Edward Theodore "Ed" Gein

Edward Theodore Gein “American Psycho”
Information summarized by Radford University students Brandie Jenkins, Amanda Clark, Cathleen Duncan, & Lacey Robinson Serial killer researched by Radford University students Natkai Akbar, Ryan Cassell, Jody Conger, Chris Cousins, Nathan Fancher, Ben Garner, Tabitha D. Hartley, Kelly Montgomery, Amanda Pfeiffer, Catherine Plummer, Heather Saloman, Lesley Wallace, Kelly Wilbourne, and Brad Winkelmann Department of Psychology Radford University Radford, VA 24142-6946
Date	Year	Age	Life Event
	1876		Ed, father George Gein was born
	1900		Ed’s father (George) and mother (Augusta) were married.
January 17	1902		Ed’s older brother Henry was born
February	1902		Ed’s father is out of work
August 27	1906	0	Edward Theodore Gein (Ed) was born to Augusta and George Gein in La Crosse, Wisconsin. A growth on his left eyelid caused Ed to have a “lazy” eye. Ed was the younger of two sons. The first born, Henry, was 5 years older.
			George Gein was an abusive alcoholic who worked periodically as a carpenter, a tanner, and a farmer. Augusta was a fanatically religious woman.
			Augusta supported the family through a successful grocery business. She despised George, felt he was worthless, and gave him no part in raising the two boys.
	1913	7	Ed witnesses his parents slaughter a hog in the shed behind the family store. Ed experienced an ejaculation upon viewing this.

	1914	8	The Geins moved to Plainfield, Wisconsin, to a 195 acre farm because Augusta wanted to move away from the immorality of the city and the sinners that inhabited it. The closest neighbors were almost a mile away.
	1914	8	Ed and Henry began school at Roche-a-Cri grade school, a tiny one-room building with 12 students. Ed was average at school, but an excellent reader. Ed was shunned and isolated at school because of his lazy eye and his shyness. He also had a lesion on his tongue that caused him to speak a bit weird. Augusta severely punished Ed when he did attempt to make friends. Augusta verbally abused both boys, believing they were destined to become failures like their father. Ed would come home crying from kids making fun of him and his alcoholic father would repeatedly beat him in the head till his ears started ringing.
	1918	12	Ed was caught by his mother masturbating in the bathtub. She grabbed his genitals and called them the “curse of man”.
	1920	14	Ed graduated the eighth grade and then dropped out of school. He continued to be an avid reader though.
	1927	21	Augusta made both her sons promise to always remain virgins.
	1937	31	George, Ed’s father, became a helpless invalid and was completely dependent on his family that feared and hated him. George was no help on the farm and drank away much of the family earnings.
April 1	1940	34	George died of pneumonic fluid on the lungs at age 66. Augusta attributed his death to his weakness and referred often to him going to hell. Ed and Henry, 39, began to take on odd jobs to help support the family, mostly as handymen. Ed was often employed as a babysitter. He loved the company of children because they were easier to relate to. Both Ed and Henry were considered trustworthy and reliable by the town’s people.
	1942	36	Ed was still eligible for the draft and had to travel to Milwaukee for a physical exam. He was rejected due to the growth on his left eyelid, which slightly impaired his vision. This was the farthest from home he had ever been and the only time in his life he would travel so far.
	1944	38	Henry, not sharing Ed’s worship of their mother, began to openly criticize her. Henry was worried about what he perceived to be Ed’s unhealthy attachment to her. This criticism shocked and mortified Ed.
May 16	1944	38	Henry died a sudden death under mysterious circumstances at the age of 43, while he and Ed were fighting a runaway fire on the marshland near their home. Ed reported that he had been unable to locate Henry, but then led police directly to where he lay. Apparent cause of death was not consistent with injuries from fire, Henry’s body had not been touched by the fire and his head

