Johnny and Me: The True Story of John Wayne Gacy

JOHNNY AND ME

The True Story Of John Wayne Gacy

A Memoir

BARRY E. BOSCHELLI

Childhood Friend

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© 2008 Barry E. Boschelli. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 01/05/2017

ISBN: 978-1-4343-2184-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-5540-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4670-8648-6 (e)

Contents

INTRODUCTION

OVERVIEW

CHAPTER 1

My Mother and Father’s Meeting

CHAPTER 2

In the Beginning Nagel and Roscoe – 1946 – 5 years of age

CHAPTER 3

Monitor

CHAPTER 4

My Name is John Wayne Gacy And this is My Family

CHAPTER 5

Characterization of My Father

CHAPTER 6

My Love for Trains

CHAPTER 7

The Adventures of Johnny and Barry

PHOTOS

CHAPTER 8

The Malt Shop

CHAPTER 9

Elmwood Park

CHAPTER 10

My Mother’s Last Days

CHAPTER 11

The Theft of the Jewelry Box

CHAPTER 12

The White House

CHAPTER 13

Running from the Devil

360

CHAPTER 14

Mental Analysis

CHAPTER 15

My Move to Florida

CHAPTER 16

My Final Thoughts

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is

dedicated to

My Dear Mother and Sister Connie.

They have since passed away.

I will always have these two special loved ones

in my heart and mind forever.

Introduction

Johnny and Me is a true story about my childhood experiences growing up in the northwest side of Chicago with John Wayne Gacy. This story details the everyday life experiences in my and Johnny’s homes. Details of our families are in the book along with the understanding of each of our parents as they raised us in the 1940’s and 1950’s. Many of these stories included are of my personal life before Johnny came on the scene in order to let the reader understand my point of view as my life unfolded. I have tried to show you the Johnny that I remember as a childhood friend and I hope that I have been as accurate as I can be on this subject.

Various moments of joy, anger, and fear are shared between the two of us as we tried to have a normal childhood in the midst of anxiety and confusion that was brought on by our father’s abuse of alcohol and demanding personalities. The story portrays how our environments molded our characters and helped us to make choices in our adult lives. Details regarding our reactions to everyday events supply hints of how Johnny and I would function in our separate social worlds as we matured.

Johnny’s possessive nature is described as we went playing normal childhood games and making new friends. His religious experiences are mentioned and a complete description of his controlling personality is shared as one of Johnny’s ways to cope with his surroundings. Other details of Johnny’s life are revealed such as his early desire to be in the spotlight of social applause.

Several stories are shared of Johnny, by Barry Boschelli. Situations such as his manipulation of his heart trouble to gain an element of sympathy for his father’s good graces and attention.

The book concludes with my personal emotions about a friend whose life went the wrong way. His childhood, along with my own, could have been different.

The Truman’s are residing in the White House. President Harry S. Truman and First Lady Bess Truman are at the helm. Harry S. Truman was directing the policies and affairs of state from the Oval Office. President Truman had a plaque on his desk that read, The Buck Stops Here. It was laid on his shoulders and his conscious about the decision to drop the Atomic Bomb in the city of Hiroshima on the Island of Japan on August 6th, 1945. Since the brave and honorable Japanese would not surrender, the President ordered another strike on the City of Nagasaki on August 9th, 1945. Then finally the Japanese surrendered after the casualties of dropping bombs were estimated at 250,000 deaths from those two famous cities. World War II had just ended. The mood of the country is upbeat. The Baby Boom is in full swing. Television has come of age and Elvis Presley’s Rock and Roll has taken the country and my generation by storm.

Now the entertainment world would bring laughter and tears personally to us each night as we glued ourselves to the television screen. What a marvelous invention! The world of news was now at our fingertips.

The newest fads, the TV dinner and the TV trays eventually placed kitchen tables and the dining room tables out of commission. This was known as the TV Generation. I wonder how many families eat at their kitchen tables today. At 66, I still use a TV tray. How funny it is that I still have that habit.

