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17
60 - PLACES/CITIES/Norwood Park.md
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@ -4,25 +4,26 @@ tags:
- Place
- Illinois
- JohnWayneGacy
summary: "Norwood Park is a township on the northwest edge of Chicago, Illinois, where John Wayne Gacy lived and committed at least 33 murders between 1972 and 1978, burying most of his victims beneath his house at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue."
summary: "Norwood Park is a community area on the northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, where John Wayne Gacy lived and committed at least 33 murders between 1972 and 1978, burying most of his victims beneath his house at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue."
created: 2026-05-14
updated: 2026-05-17
location: "Cook County, Illinois, USA"
---
Norwood Park is an unincorporated township in Cook County, Illinois, situated on the northwest edge of the Chicago metropolitan area. The community occupies a residential stretch of bungalows and ranch-style homes between the city of Chicago and its northwest suburbs.[^1]
Norwood Park is a Chicago community area (Community Area 10) on the city's northwest side, originally an 1870s railroad suburb whose village incorporated on July 25, 1874 and voted on November 7, 1893, by 124 to 27, to be annexed to Chicago. Its homes include Victorian, Tudor, bungalow and ranch styles. The separate Norwood Park Township, created in 1873 and 1874, survives as the unincorporated part of the township together with the villages of Harwood Heights and parts of Norridge and Park Ridge, which share some government services.[^1]
### John Wayne Gacy
Norwood Park is the location where [[John Wayne Gacy]] lived and carried out all of his known murders. Gacy operated a construction contracting business and maintained a visible public profile in the community - hosting annual neighborhood parties attended by hundreds of residents, politicians, and business associates, and volunteering as a community entertainer in a clown costume under the persona "Pogo."[^1]
[[John Wayne Gacy]] lived at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue, in the unincorporated part of Norwood Park Township with a Norridge address, and the murders for which he was convicted were committed there.[^2] He operated a construction contracting business, PDM Construction Company.[^2]
Gacy's home at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue was the site of at least 33 murders committed between 1972 and 1978. His victims were predominantly young men and teenage boys whom he lured to the house, often under the pretext of offering construction work. He would dupe victims into placing handcuffs on themselves as part of a supposed magic trick, then rape, torture, and kill them by asphyxiation or strangulation. He buried 26 victims in the crawl space beneath his house, three elsewhere on the property, and discarded four in the Des Plaines River.[^1]
Gacy was charged with 33 counts of murder. The Illinois Supreme Court recorded that he told police he had killed about 30 people, that excavation of the crawl space and the area around the house recovered 29 bodies (from the crawl space, under the driveway and under the garage), and that four bodies were recovered from the Des Plaines and Illinois rivers, downstream from where he said he had thrown them. The record describes a "rope trick" with a rosary used to strangle victims and testimony that victims were tricked into handcuffs; six bodies were found with ligatures around the neck and 13 with cloth or other material in the mouth and throat.[^2]
Gacy was arrested in December 1978 following the disappearance of 15-year-old [[Robert Piest]], the final victim. Police traced the last known contact to Gacy, and the subsequent investigation uncovered the bodies in the crawl space. He was convicted on 33 counts of murder and sentenced to death on March 13, 1980. He was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994.[^1]
Gacy was arrested in December 1978 following the disappearance of 15-year-old [[Robert Piest]], the final victim, who had told his mother he was going to see a building contractor about a summer job. Police traced the last known contact to Gacy, and the subsequent investigation uncovered the bodies in the crawl space. He was convicted of 33 counts of murder, with death sentences on 12 counts and natural-life terms on the other 21, the death verdict returned on March 13, 1980; the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed on June 6, 1984.[^2] He was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994.
The house at 8213 West Summerdale was demolished after Gacy's arrest. A new structure was built on the lot.[^2]
The house at 8213 West Summerdale was demolished after Gacy's arrest. A new structure was built on the lot.[^3]
### Footnotes
[^1]: "John Wayne Gacy," Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wayne_Gacy
[^2]: "What Happened to John Wayne Gacy's House?" *Newsweek,* 2022. https://www.newsweek.com/john-wayne-gacy-house-now-what-happened-location-1701023
[^1]: Norwood Park Historical Society, "Defining Norwood Park" and "History of Norwood Park," https://norwoodparkhistoricalsociety.org/defining-norwood-park/ and https://norwoodparkhistoricalsociety.org/about-chicagos-norwood-park-neighborhood/
[^2]: People v. Gacy, 103 Ill. 2d 1 (1984) (Illinois Supreme Court, No. 53212, opinion filed June 6, 1984), https://static.case.law/ill-2d/103/html/0001-01.html
[^3]: "What Happened to John Wayne Gacy's House?" *Newsweek,* 2022. https://www.newsweek.com/john-wayne-gacy-house-now-what-happened-location-1701023

10
60 - PLACES/COUNTRIES/Iraq.md
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@ -17,15 +17,15 @@ Iraq occupies the territory of ancient [[Mesopotamia]] between the [[Tigris Rive
### CIA and the Ba'ath Party
Qassem's government included significant participation by the [[Iraqi Communist Party]], which alarmed [[Central Intelligence Agency]] planners during the Cold War. CIA support for the [[Ba'ath Party]] in Iraq was documented in subsequent investigations. In 1959, a young [[Saddam Hussein]] participated in a failed CIA-linked assassination attempt against Qassem.