			was badly bruised.
May 18	1944	38	The county corner listed Henry’s cause of death as asphyxiation. The police dismissed the notion of foul play. They did not believe Ed was capable of killing someone.
	(Late) 1944	38	Augusta became faint and sickly not long after Henry’s death and had to be hospitalized. Augusta had suffered her first stroke.
	1945	39	Augusta became worried about Ed’s reading, which included head shrinking, grave robbing, and many books on human anatomy.
December 29	1945	39	Augusta died of complications from a second stroke at age 67. Ed reacted by boarding up his mother’s bedroom and sitting room to be preserved, museum style, as they had been when she was alive.
	(Early) 1946	40	Ed’s already unkempt appearance degrades further, neighbors comment on how bad ha smells. Ed continued to live on the farm and live off meager earnings form odd jobs. Ed then boarded up all but two rooms in the house. They were never reopened again until his arrest.
	1947	41	Eighteen months after Augusta died, Ed, driven by intense loneliness and what he later said to be strange visions, began to visit the cemetery were his mother was buried. After several visits, he began to dig up corpses. The first body he dug up was that of his mother. Twisting her head off with his bare hands, Ed took the head and shrunk it similar to the way his book spoke of.
May 1	1947	41	8-year-old, Georgia Weckler disappeared without a trace, leaving no suspects and the only clue found was tire tracks of a ford.
	1947- 1951	41- 45	Ed began making nocturnal visits to as many as 40 cemeteries, frequently leaving without any offense, but on at least 9 occasions Ed dug up the coffins of newly-buried middle-age women. He had scouted these women out in the obituaries. He would take what he wanted then recover the violated graves. Besides masturbation, Ed denies ever having has a sexual experience in his life and stated that he never had sex with the cadavers because “they smelled too bad.” His cravings and compulsions still fall under the category of necrophilia. An increase in missing persons in the area began at this time as well, stumping police.
	1951	45	Ed visited a bar owned by Mary Hogan. She was a middle-aged woman that looked much like Ed’s mother, but had a foul mouth and a trashy history. Ed was transfixed by her because of the resemblance to his mother as well as the glaring difference between the two.
August 26	1951	45	Ed dug up Eleanor Adams, a 51 year old woman who had been buried earlier that day.
November 1	1952	46	Victor “Bunk” Travis, age 42, and friend, Ray Burgess, disappeared with the car after spending several hours at a local

			bar in Plainfield. No trace of them or their car was ever found. While kidnapping men was out of character for Ed Gein, police still suspect he had some role in their disappearance.
October 24	1953	47	Evelyn Hartley, age 15, is abducted while baby-sitting for family friends. Her father found signs of struggle, including her broken eyeglasses, blood stains, and footprints. Her panties and bra were found two miles southeast of La Crosse and four miles further, bloody pair of man’s pants was found. Her body was never found. It is thought that Ed was responsible.
December 8	1954	48	Plainfield tavern owner, Mary Hogan, with whom Ed has earlier been transfixed, disappeared from her establishment. Police suspected foul play because of blood on the floor next to an empty bullet shell casing. Ed later revealed that he had been hanging out with her, drinking a bit. He pulled the blinds, put a .22 caliber gun to her forehead and shot her.
December 9	1954	48	The day after the murder, while working with Elmo Ueeck, he admitted to killing her and said he had hung her up at his house. Elmo dismissed Ed’s statement, not believing him.
November 15	1957	51	Ed inquired from Mrs. Worden and her son about the price of antifreeze.
November 16	1957	51	Owner of the local International Harvest Products shop and mother of Deputy Frank Worden, Bernice Worden, 58, disappeared from her store. Sheriff Schley and Deputy Worden found the cash register gone, blood on the floor, and a .22 caliber rifle that was out of place on it’s rack upon arrival at the store. They also found a receipt for antifreeze made out to Eddie Gein, the last sale of the day.
November 17	1957	51	Sheriff Schley and Deputy Worden entered Ed Gein’s house through the shed/ summer kitchen. Bernice Worden’s headless corpse was found hanging upside down with her ankles lashed to a wooden cross beam. She was split open from vagina to sternum, field dressed like a deer. In addition, the police found human skulls affixed to the posts of Ed’s bed, a box of organs, furniture made out of bone and skin, and masks. The masks were the skin portion of the head that had been stripped away from the skull and preserved. Also found was a belt with breasts hanging from it and an entire “suit” made of pieced together skin of women, complete with a vest with breasts attached.
November 18	1957	51	After remaining silent at first, Ed confessed to Killing Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden. An autopsy report reveals that Mrs. Worden died of a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
November 19	1957	51	The search of the 195 acre farm property began and lasted over a week.
November 21	1957	51	Lie detector test results were released to the press. Ed was also responsible for the disappearance of E

