Ed Gein
Essay by review • November 11, 2010 • Research Paper • 3,899 Words (16 Pages) • 2,465 Views
Ed Gein/Page 3
Introduction
This paper is based on the life of Ed Gein. He was an unusual character, born on a farm, and raised by a religious crazy, domineering mother. In the space of a few years his entire family passed away and he was left to take care of his farm all by himself. In the next few years he became a grave robber, a necrophiliac, a cannibal, and also took up arts and crafts in body parts. He is known as one of the weirdest serial killers of the twentieth century. He also inspired movies like Psycho, Silence of The Lambs, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Ed Gein/Page 4
Profile
Name - Edward 'Ed' Gein.
AKA - The Butcher of Plainfield, The Plainfield Butcher, The Mad Butcher, The
Plainfield Ghoul.
DOB/DOD - 1906 - 26 July 1984.
Mother 'Augusta 1878-1945', Father 'George 1873-1940', Brother 'Henry 1901-44'.
Residence(at Time of Murders) - 160-Acre Farm Seven Miles Outside Plainfield,
Wisconsin. USA.
Murder Type/Practices - Serial Killer / Graverobbery, Necrophilia, Cannibalism,
Sadism, Death Fetishism.
Method/Weapons Used - Shooting / .22, .32.
Organization - Mixed.
Mobility - Stable.
Victim Vicinity - Plainfield, Wisconsin.
Murder Time Span - 1954 - 1957.
Victim Type - Old Women.
Victims - Mary Hogan (Died 8 Dec 1954), Bernice Worden (Died 16 Nov 1957)
Ed Gein/Page 5
Before the Events
Ed Gein and his brother Henry were raised by his religious crazed mother. She was a
very domineering woman, and discouraged her sons from women. They lived on a
160-acre farm seven miles outside of Plainfield, Wisconsin. The boys were always busy
with farm work. His alcoholic father died in 1940 and a few years later his brother Henry
died in 1944, trapped while fighting a forest fire. Shortly after his mother suffered a
stroke and in 1945 she suffered another one which she never recovered from and left Ed
alone.
It was then that he decided to close off the upstairs of his farm home, the parlour, and
his mother's bedroom by boarding it off and set up his own quarters in the remaining
bedroom, kitchen and shed of the big house. He stopped working the farm because of a
government soil-conservation program. They offered him a subsidy, which he
augmented by his work as a handyman in the area.
Ed Gein/Page 6
Robbing Graves
In his spare time Ed read books on human anatomy and Nazi concentration camp experiments. He was quite interested by it all, especially the female anatomy. Alone in his farm house he thought about sex , until one day he read in the local paper of a woman that had been buried that day. He went to an old friend by the name of Gus, who was a loner and odd as well. Gus was Ed's trusted friend, he agreed to assist in digging up the body for "medical experiments". His first corpse was less than 12 feet away from his mother's grave.
Over the next 10 years Ed did the same thing look up obituaries in the local newspaper and dig up fresh corpses on a full moon. He would take the whole corpse or just the parts that he needed at the time.
His experiments with dead bodies were bizarre. He would construct objects with the bones and skin and the organs and meats were stored in the fridge to eat and give as fresh venison to his neighbors. He would commit acts of necrophilia on the bodies. He even dug up his own mother's corpse!
Ed Gein/ Page 7
Wanting To Be A Woman
Ed Gein never told Gus that he wanted to be a woman. That's why he studied anatomy. He was always telling people about operations that resulted in a change of sex. Ed was always desiring to dissect female corpses and familiarize himself with its anatomy. The closest he got was to wear a full body suit made of women skin, breasts and face included.
His collections of trophies got larger, and so did the range of his experimentation and obsession. Gus was then taken to an asylum, and Ed was then left alone again. Ed thought that fresher bodies would be better for his collection so he turned to murder.
Ed GeinPage 8
He Kills
Ed's first victim was Mary Hogan. She
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