Ed Gein

He became obsessed with anatomy texts, wartime atrocity stories, cannibalism, sex change operations, and anything related to death. He developed a strong interest in the local cemetery, where he befriended a gravedigger named Gus and persuaded him to help exhume bodies. From these corpses, he removed strips of skin, breasts, genitalia, and sometimes entire bodies, which he later reburied, keeping the parts as trophies in his home.

Dissatisfied with the lifeless condition of these bodies, he began studying obituary columns in his local newspaper so he and Gus could obtain “fresher” remains. He preferred older women, especially those he knew personally, and later admitted to wearing their skin, covering his body and pretending to be a woman.

His behavior escalated as he created disturbing artifacts from human remains: a belt decorated with female nipples, a curtain pull made from a woman’s lips, a soup bowl made from a human skull, and furniture including lampshades, shirts, and chair coverings made from human skin. He also mounted the faces of nine women on his wall like hunting trophies. When questioned by visitors, he claimed these were wartime souvenirs given by a cousin who served in the Pacific.

His grave robbing continued until 1954, when his accomplice Gus was placed in an institution and could no longer assist him. Without access to corpses, he began killing to obtain bodies.

His first confirmed victim was Mary Hogan, a tavern owner who disappeared on 8 December 1954. Gein later made disturbing jokes suggesting she had stayed with him, though they were dismissed at the time.

Three years later, sheriff Art Schley investigated the disappearance of shopkeeper Bernice Worden. Evidence at her store, including a trail of blood and a receipt for antifreeze issued to Gein, led to a search warrant for his farmhouse.

On 16 November 1957, police searched the property and discovered a “summer kitchen” where they found a decapitated, disemboweled body hanging upside down. It was the remains of Bernice Worden. Her head was later found in a burlap sack, with nails through the ears and tied with twine, apparently prepared as another trophy.

A further search revealed human organs and body parts stored in freezers from multiple individuals, and a human heart reportedly cooking in a pan on the stove.

Gein was arrested and taken to Wautoma County jail, where he initially denied the allegations before eventually admitting that he had shot Bernice Worden with a rifle.

He claimed that most of the body parts found in his house—estimated to belong to around 15 different individuals—had been taken from corpses he exhumed from the cemetery. Police were initially skeptical but later confirmed his claims when they exhumed the graves and found that the bodies had indeed been mutilated.

Investigators also attempted to link Gein to four other unexplained disappearances in Wisconsin, including a child, a teenager, and two men, but no remains recovered from his farmhouse could be matched to those victims. However, they did identify the remains of Mary Hogan, and Gein admitted to her murder as well.

During interrogation, sheriff Art Schley assaulted Gein by repeatedly striking his head against a brick wall, rendering his confession inadmissible. Gein was later evaluated by psychiatrists and declared mentally unfit for trial, leading to his commitment to the Central State Hospital in Waupun, Wisconsin.

The crimes horrified local residents, and Gein’s farmhouse was burned down in an arson attack on 20 March 1958. His car was later sold at auction and exhibited at state fairs as the “Ghoul Car,” generating profit for its owner.

Gein was finally declared mentally competent to stand trial in November 1968, and he was tried for the murder of Bernice Worden.

He was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was returned to Central State Hospital in Waupun, Wisconsin.

Gein was regarded as a model patient during his incarceration and died of cancer on 26 July 1984.

He was buried next to his mother in the same cemetery that had brought him so much fixation in life, and his grave was later desecrated by vandals.

The American public viewed Ed Gein as a product of a disturbed childhood, and his persona became a major influence on popular culture.

He was indirectly immortalized in the film Psycho, where Norman Bates kills women under the influence of his domineering mother.

The character Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also draws inspiration from Gein, wearing a mask made of human skin.

More recently, elements of his story influenced the character Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, a serial killer who murders women to wear their skin.