10 Careless Mistakes That Got Serial Killers Caught

Newsflash: Clowns are creepy and if your neighbor enjoys dressing up like one, you're right to eye them suspiciously. Especially if their front yard smells like a rotting corpse.

John Wayne Gacy, the infamous clown killer, did indeed revel in his guise as Pogo the Clown to entertain sick children. He was a respected businessman, involved in local politics, and was seemingly kind enough to hire troubled youth to work for him.

Sadly, many of these young boys, as well as some male prostitutes, were raped and killed by Gacy in the 1970s. Believe it or not, he was actually given a prison sentence for sexually assaulting one of his employees but was released for good behavior before moving to the Chicago area.

Gacy's first dumb mistake was taking the boys to his home to rape, torture, and kill them. His second was hiding the bodies in the crawl space under his home. Gacy was investigated as the last person seen with a missing teen and evidence around his property — including an unsettling stench — warranted his arrest.

After confessing, police found nearly 30 bodies beneath his home and another dumped in a nearby river. Had he not confessed and used his home as a dumpsite, there's a chance the well-regarded community man could have talked his way to freedom.