Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of abuse and murder. Readers’ discretion is advised.
Popularly known as the Butcher of Plainfield, Ed Gein is one of the most infamous serial killers in the world. Although he only confessed to committing two murders, authorities suspect him of several others. Mary Hogan, who was reported missing in 1954, was his first victim. Ed Gein dug up graves of the deceased and stole body parts, which he reportedly used to embellish his home. He used the skin and bones from numerous graves to make ‘household items.’
In 1944, Gein’s older brother Henry died of asphyxiation when the brothers set a fire to clear some vegetation. For a long time, people believed that Henry’s death was a tragic accident. Many suspect that it was Gein’s strange and unhealthy obsession with his mother that pushed him to kill his brother, leaving the mother and son alone for a year before she died in 1945. His mother’s death was a major trigger that led to Ed Gein’s horrific crimes in the years to come.
Gein, also known as the Plainfield Ghoul, committed his second murder in 1957. Following the mysterious disappearance of a local hardware store owner, Bernice Worden, police traced down who her last customer was. Ed Gein was the last to visit the store and interact with 58-year-old Bernice, leading the police into his house, which was filled with deadly human remains.
Authorities found Bernice in Gein’s kitchen, decapitated and hung by her ankles. Most of the utensils in the kitchen were made from human skulls and bones. Chairs in the house were covered in human skin, nipples were used to make belts, and several masks were made of human faces. The police also found the remains of Mary Hogan, who had been missing.
What was Ed Gein convicted of?
Although the evidence against Ed Gein was solid and was accompanied by his confessions, his trial was a complicated one. He confessed to the murder of Bernice and a woman named Mary Hogan. He also explained that he wished to create a ‘woman suit’ for himself. Gein wanted to fit into the suit and resurrect his mother by turning into her. He claimed to have procured body parts of nine different women from various local graveyards and left them around the house.
In 1957, authorities declared Ed Gein unfit to stand trial due to insanity. The Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane retained him until they deemed him fit to stand trial around ten years later. The court did not try him for the murder of Hogan, and they only convicted him of Bernice’s murder because they saw it as a futile process. Doctors diagnosed Gein with schizophrenia, and he was destined to live the rest of his life at a hospital anyway. Ed Gein died in 1984.
The ways and crimes of Ed Gein inspired some of the most iconic film and television characters of all time. From Hitchcock‘s 1960 classic ‘Psycho’ to the 1991 film called ‘The Silence of the Lambs,’ a lot of memorable crime films seem to have been inspired by the case of Ed Gein, who is still believed to be one of the most gruesome criminals that the world has seen.
‘Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein’ is a 2023 MGM+ mini-series that studies the crimes of Ed Gein. It sheds light how Gein’s relationship with his mother led to grave robbings and murders. The series is streaming on Prime Video.
