Ed Gein
American murderer and body snatcher who made keepsakes from human remains.
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Edward Theodore Gein (August 27, 1906 – July 26, 1984), called the Butcher of Plainfield and the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American murderer who also dug up bodies. His crimes near Plainfield, Wisconsin, became widely known in 1957 when police found he had taken corpses from local cemeteries and made souvenirs from their bones and skin. He admitted to killing two women: Mary Hogan, a tavern owner, in 1954, and Bernice Worden, a hardware store owner, in 1957.
Gein was first ruled unfit for trial and sent to a mental hospital. By 1968, he was considered competent. He was convicted of murdering Worden but found legally insane, so he was sent back to a psychiatric facility.
Gein was born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, the younger of two sons of George Philip Gein and Augusta Wilhelmine Gein, both of German descent. His only sibling was an older brother, Henry. Augusta, a strict Lutheran, often told her sons the world was immoral, drinking was evil, and all women were naturally promiscuous and tools of the Devil. She read them Bible passages daily, usually from the Old Testament and Revelation about death, murder, and divine punishment. Gein worshipped and became obsessed with his mother.
In La Crosse, his father worked as a carpenter, tanner, and firefighter and ran a grocery store, but soon sold it and moved the family to a 155-acre farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin. The father was a violent alcoholic who regularly beat both sons, causing Ed’s ears to ring from blows to the head. Augusta used the farm’s isolation to keep outsiders away from her sons.
Gein left the farm only for school. Outside class, he did farm chores. He was shy, and classmates and teachers noted odd habits like laughing randomly, as if at private jokes. According to family acquaintances, Augusta punished him whenever he tried to make friends. Despite poor social skills, he did well in school, especially in reading.
On April 1, 1940, George Gein died of heart failure at 66. Ed and Henry took odd jobs to cover expenses. The community saw them as reliable and honest. Both worked as handymen, and Ed often babysat, relating better to children than adults. Henry started dating a divorced mother of two and planned to move in with her. He worried about Ed’s attachment to their mother and spoke badly of her around Ed, who reacted with shock and hurt.
On May 16, 1944, Henry was burning vegetation on the property. The fire got out of control, and the local fire department put it out. After they left, Ed reported Henry missing. A search party found Henry’s body face down. He appeared to have been dead for a while, and the cause seemed to be heart failure, as he had no burns or injuries. Biographer Harold Schechter later noted Henry had bruises on his head. Police dismissed foul play, and the coroner listed asphyxiation as the cause. Authorities accepted the accident theory, with no official investigation or autopsy. In 1957, state investigator Joe Wilimovsky questioned Ed about Henry’s death. George Arndt, who studied the case, later wrote it was “possible and likely” that Henry’s death was “the ‘Cain and Abel’ aspect of this case.”
With Henry gone, Ed and his mother were alone. Augusta had a paralyzing stroke soon after, and Ed cared for her. Around 1945, he said he and his mother visited a neighbor named Smith to buy straw. Augusta saw Smith beat a dog to death. A woman inside came out and yelled for him to stop. What upset Augusta was not the cruelty to the dog but the woman’s presence. She told Ed the woman was not married to Smith and had no right to be there, calling her “Smith’s harlot.” Augusta had a second stroke soon after and quickly declined. She died on December 29, 1945, at 67. Gein was devastated. In Schechter’s words, he had “lost his only friend and one true love. And he was absolutely alone in the world.”
Gein kept the farm and earned money from odd jobs. He boarded up rooms his mother had used—the upstairs, downstairs parlor, and living room—leaving them untouched. The rest of the house became filthy, but those rooms stayed clean. He lived in a small room next to the kitchen. Around this time, he started reading pulp magazines and adventure stories, especially ones about cannibals or Nazi atrocities, particularly Ilse Koch, who was accused of killing tattooed prisoners to make lampshades and other items.
