A retired police officer who worked the John Wayne Gacy case discusses the famed serial killer in the new Peacock docuseries Devil in Disguise (watch it here on Peacock).
The clip above features Michael Albrecht, a retired Des Plaines, Illinois, police officer who was part of the surveillance team that followed Gacy for nine days in December 1978, ultimately leading to his arrest. Albrecht was even present when Gacy drew a diagram of where his victims were located in the crawlspace under his home.
Gacy took a specific liking to Albrecht, who told the docuseries about the many connections the serial killer had in Chicago.
“He was a real braggart,” he says. “He would imply all his contacts that he had in the city of Chicago. He had a lot of friends at the Chicago Police Department. He would at times give tidbits of what he had, all his contacts. He never really said, ‘Oh, they’ve done this for me.’ It’s more like planting a seed that if he needs help, he knows where to go to get it.”
Craig Bowley began corresponding with Gacy through letters upon his arrest in 1978. What began as curiosity about how someone could commit so many gruesome crimes blossomed into a friendship that lasted until Gacy’s execution in 1994. In the clip, he also alludes to Gacy’s connections within the city.
“Well, because of his political connections, John felt he had Teflon coating — he could get away with anything,” he says. “That’s what I’ve learned is like, ‘Oh my god,’ there’s a whole tractor-trailer load of details about Chicago politics that I never even considered.”
All six episodes of John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise are streaming now on Peacock. The docuseries examines the famed serial killer and explores parts of the case that many believe to be unresolved. It includes an interview with Gacy himself in prison, seen in full for the first time.