ACRE
‘Law & Order’ actor Jack Merrill reveals serial killer John Wayne Gacy kidnapped, raped him
PUBLICADO
2 anos atrásem
A veteran actor who has appeared in “Law & Order” and “Grey’s Anatomy” revealed Wednesday that he was abducted, raped, and held at gunpoint by notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy more than 45 years ago.
Jack Merrill described himself as a “puny 19-year-old” in 1978 when “the Killer Clown” pulled his car up to the teen as he walked home from a swim at a YMCA in Chicago.
“Do you want to go for a ride?” Merrill recalled being asked in an essay published by People.
Merrill, who had been living alone in a studio apartment since he was 17, jumped into the stranger’s car before being told “You’re smart. You’re not like those other kids.”
Merrill believed the ride would be around the block, but Gacy drove quickly to a different neighborhood where he told him to lock the door, before pulling over near the ramp of the Kennedy Expressway, northwest of downtown Chicago.
The then 36-year-old Gacy asked Merrill if he’d ever done “poppers,” alkyl nitrite, as he took out a brown bottle, splashing liquid onto a rag and shoving it into the teen’s face.
Merrill, who had a boyfriend at the time, said he passed out only to wak up and find himself handcuffed outside Gacy’s Northwood Park Township home, 4 miles east of Chicago O’Hare International Airport.
“He told me to be quiet. A light from the back of the house hit him in the eyes and suddenly I realized how dangerous he was,” Merrill wrote. “I knew I couldn’t anger him. I just had to diffuse the situation and act like everything was okay.”
Merrill said this method of de-escalation was the same one he and his sisters used to ward off the wrath of their parents.
“That’s the way I had survived as a kid—we learned to lie low during my parents’ rages,” Merrill recalled.
Merrill said his mom had a narcissistic personality, with “nothing existing outside of how life affected her.”
His father was Jerome Holtzman, the legendary MLB historian and National Baseball Hall of Famer, who at the time was the baseball writer for the Chicago Sun-Times.
Once inside the dark house, Merrill said he obliged when he was asked if he trusted Gacy, who then undid the teen’s handcuffs before the two had beer and strong pot.
Gacy re-handcuffed his victim and dragged him down a hall before fitting a homemade contraption around Merrill’s neck.
The device was fitted with ropes and pulleys and went around his back and through the handcuffs, so if Merrill struggled, he would be choked.
Gacy shoved a gun into Merrill’s mouth before proceeding to rape his victim.
“I knew if I fought him, I didn’t have much of a chance. I never freaked out or yelled,” Merrill said.
Merrill admitted to feeling sorry for his abuser “in a way.” “Like he didn’t necessarily want to be doing what he was doing, but he couldn’t stop.”
As Gacy seemed to get tired, the killer surprised the teen.
“All of a sudden he said, ‘I’ll take you home.’”
Merrill was dropped off at around 5 a.m., near where he had been picked up.
“Maybe we’ll get together again sometime,” Gacy allegedly said as he handed over a paper with his phone number.
Merrill quickly flushed the paper down his toilet when he returned home. He opted for a shower and went to a diner for eggs and a milkshake and didn’t notify the police.
“I didn’t call the police—I didn’t know he was a killer at the time,” he said. “I made a pact with myself that I was going to get past this. I wasn’t going to leave my happiness in that house.”
When news broke about Gacy’s arrest and bodies being found inside his home, Merrill called the Chicago Sun-Times.
““That guy raped me.’ The man who answered said, ‘What did you say your name was?’”
Merrill didn’t leave his name because his father still worked there.
“I thought if the police ever needed my help, I’d come forward,” the actor said.
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Gacy was convicted of raping, torturing and murdering at least 33 males between the ages of 14 and 21.
Twenty-six bodies were pulled from a crawl space Gacy’s home in Dec. 1978.
Five of the victims remain unidentified, after officials ID’d Francis Wayne Alexander, of North Carolina, through dental records in Oct. 2021.
He was arrested in Dec.1978, convicted and sentenced to death.
Gacy was executed by lethal injection at Stateville Correctional Facility on May 10, 1994.
Merrill moved to New York, where he took up acting which became therapeutic for him.
“You’re forced to express yourself, and there is some honesty that goes with that. Recognition and acceptance,” he added.
Merrill called himself lucky, surviving his traumatic brush with death, but ending up with a husband of 23 years and their two pets.
“There’s a lot of people who have had bad things happen to them. Many people who have been raped don’t talk about it. I understand that.”
The actor, who is starring in his own one-man show “The Save” in Los Angeles, never divulged this story with anyone.
“Until now I’ve only told close friends. But doing my new show, I walk through it every night. I’m proud of the journey.”
