The Man Who Killed Boys by Clifford L. Linedecker Page A

accepted the generous offer. People didn't volunteer free services like that every day.
    The Chicago lawyer had no idea that one of Gacy's first ventures cleaning up the headquarters would lead to eventual accusations (but no criminal charges) that the chubby political hopeful had tried to sexually assault a sixteen year-old boy there.
    In 1975 Tony Antonucci was a well-muscled, wiry six-footer who weighed 175 pounds and wrestled at Gordon Technical High School, a Catholic boys' school on the northwest side of the city. As the story was put together some three years later by Antonucci, Gacy made a pass at him while he and Gacy were cleaning the office. Antonucci told his boss to leave him alone, but Gacy got pushy, offering him money for sex. Antonucci said he had to pick up a folding chair and threaten Gacy with it before the man calmed down and tried to laugh off the episode as a joke.
    Gacy tried again the next month. This time he came to the Antonucci apartment one night while the boy was home alone, carrying a bottle of wine and some heterosexual stag films. After they sipped from the wine and talked a while, Gacy said he wanted to show the youth a stunt with a pair of trick handcuffs he used in his clown act. He claimed there was a secret method of unlocking them and challenged his companion to figure it out.
    Antonucci was agreeable and put on the cuffs. Unknown to his boss, he did not slip one of his hands all the way inside. He kept the free hand underneath him so that he appeared to be cuffed. As soon as Gacy thought that he was securely manacled he moved forward to begin undressing the boy.
    Antonucci lurched suddenly forward and jerked Gacy's legs, dropping him onto his back. The young wrestler snapped the free cuff on one of Gacy's wrists, flipped him over and pressed a knee against the back of his head. Gacy squirmed helplessly face down on the floor while Antonucci took the key away from him, and a moment later both the man's wrists were pulled behind his back and cuffed. He was kept there, struggling and screaming threats, until he calmed down and Antonucci freed him.
    "You're the first one to get the cuffs off—not only that, but you got that one on me," Gacy told his young employee. 7
    Gacy never tried to overpower or assault Antonucci again, although the youth continued to work for PDM Contractors, Inc. for another eight or nine months.
    Martwick, of course, knew nothing about the incidents. He knew only that the husky contractor had become a dependable volunteer for the numerous jobs connected with operation of a party precinct headquarters. Gacy was unfailingly available and willing to run errands, re-hang a crooked door, wash windows, set up chairs for meetings, or fix a leaky faucet. Gacy appeared to be proving his worth to the organization and the sincerity of his desire to help better the community.
    Martwick nominated him for a position on the Norwood Park Township Street Lighting District. It was the commission's responsibility to maintain streetlights in the unincorporated areas. Gacy became secretary-treasurer. In 1975 and 1976 he filed ethics statements, as required by Illinois state law of appointed and elected public officials. They disclosed that a sidewalk was installed by PDM for the Norwood Park Township Road and Bridge Department at a cost of $3,500.
    Gacy's appointment to the lighting commission led to an acquaintance with Sam Amirante. Young and just a few years out of Loyola University Law School, Amirante was attorney for the commission. Despite Amirante's youth, Gacy was impressed by his quick intelligence and articulate grasp of problems.
    The only child of a newspaper truck driver and his wife, Amirante grew up in the adjoining town of Norridge and was president of his junior and senior classes in high school. Although he is only five-foot two-inches tall as an adult, he lettered in track and made the varsity of his high school baseball team as a second baseman and center