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The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 17

Location:
Atlanta, Georgia
Issue Date:
Page:
17
Extracted Article Text (OCR)

1 7-A ATLANTA CONSTTTTTION. IVf. 28. 1978 rv" Lead odies Continaed From Page 1-A Vf -A. 1 1 If he had served the full term, Gacy would have left prison earlier this month.

He was paroled in 1970. In 1971 and last March he was accused of sex crimes but the charges were dropped before the cases came to trial Tony Antonucd said Gacy came to his home late one night when he was alone. He said Gacy told him he wanted to show him a "trick," then handcuffed him and partly undressed him. But Antonucd said the handcuffs weren't fully locked and he was able to free himself from Gacy. He said Gacy told him: "You're the first one to get the cuffs off." John Butkovich, 17, of Lombard disappeared on July 31, 1975, after going to Gacy's house to pick up a paycheck.

"We gave Gacy's name to the Chicago police," said Butkovich's mother, Theresa. "We gave them Gacy's name, and they tried to talk to him, but he didn't want to talk. So they just dropped it. They (the police) thought he (John) had run away. They did not think it was serious." On Dec.

11, 1976, Greg Godzik, 17, of Chicago disappeared. His parents said they told police he worked for Gacy, but they said the police did not follow up on that lead. Lt David Mozee, news affairs director for the Chicago police, said officers follow up every person report, but he added there were such reports at the time Butkovich disappeared. "We live in a democratic society, and we can't go out workers had more than the 40-microgram level of lead in their blood, said Dr. Landrigan, a physician in the chronic-disease branch of the CDC The copper division is isolated from the main industrial complex and employs nearly 300 workers.

Landrigan explained that that amount of excessive lead "has the capacity to damage various organs." He said that "anemia, nervous-system damage or, with prolonged exposure, damage to the kidneys" were all possible results of excessive blood-lead levels. These preliminary figures were the first reported from an investigation begun last October by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in cooperation with the CDC and the Georgia Department of Human Resources. The probe began because of employee complaints first made to the state and subsequently filed with NIOSH, which is the investigative arm of OS HA. The complaints are kept confidential. Blood samples taken from 111 of the copper-division employeesor 38 percent contained more than the 40 micrograms of leal Landrigan further reported that 28 employees or 10 percent of the total tested-had levels over 60 micrograms, more than OSHA's current recommended allowable leveL Southwire spokesman Fordham said that finding surprised the corporate offitials "Our tests did not show that" Ford-ham explained that Southwire, one of the largest employers in West Georgia, has an ongoing safety-investigation program to monitor the lead levels.

"We thought we were within the requirements," Fordham said. "The results Dr. Landrigan gave you are based on the new federal requirements, which do not come into effect until February 1 of 1979 and are four times stricter than the old Landrigan said the old requirement of 60 micrograms was exceeded in the blood tests of 60 percent of the Southwire employees who work in the blast-furnace area. "Some of the levels were only one microgram over the 60, but others were twice the 60," he said. Landrigan explained that OSHA had lowered the allowable levels of lead in the blood as the testing has become more sensitive.

"We used to only worry about lead poisoning when a man fell over and had convulsions. Now we know that smaller amounts have effects on the nervous system," he said. Anything over 40 micrograms could cause a slowing-dbwn of the reflexes. The NIOSH investigation will continue, Dr. Landrigan said, to determine whether the workers are being exposed to other hazardous materials besides lead and also to make recommendations in detail pinpointing the areas at the plant with the most serious problems.

5- AuociaM Prtst Photo Police Remove Remains Of Bodies Found In Gacy House Tuesday Edmund Dobbs. "And I hope I never do again." Gacy is suspected of luring teen-age boys to his home with promises of jobs in his construction company, then sexually assaulting and strangling He has been charged with the murder of Robert Piest, IS, of Des Plaines, who disappeared on the day he was to Lave seen Gacy about a job. Authorities said many job applicants turned down jobs with Gacy because of bis sexual advances. Tony Antonucd, 19, said he narrowly escaped two attempts by Gacy to force him into sexual activity. "He said he would give me money if I would I said no, but he began to get pushy," Antonucd sail One of the sexual overtures was made while the two were cleaning up the Norwood Park Township Democratic Headquarters.

Martwick said he "wouldn't even want to guess" if Gacy hoped to gain political stature to shield the darker side of his life. "But nothing would surprise me now," Martwick "But I believe hi just had two personalities, one of which I never saw." Another mask obscuring the homosexual violence that sent Gacy to prison was two marriages and two children. "John came across very straight," Gacys first wife told the Chicago Tribune. He was a "likable salesman who could charm it right out of you." She asked not be be identified by her current name. She bore two children by Gacy but divorced him in 1969, a year after he was convicted in Iowa on the sodomy charge.

After he was paroled, he married the former Carole Boffin 1972. She said "he started bringing home a lot of pictures of naked men" just before they separated. They divorced in 1976 on grounds that he was seeing other women. The tecond Mrs. Gacy's mother, who asked not to be named, had lived in Gacy's home and said it always smelled "like dead rats." When Gacy was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Dec.

