On December 11th, 1978, a 15-year-old boy disappears after finishing work at a drugstore in Des Plaines, Illinois. Law enforcement is soon on the case and two days later, a search warrant is executed at a family home in the suburbs. But what investigators uncover in the coming weeks and months is beyond their wildest and most grotesque nightmares, as the public is left aghast when one of the country’s most infamous and prolific serial killers is exposed. Someone who killed not just Robert Jerome Piest, but at least 32 other boys and young men. In part 2, a new voice joins the conversation in the form of attorney and author Karen Conti, who represented Gacy in his final death penalty appeal and wrote a book about her experience.
Like this podcast? Listen to more episodes of The First Degree.
