Chicago Man Looks to Cash In on John Wayne Gacy 'Murder-a-Bilia'

A Chicago man is looking to turn a profit off paintings he bought from John Wayne Gacy when the infamous serial killer was behind bars, MyFOX Chicago reported.

Andy Matesi, 56, a father of two from the Northwest side of Chicago, says he was only thinking of how to make a good investment when he began sending Gacy money in prison in the early 1990s in exchange for the convicted murderer's artwork, FOX affiliate WFLD-TV reported.

Gacy produced and sent him over 200 paintings featuring a character he called "Pogo the clown," Matesi told WFLD-TV's Mark Saxenmeyer.

One painting depicts Gacy's house — 8213 W. Summerdale — with a smiling clown above an outline of the crawl space where Gacy, in real life, buried dozens of his murder victims.

Click here for more photos of Gacy's art.

Matesi said he's been told his collection of creepy Gacy "murder-a-bilia" could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to MyFOX Chicago. But his days as a would-be art dealer may be numbered.

Folks like Matesi — who look to turn a buck off items connected to famous serial killers like Ted Bundy and Charles Manson — are increasingly coming under fire from people who say it's not right to make money off other people's tragedies.

Five states have passed laws to put people like Matesi out of business, and Congress is considering a federal bill that would punish inmates who try to make money by mailing out items from prison, Saxenmeyer reported.

Gacy, who used to throw parties for children and often dressed as a clown, was put to death by lethal injection in 1994. He was convicted of the rape and murder of 33 boys and men.

Click here for more on this story in this video report from MyFOX Chicago.