- born
- August 27, 1906, La Crosse County, Wisconsin
- died
- July 26, 1984
- field
- Murderer, body snatcher
- nationality
- American
- known_for
- Grave robbing and creating artifacts from human remains; murders of Mary Hogan a
Verified Timeline
Lore & Background
Edward Theodore Gein, known as the Butcher of Plainfield and the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American murderer and body snatcher whose crimes around Plainfield, Wisconsin, came to light in 1957 when authorities discovered he had stolen corpses from local graveyards and fashioned keepsakes from their bones and skin. He confessed to killing two women: a tavern owner in 1954 and a hardware store owner in 1957. Gein was initially found unfit to stand trial and confined to a mental health facility; by 1968, he was judged competent, found guilty of one murder but legally insane, and remanded to a psychiatric institution. Gein was born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, in 1906, the second son of a violent, alcoholic father and a fervently religious mother who preached that women were promiscuous instruments of the Devil and read him Bible passages about death and divine retribution. He idolized and became obsessed with his mother. The family moved to a remote farm in Plainfield, where his mother isolated him from outsiders. Gein was shy, did well in school, and often babysat for neighbors, relating more easily to children than adults. After his father died of heart failure in 1940, Gein and his brother worked as handymen. His brother died in 1944 under suspicious circumstances, with head bruises noted but no autopsy performed. Following his mother’s death in 1945, Gein boarded up her rooms, leaving them pristine while the rest of the house became squalid. He supported himself with odd jobs and read pulp magazines about cannibals and Nazi atrocities.
Reader's Guide
Ed Gein was born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, on August 27, 1906, the second son of George Philip Gein and Augusta Wilhelmine Gein. Augusta was fervently religious and preached that all women were promiscuous instruments of the Devil. Gein idolized and became obsessed with her. His father was a violent alcoholic who beat his sons, causing Ed's ears to ring. After his father died of heart failure in 1940, Ed and his brother Henry worked odd jobs. Henry died in 1944 during a vegetation fire; his body was found face down, and the cause was listed as asphyxiation, though biographer Harold Schechter later noted bruises on his head. Augusta suffered a stroke after Henry's death, and Gein cared for her until she died on December 29, 1945. Devastated, he boarded up her rooms and lived in squalor. He began reading about Nazi atrocities, especially Ilse Koch, who was accused of making lampshades from human skin. On November 16, 1957, Bernice Worden disappeared. Her son, Deputy Sheriff Frank Worden, found blood stains in her hardware store. Gein had been there the night before and was expected for antifreeze. Arrested that evening, authorities searched his farm and found Worden's decapitated body hung upside down in a shed, dressed out like a deer. In his house, they discovered a wastebasket of human skin, chairs covered in skin, skulls on bedposts, bowls from skulls, a corset made from a female torso, leggings from leg skin, masks from female heads, Mary Hogan's face mask and skull, Bernice Worden's head and heart, nine vulvas in a shoebox, a belt made from female nipples, four noses, lips on a drawstring, and a lampshade from human face skin. Gein admitted to exhuming bodies from three local graveyards between 1947 and 1952, making as many as forty nocturnal visits while in a daze-like state. He confessed to stealing from nine graves and led investigators to them. Test graves were exhumed and found as he described: one casket empty, another with a few bones and his crowbar, and a third with most of the body missing but rings and some parts returned.
Did You Know?
- Gein's father was a violent alcoholic who beat his sons, causing Ed's ears to ring when hit on the head.
- After his mother Augusta died in 1945, Gein boarded up her rooms and left them untouched while the rest of the house became squalid.
- Authorities found nine vulvas in a shoebox in Gein's house, including those of two females judged to be about fifteen years old.
- Gein told investigators he made as many as forty nocturnal visits to graveyards between 1947 and 1952, but on about thirty of those visits he left the grave in good order and returned home empty-handed.
- Biographer Harold Schechter reported that Henry Gein's body had bruises on his head, though police dismissed foul play and the coroner listed asphyxiation as the cause of death.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ed Gein?
Ed Gein was an American murderer and body snatcher from Plainfield, Wisconsin, who became infamous in 1957 for stealing corpses and crafting objects from human remains. He is widely known by the nicknames Butcher of Plainfield and Plainfield Ghoul.
What crimes did Ed Gein commit?
Gein killed two women—tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954 and hardware store proprietor Bernice Worden in 1957—and additionally robbed local graves to fashion keepsakes out of the victims' bones and skin.
When and where did Ed Gein's crimes take place?
His offenses were carried out in and around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, spanning from at least 1954 until his discovery in 1957. He was originally born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, in 1906.
How was Ed Gein discovered?
Law enforcement grew suspicious after Gein expressed interest in buying a taxidermy suit, prompting a search of his home that revealed the disturbing collection of human remains and grave-robbing artifacts.
What happened to Ed Gein after his arrest?
Gein was deemed legally insane and was committed to a state psychiatric institution, where he remained until his death in July 1984 at the age of 77.
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