Ed Gein “The Plainfield Ghoul” by: Noelle Sadaka
Quote about Gein • “Do you know what Ed Gein said about women? ‘When I see a pretty girl walking down the street I think two things. One part of me wants to take her out and talk to her and be real nice and sweet and treat her right. ’" "What does the other part of him think? " Hamlin asks tentatively. "What her head would look like on a stick” - Bret Easton Ellis, American Psycho
Background Augusta Wilhelmine Gein • Born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin - August 27, 1906 • Son of George Philip and Augusta Wilhelmine Gein and brother of Henry George Gein • Augusta had a strong hatred for her husband saw him as an alcoholic failure, unable to keep a job • They lived on a farm on the outskirts of the small town of Plainfield, Wisconsin because Augusta tried to keep her children protected from outside influence • Gein only left the farm to go to school • At school, Gein became a target for bullies and his mother would scold him for trying to make friends • He had poor social development, but he got fairly good grades in school, particularly in reading
Background • Gein tried to make his mother happy, but she was rarely pleased with her boys and often abused them, believing that they were destined to become failures like their father • He spent most of his time doing chores on the farm and listening to his mother preach about the innate immorality of the world, the evil of drinking, and the belief that all women (herself excluded) were prostitutes and instruments of the devil • Every day he and his brother had a reserved time for being read graphic verses from the Bible, dealing with death, murder, and divine retribution • After his father’s death in 1940, he and his brother began working small jobs to cover expenses. Ed most enjoyed babysitting • On May 16, 1944, a brush fire burned close to the farm. When the brothers tried to extinguish it, they were separated and lost each other. His brother was reported missing and later Ed lead the police directly to his brother’s dead body. Though the circumstances under which the body was discovered and what injuries prevailed were concerning, police dismissed the suspicion of Ed Gein’s foul play • Gein’s mother died on December 29, 1945 and he was left devastated saying he had lost his one true love
Crimes Crime Date Victim(s) Punishment Murder December 8, 1954 Mary Hogan, 54 Life imprisonment in mental hospital Murder November 16, 1957 Bernice C. Worden, 58 Life imprisonment in mental hospital • On November 21, 1957, Gein was arraigned on one count of first degree murder (an unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated) in Waushara County Court; he entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity (legal definition - mental illness of such a severe nature that a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality, cannot conduct her/his affairs due to psychosis, or is subject to uncontrollable impulsive behavior) • Gein was sent to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and later transferred to the Mendota State Hospital • In 1968, Gein's doctors determined he was sane enough to stand trial. • The trial began on November 14, 1968, lasting one week. He was found guilty of first-degree murder by Judge Robert H. Gollmar, but due to being determined to be legally insane, he spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital.
Crimes • Although he was only tried for murder, Gein also admitted to robbing nine graves • He dug up the graves of recently buried middle-aged women which he thought resembled his mother • He took the bodies home, tanned their skins, and used their bones and skin to fashion trophies and keepsakes • Shortly after his mother’s death, Gein began to create a “woman suit” so that he could pretend to be a female
Evidence • When Bernice Worden disappeared, police had reason to suspect Gein • Worden's son had told investigators that Gein had been in the store the evening before the disappearance, saying he would return the following morning for a gallon of antifreeze. They found that the last receipt written by Worden on the morning she disappeared was a sales slip for a gallon of anti-freeze • Upon searching Gein's property, investigators discovered Worden's decapitated body in a shed, hung upside down by ropes at her wrists, with a crossbar at her ankles
Also with Gein’s house on his farm, authorities found: Evidence Whole human bones and fragments Mary Hogan’s skull in a box Wastebasket made of human skin Bernice Worden’s entire head in a burlap sack Human skin covering several chair seats Bernice Worden’s heart “in a plastic bag in front of Gein’s potbellied stove” Skulls on his bedposts Nine vulvae in a shoe box Female skulls, some with the tops sawn off A young girl’s dress and “the vulvas of two females judged to have been about fifteen years old” Bowls made from human skulls A belt made from female human nipples A corset made from a female torso skinned from shoulders to waist Four noses Leggings made from human leg skin A pair of lips on a window shade drawstring Masks made from the skin from female heads A lampshade made from the skin of a human face Mary Hogan’s face mask in a paper bag Fingernails from female fingers
Sociological Theory The theory used in the case of Ed Gein is the Differential Association Theory. Gein spent most of his childhood confined to the company of his mother, father, and brother. His mother was abusive and very set in her ways. His father was an alcoholic and could not keep a solid job. Confined to the farm, Gein did not have any good influences. He formed an obsession with his mother and devoted his actions to trying to make her happy when she was alive. When his mother died, he continued to believe that women were prostitutes and beings of the devil as she had told him. He continued to put these beliefs into play as he murdered innocent women who reminded him of his mother. This shows that her violent speeches, isolated methods, and violent mannerisms truly rubbed off on young Gein, seeing as this was all he had to look up to for the first sixteen years of his life. Although no one he had relations with had directly committed crimes themselves, they still had the tendencies of a criminal and the mindset of violence. Growing in such an environment truly gave Gein no room to grow to live a normal and peaceful life. All of these environmental influences lead to the formation of the serial killer who is so widely heard of today.
Leatherface Cultural References • Loosely adapted into a number of movies including: Deranged (1974), In the Light of the Moon (2000), Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield (2007), Hitchcock (2012) and the Rob Zombie movies - House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects • Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre • Norman Bates from Psycho • Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs • Bloody Face from American Horror Story • He has also been mentioned in songs by Slayer, Mudvayne, the Ziggens, and Blind Melon Buffalo Bill
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