‘Law & Order’ actor Jack Merrill recalls attack by serial killer John Wayne Gacy

Jack Merrill, an histrion with credits including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Eight Men Out,” and “Law & Order,” is reflecting connected his harrowing brushwood with notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

The aboriginal histrion was conscionable 19 years aged erstwhile helium was approached successful 1978 by Gacy, a murderous antheral who killed astatine slightest 33 boys and, connected occasion, dressed up arsenic a clown.

Merrill was walking location astatine the time, and Gacy offered him a ride, per a first-hand relationship helium wrote for People. Not knowing immoderate better, helium accepted, lone to beryllium drugged and raped by 1 of the astir notorious serial killers ever known.

“He pulled implicit adjacent the ramp of the Kennedy Expressway and asked if I’d ever done ‘poppers’—amyl nitrite,” helium wrote. “He pulled retired this brownish bottle, splashed immoderate liquid connected a rag and jammed it into my face. I passed out, and erstwhile I woke up, I was successful handcuffs.”

Gacy yet removed his cuffs and offered a brew to Merrill, but helium again restrained him soon thereafter.

“He enactment this homemade contraption astir my neck. It had ropes and pulleys, and it went astir my backmost and done my handcuffed hands successful a mode that if I struggled, I would choke,” Merrill wrote. “I did astatine 1 constituent and started to suffer air.”

Then, Gacy stuck a weapon successful his rima and raped him, Merrill recalled.

“I knew if I fought him, I didn’t person overmuch of a chance,” helium recalled.

“I ne'er freaked retired oregon yelled. I besides felt atrocious for him successful a way, similar helium didn’t needfully privation to beryllium doing what helium was doing, but helium couldn’t stop,” Merrill wrote. “We’d been determination for hours. Finally, I could archer helium was tiring.

“All of a abrupt helium said, ‘I’ll instrumentality you home.’”

Serial slayer John Wayne Gacy posed for the supra Des Plaines Police Department mug changeable successful December 1978. (Photo by Bureau of Prisons/Getty Images)

By then, it was astir 5 successful the morning. Merrill said Gacy dropped him disconnected not acold from wherever their paths archetypal crossed and gave him his telephone fig earlier driving off.

“When I got home, I flushed the fig down the toilet, past took a shower,” Merrill said.

A fewer months later, an nonfiction appeared successful the Chicago Sun-Times with a header reading, “Bodies Found astatine Suburban Site.” Merrill said helium rapidly realized helium knew the fishy — it was Gacy.

“I made a pact with myself that I was going to get past this,” helium said. “I wasn’t going to permission my happiness successful that house.”

Part of his betterment was acknowledgment to acting. Merrill has appeared successful a fig of TV bid including “Numb3rs” and “Hannah Montana.”

He besides said helium consciously worked to forgive Gacy for what helium did.

“I work about Oprah doing a amusement astir forgiveness,” the histrion said. “There was a pistillate who had been raped, beaten and near for dead. She said if she didn’t forgive her attacker, she couldn’t get connected with her life. I knew I had to bash that—to someway forgive Gacy.”

Jack Merrill attends the 1st Annual UNICEF Masquerade Ball successful Los Angeles astatine Hollywood Forever connected October 30, 2013 successful Hollywood, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for UNICEF)

Merrill additionally credited his partner, writing, “I besides recovered love.”

“There’s a batch of radical who person had atrocious things hap to them,” helium said. “Many radical who person been raped don’t speech astir it. I recognize that.”

Merrill concluded:  “I’m arrogant of the journey. I was capable to larn from the atrocious and usage it for the good. You know, I’m lucky. I’ve ever been lucky.”