Peacock’s Devil in Disguise was an eerie glimpse into John Wayne Gacy‘s crimes — and execution — but how did the true crime series wrap up?
The scripted series, which premiered on Thursday, October 16, started with the 10-day investigation into the disappearance of teenager Robert Piest, which led to Gacy’s arrest in 1978. From there, Devil in Disguise followed the events that led to his conviction and subsequent execution.
In the final scenes, the families of Gacy’s victims found out that he had died but they weren’t allowed to be in an adjoining room to watch it happen. Other key players from the investigation and trial listened to the radio announce Gacy’s death before Gabriel Luna‘s Detective Rafael Tovar visited the serial killer’s home where dozens of bodies were dug up.
“In the years that followed the horrors of 1978, the Chicago Police Department computerized data associated with missing persons so that patterns among cases could be found between districts,” read a message at the end of the series. “The Intergovernmental Missing Child Recovery Act of 1984 eliminated the 72-hour waiting period before law enforcement searched for a missing child and established the Illinois State Enforcement Agencies to Recover Children or I-SEARCH.”
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The statement highlighted how I-SEARCH “was dedicated to locating missing youth in their respective geographical areas,” adding, “The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has reported that due to technological advances and awareness that fast action saves lives “more than 99 percent of children reported missing in America in recent years have come home alive.”
The message continued: “While this series is fictionalized, these stories reflect the hopes and vulnerabilities of generations of young people. Today’s youth face both similar and unprecedented challenges including economic instability, educational inequality, gun violence and social media pressures. We all have a role to play in fostering safe and supportive environments for everyone.”
Devil in Disguise honored Gacy’s victims by listing each name.
“Six extinguished lives remain unidentified and buried in various Chicago area cemeteries. Each gravestone is inscribed with the words: We Remembered,” read a statement alongside actual clips from the burial of the unclaimed bodies. “If you believe a loved one may have been a victim of John Wayne Gacy, visit the Cook County Sheriff’s Police website at www.cookcountysheriffil.gov.”
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Marin Ireland, who played Robert’s mother, Elizabeth Piest, broke down the shot of her character looking at James Badge Dale‘s Joe Kozenczak after he saw Gacy’s execution and she didn’t.
“I think something very telling is that [creator] Patrick [Macmanus] did not write that as a scene with dialogue. In many ways, they’ve said all they could say to each other over all of the years. In some ways, what’s being communicated is too big for words,” Ireland explained. “It’s very telling that Elizabeth doesn’t want to waste any more words on a person that she feels like doesn’t have the capacity.”
She continued: “It’s a long relationship and it’s like any other deep disappointment with somebody that you shared a long relationship with. It’s not entirely his fault but also what else can you do but associate that person forever with these feelings?”
Gacy was a serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered dozens of young men and boys. After he was convicted of 32 murders, he was sentenced to death and died by lethal injection in 1994.
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The limited series made an effort to focus on Gacy’s victims — something other shows centered around notorious murderers have been chastised for allegedly ignoring. Devil In Disguise: John Wayne Gacy addressed the trauma inflicted on the victims’ families, named each episode after a victim of Gacy’s and questioned investigative missteps and systemic failures that led to Gacy evading the law for so long.
“We knew that we wanted to focus it on the victims but we didn’t exactly know what that meant until we figured out the short stories and the idea that we were talking about these victims’ lives, their hopes and their dreams and their struggles. All of the tragedies that were in their lives that had no connection to their murder at the hands of John Wayne Gacy,” Macmanus told Us. “We were showing stories that showed people struggling with their identity, people struggling with their socioeconomic conditions, people struggling with parent issues. There are millions and millions and millions of people who have all of that in their lives and they don’t kill 33 people. This allows us to talk about John Wayne Gacy without actually making it feel like we are focusing on him or that we’re excusing him. Because the last thing that we do in that show is excuse him.”
Macmanus continued: “The decision on when to show [violence] or when not to show was very simple. We were not showing it and so we knew that there were going to be moments that we would tiptoe up to the line. We weren’t going to disgrace the memory of the victims by doing a reimagining of their violent final moments in this world. So I hope that at the end of the day — as disturbing as it may be — that people also recognize that we’re ultimately honoring the victims by not showing their final moments.”
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy is now streaming on Peacock.
