself I'm going to get through this, I'm going to get past this.”
In an October 2024 interview with People, Merrill said of the event“I knew if I fought him, I didn't have much of a chance. I never freaked out or yelled. “
The next morning, Gacy let Meryl go free, allegedly saying, “You're a good kid. i like you Maybe we'll get together again someday.” He gave Meryl his phone number on a small slip of paper, which the actor says he promptly flushed.
A month or two later, he saw Gacy's face in a newspaper under the headline “Bodies Found at Suburban Site.” However, Merrill never went to the police about his story. “I decided if the police ever needed me, I would come,” he said. “But they never needed me.”
Meryl says that he kept what happened to him a secret for a while. However, he decided to come forward after the death of both his parents. He says he's happy his parents died without ever knowing what happened to their son.
“I wanted to tell people at a certain point. It happened and it's a part of me and I wanted them to know that,” he explained. I don't blame.”
Meryl shared that in order to move on with his life, he inevitably had to forgive Gacy. “Not only with Gacy, actually, but with my family,” he said. “I have lived a great life. I didn't let them take my chances away.
He said: “Forty-six years later, I'm still here. Happy and grateful and proud. I didn't leave my sanity in that house near the airport. I am not a victim. It was one night. Something happened. This is my life. “
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). https://www.rainn.org/
Reported by Sienna Leone
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