4.5 KiB
| category | tags | summary | born | died | location | updated | ||
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| Law Enforcement & Legal |
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On December 21, 1978, Joseph R. | 1940-03-20 | 2015-05-13 | Des Plaines, Illinois | 2026-10-15 |
Joseph R. Kozenczak served as a police captain with the Des Plaines Police Department and later advanced to become the detective chief overseeing the investigation into the murders committed by John Wayne Gacy. His son attended Maine West High School as a classmate of Robert Piest, the 15-year-old victim whose disappearance on December 11, 1978, prompted Kozenczak to take personal charge of the case when it reached his desk. Kozenczak authored a book titled The Chicago Killer detailing his experiences leading the probe into Gacy's crimes. He passed away at age 75 on June 25, 2016, with his funeral held at the Maryville Academy.1
Role in Investigation
Joseph R. Kozenczak led the Des Plaines Police team that investigated John Wayne Gacy following the disappearance of Robert Piest from a pharmacy where Gacy had been a contractor. On December 12, 1978, Kozenczak directed officers to pull Gacy's criminal record, revealing a 1968 conviction for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, which escalated the inquiry into Gacy's home at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue in Norwood Park. Kozenczak obtained and executed the first search warrant on December 13, 1978, seizing items including pederasty pornography, date-rape drugs, a hypodermic syringe, a wooden board with rope loops, handcuffs, two driver's licenses, and a Maine West High School graduation ring belonging to victim John Szyc inscribed with initials 'J.A.S.'. He coordinated surveillance on Gacy's associates such as David Cram and Michael Rossi, and interviewed witnesses including Gacy's ex-wife Carole Hoff on December 17, 1978, who provided details on missing youth John Butkovich.1
Key Events
On December 21, 1978, Joseph R. Kozenczak secured a second search warrant for Gacy's property based on his claim that Robert Piest's photo processing receipt from his jacket pocket was discovered in Gacy's kitchen bin during the initial search, though evidence logs and technician statements later disputed this, indicating it was found curbside. Kozenczak's team executed this warrant, draining the flooded crawlspace and uncovering the first human remains, leading to the exhumation of 29 bodies over subsequent weeks and Gacy's arrest that day. During Gacy's interrogation, Kozenczak oversaw revelations implicating accomplices like Cram and Rossi in body disposal, with Gacy confessing to murders of Piest, Butkovich, and Szyc while claiming multiple personalities and syndicate involvement. Kozenczak collaborated with Terry Sullivan, the prosecuting attorney who secured Gacy's 1980 conviction for 33 murders, and maintained contact with Chicago throughout the multi-jurisdictional effort.1
Connections
Joseph R. Kozenczak's investigation linked directly to John Wayne Gacy as the prime suspect in the disappearances of Robert Piest, John Szyc, and John Butkovich, with evidence from Gacy's home tying back to Maine West High School attended by Piest, Szyc, and Kozenczak's son. The writer S. Dovey wrote that he interviewed key witnesses including Carole Hoff, David Cram, and Michael Rossi, who provided details on Gacy's operations and potential accomplices. Terry Sullivan wrote that Des Plaines officers Pickell and Adams interviewed the employee he calls Chris Gray (Cram, per the 1980 trial testimony) on December 16, 1978, first at a job site restaurant in Aurora and then at the police station, and that Kozenczak administered the polygraph to the employee he calls Dick Walsh (Rossi), whose responses were erratic and inconsistent and on which the lieutenant was unable to render a definite opinion.2 Kozenczak worked closely with Terry Sullivan during the prosecution and coordinated with Chicago on broader network inquiries, including potential ties to child trafficking figures like John David Norman and Phillip Paske through Gacy's employment records. His later role as Des Plaines chief involved handling allegations at the Maryville Academy, connecting to youth programs overlapping with Gacy's political influences via Cook County Superintendent Robert Martwick.1