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Phillip Paske

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Phillip Paske
1976 mugshot
Born(1953-06-11)June 11, 1953
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
DiedNovember 9, 1998(1998-11-09) (aged 45)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Details
Span of crimes
c. 1976 – 1979 (with Norman)
CountryUnited States
State(s)Illinois

Phillip Ronald Paske[a] (June 11, 1953 – November 9, 1998)[1] was an American criminal, murderer, and child pornographer from Chicago, Illinois. He was the closest associate and personal friend of sex trafficker John David Norman[2][3] and was briefly an employee of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.[4][5]

Biography

[edit]

There is scarce information about Paske's life. It was reported that his father was a city worker and that Paske had a "bad complexion," a violent temper, and frequently cross-dressed.[3][6][7] Paske was openly bisexual[8] and had a lengthy record beginning at age 18 in 1971, with convictions for crimes such as drug dealing, theft, battery, and murder.[9]

In a 1992 prison interview with John Wayne Gacy, whom Paske was once employed by, he described Paske as dangerous and stated that he "pimped girls, boys, for sex or movies."[4][5] Gacy also denied ever discussing sex with Paske.[7]

1973 robbery-murder

[edit]

In November 1973, Paske, along with Al Bone and Richard Angel, planned to rob a coin collector named Louis McKerley. The robbery took place at 7 p.m. in a second-floor apartment at 6052 ½ W Irving Park Road in Chicago. Bone was armed with a knife, and Angel had accompanied him with a handgun. Paske's role was to act as a lookout for any oncoming witnesses. When McKerley opened the door, Bone and Angel forced their way into the apartment. A struggle ensued, and Bone stabbed McKerley in the chest. All three then fled the scene. McKerley would later succumb to his stab wounds.[10] The three were arrested and charged with murder and attempted armed robbery.[9][10]

Through a plea agreement, Paske and Angel pleaded guilty to attempted armed robbery, with the murder charge being dropped and some prison time served as well as probation. Bone would subsequently plead guilty and receive a sentence of 14 to 20 years imprisonment.[10]

Child pornography ring

[edit]

John David Norman (1927–2011) was a sex offender who ran multiple child pornography and prostitution rings in the 1970s and 1980s. As of 1973, he allegedly had between 50,000 and 100,000 clients in 35 U.S. states.[11] He also had potential links to serial killers Dean Corll and John Wayne Gacy. According to Gacy, Norman produced snuff films of young boys.[5] No such films have been found. In 1973, the Commander of the Police Youth Division in Houston, Bennie M. Newman, stated that there was no known connection between Norman's operations and Corll's murders.[11]

Norman and Paske first met in Chicago's Cook County Jail. It's known that Norman had continued producing his newsletter behind the walls of the jail, in which he had made pleas for bail for both him and for Paske, whom he referred to as his "right-hand man."[12][13]

Paske was released on probation in 1976 after a plea deal in the murder of Louis McKerley. The funds for bail came from patrons of Norman's newsletter. Subsequently, a patron from California paid Norman's bail. Norman remained free until November 1976, when he was indicted on five counts; he was found guilty of contributing to the sexual delinquency of a child and ordered to serve four years and one day.[12][13][14]

After his release, Paske registered both his and Norman's names to a Chicago post office box for mailings, and the two shared an apartment on Wrightwood Avenue.[8] On his probation record, it's stated in both May and December 1976 that he was working for Norman's Delta Project and was making $3 an hour.[12][13][15]

In January 1977, a month after Norman's conviction and arrest for sexual delinquency of a child, an investigator stated that the Delta Project was no longer operating in Chicago, though it had continued operations at an unclear time until 1979 with the raid on Norman's apartment.[14]

Paske was fired from his job as children's supervisor at a fire department swimming pool in August 1977 after he was publicly linked to Norman's child prostitution ring.[16]

Ties to John Wayne Gacy

[edit]

The earliest record of Paske working for Gacy's construction business, PDM Contractors, is from 1978; it's also mentioned in a letter Gacy had written that Paske had worked for him between August and October 1978 and was introduced to him through PDM employee David Cram.[7] However, according to Cram, he had warned Gacy about hiring Paske due to his criminal record and claims that he had previously been in a mental institution.[8] Although there is no concise date for when Paske first came into contact with Gacy, he was using Gacy's alias "Patches" after his 1976 release from prison. This alias was also used by fellow PDM employee Michael Rossi.[12]

Both Rossi and Cram were named by Gacy as accomplices in several of his murders.[17] Gacy contended that Rossi, Cram, and Paske all had keys to his house.[18] It was also reported by Gacy that Paske was fired from his employment under PDM.[7]

