Ed Gein

Ed Gein
Gein, c. 1958
Born
Edward Theodore Gein

(1906-08-27)August 27, 1906
DiedJuly 26, 1984(1984-07-26) (aged 77)
Resting placePlainfield Cemetery
Other names
  • Eddie
  • The Mad Butcher
  • The Plainfield Ghoul
  • The Plainfield Butcher
  • The Butcher of Plainfield
OccupationNumerous unspecified jobs
Conviction(s)First degree murder (later found legally insane)
Criminal penaltyInstitutionalized 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
CountryUnited States
State(s)Wisconsin
Date apprehended
November 16, 1957

Edward Theodore Gein (/ɡn/ GEEN; August 27, 1906[1] – 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.

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,[2] 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.[3]

  1. ^ "Birth Index Record: Gien, Edward". Wisconsin Historical Society. January 2012.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference guilty was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Ed Gein | Biography, Story, Movie, Crimes, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved December 2, 2023.