Qassem's government included significant participation by the [[Iraqi Communist Party]], which alarmed [[Central Intelligence Agency]] planners during the Cold War. CIA support for the [[Ba'ath Party]] in Iraq was documented in subsequent investigations. On October 7, 1959 Qassem was wounded in the shoulder in an assassination attempt. The journalist Richard Sale reported in 2003, citing unnamed former U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials and the writer Adel Darwish, that a young [[Saddam Hussein]] was part of a "CIA-authorized six-man squad" tasked with killing Qasim and was later paid and trained by the CIA in Beirut and watched over in Cairo; the CIA declined to comment, and the historian Bryan Gibson has cited declassified records showing that on October 1, 1959 [[Allen Dulles]] told the National Security Council only that an attempt might be made in the next two months.[^2]
The Ba'ath Party seized power on February 8, 1963, in a coup that the CIA had advance knowledge of and facilitated. The incoming Ba'athist government received from the CIA lists of suspected communists and leftists; those lists were used to direct the killing of thousands of political opponents in the weeks following the coup. The Ba'ath lost power later in 1963 but returned in a second coup on July 17, 1968, establishing the regime that would govern until 2003.[^2]
On February 8, 1963 Qassem was overthrown and killed in a coup led by the Ba'ath Party. White House aide Robert Komer told President [[John F. Kennedy]] the Iraqi revolution was "almost certainly a net gain for our side," and Secretary of State [[Dean Rusk]] asked on February 9 for authority to recognize the new regime. The role of the CIA is disputed: Roger Morris, a former National Security Council staff member, said the CIA chose the Ba'ath Party "as its instrument" and was behind the coup; a former very senior CIA official told United Press International the Agency was "absolutely stunned"; and the same report cited unnamed former U.S. intelligence officials as saying the CIA gave Iraqi National Guardsmen lists of suspected communists, who were then shot.[^2] The Ba'ath lost power later in 1963 but returned in a second coup on July 17, 1968, establishing the regime that would govern until 2003.[^1]
Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr served as president until [[Saddam Hussein]] forced his resignation on July 16, 1979. Saddam assumed the presidency and within days held a party congress at which he personally identified and had arrested dozens of alleged conspirators; hundreds of senior party figures were subsequently executed.
Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr served as president until Saddam Hussein forced his resignation on July 16, 1979. Saddam assumed the presidency and within days held a party congress at which he personally identified and had arrested dozens of alleged conspirators; hundreds of senior party figures were subsequently executed.
### Iran-Iraq War and Western Support
Iraq invaded [[Iran]] in September 1980 following the instability created by the [[Iranian Revolution]]. The eight-year [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988) killed an estimated half-million to one million people and devastated the economies of both countries. The [[Reagan administration]] tilted toward Iraq from 1982, providing CIA satellite intelligence, agricultural credits, arms, and dual-use technology to Baghdad - while simultaneously running the covert arms-for-hostages pipeline to Iran that became the [[Iran-Contra Affair]].[^2]
Iraq invaded Iran in September 1980 following the instability created by the [[Iranian Revolution]]. The eight-year [[Iran-Iraq War]] (1980-1988) killed an estimated half-million to one million people and devastated the economies of both countries. The [[Reagan administration]] tilted toward Iraq from 1982. A State Department memorandum of October 7, 1983 stated that the policy of strict neutrality had been modified, except for arms sales, since the summer of 1982, and assumed that tactical intelligence would continue; a presidential directive of April 5, 1984 (NSDD 139) ordered a plan to prevent Iraq's defeat; and on November 29, 1984 Secretary of State [[George Shultz]] told Tariq Aziz that superior intelligence must be an important factor in Iraq's defense. Meanwhile the administration ran the covert arms-for-hostages pipeline to Iran that became the [[Iran-Contra Affair]].[^2]
[[Donald Rumsfeld]] visited Saddam Hussein in December 1983 as a special envoy, cementing the relationship at a moment when U.S. intelligence knew Iraq was using chemical weapons against Iranian troops. The financial structure supporting Iraqi arms procurement implicated [[Banca Nazionale del Lavoro]]'s [[Atlanta]] branch in what became the [[BNL scandal]]. Chilean arms manufacturer [[Carlos Cardoen]] supplied cluster munitions to Iraq through CIA-connected channels. [[PROMIS]] software was allegedly sold to Iraqi intelligence in backdoor-equipped form.[^3]
@ -42,5 +42,5 @@ The subsequent occupation produced the [[Abu Ghraib]] prisoner abuse scandal and
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Iraq," *Encyclopaedia Britannica.* https://www.britannica.com/place/Iraq
[^2]: "CIA activities in Iraq," Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Iraq
[^2]: Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963, vol. XVIII, Near East, 1962-1963, documents 153 and 154 (February 8 and 9, 1963), https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1961-63v18 ; Richard Sale, "Exclusive: Saddam key in early CIA plot," United Press International, April 10, 2003, https://www.upi.com/Exclusive-Saddam-key-in-early-CIA-plot/65571050017416/ ; Joyce Battle, ed., "Shaking Hands with Saddam Hussein: The U.S. Tilts toward Iraq, 1980-1984," National Security Archive Electronic Briefing Book No. 82, February 25, 2003, https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB82/
[^3]: Friedman, Alan. *Spider's Web: The Secret History of How the White House Illegally Armed Iraq.* Bantam Books, 1993.