November 22	1957	51	Ed was taken before a judge, technically being charged with robbery. The murder charge was held back in order to determine his sanity.
November 23	1957	51	The psychologist and psychiatrist who interview Ed asserted that he was schizophrenic and a “sexual psychopath.”
November 24	1957	51	Graves the Ed supposedly robbed were opened. The grave of Mrs. Adams was found empty.
November 29	1957	51	Deputies found more bones buried in trench on Ed’s farm. One skull had a gold tooth and was believed to be the skull of a man.
December 9	1957	51	Ed complained of memory deficits during an interview with Dr. E.F. Schubert at the Central State hospital.
December 12	1957	51	Ed was interviewed by Dr. E.F. Schubert. Schubert found that Ed had an “abnormally magnified attachment to his mother.”
December 17	1957	51	The judge received a packet from Central State Hospital stating that Ed was insane and should be permanently committed to the hospital.
January 6	1958	52	Ed’s sanity hearing. Declared legally insane he was recommitted to Central State Hospital indefinitely.
March 20	1958	52	Ed’s farm and personal property were scheduled for auction on March 30, but was destroyed in a fire during the early morning hours.
January 22	1968	62	After spending ten years in the institution, Ed was determined competent to stand trial and proceeding began. It took 9 months to pass the preliminary matters such as suppressing evidence, filing for briefs, and appointment of counsel.
November 7	1968	62	The actual trial started and last one week.
November 14	1968	62	Ed was found guilty of first degree murder for the shooting of Bernice Worden, but the court also found that on the day of the shooting Ed was not sane. Therefore, the court concluded the Ed was not guilty be reason of insanity. Ed was returned to Central State Hospital.
February	1974	68	Ed filed a petition with the Waushara County Clerk of Courts claiming that he had now recovered his mental health and was fully competent and there was no reason why he should remain in any hospital.
June 27	1974	68	A judge reviewed Ed’s petition and ordered a reexamination. The judge rejected Ed’s petition and he was returned to the hospital.
	1978	72	Ed was moved to Mendota Mental Institute in Madison.
July 26	1984	78	Ed was senile and after a long bout with cancer, he died of respiratory failure in the geriatric ward at Mendota. He was considered by many at the hospital to be a model patient, mild mannered, and always helpful.
July 27	1984	78	At 6 A.M., with only four attendants, Ed was laid to rest next to his mother at the Plainfield Cemetery.

General Information
Sex	Male
Race	White
Number of victims	There are two known, five suspected, but possibly more.
Country where killing occurred	United States
States where killing occurred	Wisconsin
Childhood Information
Date of birth	August 27, 1906
Location	La Crosse, Wisconsin
Birth order	2nd of 2
Number of siblings	1
XYY?	No
Raised by	Both parents- Augusta and George Gein
Birth category	youngest
Parent’s marital status	Married
Family event	No
Age of family event	N/A
Problems in school?	Yes
Teased while in school?	He had no friends and when he attempted to make any, his mother would scold him. Ed would come home crying from kids making fun of him and his alcoholic father would repeatedly beat him in the head till his ears started ringing.
Physically attractive?	No
Physical defect?	Yes, growth over left eye
Speech defect?	Yes, He had a lesion on his tongue that caused him to speak a bit weird.
Head injury?	Yes, his alcoholic father would repeatedly beat him in the head till his ears started ringing.
Physically abused?	Yes, His father would become violent when drinking and often beat both boys.
Psychologically abused?	Yes, verbal abuse from mother
Sexually abused?	No
Father’s occupation	worked periodically as a carpenter, a tanner, and a farmer
Age of first sexual experience	Age 10 – Ed experienced an ejaculation upon viewing his mother and father slaughtering a hog in a nearby shed.
Age when first had intercourse	N/A
Mother’s occupation	Ran successful grocery business.
Father abused drugs/alcohol	Yes, alcohol
Mother abused drugs/alcohol	No
Cognitive Ability

Highest grade in school	8
Highest degree	N/A
Grades in school	Average
IQ	106
Work History
Served in the military?	Eddie traveled to Milwaukee for an army physical. He was denied because of a growth on his eye which impaired his vision. This was the farthest he ever traveled from his home.
Branch	N/A
Type of discharge	N/A
Saw combat duty	N/a
Killed enemy during service?	N/A
Applied for job as a cop?	No
Worked in law enforcement?	No
Fired from jobs?	No
Types of jobs worked	The soil conservation program offered him a subsidy which he augmented by his work as a local handyman. Eddie hung windows, patched roofs, painted houses, repaired fences, and babysat children. He related better to children than adults. He also worked for a road building contractor. His employers described him as odd but polite and dependable.
Employment status during series	Local odd jobs
Relationships
Sexual preference	He never dated or married because of the strict religious influence of his mother. She convinced Eddie that sex and women were evil and he should have nothing to do with either. He later became a necrophilia.
Marital status	Single
Number of children	0
Lives with his children	N/A
Living with	He lived by himself after his family died
Triad
Animal torture	no
Fire setting	He is suspected in starting one marsh fire in which his brother, Henry, was killed.
Bed wetting	no
Killer Psychological Information
Abused drugs?	No
Abused alcohol?	No
Been to a psychologist?	No
Time in forensic hospital?	No
Diagnosis	He had never been to a psychiatrist before committing his

