Warning: This article contains discussion of rape and sexual assault which some readers may find distressing.
Actor Jack Merrill has confirmed he survived being abducted, drugged, and raped by notorious American serial killer John Wayne Gacy in 1978.
The celebrity, whose acting credits include HBO’s Sex and the City and Shondaland’s Grey’s Anatomy, has recalled how his assault took place on the outskirts of Chicago when he was just 19 years old.
“I would go swimming at the YMCA, and one night, after a swim, I was walking home,” the 65-year-old recently wrote for People Magazine. “A guy pulled over and said, ‘Do you want to go for a ride?’
“I thought I’d go around the block a few times, but he started driving quickly and it turned into a really bad neighborhood.”
The O.C alumnus claims that Gacy – who was executed via lethal injection in 1994 – told him to lock the passenger door because it was ‘dangerous’ outside.
“I said they kept that out of the papers because it was bad for business on nearby Rush Street, and he said, ‘How do you know that, huh? You’re smart. You’re not like those other kids.’”
Merrill explained that the cruiser, who often performed as Pogo the Clown, proceeded to pull up off the John F. Kennedy Expressway.
He then turned to the teenager and questioned whether he had ever done ‘poppers’ before.
As per Web MD, poppers are loosely referred to as a ‘party drug’ which users usually inhale to get high. They are typically made with amyl nitrite.
“He pulled out this brown bottle, splashed some liquid on a rag and jammed it into my face,” the Illinois native continued. “I passed out, and when I woke up, I was in handcuffs.
“I saw the exit for Cumberland on the expressway, near the airport, and the next thing I knew, we were outside his house.”
Jack Merrill was kidnapped and sexually assaulted by John Wayne Gacy (Greg Doherty/Getty Images)
Merrill said that upon arriving at Gacy’s suburban home, he proceeded to share a beer with the man before being handcuffed and ‘dragged’ down a hallway.
The Hollywood star remembered how the so-called ‘Killer Clown’ fixed a ‘homemade contraption’ around his neck before later sticking a gun into his mouth.
The serial killer – who was later convicted of 33 murders taking place between 1972 and 1978 – then raped Merrill, who claimed he ‘didn’t have much of a chance’ of fighting him off.
“I also felt sorry for him in a way, like he didn’t necessarily want to be doing what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop,” he told the publication.
“We’d been there for hours. Finally, I could tell he was tiring. All of a sudden he said, ‘I’ll take you home’.”
Gacy reportedly dropped Merrill not too far from where he had picked him up and offered him his phone number in case he wanted to ‘get together again sometime’.
The theatre favorite admitted he ‘flushed the number down the toilet’ before vowing he was ‘going to get past’ the horrific ordeal.
“I wasn’t going to leave my happiness in that house,” he claimed.
Merrill said that while he didn’t call the police at the time of his rape, he later contacted them after reading a newspaper headline alluding to the various bodies recovered by officials at Gacy’s ranch-style home.
The serial killer was executed via lethal injection in 1994. (Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)
In the years that followed his abduction, the surviving victim has learned to ‘forgive’ his rapist.
He also claims to have found solace in the arts as well as his husband of over two decades.
“Acting was therapeutic for me. You’re forced to express yourself, and there is some honesty that goes with that. Recognition and acceptance,” he added.
If you’ve been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org.
