'John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise' sheds new light on America's notorious 'Killer Clown'

John Wayne Gacy was known as the Killer Clown. Screenshot / Youtube

One of America's most prolific serial killers may have killed far more than the 33 victims known of today, a former detective who worked on the case says.

John Wayne Gacy, who was executed in 1994, is the subject of a new true-crime documentary series on streaming platform Peacock called John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise.

Fox News reports the documentary features interviews with investigators, family members, Gacy's ex-wife and even a rare prison interview with Gacy himself.

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy posed for the above Des Plaines Police Department mug shot in December 1978. Photo / Getty Images

The Chicago native, who was known as the Killer Clown due to his work as an amateur clown in his local community, raped and murdered at least 33 men and boys from 1972 until his arrest in 1978.

Rafael Tovar, a former Des Plaines Police detective who was involved in exhuming the remains of 26 of Gacy's victims from the crawl space in his house, participated in the documentary series.

Speaking to Fox News, Tovar recalled a conversation he had with Gacy on their way to Cook County Jail.

"I flat out asked him if there were more victims," he said.

"I said, 'How many people did you really kill?' And he said, 'Well, I told my lawyer this number – 30-something. And you guys got about 32, 33 or 34. But 45 sounds like a good number.'"

Tovar continued, "That stunned me a little bit. But I kept my cool. I then said, 'Well John, where are they? Let's recover them.' And he said, 'No, I'm not going to tell you guys. That's for you to find out. You guys are the detectives.'

Numbered stakes indicate where the bodies of John Wayne Gacy's victims were found in the crawl space beneath his suburban home. Photo / Getty Images

"He would play this little game with you. But I know that there are probably more bodies out there because he was very factual before."

The former detective believes Gacy "liked the power to kill people, the power of death" because "it made him feel like a god".

Shown are headshots of boys and young men whose bodies have been definitely identified as the victims of John Wayne Gacy. Photo / Getty Images

"And I think that just got to him," he said.

"And he was smart. He got away for a long time. I would act star-struck like, 'John, tell me about this guy.' And it worked. He loved to talk. It made him feel powerful."