Ed Gein Ed Gein was born on August 27, 1906, the second son of Augusta and George Gein. The Geins owned a grocery store in the small town of La Crosse Wisonsin. According to Gein there were two incidents in his childhood that stayed with him for the remainder of his life. He told a psychologist at the Central State Hopsital where he was committed that he rememered one afternoon standing at the top of the basement stairs of his home when something almost caused him to fall down the steps. This was prevented by his mother who was in the kitchen at the time. Though his mother was the one who kept him from falling Gein said he was sure someone had pushed him in the first place. His mother was the only one in the room at the time. The idea that his mother would try to push him down the stairs completely unsettled him. Gein's second distinct childhood memory was even more upsetting. The Gein family lived behind the grocery store they owned and operated. It was not uncommon for them to prepare their own meat for resale in the store. The Gein's slaughter shed was located near the rear of the house but both Ed and his brother were forbidden access to it. Perhaps for this reason both boys became immensely curious of the shed. One day when he realized his parents were not to be found Ed made his way to the shed and cautiously through the door which was unlocked at the time. In the shed stood his mother and father, in the process of butchering a pig. Both parents were splattered with the blood and offal which was pouring from the pig carcass which was hung upside down from the ceiling. He vividly remembers his mother, with her hand in the split pigs belly, turning her head slowly towards the door and meeting his gaze head on. When Ed was eight years old his family moved to a large farm just outside the town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. Those who remember Ed as a child described him as a small, timid child who was very quiet. In fact the only thing noted as being even remotely unusual about Ed at this time was his tendency to laugh for no reason and at inappropriate times. Ed quit school when he was about 13 years old. He remained in Plainfield and became a likeable member of the community. The first in a long line of tragedies in Ed's life hit when he was 34 years old. On April 1 1940, Ed's father died. At the time of his father's death Ed was extremely attached to his mother. The death of George Gein reinforced this attachment. Though an adult, Ed was still a virgin. Over the following years Ed became more attached and reliant on his mother. Ed's brother Henry began to remark on the attachment between them. Henry felt it was unhealthy. Ed lashed out at the insinuations and accused Henry of causing his father's death. Henry continued to comment upon the unwholesome relationship that existed between Ed and their mother. On May 16 1944 Ed and Henry were clearing marshland on their farm. They started a fire to dispose of the refuse, but the fire got out of control. According to Ed the brothers separated in order to get the fire under control. Once the fire was put out Ed returned home. Henry did not. Ed formed a search party to go out and look for his brother. No luck. However, when the Sheriff showed up with a search party of his own Ed was able to take them within feet of Henry's body. This was the first time Ed was implicated in a murder. Henry's body had no burn marks and he was brused and battered around his head. However, when the coroner declared death by asphysication no further investigations were made into the matter. Ed lived with his mother on the farm for the next year and a half. After a series of strokes Augusta Gein died on December 29th 1945. Her death had a tremendous effect on Ed. After his mother's death he sealed her room and parlor off from the rest of the house and found himself alone for the first time in his life. Whilst the people of Plainfield saw Ed as a quirky loner with his fair share of eccentricities, they detected nothing in him intimidating or particularly unusual. Those who new him described him as helpful and very reliable. During the fourteen years following the death of Ed's mother the town of Plainfield experienced a number of mysterious disappearances. On May 1, 1947, eight year old Georgia Weckler disappeared after a babysitter dropped her off in the driveway of her home. In 1952, Victor Travis along with his dog and a companionvanished from a local deerhunting outing. On October 24, 1953, Evelyn Hartly, fifteen years old at the time, was abducted from the house where she was babysitting. A bloody trail led out through a basement window. None of the bodies were ever found. On December 8, 1954 Seymore Lester walked into the local tavern to find it empty. On the floor was a pool of blood and a spent .32 cartridge shell. The owner, Mary Hogan, was missing. Tracks of dried blood indicated that her body been dragged to the back of the tavern and placed into a vehicle. The case remained unsolved until 1957 when some of her body parts were found in the home of Ed Gein. It was only after Mary's disapppearance in 1954 that the people of Plainfield began to remark on Ed. He seemd even more reclusive than before. His behavior grew stranger, and a townsperson even recalls Ed telling him that "(Marys) not missing. Shes at my house now.." when the search was on for Hogan. The people of Plainfield began to comment upon Ed's living conditions, and the fact that he had made no attempt to repair the farmhouse since his mother had died. They noted that though he had made several attempts to sale the house and the land he would only allow prospective buyers to look at a few rooms on the inside. Children reported seeing shrunken heads which Ed told them he had purchased through a mail order catalog. After actually visiting Eds home, two children reported that he had a box of heads in his bedroom. There was also mysterious sightings of a 'ghost' who appeared in the form of a naked woman, dancing at night in Eds yard. No one ever bothered to look into any of these reports as they were always seen as exaggerated gossip on the part of Ed's neighbors. Finally, on November 16, 1957 Ed walked into a Plainfield hardware store. It was the opening day of deerhunting season and most of the town was out in attendance on the big event. Ed had spoken to the store owner, Bernice Worden the day before when he inquired about antifreeze. He had told her he would be back for it early the next morning. After Ed purchased the antifreeze Bernice wrote him up a receipt. At the same time Bernard Muschinski was pumping gas across the street at hsi as station. He remembered seeing the Worden delivery truck leave the back of the store between 8:45 adn 9:30. It didn't seem peculiar at the time so he did not pay it much notice. Ed's neighbor Elmo Ueeck was taking care of a deer he had shot on Ed's property that morning when he saw Ed return home. When Bernice Worden's son Frank returned home tht evening he was suprised to find the store locked with the lights on. His mother was no where about. After going home to retrieve his own key he returned and noticed the delivery truck was gone. On the counter of the store lay the receipt Bernice had written out to Ed. Frank immediately called the Sheriff. That evening Ed's neighbor Bob Hill visited. Bob wanted Ed to give him a ride into town to get a car battery. Hill said that when he called Ed from the front yard Ed came out with his arms covered in blood. He explained that he had been dressing a deer and said he would wash up and give Hill a ride into town. After their trip into town Ed stopped at the Hills to have dinner. That evening he was taken into custody for the murder of Bernice Worden. With Ed in custody the Sheriff and other men took off to search the farmhouse. Though the sheriff himself did not believe that mild manner Ed could be capable of murder he wanted to appease Frank Worden and others who had been stirred in the uproar. The men entered the farmhouse at about 8:00pm. Flashlights were used because it was now dark. As they entered the main house they saw the naked body of Bernice Worden. She was suspended upside down from the ceiling by a length of wood threaded through her tendons. She had been slit from her pubic bone to her collar bone, disembowled and decapitated. The body cavity had been washed an cleaned. The horrified men continued the search with flashlights and kerosene lamps. When they entered the next room, the kitchen, they were overcome by the filth and smell of all the accumulated trash. In front of the stove, was the head of Bernice Worden, wrapped in a plastic bag. Next to the head lay her a newspaper filled with her entrails. End Part I.

