Terrifying Secrets Cops Found in Ed Gein's House

Ed Gein, a seemingly harmless loner, became an infamous figure due to his grave robbing, human remains experiments, and two confirmed murders, revealing a terrifying descent into depravity fueled by his obsessive relationship with his domineering mother.

• Ed Gein committed two confirmed murders and extensively robbed graves to create grotesque artifacts from human remains.

• His crimes were profoundly influenced by an obsessive relationship with his domineering and fanatically religious mother, Augusta.

• Gein was found mentally ill and spent his life in institutions, with psychiatrists suggesting an Oedipus complex and psychosis as underlying factors.

Ed Gein, known as the 'Butcher of Plainfield,' was a quiet handyman whose grotesque crimes were uncovered after the disappearance of Bernice Warden in 1957. Police found human remains fashioned into household items and clothing in his farmhouse, revealing a man who not only murdered but also exhumed corpses for his macabre creations. Gein's life was dominated by his fanatically religious and abusive mother, Augusta, whose death plunged him into a psychotic state that led to his bizarre and horrific acts.

The Discovery of Gein's Horrors

• 00:01:34 Bernice Warden's body was discovered in a barn belonging to Ed Gein, a man the town considered odd but harmless. Inside his farmhouse, police uncovered a scene of unimaginable horror, including evidence of gruesome experiments with human remains, furniture made of skin and bones, and a disturbing full-body suit crafted from one of his victims. This depravity was so extreme it deeply traumatized Sheriff Art Schley and his deputies, leading to Schley's death less than a month later.

Augusta Gein's Influence

• 00:02:23 To understand Gein, one must examine his family, particularly his mother, Augusta, a religious fanatic who ruled the household with an iron grip. She instilled in Ed and his brother Henry extreme views on sex and morality, fostering guilt and self-loathing in Ed. The family lived in near-total isolation, with Augusta actively preventing her sons from forming outside friendships, profoundly shaping Ed's troubled psyche.

Life After Augusta's Death

• 00:06:58 Augusta's death in 1945, when Ed was 39, caused his universe to implode, consuming him with grief and leaving him without direction. He preserved her bedroom as a shrine, allowing the rest of the farmhouse to fall into ruin, yet outwardly remained his timid, quiet self. Despite his seemingly harmless demeanor, Ed engaged in grotesque conversations about decapitations and body snatchers, and local children reported him showing them 'shrunken heads,' hinting at his hidden depravity.

Confession and Legacy

• 00:14:19 Ed Gein eventually admitted to murdering Bernice Warden and Mary Hogan, claiming Hogan's death was accidental, an excuse investigators did not believe. He insisted the other body parts found in his home came from grave robbing, where he would exhume female corpses for his macabre crafts and garments. Psychiatrists later concluded Gein was seriously mentally ill, suffering from an Oedipus complex and a psychotic state that blurred fantasy and reality, leading to his institutionalization rather than imprisonment, and making him an infamous figure in true crime history.