Clown Killers

In the year 2019, there was a very strange trend that many people followed. That of the creepy clown gangs who would dress up like circus freaks and terrorise people, this was mostly done as a viral joke or prank, which people did to get attention online. However, as with every bizarre trend, sometimes there are people who take these ideas way too far! Oftentimes the police would get involved, as some of these creepy clowns would harass people at home, constantly hanging around their houses, dancing and generally acting "spooky". This had obviously gone far beyond a joke, as it gave people an excuse to be a nuisance. Unfortunately there was a case, where the most despicable crime took place. Murder. Multiple murders. Most of which were senseless attacks, that may or may not have even been intended to kill the victim. However, the case I am discussing today is one that still leaves Detectives bewildered to this very day.

It happened on August 5th, during a particularly hot day in Los Angeles. LA is well known for having a lot of trend chasers, witnessing someone filming something on their phone is a common sight. Even when a crime takes place, most people decide to record it instead of stepping in or calling the police. To be honest, this behaviour is quite sickening, knowing that people will stand by letting the most awful crimes happen, yet will decide to film it for online views. Strangely however, the murder that took place had nothing to do with internet trend chasing, it was in fact a very discreet murder that never actually became public, at least not right away, as the media believed it would only fuel the clown chaos at the time. It would eventually reach the light of day, after the killer was caught, but for the longest time it was kept strictly confidential so that Detectives could work in peace and really dig into this harrowing murder. The body was found in an old house within the rougher districts of downtown LA, a place that often saw gang wars and shoot outs, but never anything this articulate or disturbing. The corpse wore a clown mask over his head and both his wrists had been smashed, with dry blood turning brown against the bedsheets the victim lay on. It was a truly horrifying sight, the mask was one of those creepy Halloween masks you'd get a fancy dress shop. Evidence proved the home was broken into, however there were no signs of fingerprints to be found. The victim showed signs of a struggle, as his wrists had rope burns on them, from when he tried to desperately escape. The killer had left this disturbing display, just to play with the police, but he wasn't that clever however, because the mask was soon taken into evidence. There may not have been any fingerprints found on the clown face found, but detectives began investigating local fancy dress shops in the area, until they eventually found a match within a quiet, darkly lit store near where the murder took place. The shop was dingey and dusty, it looked a hundred years old as lights flickered wildly as they needed replacing but the store owners were too cheap and lazy to do any repairs. It was a dump, where most of the stock wasn't even shelved, it was seemingly thrown on the floor in piles of clothes and accessories, including the killer's exact clown mask, which had proven to be a popular item here since the clown trend became viral. However this was not a dead end, as all the detectives had to do now, was match the killer's appearance on the CCTV footage outside the victim's house, with the customer on the store's surveillance system. The man who entered the victim's house was dressed like a clown, in a puffy orange and pink striped jumper and matching pants. Alongside shoes too big and the same exact mask he put on the body. He also wore red rubber gloves, which explained why there were no fingerprints at the crime scene. However, when he left the house he still wore his own mask as the one he put on the victim must've been in his pocket. Apart from the killer's ridiculous attire, they noticed that he was an incredibly tall and lanky individual, one who craned his neck forwards most likely due to his height of at least 6-7ft tall. It wasn't hard to match a customer who carried himself in a very similar way, there came in a man matching the clown killer's description, the day before the murder. He was a pale man, with greasy brown hair and teeth so yellow they were visible, even on the low quality camera footage. The store clerk on duty at the time described him as being creepy, she felt like this guy was staring at her, licking his lips and speaking in a very childish manner that was downright disturbing. He was blushing and stuttering hard and even asked if she'd ever been with a man. Of course the woman was far too frightened to challenge him and simply nodded, forcing a smile without saying a word, the guy left with his two clown masks shortly after. CCTV outside the shop showed him walking to a nearby bus stop and climbing onboard a green 31 bus. The bus had surveillance footage on it too, which the Police tracked to his next stop. Then they gathered the CCTV footage from where he got off and the strange, tall man entered a nearby house. So then they fast forwarded the footage to the night of the murder, the clown killer exited the very same house, walking in that unusual manner, with his neck craned forwards like some preying mantis. They had caught their killer!

Police raided the killer's house, the night they saw the footage of him leaving. They found the creepy man from the store's surveillance footage and his elderly mother, who was crying hysterically as her son was put into handcuffs, she was exclaiming that her son did nothing wrong. But the young tall man, who would later be revealed to be named Elliot Smith, was giggling and joking the whole time, like some twisted clown from either a horror movie or comic book. Police found his bedroom and saw the clown killer outfit for themselves, alongside the creepy clown mask that he wore the night of the murder. Elliot had posters of different horror movies on his walls, most of which were clown related slasher films. He had a book shelf full of serial killer biographies, most note worthy were the collection of John Wayne Gacy books that had their very own special corner. There were comics found of clown related villains too, from all different publishers. It was clear that Elliot had a very bizarre and disturbing obsession with clowns.

During Elliott's interrogation, he revealed that kids and teenagers at school, college and even university would call him a circus freak, due to his incredible height and the way he craned his neck forwards. In his later years of education, he expressed that girls often mocked his unusual appearance, making it crystal clear that absolutely none of them had any romantic interest in the creep. He didn't help himself much either, asking the store clerk creepy questions wasn't the first time he had done this, anytime a girl took even the slightest interest in him, he'd always ruin it by being way too forward. He was an angry, frustrated young man who wished to lash out at the world. Apparently this murder of his was always planned from the moment the victim, named Chad Worthington, had bullied him in front of his entire high school when Elliot was just 15, he replaced his school clothes with the exact same clown outfit he had worn on the night of the murder, back then in 2014. Elliot had no choice but to wear that clown outfit as it would be even more embarrassing walking around the school naked, so when he put it on and tried to escape home undetected, only for everyone to throw an unwelcome surprise party for him was beyond humiliating! The whole school was in the hall outside the changing room, snapping photos and videos on their phones calling Elliot "the lanky clown!" All the while Chad Worthington stood at the very front of this party, laughing and pointing at poor young Elliot the lanky clown. Elliot cried that he thought the crazy clown trend of 2019 would be the perfect cover, but unfortunately for him this was deadly wrong. Elliot Marcus is still in prison to this day and his story is by far the most shocking to crime to happen during this truly bizarre clown trend.