Actor Jack Merrill says he was kidnapped and raped by John Wayne Gacy

An actor Jack Merrill he opens up about his terrifying encounter with a serial killer John Wayne Gacy.

Merrill, 65, whose screen credits include small roles in Law and Order, Hannah Montana, Grey’s Anatomy again Sex and the Cityhe said he was kidnapped and raped by a notorious criminal in 1978 when he was only 19 years old.

Writing to you People On Wednesday, October 23, Merrill explained that he was living alone in Chicago at the time and met Gacy – who was killed by lethal injection in 1994 – while walking home at night.

“A guy came up and said, ‘Do you want a ride?'” the actor recalled.

Merrill continued, “He pulled up near the Kennedy Expressway ramp and asked if I ever did ‘poppers’—amyl nitrite. He took out this brown bottle, sprayed the liquid on the cloth and jumped on my face. I fainted, when I woke up, I was handcuffed. I saw the exit to Cumberland on the freeway, near the airport, and the next thing I knew, it was outside his house.”

Describing himself as a “19-year-old kid,” Merrill said he was taken back to Gacy’s house, where he realized he was in danger. “I knew I couldn’t make him angry,” he wrote.

“It was dark in the house. I thought it was a trap,” continued the actor.

Merrill wrote, “You put this homemade noose around my neck. It had ropes and pulleys, and it went around my back and my handcuffs so that if I struggled I would choke. I did at one point and started getting short of breath. He put a gun in my mouth. Then he raped me in the room.”

“I knew that if I fought him I had no chance. I never screamed or shouted,” he added.

After some time, Merrill said he could tell Gacy was “tired,” writing, “All of a sudden he said, ‘I’m going to take you home.'” Gacy then dropped Merrill off near where he found her around 5 a.m.

“He gave me his phone number and said, ‘Maybe we’ll meet again sometime.’ When I got home I dialed the number in the bathroom, then I took a shower,” she said.

Merrill said she didn’t call the police at the time and didn’t know the man she met was a serial killer.

Months later, the actor said he saw the headline, “Body Found at Suburban Site,” and knew it was the man who hit him.

Since her horrific ordeal, Merill wrote that she has learned to “forgive” Gacy and found solace in acting.

“Acting was my life. You are forced to express yourself, and there is a certain honesty that goes with that. Respect and acceptance,” she explained, adding that she has also found peace in her relationship with her longtime husband.

Merrill has now written a one-man show about his experience, The Savecurrently performing at the Electric Lodge in Los Angeles. “I’m proud of the journey. I was able to learn from the bad and use it for good,” he wrote.

Gacy kidnapped, sexually assaulted and killed at least 33 young men between 1972 and 1978, when he was finally caught. He was found guilty of 33 murders in 1980 and sentenced to death. His execution took place 14 years later in 1994.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).