Jeffrey Rignall

Jeffrey Douglas Rignall (August 21, 1951 – December 24, 2000) was an American memoirist who wrote 29 Below about surviving a 1978 attack by serial killer John Wayne Gacy and his subsequent search to find his attacker. Rignall's testimony during Gacy's trial helped to secure the latter's conviction and death sentence. Rignall was profoundly affected both mentally and physically by the attack for the rest of his life. He died in 2000 at age 49.

Biography Early life Rignall was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Attack by John Wayne Gacy Rignall identified as bisexual and lived with his girlfriend as well as partner Ron Wilder, described by Rignall's attorney Fred R. Richman as a "live-in companion". While walking to a local gay bar in Rosemont, Illinois, on March 21, 1978, 26-year-old Rignall encountered Gacy, who lured Rignall into his car by offering him a ride and to smoke a joint with him. Gacy then held a rag soaked in chloroform over Rignall's mouth until he passed out. Rignall woke up intermittently during the car ride to Gacy's house and recognized a few landmarks but was chloroformed again and eventually lapsed into unconsciousness. Rignall said that when he awoke, he was inside Gacy's house. Rignall regained consciousness the next day under the Alexander Hamilton statue in Chicago's Lincoln Park. He made it back to his girlfriend's house, and she took him to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he stayed for six days. In the hospital, Rignall recounted his ordeal to the police, but they were skeptical of his story, and Rignall was unable to identify his assailant. Gacy never fully acknowledged his attack on Rignall⁠he described most of his sexual assaults as consensual encounters⁠and never explained why he released Rignall alive, but killed at least 33 other men and boys. Gacy was sentenced to death and was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994, at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill.

29 Below Rignall partnered with Wilder and ghostwriter Patricia Colander to write a memoir of his experience with Gacy and his investigative attempts to find the rapist afterward. The book, published by Wellington Press and titled 29 Below, was released in 1979.

Later life Approximately a year and a half after the attack, Rignall and Wilder moved to the Louisville, Kentucky, area so Rignall could escape the memories of what had happened to him. While in Louisville, he became reclusive and rarely left their apartment.

+ Portrayals Year Title Notes 2025 Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy E8 "Jeffrey"; played by Augustus Prew