	crimes.
Killer Criminal History
Committed previous crimes?	Ed was suspected in the death of his brother Henry. He had disagreed with Henry’s feelings about their mother. He was having dinner over at a neighbor’s house and was intrigued by on of their relatives. Later that night a man broke into the woman’s house and grabbed her small son by the throat asking where his mother had gone. The boy thought he recognized the man as being Ed Gein. Gein was also suspected in the disappearance of an eight year old girl, Georgia Weckler, in 1947 and a fifteen year old, Evelyn Hartley, who disappeared on her way home from babysitting in 1953. Ed would have been 41 at the time of Weckler’s disappearance and 47 at the time of Hartley’s disappearance.
Spend time in jail?	No
Spend time in prison?	No
Killed prior to series? Age?	It was never proven but Ed was suspected in a few deaths in his local area.
Serial Killing
Number of victims	7 (Confessed to 2, suspected of 5 more)
Victim type	middle age (in their 40’s) who resembled Augusta Gein
Killer age at start of series	38
Gender of victims	Female
Race of victims	White
Age of victims	Middle aged
Method of killing	Guns: .22 rifle, .32 revolver
Type of serial killer	Organized lust
How close did killer live?	Crimes Occurred in his hometown
Killing occurred in home of victim?	No
Killing occurred in home of killer?	Yes
Weapon	Brought with him
Behavior During Crimes
Rape?	No
Tortured victims?	No
Stalked victims?	Yes, Mary Hogan
Overkill?	No
Quick & efficient?	Yes
Used blindfold?	No
Bound the victims?	No
After Death Behavior
Sex with the body?	Yes

Mutilated body?	Yes
Ate part of the body?	No
Drank victim’s blood?	No
Posed the body?	No
Took totem – body part	Yes
Took totem – personal item	No
Robbed victim or location	No
Disposal of Body
Left at scene, no attempt to hide	No
Left at scene, hidden	No
Left at scene, buried	No
Moved, no attempt to hide	No
Moved, buried	No
Cut-up and disposed of	No
Moved, too home	Yes
Sentencing
Date killer arrested	November 17, 1957
Date convicted	November 14, 1968
Sentence	Life, mental institution
Killer executed?	No
Name and state of prison	Central State Hospital at Waupon & Mendota Mental Health Institute
Killer committed suicide?	No
Killer killed in prison?	No
Date of death	July 26, 1984
References
Books Douglas, J.& Okshaker, M. (1998). Obsession. NY: First Pocket Gollmar, R.H. (1981). America’s Most Bizarre Murderer: Edward Gein. New York, NY: Windsor Publishing Co. Mind of a Killer [Computer Software]. (1995). Chatsworth, CA: Kozel Multimedia. Newton, M. (2000). The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. NY: Checkmark Books. Schechter, Harold.(1989). Psycho. Pocket Books. Schechter, H. (1989). Deviant: The shocking true story of the original “psycho”. New York: St. Martin’s Paperbacks. Time-Life Book (Eds). (1992) True Crime: Serial Killers. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books. Woods, P.A. (1995) Ed Gein: Psycho. St. Martin’s Press, NY.
Web Pages Ed Gein. me.epix.net/~nnf/gein.html>. “Gein, Ed.” <http://www.crimelibrary.com/gein/geinbegin.htm>. “Gein, Ed.” <http://www.houseofhorrors.com/gein.htm> “Gein, Ed.” Hiperaktiv. 24 May 2003. <http://www.fortunecity.com/roswell/streiber/273/gein_cf.htm> “Gein, Ed.”<http://members.xoom.com/Cinders2000/gein.htm> “Geins, Ed.” <http://www.midnightgraffiti.com/edgein4.html> “Gein, Ed.” <http://slaytanic.com/extras/gein.html.>.