Edward Theodore Gein (pronounced /ˈɡiːn/; August 27, 1906 – July 26, 1984) was an American murderer and grave robber. His crimes, which he committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, garnered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin.
If Gein was only guilty of murdering the two people he was convicted of killing he would not technically meet the definition of a serial killer,[1] though his case influenced the creation of several fictional serial killers, including Norman Bates from Psycho, Jame Gumb from The Silence of the Lambs, and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.Contents [hide] 1 Childhood 2 Deaths of family members 3 Arrest 4 Trial 5 Aftermath 6 Death 7 Impact on popular culture 8 References 9 External links
[edit] Childhood
Ed Gein was born on August 27, 1906 in Vernon County, Wisconsin.[2] His parents, George and Augusta Gein, both natives of Wisconsin, had two sons: Henry George Gein, and his younger brother, Edward Theodore Gein. George Gein was a violent alcoholic who was frequently unemployed. The elder Gein would usually come home inebriated and physically abuse his sons. Despite Augusta's deep contempt for her husband, the atrophic marriage persisted because of the family's religious belief about divorce. Augusta Gein operated a small grocery store and eventually purchased a farm on the outskirts of the small town of Plainfield, Wisconsin, which then became the Gein family's permanent home.[3]
Augusta Gein moved to this location to prevent outsiders from influencing her sons.[3] Edward Gein left the premises only to go to school. Besides school, he spent most of his time doing chores on the farm. Augusta Gein, a fervent Lutheran, drummed into her boys the innate immorality of the world, the evil of drink, and the belief that all women (herself excluded) were prostitutes, and instruments of the devil. She reserved time every afternoon to read to them from the Bible, usually selecting graphic verses from the Old Testament dealing with death, murder, and divine retribution.[citations needed]
With a slight growth over one eye and an effeminate demeanor, the younger Gein became a target for bullies. Classmates and teachers recalled off-putting mannerisms, such as seemingly random laughter, as if he were laughing at his own personal jokes. To make matters worse, his mother scolded him whenever he tried to make friends. Despite his poor social development, he did fairly well in school, particularly in reading.[citation needed]
Gein tried to make his mother happy, but she was rarely pleased with her boys. She often abused them, believing that they were destined to become failures like their father. During their teens and throughout their early adulthood, the boys remained detached from people outside of their farmstead, and so had only each other for company.[3]
[edit] Deaths of family members
George Gein died of heart failure in 1940, after which the Gein brothers began working at odd jobs to help their mother and the farm. Both brothers were considered reliable and honest by people in town. While both worked as handymen, Ed Gein also frequently babysat for neighbors. He enjoyed babysitting, seeming to relate more easily to children than adults. Henry Gein began to reject his mother's view of the world and worried about brother Ed's attachment to her. He spoke ill of her around his mortified brother.[4]
On May 16, 1944, a brush fire burned close to the farm, and the Gein brothers went out to fight it. The brothers were reportedly separated, and as night fell, Ed Gein supposedly lost sight of his brother. When the fire was extinguished, he reported to the police that his brother was missing. When a search party was organized, Gein led them directly to his missing brother, who lay dead on the ground. The police had questions about the circumstances under which the body was discovered. The ground on which Henry Gein lay was untouched by fire, and he had bruises on his head. Despite this, the police dismissed the possibility of foul play. Later, the county coroner listed asphyxiation as the cause of death. Many began to suspect that Ed killed his brother however no charges were filed.[4]
After his brother's death, Gein lived alone with his mother. Augusta Gein died on December 29, 1945, from a series of strokes, at which time Gein "lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world."[5]
Gein remained on the farm, supporting himself with earnings from odd jobs. He boarded up rooms mostly used by his mother, such as the upstairs, downstairs parlor, and living room, leaving them untouched. He lived in a small room next to the kitchen. Gein became interested in reading death-cult magazines and adventure stories, and between 1947 and 1954 made as many as 40 night time visits to three local graveyards in order to exhume a number of recently buried bodies.[4]
[edit] Arrest
Police suspected Gein's involvement in the disappearance of a hardware store owner, Bernice Worden, in Plainfield on November 16, 1957. Upon entering a shed on his property, they made the first discovery of the night: Worden's corpse. She had been decapitated, her headless body hung upside down by means of ropes at her wrists and a crossbar at her ankles. The torso was empty, the ribcage split and the body "dressed out" like that of a deer.[6] These mutilations had been performed postmortem; she had been shot at close-range with a .22-caliber rifle.
