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

fielder.
    The competition in sports was stiffer at Loyola and he did not play varsity baseball, but the feisty student continued to shine socially and academically. He was once again elected as senior-class president. He served as administrative assistant to the vice-president in law school, and after obtaining his degree and passing the bar examination took his first job as an attorney with the Cook County Public Defender's Office. He was working there, developing and sharpening his courtroom skills, when he met Gacy.
    Amirante was still an undergraduate at Loyola and haunting the courtrooms of the Criminal Courts Building on Chicago's south side when he watched F. Lee Bailey, the most famous and flamboyant criminal attorney in the country, argue a case.
    The Boston lawyer and ex-Marine fighter pilot was defending millionaire horseman Silas Jayne, who was charged with conspiracy to murder in the slaying of his younger brother, George, in one of Chicago's most celebrated criminal trials. The law student sat in the courtroom of Judge Richard J. Fitzgerald for days, watching Bailey, whose brilliant courtroom work has made him a folk hero to some young lawyers. Amirante was mentally logging every detail, every maneuver, and every action of the defense. 8
    One of the most conspicuous aspects of Bailey's approach to a case, aside from his courtroom theatrics, is the obvious meticulousness of his preparation. As a practicing lawyer, Amirante too would be carefully prepared for his cases or jobs, regardless of whether, as a public defender, he was representing a penniless street-gang member charged with a mugging or solving a question of construction contracts for the Norwood Park Township Lighting Commission.
    Amirante was the kind of knowledgeable and devoted worker that Gacy could relate to. Though the two men didn't become fast friends, it appeared that a feeling of mutual respect developed for the way that each handled his official obligations.
    Gacy began passing out business cards prematurely, identifying himself as a precinct captain shortly after he became involved with township Democrats. Martwick overlooked the minor breach of conduct because of Gacy's record of laboring so diligently for the party and the community. While Gacy was building his reputation as an assiduously dedicated Democrat and minor township official, he was also cementing an even closer relationship with another acquaintance in the construction business.
    Donald Czarna was a cement contractor. The men met one day while Czarna was pouring sidewalks for the town of Norridge, and Gacy interrupted him to ask if he would pour a couple of porch steps at his house. Czarna and Gacy had much in common. Both were in the construction business, and both swaggered and boasted. Czarna was a rugged man with a cowhide complexion rubbed leathery red by the Chicago sun and wind, who talked out of the corner of his mouth, filling his conversation with blustering threats and stories about people he had beaten up or laid low with a single punch. Gacy's face was darkened by a metallic-blue Richard Nixon beard that showed dark even after the closest shave, and he was also known to use bluster and threats to intimidate people he had disagreements with. The physical builds of the two contractors were as similar as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and more than once they were mistaken for brothers.
    After Czarna poured the steps the men didn't see each other again for about three months. Then Gacy contacted Czarna and asked him to do the cement work on a remodeling job he had contracted. There were a couple more jobs, and Gacy invited Czarna and his wife, Lydia, to one of his parties. They visited frequently after that and became such close friends that they took some holidays and vacations together. A few times the Czarnas loaned their cabin in Wisconsin to their friend during short breaks in his work schedule.
    Although the Czarnas never saw Gacy perform in his clown costume, he was