Unrelated murders

[edit]

Paske was initially wanted for questioning in the January 19, 1977, murder of Kenneth Hellstrom, 17, of Homewood. He was stabbed six times while walking home from work and died several hours later. Hellstrom had implicated Norman on child molestation charges in 1973, which resulted in Norman being sent to prison for four years. Norman was still in prison at the time of the murder.[6] In June 2012, a man named Fred Rogers was convicted of Hellstrom's murder and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Rogers, who was 16 at the time, had gotten into an argument with Hellstrom earlier in the day that he was stabbed.[19]

On February 25, 1979, Michael Salcido, 17, Arthur Salcido, 19, and Frank Mussa, 16, were found dead in a car at 3 a.m. in Chicago. Their throats were slashed in what police described as an "almost ritualistic" fashion. It was suspected that their bodies were placed in the car after their deaths. Michael was a ward of the state who was set to testify in Norman's upcoming trial.[6] It was later revealed that Latin Kings members, of no relation to Norman, were responsible for the murders.[20]

Later life and death

[edit]

Norman relocated his operation to Pennsylvania in 1983 after his release from prison. Paske's activities after this point are unclear; his final arrest was in 1996 for possession of a controlled substance.[21] He died on November 9, 1998, in Chicago from AIDS-related complications.[1][22][23][24]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Sometimes spelled as Philip

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "Phillip R Paske". MyHeritage. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  2. ^ "Chicago is center of national child porno ring". archive.today: Chicago Tribune. May 16, 1977. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 6, 2017. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Hunter, Brad (March 12, 2022). "CRIME HUNTER: How 'pedophile's pedophile' linked two serial killers". Toronto Sun. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  4. ^ a b Garber-Paul, Elisabeth (April 7, 2021). "John Wayne Gacy: Inside Peacock's New True-Crime Docuseries". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024.
  5. ^ a b c Tron, Gina (April 22, 2021). "Was Notorious Child Sex Ring Leader John Norman Connected To John Wayne Gacy?". Oxygen. Archived from the original on January 22, 2024.
  6. ^ a b c Wattley, Philip; Leeds, Patricia (February 28, 1979). "Police seek '77 killing link to slain youths". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 22, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  7. ^ a b c d "GACY SEX TRAFFICKING CONNECTION". YouTube. WGN-TV. 24 June 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Nelson, David (2021). Boys Enter the House: The Victims of John Wayne Gacy and the Lives They Left Behind. pp. 289–290. ISBN 978-1-641-60486-4.
  9. ^ a b "PHILLIP PASKE". FBI. November 5, 1973. pp. 51–52. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  10. ^ a b c Dorsch, William (October 1, 2023). Omnipotent: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. William Dorsch. p. 231. ISBN 9798988972914.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  11. ^ a b "Alleged Homosexual Ring Found In a Raid on Apartment in Dallas". The New York Times. archive.today. August 16, 1973. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  12. ^ a b c d Dorsch, William (October 1, 2023). Omnipotent: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. pp. Appendix: 363. ISBN 9798988972914.
  13. ^ a b c Linedecker, Clifford (1981). Children in Chains. Everest House. pp. 215–217. ISBN 0896960889.
  14. ^ a b "John David Norman". Archived from the original on August 27, 2024.
  15. ^ "Parolee held in child porn raid". Chicago Tribune. June 17, 1978. Archived from the original on January 3, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  16. ^ "Porno-ring suspect fired by city". Chicago Tribune. August 16, 1977. Retrieved January 22, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  17. ^ Sullivan, Terry; Maiken, Peter (2000). Killer Clown: The John Wayne Gacy Murders (Paperback ed.). Pinnacle. pp. 166–179. ISBN 0-7860-1422-9. OCLC 156783287.
  18. ^ "John Wayne Gacy Talks: Part 5". YouTube. WBBM-TV. 15 May 1992. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
  19. ^ Grogg, Mitchell (June 15, 2012). "Man Sentenced in 35-Year-Old Murder Case". WMAQ-TV. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  20. ^ "JURY TOLD OF 1979 TRIPLE GANG SLAYING". Chicago Tribune. February 7, 1992. Retrieved 2024-04-11.
  21. ^ "P965816 Criminal History Report PASKE - Google Drive". drive.google.com.
  22. ^ Dorsch, William (2023). Omnipotent: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. p. 237. ISBN 9798988972914.
  23. ^ "Man Held on child molesting charge". www.newspapers.com. archive.today: The Gettysburg Times. October 31, 1984. Archived from the original on April 20, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  24. ^ "Chicago Police Department arrests of Phillip Paske - Google Drive". drive.google.com.
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