This will be a personal memoir by me, Barry Boschelli, who knew Johnny better than anyone outside his own family. We will travel that alley which divided Johnny’s block from mine. Johnny’s home was on the corner of Sunnyside and Marmora. My bungalow is on Monitor, four houses from the corner of Sunnyside up the alley. Both Johnny and I have walked that alley many times in happiness and sorrow. If that strip of ground could ever talk, what stories would be known about the decisions of our abusive alcoholic fathers that formulated the events of our adolescent and pre teen lives. I have written various episodes that we talked about as we walked that strip of alley from Johnny’s house to mine.

There have been many books written about Johnny and his gore. I didn’t write on that subject. I would like to give you a deeper insight into what Johnny and I were like. I hope that when you finish reading this book, you will have a much clearer picture of him, the other piece of the puzzle. My story is like a 20 ton Steam Locomotive. Imagine the Big Boy of Holiday Park in Cheyenne, WY that is on display while you are driving down Lincoln Way It starts out slowly, huffing and puffing. It picks up power and speed as it is going up Snowy Range towards Laramie, WY.

Johnny’s sexual behavior and deceitfulness caught up with him. I hope by the time you have finished, some of your questions will be answered. Johnny and my friendship was never anything more than that childhood friends. There have been people that have thought that our relationship was more than it really was but again it was nothing more than a childhood friendship. I hope the medical and psychological professionals of this country will read my book and find it interesting due to the fact that Johnny stood alone and followed no serial killer’s pattern. Then I will feel that as an author I have done my job well.

Now come with me as I turn back the pages of time of the 1950’s. Let us take that journey together. As I share some memories, some sad and some fond. Nevertheless, together they made up the various stories you are about to read. I opened up my mind and through my recollections; you will experience these unbelievable and incredible adventures.

In these adventures and events I use the word Lord. Johnny and I were guided by the Lord’s love and compassion for us both.

I would like to acknowledge that by writing this book, I realized my Lord has placed close friends and other people in my in my association. I made new friends and acquaintances that help me write "Johnny and Me".

By writing Johnny and Me, I truly hope that I will help you form a vision of Johnny and me during our adolescents in the 1950’s. Yes, Lord did have a unique childhood due to our environment and our alcoholic abusive fathers. I am writing this for the victims of mental and physical abuse due to alcoholism.

OVERVIEW

My overall view points on how I felt about writing this book

What I am about to write as an individual and my personal and emotional feelings. I started this endeavor right after Johnny was put to sleep May 10th, 1994. It has been very emotional and at times very heart wrenching as I sit by myself with the Lord at my side recalling things that happened 57 years ago.

At that point, I was living outside of Chicago, 65 miles northwest of the Loop, working as a caretaker at a private estate. In addition my outside job was community director giving out free clothes to the community. My jobs are numerous in detail. By now Mother my sister Connie, and Father are gone. Johnny’s mother, Johnny’s father, and Johnny are gone also, Johnny’s two sisters are the only ones left representing his siblings.

I used to share stories with various people with whom I work with at the Open Closet known as Dorcus, where I was the community director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Moreover, it was not until my closest friend Joy and her family asked me, Why don’t you write a book about all the events that took place during your relationship when Johnny and you were children? I never really considered myself a storywriter. Therefore, I started putting down and recalling memories of those things that happened many years ago.

To start with, I would like to state as clear as I can, that by writing about Johnny I am not trying to glorify him in any way. However, I feel very strongly that the public should be able to have the complete story with the missing pieces of the puzzle.

As I started to put my words on paper, I could feel that this was not going to be a very simple thing to do. It has been hard and difficult for me, the author of this book, to make you, the reader, understand the anguish I have encountered all these years. I wanted my readers to actually feel the time period where all this took place.

