Phillip Paske

Phillip Ronald Paske (June 11, 1953 – November 9, 1998) was an American criminal and child pornographer from Chicago, Illinois. In the mid-1970s, he was the closest associate of sex trafficker John David Norman and was briefly an employee of serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Biography Paske was born on June 11, 1953, in Chicago, Illinois. It was reported that his father worked for the city's 33rd ward and that Paske had a violent temper and frequently cross-dressed. Paske was also openly bisexual and had a lengthy criminal record beginning at age 17 in 1971, with convictions for drug dealing, theft, battery, and murder.

In a 1992 prison interview with John Wayne Gacy, who once employed Paske, he described Paske as dangerous and stated that he used hard drugs, shared an apartment with a prostitute, and "pimp[ed] girls, boys, for sex or movies". The three were arrested and charged with murder and attempted armed robbery. He also had potential links to serial killers Dean Corll and John Wayne Gacy. According to Gacy, Norman produced snuff films of young boys;

After his release, Paske registered both his and Norman's names to a Chicago post office box, and the two shared an apartment on Wrightwood Avenue. On his probation record, it is stated in both May and December 1976 that he was working for Norman and was earning $3 an hour.

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 until a 1979 raid on Norman's apartment.

Ties to John Wayne Gacy

The earliest record of Paske working for Gacy's construction business, PDM Contractors, is from 1978, when Paske had assisted in demolition work at a drugstore in Rochelle. It was also reported by Gacy that Paske was fired from his employment under PDM.

Unrelated murders 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.

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.

Later life and death Norman relocated to Pennsylvania in 1983 after his release from prison. Paske remained in Chicago, having occasional scrapes with the law; his final arrest was in 1996 for possession of a controlled substance. He died on November 9, 1998, in Chicago from AIDS-related complications.

In media Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, E7 "David" (2025), played by Brandon McEwan