Ed Gein

Ed Gein was a Wisconsin serial killer whose penchant for murdering, skinning, eating and committing necrophilia on his victims inspired the characters Norman Bates from Psycho and Buffalo Bill from The Silence of the Lambs.¹ Gein was found not guilty by reason of insanity and spent the rest of his life in mental hospitals until his death in 1984 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Fast Facts:

1. Born: August 27, 1906
2. Birthplace: La Crosse, Wisconsin
3. Died: July 26, 1984
4. Known victims: Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden
5. Weapons used: Guns
6. Killing span: 1941 to 1957
7. Location of murders: Plainfield, Wisconsin
8. Found legally insane and unfit to stand trial

Details of the Crimes

Gein is not notorious for the number of people he killed, but rather for the horrific ways in which he employed the corpses of his victims. Gein engaged in necrophilia, and skinned both his murder victims and corpses he would exhume from the grave. Upon his capture, authorities discovered that Gein had decorated his home with body parts gathered from different corpses. Gein would also remove the skin from the faces of the corpses of middle-aged women and wear the skin as a mask. Gein was found not fit to stand trial and was sent to a mental hospital for the rest of his life.¹

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