Ed Gein

1. Ed Gein

2. What is a serial killer? • A serial killer is someone who kills multiple people, usually at random for psychological reasons • Serial killers usually have a period of time between their killings, and have sexual parts to their murders • Many serial killers do it because they have social problems

3. Childhood • Ed Gein was born August 27th, 1906 in Vernon County, Wisconsin • Father, George Gein, and mother Augusta Gein • Gein grew up in a a family with an alcoholic dad, and verbally abusive mother • Gein’s mother was rarely pleased, no matter what he or his brother Henry did • She looked down upon Ed trying to make friends, which forced him to be anti-social • His mother made a point to display her strong beliefs against women, and dealing with them at a young age • She told her boys that sex was only for birth giving, and that women were basically the devil • This upbringing explains a lot about how Gein later went about his killing business • His father died when Ed was young, and brother also died later on due to a fire incident, that Ed was suspected of being involved in • Gein was left lonely in his house in 1945 when his mother died, as her hard preaching against social skills made him friendless

4. Personal life • Ed Gein worked handy worker jobs, but also had a strange liking to the job of babysitting • He lived alone on his farm after his mom died when he was 39 • He was not known growing up as a bad kid, people did think he was a little odd though • He abandoned his farm house and worked multiple random jobs in his town • He kept his mom’s room untouched, just the way it was when she died • As time went on, he developed a fetish for human anatomy, particularly the female one • He also showed an interest in how it would feel to be a woman • His sheltered upbringing by his mom probably contributed to this fetish

5. Signs of a Killer • Gein’s obsession with the anatomy turned into a reality, as he went so far as to dig up corpses from the ground and examine them • Grave robbing became a big part of his life, and he visited it quite often to get bodies to examine • He would dissect the bodies and save some of the parts, mainly the female genitals • He also saved the skin of these bodies and used it for different things around his house like lampshades, belts, curtains • One thing he became very famous for was taking the skin off of these bodies and putting the face on his own • It was not until his house was searched by investigators as he was suspected for a missing person that all of this became known

6. Killings • Nov. 16, 1957 – Gein’s house was searched by detectives after he was suspected in a missing person case • There the investigators found what they were looking for, as they discovered the corpse of Bernice Worden, who worked at a hardware store • The corpse was hung upside down, gutted, and decapitated • Gein killed Worden by gunshot, and then proceeded to dissect her after death • It was after this discovery that the detectives kept searching and found all of the skin that Ed Gein had saved and put to use in his house • He was eventually arrested and put to trial • In interrogation, Gein admitted to another murder of a woman named Mary Hogan who went missing 3 years prior • Her death was also caused by shooting • It is estimated that Gein killed at least 2 women, but could have killed as many as 7, largely due to the amount of skin found in his house, and number of missing women in his area from 1947-1957 • Both women he admitted to killing were shot in the head on his farm

7. Findings • Some of the things that were found at Gein’s house were: • A belt made of nipples • A full body suit made of women’s skin, that Gein admitted to wearing • A numerous amount of women’s faces that he had taken off • Half skulls that he used as bowls for soup • An estimation of about 15 bodies worth of skin in his house used for different things • Skulls on his four bed posts

8. Trial and Interrogation • Ed Gein did admit that he wanted a sex change, which explains his suit that he liked to wear • He admitted to killing both Hogan and Worden, with no reason why, other than they were middle-aged women like the people he dug from graves • He admitted to robbing multiple graves and taking the skin from the corpses • He denied having involvement with other missing women that the investigators asked about • He was first thought to be unfit to go on trial when arrested, as doctors thought him insane • He went to a mental institution until later on he was declared fit to go on trial • After a week, Ed Gein was found guilty of his first degree murder charge in 1968 • Obviously what was found at his house and his admitting to the killings were the evidence used to prove him guilty • Gein was diagnosed as being legally insane, so instead of going to prison, he went a mental institute where he died in 1984 of cancer

9. His Legacy • Gein’s nasty killings inspired many famous movies in popular culture today • The characters of Leatherface in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs were both thought to be inspired by Ed Gein • Obviously he inspired these characters as both wore the skin of other people • Ed Gein’s killings and dissecting of numerous people left a lasting mark on the country, one that will never be forgotten

10. Sources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Gein • http://www.houseofhorrors.com/gein.htm • http://www.globalpolitician.com/21194-crime • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_killer • Google image search for Leatherface, Ed Gein, and Silence of the Lambs