On this day, Dec. 22, in 1978, serial killer John Wayne Gacy confessed to killing more than two dozen young boys and men and burying their bodies under his Chicago-area home. Gacy was dubbed the “Killer Clown” because he had dressed up as a clown at fundraisers, parades and parties.

After Gacy confessed, authorities uncovered 29 corpses that he had buried on his property. A jury convicted him in 1980 of 33 murders that were committed between 1972 and 1978.