Murder of John Butkovich

John Butkovich (September 16, 1956 – July 31, 1975) was a Croatian American young man who disappeared on July 31, 1975.

John Butkovich was born on September 16, 1956, in Slavonski Brod, Croatia, to parents Marko and Terezia Butkovich.

His father, Marko Butkovich, was an immigrant from Yugoslavia.

At some point later in their lives, the family moved to the United States, residing in the state of Illinois.

He was a victim of American serial killer and sex offender John Wayne Gacy, who murdered, raped and tortured at least 33 young men and boys between 1972 and 1978.

Unbeknownst to Butkovich, Gacy had previously committed at least two known murders; he killed a 16-year-old teenager called Timothy McCoy in January 1972 as well as an unidentified victim in 1974.

Around c. 1973, when Butkovich was 16 and still in high school, he was working in a hardware store when a man named John Wayne Gacy offered him a construction job in his PDM Contractors business.

Gacy stated that Butkovich was a "tireless kid" who "learned fast."

Gacy's wife, Carole Hoff, described Butkovich as a "very nice boy" who was at Gacy's house several times and had dinner with the couple.

Hoff would nickname Butkovich as "Little John" and Gacy as "Big John."

When Gacy's mother moved to Arkansas to be with Gacy's sister, Karen, and the rest of Karen's family, Butkovich helped her move there.

During Butkovich's time working for Gacy, his and Hoff's marriage worsened, which led to Hoff doing much travelling with her daughters, who were stepdaughters to Gacy.

In July 1975, she and the kids travelled to Arkansas to help Karen look after her and Gacy's mother, who had broke her hip.

Hoff never saw Butkovich alive again.

In the evening of July 30, 1975, Butkovich arrived at one of his father's apartments, complaining to him that Gacy had not been paying him his check for the last two weeks worth of work.

The elder Butkovich suggested that if Gacy continued to not pay him, John should inform authorities.

Gacy claimed in a later account that in the morning of July 31, Butkovich and three other friends arrived at his house, threatening to "kick his ass" unless he gave him the check, with Gacy saying he would pay him after he got Butkovich's files.

According to Gacy, things later calmed down and he presented the files on Butkovich, which stated that he owed Gacy $300.

They eventually reached a compromise, with Gacy claiming that they all proceeded to smoke marijuana and drink beer before Butkovich and his friends left and Gacy fell asleep in his chair.

In the evening of that same day, Gacy was said to encountered Butkovich exiting his car, waving to attract his attention.

The drunk young man said to Gacy: "I wanna talk to ya," with the also drunk Gacy telling him to get in his car.

He drove Butkovich back to his house, which was located in Norwood Park Township.

When they arrived, Gacy stated that Butkovich started shouting at him, demanding for his check.

Gacy managed to calm Butkovich down and then conned him into allowing his wrists to be handcuffed behind his back.

Butkovich threatened Gacy by saying: "When I get these cuffs off, you're a dead man."

Gacy told Butkovich that he wouldn't take the cuffs off until he "sobered up", adding: "If anyone gets killed, it's you John [Butkovich]."

Gacy later admitted to having "sat on the kid's chest for a while" before laying down besides Butkovich and "kept the angry, drunken boy company until he came to his senses."

Gacy confessed to strangling Butkovich to death; he was 18 years old.

After Butkovich's death, Gacy stowed body in his garage, intending to bury the remains of Butkovich later in his crawl space along with Timothy McCoy's body.

However, when his wife Carole Hoff and her daughters returned home from their trip to Arkansas earlier than expected, Gacy was forced to bury Butkovich's body under the concrete floor of the tool room extension of his garage in an empty space where he had originally intended to dig a drain tile.

Gacy told Hoff that Butkovich had quit his job at PDM and had run away.

Butkovich's father, Marko Butkovich, later found his son's car abandoned with the keys in the ignition, which made him suspicious as his son would always park his car in the garage, but he didn't touch the car as he feared he could destroy evidence if he did.

Marko then dialed the police, mentioning that his son had intended to confront Gacy the night before.

When the police arrived, they checked inside the car and found John Butkovich's jacket as well as wallet containing $40.

Gacy was then questioned by police, saying that John and two friends had arrived at his house demanding the overdue pay, but they had reached a compromise and all three had left and had likely disappeared after that.

The police believed Gacy and told the Butkovich family that John was probably a runaway, but the family was sure he hadn't run away and feared for his life.

For this reason, Marko directly phoned Gacy, who claimed he was happy to help search for his son but was sorry John had run away.

For the next three years, Butkovich's parents called police over 100 times, urging them to investigate Gacy further, but police soon refused to take anymore calls from them.

Butkovich was only Gacy's third known victim.

Butkovich was killed by Gacy on the day of his disappearance, and remained missing for three years before his body was unearthed from Gacy's home on December 22, 1978, and his remains were conclusively identified a week later on December 29, 1978.