True Crime Friday: Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield
Ed Gein was born on August 27, 1906. He is an infamous Serial Killer, Body Snatcher and Necrophilie. His crimes were so sick that even with his low body count he became infamous. Many movies and television shows have been based off the true story of Ed Gein. He is known under the monikers the Butcher of Plainfield and the Plainfield Ghoul. He is infamous for being one of the first known serial killers before it became a phenomenal. He first came to notoriety in 1957 when the authorities arrested him for the murder of the owner of a local store. The bloody trail went from the hardware store directly to Gein’s farm.
Authorities suspected that the store owner was not his only victim. He confessed to two murders but was suspected of countless others since some bodies were found on his property. Ed claimed to exhumed bodies from their graves at night once they were freshly buried. He made belts, bowls, cups and furniture with the corpses. He also confessed to killing two women one was a tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954. The other one was hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957. The latter would be found dressed out as hunters say in his barn.
The Early Childhood of Ed Gein
Edward Theodore Gein was born in Wisconsin. He was the youngest son of George Philip Gein and Augusta Wilhelmine Gein. It was said that the children were strange. Ed was known to just burst out laughing in class for no apparent reason. He had an older brother named Henry who was able to make friends, but his mother would not allow him to have any friends. Augusta was a very strict religious woman of Lutheran faith. She fervently preached to her sons about immorality of the world. Those things were drinking, and to stay away from women who she considered to be naturally promiscuous and instruments of the devil, apart from herself. She reserved time every afternoon to read to them from the Bible. She taught her sons verses from the Old Testament and mostly the Book of Revelations about death, murder, and retribution. Gein idolized Augusta and would eventually become obsessed with his mother and not in a good way. Gein’s father was an alcoholic. His wife despised him, and she would use Ed as her confidant. Since she hated women, she had no friends only her sons.Ed Gein's father worked as a carpenter, tanner, and firefighter. George also owned a local grocery store but soon sold the business and left the city with his family to live on a 155-acre farm in the town of Plainfield. Gein's father was also known to be a violent alcoholic who regularly beat both of his sons. Not the best parents to raise children. With so many beatings, this would cause Ed's ears to ring constantly because his father beat him on his head. Also, Augusta took advantage of the farm's isolation by turning away outsiders who could have influenced her sons. The children really had no way of escaping their parents. Henry found an outlet after his father died. He started dating a local woman and had developed friendships outside of the dysfunctional family unit.
The Victims of Ed Gein
- Mary Hogan
- Bernice Worden
The Suspected Victims of Ed Gein
- Georgia Jean Weckler, 8
- Evelyn Grace Hartley, 14
- James Walsh
- Victor Harold Travis
- Raymond Burgess
- Henry Gein
Lady Justice
Gein was initially found unfit to stand trial and confined to a mental health institution. By 1968 he was judged competent to stand trial, Ed was found guilty of the murder of Worden. He was also found legally insane and is why he was in a psychiatric institution until his death. Edward Theodore Gein died in a psychiatric hospital July 26, 1984. Before his death, his house that was left to him went up in flames mysteriously. No one was ever arrested for arson.Reference
Britannica - Ed GeinInfamous serial killer Ed Gein dies
Edward Theodore Gein, “American Psycho”
Wikipedia - Ed Gein