“Edward Theodore Gein, known as the “Butcher of Plainfield”, was an American murderer and body snatcher whose crimes in the 1950s in Wisconsin shocked the entire nation.”
Gein was born in 1906 and had a troubled childhood. His father was an alcoholic and his mother was strict and preached about the “inherent evil of women and sex.” The family lived on a farm, and Gein lived in isolation. His father passed in 1940, followed by his brother in 1944, and, lastly, his mother in 1945. His mental state got out of control, leading him to be alone and isolated even more in the farm house.
His crimes were discovered on November 16, 1957, after the first disappearance of hardware store owner Bernice Worden. At her store, police found a receipt for antifreeze, which led investigators to Gein’s farm, where they found Worden’s dismembered and headless body in his shed. When they further searched his property, they uncovered a “house of horrors;” the home was filled with organs and human remains, which were turned into chair seats, lampshades, and masks made from human skin. “Authorities found the preserved head of Worden and the head of Mary Hogan, a tavern owner who had disappeared in 1954, the only two women Gein officially confessed to killing.”
In addition to the murders, Gein also admitted to taking corpses from the local cemetery, primarily middle-aged women who he thought looked like his mother to create a “collection.” He kept their skin and bones to the point where he created a woman suit that he would repeatedly wear. Despite these insane and shocking discoveries and so many missing people cases in the area, Gein was only officially charged with the murders of Hogan and Worden. Gein was never charged with any grave robberies, either.
Gein was arrested but was found unfit to stand trial, as a psychiatrist diagnosed him with schizophrenia. “He spent over a decade in psychiatric institutions before being declared fit for a bench trial in 1968.”
Eventually, he was found guilty of murder, but a sanity trial ruled him not guilty by reason of insanity. He was committed to a mental institution, where he remained for the rest of his life. “He then died of complications from cancer at the Mendota Mental Health Institute on July 26, 1984, at the age of 77.”
Resources
Ed Gein | Research Starters EBSCO https://www.ebsco.com › research-starters › history › ed…