3, 1968, the judge said: "Unsatisfactory in many respects as imprisonment is, at least that will insure for some period of time that you cannot seek out teen-age boys to solicit them for immoral behavior of any kind." Coetinted From Page 1-A Bat until last Thursday when the 3S-year-old cod stractioo company owner con fessed to sexually molesting and murdering 32 boys and young men Gacy lived a prosperous life. He had ambitions of running for elective office. "He was very bard-working and popular in his community always giving (block) parties and dressing op like a clown," said Robert F. Mart-wick, the Democratic township committeeman who nominated Gacy in 1975 to an appointed job as secretary-treasurer of the Norwood Park Township Lighting Commission. The commission maintains street lights in the unincorporated areas of the township.

Martwick said he urged Gacy for the job "based on bis activity in the neighborhood. He said be wanted to make it a better place to live and said that some day he wanted to run for elected office." Martwick told Gacy that to run for office he should become "well known in the community, to help people out" As part of that campaign, Gacy designed a clown outfit, had himself photographed In it and entertained at parties and children's hospital wards. Gacy passed out cards saying be was a Democratic precinct captain, which Martwick said, Gacy never was. But Martwick said he did not stop Gacy from using the cards "because he was such a good worker." Martwick said he was impressed when Gacy offered to bring in a crew of young construction workers to clean up the township Democratic headquarters at no charge. "You don't find people like that every day." Martwick, a prominent Chicago lawyer, said he made no background check on Gacy.

"We can't fingerprint everybody we appoint to of-fice-although maybe we should." Authorities said Gacy told them where to find the victims' bodies. Cook County Medical Examiner Robert J. Stein said searchers had covered only about one fourth of the area beneath the home and that police believe, more bodies lie hidden in shallow graves in the crawl space. "I have never seen any-" thing like it," said Cook County Sheriffs Police unearthed at the Gacy home. The Gacy case also has been compared to the sex-torture crimes of Elmer Henley who, with the help of accomplices, killed 27 teenage boys in Houston.

"The numbers and the type of person doing the killing are quite similar," said one lawman. "But in this one we've got an individual that's done them-and done them all by himself-and is still around to tell about it" Kozenczak said he was particularly interested in the case because be has a 15-year-old son who went to the same high school as Piest In addition, Kozenczak said the body of Frank W. "Wayne" Landingin, 18, was found in the Des Plaines River Nov. 12 more than a month before Gacy's arrest He said bikini underwear was stuffed in Landingin's mouth; similar underwear was found in the mouths of bodies making arrests based on what some parents think," he said. On Dec.

11, 1978, Robert Piest disappeared. His mother told Lt Joseph Kozenczak of the Des Plaines police that Robert was last seen talking to Gacy about a summer job. Kozenczak discovered Gacy's sodomy conviction. He went to question Gacy, and the next day he and other investigators found evidence at Gacy's home which ultimately led to his arrest o-oj Talmadge Conttooed From Page 1-A Already saddled with four other committee assignments, Mathias agreed to be named by Senate Minority Leader Howard Baker as Welder's replacement But then, June 8, barely more than a month after Mathias joined up, the ethics committee took on two other investigations-involving charges of financial improprieties by Talmadge and Sen. Edward W.

Brooke, R-Mass. Ethics members became knee-deep in investigations into colleagues and Mathias is reluctant now to stay on the committee past the start of the new Congress, Jan. 15. Sen. Adlai Stevenson, D-I1L, the Ethics chairman, has proposed that Mathias and the four other members be appointed to remain as a special panel to see the Talmadge matter through, if the Talmadge hearings cannot be scheduled and completed before a new Ethics Committee is named.

Stevenson, Mathias and at least two others, Sens. Robert Morgan, and Abraham Ribicoff, D-Coul, are due to leave the present committee by February. After several months of preliminary investigation, from June 8 to Oct 31, the Stevenson committee voted earlier this month to conduct what is in effect a Talmadge trial While Mathias said he sees, "nothing wrong with Chairman Stevenson's proposed special panel, I see no necessity for that" A newly appointed committee, Mathias said, could take "a fresh look, an unbiased look (which) might be beneficial rather than inhibiting." W'-S In either case, whether a newly named ethics panel takes op the Talmadge matter in 1979 or the Stevenson committee sees it through, staff investigators have accumulated evidence which shows flaws in Senate expense money procedures. For Thousands of dollars can be obtained by senators or their aides through vouchers not legally certified and unsupported by accompanying receipts. Automated pens that mechanically duplicate a senator's signature are used in certain Senate offices to obtain expense money.

Talmadge admittedly never supervised his expense There are regular, official Senate audits of expense accounts inside the Senate committees, but none inside the individual offices of the 100 senators. T. Rogers Wade, Talmadge's administrative assistant said be intended to recommend to the Ethics Committee that it push for annual audits of the books in individual Senate offices. Men's outerwear now 19.99 I -'f "4 jv 187.99 Wilvt'tf I Hll li VVstt'' styles to choose from. -t I fV Including button or zip 1 1 ill A 1 1 if I I lUY fronts.

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