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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Phillip Paske.md
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@ -4,7 +4,19 @@ tags:
- Person
- OrganizedCrime
summary: "Paske acted as custodian of The Delta Project during periods when Norman was imprisoned, managing its activities which included recruiting local Chicago, Illinois, boys for prostitution and pornography."
updated: 2026-09-22
updated: 2026-10-14
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Chicago, Illinois]]"
role: "summer children's supervisor at a fire department pool; dismissed August 15, 1977"
start: 1977
end: 1977
fn: 4
- type: investigated
with: "[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]"
reverse: true
start: 1976
fn: 3
---
Phillip R. Paske, a 25-year-old convicted murderer and thief, served as the closest associate of [[John David Norman]] in the [[Odyssey Network]], also known as the [[Odyssey Foundation]] and later rebranded as [[Delta Project]]. A tall, slimly built transvestite in his twenties with long blond hair, Paske met Norman while incarcerated in Cook County Jail, where he faced charges for accessory to murder, later pled down to theft. Paroled in January 1976 despite his probation status, Paske continued to manage Norman's child trafficking enterprise, operating out of a basement apartment on W. Wrightwood Avenue in [[Chicago]], which functioned as a photography studio for producing child pornography.[^1]
@ -18,6 +30,12 @@ The Delta Project under Paske's involvement maintained operations in Chicago, [[
Paske was implicated in the procurement of boys for sex and movies, as detailed in payroll records showing his employment at [[John Wayne Gacy]]'s PDM Construction company in September 1978, just months before Gacy's arrest. Receipts dated September 12, 19, and 25, 1978, confirm Paske's work there, during which he had keys to Gacy's house and allegedly used it for illicit activities when Gacy was absent. These actions tied Paske to a broader network of child exploitation, including potential involvement in snuff films as claimed by Gacy in 1992 interviews.[^1]
### Chicago Tribune and FBI Records, 1976 and 1977
The Chicago Tribune reported in May 1977 that Paske had been out of jail on probation "since last July," which places his release in July 1976 rather than January 1976, and that the Chicago police Area 6 youth division had found a Chicago post office box used by the Delta Project registered to Paske and Norman.[^2] An FBI memorandum dated October 19, 1976 (file 166-2548) names Paske together with Norman and John Shanks in an investigation of the Delta Project, as reported by an investigator for the Cook County state's attorney's office on October 18, 1976.[^3]
The Tribune reported on August 16, 1977, that the city of Chicago had fired Paske, 25, on August 15 from a summer job as children's supervisor at a fire department swimming pool near Navy Pier, after the paper informed city officials of his background. City records showed he was hired July 28 at $4.75 an hour under the federal Comprehensive Employment and Training Act. The paper reported that Paske and Norman had shared a post office box until July 1, and that Paske had been jailed as the driver of a getaway car in the robbery-killing of a stamp collector, originally charged with murder and later pleading guilty to attempted armed robbery under a plea bargain.[^4]
### Connections
Paske was a close associate of John David Norman, meeting him in Cook County Jail where he assisted in launching The Delta Project and later cohabited with him in a Chicago, apartment for pornography production. [[Charles Rehling]], a client of Norman's Epic International service, leased his apartment to Norman under the alias Steven Gurwell, indirectly connecting Paske to the property used for Delta Project operations. [[Kenneth Hellstrom]], a boy who testified against Norman in 1976, was murdered in January 1977, with Paske emerging as a prime suspect due to his role in the network, though the case remained unsolved for decades until 2007.[^1]
@ -26,12 +44,16 @@ Paske connected to John Wayne Gacy through employment at Gacy's PDM Construction
Paske's ties extended to Norman's broader network, including links to operations in New Orleans, via [[Troop 137]] and publications like Hermes, which advertised Delta Project services. Through Gacy, Paske connected to political figures in Chicago, as Gacy's home inventory listed files on payoffs to city inspectors and politicians, potentially overlapping with Paske's procurement activities. These connections formed a web of child trafficking involving pimping, pornography, and possible murders tied to silencing witnesses.[^1]
### Legal Outcome
Paske was arrested alongside John David Norman in November 1973 during a raid on Charles Rehling's Homewood apartment, where police found Odyssey Foundation materials, but specific charges against Paske from this incident are not detailed beyond his incarceration for prior offenses. He was released on probation in 1976, in July according to Chicago police, and carried on the Delta Project, avoiding immediate charges for jail-based operations.[^2] In June 1978, following the raid on the Wrightwood Avenue apartment after Michael Salcido's report, Paske was released without charge despite living there and being linked to the seized client cards for The Creative Corps.[^1]
Paske was arrested alongside John David Norman in November 1973 during a raid on Charles Rehling's Homewood apartment, where police found Odyssey Foundation materials, but specific charges against Paske from this incident are not detailed beyond his incarceration for prior offenses. He was released on probation in 1976, in July according to Chicago police, and carried on the Delta Project, avoiding immediate charges for jail-based operations.[^5] In June 1978, following the raid on the Wrightwood Avenue apartment after Michael Salcido's report, Paske was released without charge despite living there and being linked to the seized client cards for The Creative Corps.[^1]
Paske became a prime suspect in Kenneth Hellstrom's January 1977 murder due to Hellstrom's testimony against Norman, but no conviction resulted, and the case went cold until [[Fred Rogers]] confessed in 2007. Similarly, Paske was suspected in Michael Salcido's February 1979 murder, as Salcido was set to testify against Norman, but the case was attributed to drug dealers with no charges against Paske. During John Wayne Gacy's 1980 trial, Paske was listed as a potential witness for both prosecution and defense, but he was never charged in connection to Gacy's crimes despite payroll evidence and Gacy's 1992 claims of his involvement in procuring victims and snuff films.[^1]
Paske's legal entanglements culminated in his loss of employment as a children's supervisor in 1978 following Norman's arrest, but he faced no further convictions for child trafficking or pimping documented in the records. Gacy's pre-execution statements in 1992 naming Paske as an accomplice prompted no new investigations or charges against him. Overall, Paske evaded conviction for his central role in The Delta Project and related activities, remaining free after 1978 without documented legal repercussions for child exploitation.[^1]
### Footnotes
[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). Eye of the Chickenhawk. United States: Thehotstar.
[^2]: *Chicago Tribune,* May 1977, reprinted in U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime. *Sexual Exploitation of Children,* hearings, 95th Congress, 1st session, Serial No. 12, 1977, which describes Paske, 25, as "a convicted murderer and thief" on probation "since last July" (that is, July 1976) and carrying on the Delta Project in Norman's absence; it gives no January 1976 parole. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153502_0041
[^2]: *Chicago Tribune*, May 16, 1977, reprinted in U.S. House of Representatives, *Sexual Exploitation of Children*, hearings, Serial No. 12 (1977), p. 434. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153502_0041
[^3]: Federal Bureau of Investigation, memorandum, SAC Chicago (166-NEW), dated October 19, 1976, file 166-2548, FOIPA release 1352511-001 (Philip Paske file). https://vault.fbi.gov/philip-paske/philip-paske-part-01
[^4]: "Porno-Ring Suspect Fired by City," *Chicago Tribune*, August 16, 1977, p. 31.
[^5]: *Chicago Tribune,* May 1977, reprinted in U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime. *Sexual Exploitation of Children,* hearings, 95th Congress, 1st session, Serial No. 12, 1977, which describes Paske, 25, as "a convicted murderer and thief" on probation "since last July" (that is, July 1976) and carrying on the Delta Project in Norman's absence; it gives no January 1976 parole. https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41153502_0041