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Gacy Artwork to Go Up in Smoke

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<i> Associated Press</i>

A businessman spent about $20,000 to buy up many of executed serial killer John Wayne Gacy’s artworks, and he plans to get a return on his investment by burning them.

“We want them wiped off the map,” said Joe Roth, who bought more than two dozen of the 40 Gacy works at an auction Saturday. “It’s too bad we couldn’t have wiped them all off the map.”

The 50-year-old owner of a truck parts business said he wants to make a point by burning the paintings created by the man convicted in 1980 of killing 33 boys and young men during the 1970s. Gacy was executed Tuesday.

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The auction attracted about 200 potential buyers, and some pieces sold for as high as $800, auctioneer James Quick said. Included were some of Gacy’s most noted renditions--Elvis Presley, Jesus and clowns named Pogo, Patches, Skull and Death.

Roth said he was fed up with coverage of the execution because it did not send strong enough messages to parents. “We’re going to burn all the pictures and try to get the attention of parents to watch their kids so this never happens again,” he said. “Young people have to be watched--so there’s never another Gacy.”

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