Ed Gein was the inspiration behind the Hitchcock classic movie, “Psycho”, as well as “The Texas Chainsaw massacre” and to some extent “The Silence of the Lambs”. There has been no one as dreadful as this guy, just ask the cops who discovered his horror house.
Ed Gein was far nastier than Ted Bundy, more brutal than Jack The Ripper and more despicable than H.H. Holmes. The man was warped beyond comprehension, and was also known as, “The Butcher of Plainfield” and “Plainfield Ghoul”.
Early Life
Edward Theodore Gein was born on August 27th, 1906 in La Crosse County Wisconsin to his parents George Philipp and Augusta Wilhelm II. Ed was the younger sibling of the two children. Their family moved to a recently bought 155-acre farm.
Not only Gein but his mother was also not normal. She was an abusive mother who told him not to look at other women as it is a sin, all women except her were prostitutes, and dating them essentially meant being in league with Satan himself. Augusta, his mother would discourage him from making friends and when he did so, she would punish him severely. Ed exhibited abnormal behavior as laughing during completely random times.
Ed and Henry did not connect with the outside world except his time in school and when their father died due to a heart attack in 1944, they had to find odd jobs to keep the family alive. Ed started babysitting for neighbors and Henry picked up some handyman’s work as well. During the time Henry didn’t like the way his mother treated them and spoke ill of her in front of Ed.
Deaths and Ed Gein
The family was burning the remaining bushes but the fire went out of control and the brothers were separated at nightfall when they searched for them, Henry was found dead laying down, evidently, he was dead for quite some time and was untouched by the fire, furthermore, bruises were discovered on his head but despite this police dismissed the likelihood of foul play. Many believed that Ed murdered his brother.
Gein was left alone with his jealous mother but then his mother had a stroke and Gein ended up having to look after her. He took odd jobs around the town and was known as a quite decent guy who can get your things fixed. His mother later passed away in 1945, leaving Ed alone on the farm. He kept the room in the same condition and locked them so it would stay in the same condition. Gein was not a prolific serial killer but what he did was make up for the body count.
One who ended it all for Ed Gein
Bernice Worden was the first woman went missing. When her son was asked by the cops he told that the last person to be seen in her hardware store was none other than Mr. Gein.
When police searched his farm the first thing they found was Bernice Worden’s dead body– shot with a .22-caliber rifle-hung upside down in a shed-like an animal. The torso had been opened and the organs had been taken out. The body was also mutilated from head to toe.
The Cop who found her in Ed Gein’s farm described the situation as “Tendons in the ankles had been cut and a rod had been placed through them. The body was drawn up in the air by a block and tackle. The body was dressed out and the head was missing, the head was found later in a burlap sack.”
This was just his farm when police went in to look inside they found 5 heads inside plastic bags as well as four skulls. Meanwhile, they also found masks that Ed Gein had carefully cut off the faces and kept them intact so he could wear them. A police official said in a press conference that some of them had lipstick on and looked perfectly natural. If you knew the person, you’d be able to recognize them.
Ed Gein Human art
This was just the beginning. The officials found all sorts of things and not just human remains. Gein had made the following things from all of his victims.
- Whole human bones and fragments.
- Skulls on his bedposts.
- Female skulls, some with tops swan off.
- Bowls made from human skulls.
- Leggings made from human leg skin.
- Curtain Pull.
- Chairs from human skin.
- Bowls, Tableware and Ashtrays.
- Masks from human skin.
- Corset and Belt form female nipples.
- Wall Hanging and other Artifacts from nose, ears.
- Vest.
- Accessories such as gloves and necklace.
He made a skin corset that he could get into, and thereby women, or more specifically his mother. He also had a collection of noses and vulvas. If he wanted to become a woman he could’ve by wearing all of this. He had lips he could grab hold of, at the end of curtain drawstrings.
He admitted he liked to wear the suit to become his mother, so just the thought of watching TV in his face mask and skinsuit is horrifying enough.
Why police was unable to catch him early? Most of the items he had made were not from living women. He admitted that much of his raw material was gathered by robbing local graves. He did, however, admit to at least one more murder and was suspected of killing 4 more women.
Trial
All the acts of Ed Gein could not have come from a sane mind. The court found him insane as he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and a severe Oedipus complex. He died in 1984 from lung cancer.
He was retired once, after doctors believed he could participate in a trial, but was again declared mentally insane. He was confined to spend the rest of his life in a mental hospital and died as one of history’s most disturbing serial killer.
He got what he deserved as parts of his grave are missing, as people wanted to take a souvenir home with them when they visited The Butcher of Plainfield.
Now that you’ve read about Ed Gein, read about the first women to be executed, Aileen Wuornos and then read more from True crime.