There I was. It had been snowing and the cold winter air had added to the gripping of this story. The woman that I worked for had left for Europe to visit a dear friend of hers. Between my chores of taking care of her home, one dog, her twelve cats, I would sit down each evening and recall memories that in return would cause me to break down and cry. How does a person like me put words on paper of what it really was like?

As I recalled these memories, I did not know at the time how much Johnny had gone through with his father. At the time I could only try as a friend to understand the situation. As children we were no different from anyone else. We both dreamed of wanting whatever God wanted for the both of us. I feel that Johnny could have had a great career as a singer and I could have been his manager. This would have been a crossroad in our lives and our lives would have surely changed. The Lord gives each of us a talent and we either use it to the best of our abilities or squander and waste the opportunity. If only I could have had the opportunity to go back and ask my father to listen, and introduce Johnny to some of the many contacts from his lounge businesses. I regret that I didn’t pursue it further, but I had a great fear of my father’s temper and chose not to cause any more trouble with him. My father just tolerated me.

Many people have recently approached me and asked how Johnny and I got along. I have tried to answer that since both of us were trying to aim for the same acceptance with our respective fathers, and although I was older, I had to deal with his character as he dealt with mine.

The 1950’s were the innocent years for us and our friends. Johnny and I were both complex individuals with our dealings with each other, but somehow we were able to work them out.

Now let us go further into the relationship of our houses that I have mentioned in the book. As my thoughts were being placed on paper, how does one like me try to capture the feelings and fears that ran through us all?

My book tells of so many trials that each of us had to go through. I tried to let you, the reader, feel the moments of anxiety as well as what was right or wrong.

Let us take the two fathers who are the main characters. I tried to put it in my own terms without using fancy words. I tried to show you how they manipulated their charming ways. I showed you how that when they indulged themselves in liquor they could be so abusive, so hateful, non-emotional, and without compassion. My father and Johnny’s father, without realizing it, were both from the same mold.

I pointed out rarities in my book that once in a great while they both could be good fathers and make our lives pleasant. Nevertheless, that was very rare indeed.

How under the influence of liquor, their arrogance and constant lying, I showed you how Johnny and I coped with our lives as they were.

Now on the other hand we had two adoring loving mothers who struggled through these various unwarranted, wrenching, heart-pulling events. I have taken you into their hearts and shown you mothers who had to fight to overcome the obstacles before them.

My words will never do justice to my mother or Marion, Johnny’s mother, for the sacrifice they made. As I look back now over my life through the years, I have had to go in for personal counseling. I have had many moments and flash-backs that have caused some difficulties for me. Nevertheless, I feel very strongly that these stories have to be told. Many tears have been shed over the years. I still find it unbelievable at times that all this really happened.

It is hard to take a human being like Johnny and very carefully separate the good and the bad traits to such a degree that it will not conjure up in some as being overwhelmingly vile. I have tried to give my reader a complete picture of what made us both tick. There will always be people who will not try to understand all the facts. Now I feel I have laid out the blue print of the two houses and the two families that made up this story.

I would like to state here, that in August of 1999 a documentary producer for Towers Productions out of Chicago, Mr. Andrew Holland, contacted my brother Danny in Florida thinking that he was me. Now Danny likes to play jokes once in a while. My brother called me and told me that this producer was going to contact me and ask me to appear on A & E. When the phone call arrived, the party on the other end, Mr. Holland, told me that this was no joke and asked me if I was indeed Barry Boschelli and if I really grew up with John Wayne Gacy.

I had the opportunity of appearing on A & E, along with Karen Gacy Kuzman, James Cavanaugh, psychiatrist of the State of Illinois, Helen Morrison, the defense psychiatrist for the John Wayne Gacy, Sam Amirante, John Wayne Gacy’s attorney, Terry Sullivan, John Wayne Gacy’s prosecutor, and Dave Hachmeister, one of the police investigators that arrested John Wayne Gacy. The interview was conducted in the Blackstone Hotel, the former headquarters for Al