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ACRE
Ufac faz cerimônia de entrega de diplomas médicos do Revalida — Universidade Federal do Acre
PUBLICADO
2 dias atrásem
2 de outubro de 2026A Ufac realizou a cerimônia de entrega da revalidação de diplomas médicos expedidos por instituições de ensino superior estrangeiras, referentes à edição 2025.2 do Revalida. O Núcleo de Registro e Controle Acadêmico (Nurca) relaciona 67 certificados disponíveis para retirada. O ato ocorreu nesta sexta-feira, 2, no Nurca, campus-sede, e contou com a participação do reitor Josimar Ferreira.
“É inédito para nossa universidade fazer um ato que representa a entrega dos diplomas”, disse Josimar. Ele ressaltou a rapidez com que o processo foi concluído pela equipe do Nurca e pediu aos médicos que retribuam à sociedade com ética e acolhimento no atendimento, além de afirmar que a entrega demonstra o papel da universidade no reconhecimento daqueles que se formaram fora do Brasil.
Segundo o diretor do Nurca, Lucas de Araújo Moura, a Ufac realiza revalidações há alguns anos, mas as entregas dos certificados aconteciam de forma avulsa. Ele explicou que a proposta do ato simbólico foi atender os profissionais e valorizar o momento vivido por eles e por suas famílias. Os documentos são entregues juntamente com os originais apresentados pelos interessados, que devem assinar o termo de recebimento do certificado de revalidação.
A médica Nathalia Bragança de Oliveira, que recebeu o diploma revalidado 30 dias após dar entrada no processo na Ufac, disse ter escolhido a universidade pela organização e pelo prazo de entrega. “Foi muito rápido, um processo muito organizado também, desde o momento do início até agora.” Ela relatou que foi recebida com atenção pela equipe, que explicou todas as etapas do procedimento, disse esperar ingressar no mercado de trabalho e atender os pacientes com cuidado.
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ACRE
Consu aprova comissão para destinar cotas a pessoas transgênero — Universidade Federal do Acre
PUBLICADO
4 dias atrásem
1 de outubro de 2026O Conselho Universitário (Consu) da Ufac aprovou a criação de uma comissão para elaborar a proposta de cotas de acesso à graduação para pessoas transgênero, que é uma pauta da Pró-Reitoria de Ações Afirmativas e Equidade (Proafe), recentemente criada com o objetivo de expandir políticas de inclusão na universidade. A aprovação ocorreu nessa quarta-feira, 30, na 5ª Reunião Ordinária do Consu, realizada no auditório do Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas, campus-sede.
A Ufac já possui regulamentação que garante o acesso por cotas à comunidade transgênero na pós-graduação desde 2023. A proposta aprovada pelo Consu busca ampliar esse direito para a graduação, assegurando não apenas a entrada, mas também o acompanhamento para permanência de estudantes até a conclusão dos cursos.
A comissão terá prazo de 90 dias para realizar os estudos e apresentar a minuta final do projeto. O grupo terá formação intersetorial, reunindo representantes das três categorias acadêmicas: docentes, técnico-administrativos e discentes, além de representantes de entidades e movimentos sociais da sociedade civil voltados aos direitos da população transgênero no Acre.
“Reafirmamos nosso compromisso ao instituir a comissão que vai deliberar sobre as cotas trans”, disser o reitor Josimar Ferreira. “Trata-se de uma ação demandada pela sociedade para incluir populações historicamente invisibilizadas, garantindo que as ações afirmativas façam parte da história do nosso conselho.”
Segundo a pró-reitora de Ações Afirmativas e Equidade, Letícia Mamed, a política visa transformar a realidade de um dos grupos mais marginalizados socialmente. “Precisamos atentar para a garantia de acesso, permanência e dignidade para que essa comunidade possa construir seus projetos de vida com mais oportunidades”, comentou. “No Brasil, cerca de 30 universidades já adotam políticas semelhantes, e a Ufac dá um passo essencial para consolidar essa transformação.”
Integrante do Consu, a professora Raquel Ishii ressaltou que a comissão foi criada para ir além da gestão superior da universidade. “Considero essa aprovação uma grande vitória para a sociedade civil e para a universidade. A comissão amplia o debate da pós-graduação para a graduação. Trata-se de um grupo bem amplo, constituído não só pela gestão, mas com convites abertos ao Diretório Central dos Estudantes e a movimentos sociais externos à universidade.”
(Fhagner Soares, estagiário Ascom/Ufac)
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A Diretoria Geral do Campus Floresta (DG-Camp), por meio do Setor de Assistência Estudantil (SAE-CZS), comunica a suspensão do Restaurante Universitário nesta segunda-feira, 28, para o Campus Floresta, em decorrência do ponto facultativo decretado pela Reitoria por meio da Portaria n.º 3.914, de 24/09/2026, em virtude da celebração do Aniversário do município de Cruzeiro do Sul (AC).
Contamos com a compreensão de toda a comunidade acadêmica.
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