Who Was Ed Gein?
Ed Gein was born in 1906 in Plainfield, Wisconsin. He led what most would consider a very simple life. His father was an alcoholic, and his mother was a very religious person; she was a major influence on him. After some financial hardships, the family moved from the small town to a 155-acre isolated farm. Ed only left the farm to attend school, and other students remember him as slightly odd.
When a fire got out of hand one day, the fire department was called to extinguish the flames. Shortly after the fire was extinguished, Ed’s brother was found to be missing. After a lengthy search, he was found dead by what at the time was listed as a heart attack. There was some evidence of foul play, but at the time no one suspected Ed. Many years later, authorities began to suspect Ed may have killed his brother, but the actual motive was unknown.
The death of Gein’s mother was a pivotal point in his life. After her death, Ed closed off certain rooms of the house to keep the rooms exactly as they were when she was alive. The other rooms, which Ed lived in, began to deteriorate and were in horrendous condition by the time he was taken into custody.
Ed Gein and his crimes and conduct with his victims would make him the model for three different movie villains. The killers in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, and Silence of the Lambs were all at least partially based on him.
How Many People Did Ed Gein Kill?
Ed Gein’s murder count was very low when compared to other serial killers. He was convicted of killing two people. He was a suspect in the murder of at least two others, and he in fact confessed to the killings. However, during the interrogation, one of the officers questioning Gein became very physical, even going as far as smashing Gein’s head into a brick wall. As a result of this abuse, Gein’s confession was thrown out.
Gein’s crimes were not limited to the people he killed. It is believed Gein exhumed as many as 40 female bodies from local cemeteries. The extent of the abuse and mutilation of these corpses was nothing less than horrific.
What Were Ed Gein’s Crimes?
Ed Gein was convicted of two murders; however, his crimes went much further. He stole at least 40 bodies which he then mutilated in his isolated home. The extent of the mutilation was discovered when authorities searched Gein’s home. The atrocities they found are very hard to believe.
These are among the various things investigators found that Gein had done with the bodies:
- Decapitated the bodies, boiled the skulls and fashioned them into bowls.
- Covered chairs with human skin.
- Made gloves from human skin.
- Created a belt made from human nipples.
- Made a corset from human skin.
- Made a lampshade from the skin he removed from a woman’s face.
- Used human lips as a handle on a window shade drawstring.
- Put skulls on his bedpost.
- A human heart was found in a plastic bag.
- Nine vulvas were found in a shoebox.
- There were leggings and masks made from human skin.
One of his major crimes was built into the movie Silence of the Lambs. Gein selected women who reminded him of his mother and then stole their bodies from the cemetery. He then removed and tanned the skin. He carefully formed the skin in a woman’s suit that he could and did wear. He apparently meant this as a representation of his mother. He would later say he wanted the ability to crawl into his mother’s skin.
How Was Ed Gein Caught?
In 1957, a clerk from a local hardware store went missing. Witnesses placed Ed Gein as the last customer and a sales receipt showed Gein was the last person to purchase anything in the store. Gein was arrested in the Plainfield grocery store and authorities searched his home. They found the body of the store clerk in a shed on the property. She had been hung up by her feet, decapitated and dressed out like a deer. A more detailed search of the home revealed the other atrocities.
Authorities spent many days going through the Gein home collecting the various body parts and evidence. All of these were photographed at the crime lab, then destroyed. Once the search was completed the home was boarded up to prevent tampering with any remaining evidence. Shortly afterward the house caught on fire and was completed destroyed. No cause for the fire was ever discovered.
How Did Ed Gein Die?
Ed Gein was found mentally ill and spent the rest of his life in a mental facility. He died as a result of heart failure due to liver cancer. He died in 1984 and was buried in Plainfield.
The simple tombstone on Ed Gein’s grave was stolen. It was later found and returned to Plainfield. The tombstone is now kept in the basement of the police department.