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Ed Gein

Posted by Buffy on: Sunday 20 May 2001

Ed Gein was born on August 27, 1906, the second son of Augusta and George Gein. The Geins owned a grocery store in the small town of La Crosse Wisonsin.

According to Gein there were two incidents in his childhood that stayed with him for the remainder of his life. He told a psychologist at the Central State Hopsital where he was committed that he rememered one afternoon standing at the top of the basement stairs of his home when something almost caused him to fall down the steps. This was prevented by his mother who was in the kitchen at the time.

Though his mother was the one who kept him from falling Gein said he was sure someone had pushed him in the first place. His mother was the only one in the room at the time. The idea that his mother would try to push him down the stairs completely unsettled him.

Gein's second distinct childhood memory was even more upsetting. The Gein family lived behind the grocery store they owned and operated. It was not uncommon for them to prepare their own meat for resale in the store. The Gein's slaughter shed was located near the rear of the house but both Ed and his brother were forbidden access to it. Perhaps for this reason both boys became immensely curious of the shed. One day when he realized his parents were not to be found Ed made his way to the shed and cautiously through the door which was unlocked at the time. In the shed stood his mother and father, in the process of butchering a pig. Both parents were splattered with the blood and offal which was pouring from the pig carcass which was hung upside down from the ceiling. He vividly remembers his mother, with her hand in the split pigs belly, turning her head slowly towards the door and meeting his gaze head on.

When Ed was eight years old his family moved to a large farm just outside the town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. Those who remember Ed as a child described him as a small, timid child who was very quiet. In fact the only thing noted as being even remotely unusual about Ed at this time was his tendency to laugh for no reason and at inappropriate times.

Ed quit school when he was about 13 years old. He remained in Plainfield and became a likeable member of the community.

The first in a long line of tragedies in Ed's life hit when he was 34 years old. On April 1 1940, Ed's father died. At the time of his father's death Ed was extremely attached to his mother. The death of George Gein reinforced this attachment. Though an adult, Ed was still a virgin.

Over the following years Ed became more attached and reliant on his mother. Ed's brother Henry began to remark on the attachment between them. Henry felt it was unhealthy. Ed lashed out at the insinuations and accused Henry of causing his father's death. Henry continued to comment upon the unwholesome relationship that existed between Ed and their mother.

