Ed Gein
Edward Theodore Gein (/ɡiːn/ La Crosse County, 27 August 1906 – Madison, July 26, 1984) was an American serial killer and grave robber. His crimes, committed around his hometown of Plainfield, Wisconsin, gained wide notoriety in 1957 after authorities discovered that he had exhumed bodies from local cemeteries and crafted trophies and memorabilia out of his bones and skin.. According to his own confession, he also killed at least two women.
He was initially found not guilty and confined to a psychiatric hospital. He died at the Mendota Mental Health Institute of respiratory failure on July 26, 1984, at age 77. He is buried with his family in the Plainfield Cemetery, in a now unmarked grave.
Family situation
Ed Gein was raised outside the town of Plainfield, La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States, the son of George P. Gein (1873-1940) and Augusta T. Lehrk (1878-1945). He had a difficult childhood, since his father, George, was not very affectionate with his family, in addition to having serious alcoholism problems, while his mother, Augusta, had strong religious ideals that led her to despise men and to consider to women as the very source of sin, which produced that Edward Gein and his brother Henry Gein had a strict upbringing in which they were constantly disciplined and with which their asocial character was formed.
His father passed away at the age of 66, prompting the Gein siblings to look for work to contribute to the family finances, while his brother began to challenge their mother's religious ideals, only to die in a fire in strangers circumstances.
Later, Augusta T. Lehrk suffered a cardiac arrest in 1944 that left her bedridden for the next twelve months. She passed away in 1945, leaving Edward Theodore Gein completely alone.
Discovery
Police officers investigating the November 17, 1957 disappearance of Bernice Worden, owner of the Plainfield Wisconsin hardware store, suspected that Ed Gein was involved in the case. When they entered her home, they found Worden's naked body hanging by her ankles, decapitated, her torso slit open, and eviscerated. Among other gruesome finds, they also found ten skulls with the tops removed to serve as bowls and ashtrays, lampshades and seats made of human skin, soup plates made from skulls, more skulls on his bedposts., Bernice's organs in the refrigerator, a human nipple belt, a shoebox with nine vulvas, and many more objects made from human body parts. All of these "objects" were photographed and destroyed.
Under questioning, Ed Gein admitted to opening the graves of recently deceased women and stealing the bodies, driving them home in his '49 Ford pickup where he tanned the hides for his possessions. He admitted to murdering Mary Hogan, a local bartender, who has been missing since 1954. It was never proven, nor admitted by him, that he committed cannibalism. He denied raping the dead women, saying they "smelled very bad."
He was declared mentally ill and spent the rest of his days in a psychiatric institution until his death in the summer of 1984 from respiratory failure.
It is believed that their mother, Augusta, strove to prevent any influence outside her own on her two children. It was, in part, what caused her mental disorder.Augusta was the last member of Ed's close family.She died in 1945, and Ed sealed off her room for some reason.
While Ed Gein was in custody, his house burned to the ground, probably from arson. Her truck was auctioned off and the buyer did business with it by taking her on tours of various cities and charging to see the interior of her "decorated" with fake blood.
In popular culture
Ed Gein and his macabre crimes inspired several key works in literature, music, and film.
- The character Norman Bates in Robert Bloch's novel Psychosistaken to the cinema in Alfred Hitchcock's homonymous film.
- The Leatherface character of the film saga The Texas Chain Saw Massacre It's inspired by him.
- In addition, there are a couple of films that portray their lives, with greater or lesser historical rigor; Ed Gein (also known as In the Light of the Moon), of the year 2000, as one of the most faithful, and Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield, of 2007, very little subject to the actual facts.
- The cult film of 1974, Deranged (known in Spain as Disordered: Deranged), where a maniac named Ezra Cobb paraphrase the history of Gein.
- Until 2017, the series Bates Motel takes on the basis of Ed Gein's life expanding the fictional story of Norman Bates from the film Psychosis Hitchcock.
- It also appears played by Michael Wincott in Hitchcock, the suspense master (2012), where Anthony Hopkins characterizes the great director.
- The second season of the series American Horror Story, Asylum, includes the character Bloodyface, with strong allusions to Gein, which include his fixation for human skin and his complex for his absent relationship with his mother, an element that inspired him to commit his crimes and to deprive women exclusively.
- The electronic music album Spectrum 2012 by Beat Cairo, Argentinian band, is totally inspired by his personality, his crimes and his life.
- The topic Nothing to Gein from the L.D. 50 disc of the Nu Metal Mudvayne band is inspired by it.
- In the letter Dead Skin Mask, the fifth song of the album Seasons in the Abyss of the thrash metal Slayer band. The letter was written by the bass player and singer of the band Tom Araya, in the company of the late guitarist Jeff Hanneman.
- It is mentioned in the song "Spanish Psycho" by Mitsuruggy.
- The image of Ed Gein also features the cover of the Madman Roll record (1991) of the British psychobilly band The Meteors.
- In the series Dahmer, monster: the story of Jeffrey Dahmer In episode 8, Jeffrey's attorney advised him to use in his trial the legal precedent of Ed Gein and to declare himself mentally ill.