Ed Gein
Edward Theodore Gein (/ɡiːn/; August 27, 1906 – July 26, 1984), also known as the Butcher of Plainfield or the Plainfield Ghoul, was an American murderer, suspected serial killer and body snatcher. Gein's crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gathered widespread notoriety in 1957 after authorities discovered that he had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned keepsakes from their bones and skin. He also confessed to killing two women: tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954, and hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957.
Ed Gein | |
|---|---|
Gein, c. 1958 | |
| Born | Edward Theodore Gein August 27, 1906 |
| Died | July 26, 1984 (aged 77) |
| Resting place | Plainfield Cemetery |
| Other names |
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| Occupation | Numerous unspecified jobs |
| Conviction(s) | First degree murder (later found legally insane) |
| Criminal penalty | Institutionalized in the Mendota Mental Health Institute |
| Details | |
| Victims | 2 murders confirmed 7 others suspected 9 corpses mutilated (obtained from desecrated graves) |
Span of crimes | 1947–1957 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Wisconsin |
Date apprehended | November 16, 1957 |
Gein was initially found unfit to stand trial and confined to a mental health facility. By 1968, he was judged competent to stand trial; he was found guilty of the murder of Worden, but he was found legally insane and was remanded to a psychiatric institution. Gein died at Mendota Mental Health Institute from respiratory failure resulting from lung cancer, on July 26, 1984, aged 77. He is buried next to his family in the Plainfield Cemetery, in a now-unmarked grave.