“The Plainfield Ghoul”
Have you ever seen the movie Psycho? The main character in the movie, Norman Bates, is based off of Ed Gein. Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre has characteristics that are also based off of Gein’s crimes. Gein’s psychological issues and his crimes baffled America and has made him one of the most infamous serial killers that America has ever seen.
The Crimes
Gein admitted to murdering two women from his town. It is suspected that he killed more than that, but the world will never know. In 1957, Bernice Worden, a local hardware store owner, was found hanging from Gein’s ceiling by her ankles. She was decapitated and had been gutted. Her brother had suspected Gein from the beginning because of his weird tendencies and personality, so that’s how the police managed to catch Ed Gein so quickly. However, the thing that sets Gein apart from all other serial killers is what was found inside his home.
Paraphernalia found inside Ed Gein’s home:
- Four noses
- Nine masks made of human skin
- Bowls made from human skulls
- Twelve female heads
- Nine female genitalia inside a shoe box
- Chair covers made out of human skin
- A belt made of human nipples
- And other various body parts
These body parts were not from murder, but grave robbing. However, when he was caught, he admitted to killing a local tavern owner, Mary Hogan, in 1954. Luckily, necrophilia was not on Gein’s agenda because he said the bodies “smelled too bad.”
The Psychological Profile
Ed had the textbook serial killer upbringing. He had a distant, alcoholic father and an overly religious mother who was extremely strict about sinful acts because she had Puritan ideals. After the death of his brother and father, Gein was left alone with his mother. He had an extremely unhealthy relationship with his mother, because he never left the home and became very dependent on her. When she passed away, Gein’s mental health spiraled. He developed schizophrenia as a result and went on these psychotic breaks. He decided he wanted a sex change, so he made suits out of skin so he could be “female.” He then admitted that those visits to the graveyards were made while he was in a “daze-like” state, which he would then return to consciousness back at home with the bodies and body parts.
An Insane Ending
Ultimately, Gein was deemed unfit for trial because he was mentally unstable. He was then sent to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. In 1968, the court ruled that he was guilty of first degree murder, but because of his insanity, he spent the remainder of his life in a mental institution.
For further reading:
Ed Gein: The Skin-Suit-Wearing Serial Killer Who Inspired Psycho’s Norman Bates