A number of New Toronto businesses were converted into an area in Chicago and home of brutal Killer Clown, John Wayne Gacy, who murdered 33 men and boys and was executed.
Parts of New Toronto were converted to Chicago for a TV series to portray the hometown of U.S. 1970s serial killer John Wayne Gacy, also known as the Killer Clown.
The Paramount real-life thriller Devil in Disguise follows Gacy, one of the most sadistic and notorious serial killers, who was dubbed the Killer Clown because he volunteered as a clown for sick kids.
The so-called “community leader” secretly kidnapped, murdered and buried 33 young men and boys under his house near Chicago, Illinois from 1972 to 1978.
Some businesses in the Lake Shore Blvd. W., and Sixth Street area had their exteriors converted to represent scenes for the horror house where Gacy killed the men and boys.
Some of the vintage 1970s era vehicles in lot awaiting filming of Devil in Disguise. Staff photos.
One well-known accounting firm was converted to a wooden small-town bar, another a food store, with a fake U.S. recruiting office and bank across the street.
About a dozen vehicles from the 1970s were parked in a nearby lot for filming.
The streaming series stars Michael Chernus as the serial killer, Gabriel Luna and James Badge Dale as detectives.
“It’s heartbreaking for me to think of what his victims could have done with their lives had the system not failed them so tragically,” Chernus said on Instagram. “…we (hope) we can play some part in preventing this from ever happening again.“
Actor Michael Chernus plays notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy (right), who was executed in 1994.
Gacy was a building contractor, and divorced father of two, who committed all of his known murders inside his ranch-style home.
After he was arrested in 1978, 26 of his victims were found in the crawl space of his home. He was sentenced to death in 1980 and executed by lethal injection in 1994. He was 52.
Gacy was a children’s entertainer at one point, dressing up as “Pogo the Clown.” He was given the name, “The Killer Clown.”
The series will be hitting the small screen later this year.