On May 16 1944 Ed and Henry were clearing marshland on their farm. They started a fire to dispose of the refuse, but the fire got out of control. According to Ed the brothers separated in order to get the fire under control. Once the fire was put out Ed returned home. Henry did not. Ed formed a search party to go out and look for his brother. No luck. However, when the Sheriff showed up with a search party of his own Ed was able to take them within feet of Henry's body.

This was the first time Ed was implicated in a murder. Henry's body had no burn marks and he was brused and battered around his head. However, when the coroner declared death by asphysication no further investigations were made into the matter.

Ed lived with his mother on the farm for the next year and a half. After a series of strokes Augusta Gein died on December 29th 1945. Her death had a tremendous effect on Ed. After his mother's death he sealed her room and parlor off from the rest of the house and found himself alone for the first time in his life.

Whilst the people of Plainfield saw Ed as a quirky loner with his fair share of eccentricities, they detected nothing in him intimidating or particularly unusual. Those who new him described him as helpful and very reliable.

During the fourteen years following the death of Ed's mother the town of Plainfield experienced a number of mysterious disappearances. On May 1, 1947, eight year old Georgia Weckler disappeared after a babysitter dropped her off in the driveway of her home. In 1952, Victor Travis along with his dog and a companionvanished from a local deerhunting outing. On October 24, 1953, Evelyn Hartly, fifteen years old at the time, was abducted from the house where she was babysitting. A bloody trail led out through a basement window.

None of the bodies were ever found.

On December 8, 1954 Seymore Lester walked into the local tavern to find it empty. On the floor was a pool of blood and a spent .32 cartridge shell. The owner, Mary Hogan, was missing. Tracks of dried blood indicated that her body been dragged to the back of the tavern and placed into a vehicle. The case remained unsolved until 1957 when some of her body parts were found in the home of Ed Gein.

It was only after Mary's disapppearance in 1954 that the people of Plainfield began to remark on Ed. He seemd even more reclusive than before. His behavior grew stranger, and a townsperson even recalls Ed telling him that "(Marys) not missing. Shes at my house now.." when the search was on for Hogan. The people of Plainfield began to comment upon Ed's living conditions, and the fact that he had made no attempt to repair the farmhouse since his mother had died. They noted that though he had made several attempts to sale the house and the land he would only allow prospective buyers to look at a few rooms on the inside. Children reported seeing shrunken heads which Ed told them he had purchased through a mail order catalog. After actually visiting Eds home, two children reported that he had a box of heads in his bedroom. There was also mysterious sightings of a 'ghost' who appeared in the form of a naked woman, dancing at night in Eds yard. No one ever bothered to look into any of these reports as they were always seen as exaggerated gossip on the part of Ed's neighbors.

Finally, on November 16, 1957 Ed walked into a Plainfield hardware store. It was the opening day of deerhunting season and most of the town was out in attendance on the big event. Ed had spoken to the store owner, Bernice Worden the day before when he inquired about antifreeze. He had told her he would be back for it early the next morning. After Ed purchased the antifreeze Bernice wrote him up a receipt.

At the same time Bernard Muschinski was pumping gas across the street at hsi as station. He remembered seeing the Worden delivery truck leave the back of the store between 8:45 adn 9:30. It didn't seem peculiar at the time so he did not pay it much notice. Ed's neighbor Elmo Ueeck was taking care of a deer he had shot on Ed's property that morning when he saw Ed return home.

When Bernice Worden's son Frank returned home tht evening he was suprised to find the store locked with the lights on. His mother was no where about. After going home to retrieve his own key he returned and noticed the delivery truck was gone.

On the counter of the store lay the receipt Bernice had written out to Ed. Frank immediately called the Sheriff.

That evening Ed's neighbor Bob Hill visited. Bob wanted Ed to give him a ride into town to get a car battery. Hill said that when he called Ed from the front yard Ed came out with his arms covered in blood. He explained that he had been dressing a deer and said he would wash up and give Hill a ride into town. After their trip into town Ed stopped at the Hills to have dinner. That evening he was taken into custody for the murder of Bernice Worden.

With Ed in custody the Sheriff and other men took off to search the farmhouse. Though the sheriff himself did not believe that mild manner Ed could be capable of murder he wanted to appease Frank Worden and others who had been stirred in the uproar.

The men entered the farmhouse at about 8:00pm. Flashlights were used because it was now dark. As they entered the main house they saw the naked body of Bernice Worden. She was suspended upside down from the ceiling by a length of wood threaded through her tendons. She had been slit from her pubic bone to her collar bone, disembowled and decapitated. The body cavity had been washed an cleaned.

The horrified men continued the search with flashlights and kerosene lamps. When they entered the next room, the kitchen, they were overcome by the filth and smell of all the accumulated trash. In front of the stove, was the head of Bernice Worden, wrapped in a plastic bag. Next to the head lay her a newspaper filled with her entrails.

End Part I.