Searching the house, authorities found:[7] Human skulls mounted upon the corner posts of his bed Human skullcaps used as soup bowls An array of shrivelled heads Skin fashioned into a lampshade and used to upholster chair seats Skin from the face of Mary Hogan, a local tavern owner, found in a paper bag Socks made from human flesh A sheath made from human skin A human heart (it is disputed where the heart was found; deputy reports claimed that the heart was in a saucepan on the stove, while crime scene photographers claimed it was in a paper bag on the floor in front of the stove) At least four noses A box containing nine vulvae, some of which were salted and one of which was tied with a ribbon
Some neighborhood children, whom Gein occasionally babysat, had seen or heard of the shrivelled heads, which Gein offhandedly described as relics from the South Seas sent by a cousin who had served in World War II. Upon investigation, these turned out to be human facial skins, carefully peeled from cadavers and used by Gein as masks.
Gein eventually admitted under questioning that he dug up the graves of recently buried middle-aged women he thought resembled his mother[citation needed] and took the bodies home, where he tanned their skin to make his possessions. Gein's practice of putting on the tanned skins of women was described as an "insane transvestite ritual".[8] Gein denied having sex with the bodies he exhumed, explaining, "They smelled too bad."[8] During interrogation, Gein also admitted to the shooting death of Mary Hogan, who had been missing since 1954.
Shortly after his mother's death, Gein had decided he wanted a sex change. He created a "woman suit" so he could pretend to be a female.[7] Plainfield police officer Art Schley allegedly physically assaulted Gein during questioning, by banging Gein's head and face into a brick wall, reportedly causing Gein's initial confession to be ruled inadmissible.[9] Schley died of a heart attack in December 1968, at age 43, only a month after testifying at Gein's trial. Many who knew him said he was so traumatized by the horror of Gein's crimes and the fear of having to testify (notably about assaulting Gein) that it led to his early death. One of his friends said "He was a victim of Ed Gein as surely as if he had butchered him."[9]
[edit] Trial
Ed Gein was found mentally incompetent and thus unfit to stand trial at the time of his arrest, and was sent to the Central State Hospital (now the Dodge Correctional Institution) in Waupun, Wisconsin. Later, Central State Hospital was converted into a prison, and Gein was transferred to Mendota State Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1968, Gein's doctors determined he was sane enough to stand trial. The trial started on Wednesday, November 14, 1968, lasting just one week. He was found guilty of first degree murder by judge Robert H. Gollmar, but because he was found to be legally insane, he spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital.[10][11]
[edit] Aftermath
Ed Gein's gravemarker as it appeared in 1999
On March 20, 1958, while Gein was in detention, his house burned to the ground. Arson was suspected. When Gein learned of the incident, he simply shrugged and said "Just as well."[cite this quote]
In 1958, Gein's car, which he'd used to haul the bodies of his victims, was sold at a public auction for the then-considerable sum of $760 to carnival sideshow operator Bunny Gibbons.[12] Gibbons later charged carnival-goers 25¢ admission to see it.[13]
[edit] Death
On July 26, 1984, Gein died of respiratory and heart failure due to cancer in Goodland Hall at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Wisconsin.[9] His gravesite in the Plainfield cemetery was frequently vandalized over the years; souvenir seekers chipped off pieces of his gravestone before the bulk of it was stolen in 2000. The gravestone was recovered in June 2001 near Seattle and is displayed at present in a museum in Waushara County, Wisconsin.[14]
[edit] Impact on popular culture
The story of Ed Gein has had a lasting impact on popular culture as evidenced by its many appearances in movies, music and literature. Gein's story was adapted into a number of movies including Chuck Parello's In the Light of the Moon, later to be retitled Ed Gein for the U.S. market[15] as well as Deranged, and Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield.[16] Gein influenced the nature of book and film characters, such as fictional serial killers Norman Bates (Psycho), Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and Buffalo Bill (The Silence of the Lambs).[17] The book American Psycho contains several references to Ed Gein, as does the film based on that book.
Gein's influence is seen in musical groups drawing inspiration from his crimes. A number of band names have been derived from Gein, including one by the name of Ed Gein and a New York punk band called Ed Gein's Car. Gidget Gein, a former bassist for the band Marilyn Manson, derived his stage name from Ed Gein (and Franzie "Gidget" Hofer).
