Edward Theodore Gein: The Crimes of the Plainfield Killer
Edward Theodore Gein, commonly known as Ed Gein, was born on August 27, 1906, in Wisconsin and became one of the most notorious criminals in American history. Living on an isolated farm outside Plainfield, Wisconsin, Gein appeared to many neighbors to be a quiet, eccentric handyman who occasionally performed odd jobs around town. His crimes remained hidden until November 1957, when the disappearance of a local businesswoman led police to his property. What investigators discovered revealed that Gein was not only a murderer but also a grave robber who had spent years removing human remains from cemeteries and transforming them into disturbing objects.
Confirmed Murder Victims
Although Gein is frequently described as a serial killer, only two murders were conclusively associated with him. He admitted killing both women. He was ultimately tried only for the murder of Bernice Worden. The dates below reflect the documented or accepted dates on which the two women were killed.
- Mary Hogan — December 8, 1954 — Pine Grove, Wisconsin: Mary Hogan, approximately 51 years old, operated a tavern in the Town of Pine Grove in Portage County, several miles northwest of Plainfield. She was last seen alive at her tavern on December 8, 1954. Later that day, a customer entered the building and discovered that Hogan had vanished. Blood and other evidence indicated that she had been seriously injured and removed from the tavern. Her disappearance remained unsolved for almost three years. After Gein's arrest in 1957, investigators discovered Hogan's skull and facial remains in his farmhouse. During questioning, Gein admitted that he had shot Hogan. December 8, 1954, the day of her disappearance, is accepted as the date of her death.
- Bernice Worden — November 16, 1957 — Plainfield, Wisconsin: Bernice Worden, 58, operated the Worden Hardware and Implement Store in Plainfield. On the morning of November 16, 1957, Gein entered the store and purchased antifreeze. Worden disappeared shortly afterward. Her son, Deputy Sheriff Frank Worden, entered the store later that afternoon and found blood on the floor and the cash register open. A sales receipt showed that Gein had been the last recorded customer. Police arrested Gein that evening and searched his farm outside Plainfield. In an outbuilding they discovered Bernice Worden's body. She had been shot with a .22-caliber firearm, and her body had been mutilated after death. Her head had been removed, and her body had been suspended upside down and processed in a manner investigators compared to the dressing of a deer.
The Disappearance and Murder of Mary Hogan
Mary Hogan's disappearance in 1954 was an important unsolved case in central Wisconsin long before anyone suspected Gein. Hogan ran a tavern in the Town of Pine Grove and lived in or near the establishment. On December 8, a visitor arrived at the tavern and found it strangely empty. Blood inside the building suggested that Hogan had been attacked, and evidence indicated that her body had been dragged away. A search followed, but investigators could not locate her remains.
Gein was familiar with Hogan's tavern. According to later accounts of the investigation, he even made unsettling jokes about her disappearance, but people who heard the remarks did not realize that he had direct knowledge of what had happened. The truth emerged only after police searched his property in November 1957. Inside Gein's home they found Mary Hogan's skull as well as facial skin that had been preserved like a mask. Gein subsequently admitted shooting her. The discovery finally explained a disappearance that had remained a mystery for nearly three years.
The Murder of Bernice Worden
The murder of Bernice Worden directly caused Gein's crimes to be exposed. November 16, 1957, was the opening day of Wisconsin's deer-hunting season, and Plainfield was relatively quiet. Gein had visited Worden's hardware store the previous day and indicated that he would return for antifreeze. He came back on the morning of November 16. Worden wrote out the receipt for his purchase, making Gein's name the final entry in the store's sales records before she disappeared.
When Frank Worden arrived later, he immediately realized something was wrong. His mother was missing, blood was visible in the store, and the circumstances suggested violence rather than a voluntary departure. Remembering that Gein had planned to visit the store, Frank directed investigators toward him. Gein was taken into custody that evening.
Officers then traveled to Gein's isolated farm. In an outbuilding they found Bernice Worden's mutilated body hanging upside down. Investigators determined that she had been killed by a gunshot before the mutilation occurred. Her head had been removed from her body and was later located separately on the property. The condition of the body immediately showed police that they were dealing with something far beyond an ordinary robbery or murder.
The Search of Gein's Farmhouse
The search of the farmhouse revealed the full extent of Gein's activities. Human bones and pieces of human remains were scattered among ordinary household belongings. Investigators found skulls that had been altered into bowl-like containers, pieces of furniture covered with human skin, masks made from the skin of human faces, and articles resembling clothing made from portions of human bodies. Other preserved body parts were stored in boxes, bags, and containers throughout the property.
One of the most disturbing discoveries was evidence that Gein had attempted to construct clothing from human skin. Investigators found a corset-like garment made from a woman's torso, coverings made from the skin of legs, and several facial masks. Gein later explained that he had developed a desire to create the appearance of a woman. His behavior became closely associated with his intense attachment to his mother, Augusta Gein, who had died in 1945.
Grave Robbing and Human Remains
The investigation established that most of the human remains in Gein's farmhouse were not from people he had murdered. For years, he had secretly visited cemeteries around the Plainfield area and opened the graves of recently buried women. He followed local death notices and selected graves containing women whose appearance or age interested him. He would enter cemeteries at night, remove a corpse or portions of it, and then attempt to restore the grave so that his activity would not be noticed.
Gein told investigators that he sometimes removed entire bodies and sometimes took only particular body parts. He used skin, bones, and other remains to make masks, household objects, and crude garments. Authorities tested parts of his grave-robbing confession by opening graves that he identified. The conditions they found substantially supported his account, demonstrating that the bizarre collection in his farmhouse had been accumulated through repeated cemetery desecration as well as the murders of Hogan and Worden.
Other Suspected Deaths
Gein was investigated or discussed in connection with other unexplained disappearances and deaths in the region, but investigators never established enough evidence to identify additional people as confirmed murder victims. Even the death of Gein's older brother, Henry, in 1944 has sometimes been described as suspicious because the circumstances surrounding his death were unusual. However, Gein was never charged with killing Henry, and there is no conclusive evidence establishing that he did so. For that reason, such cases should not be presented as confirmed Gein murders.
Arrest, Mental Competency, and Trial
Gein was arrested on November 16, 1957, following the discovery of Bernice Worden's body. He was charged with first-degree murder but was diagnosed with schizophrenia and declared mentally incompetent to stand trial. He was committed to Wisconsin's Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and later received treatment at the Mendota mental health facility near Madison.
More than a decade later, doctors determined that Gein had become competent enough to assist in his defense. His trial for the murder of Bernice Worden began in November 1968. Judge Robert H. Gollmar found Gein guilty of killing Worden. In the subsequent determination of his mental responsibility, Gein was ruled not guilty by reason of insanity because he had been suffering from severe mental disease at the time of the crime. He was therefore returned to psychiatric institutional care rather than sent to an ordinary prison.
Death and Legacy
Edward Theodore Gein remained institutionalized for the rest of his life. He died on July 26, 1984, at the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Wisconsin, at the age of 77. He was buried in Plainfield Cemetery near members of his family.
Gein's criminal history was unusual even among famous murder cases because the majority of the human remains connected to him came from graves rather than a long series of murders. His two confirmed victims were Mary Hogan, killed on December 8, 1954, and Bernice Worden, killed on November 16, 1957. Nevertheless, the discovery of his grave robbing, mutilation of corpses, preservation of human skin, and construction of objects from human remains made the Plainfield case internationally notorious. The crimes also became an important influence on later American horror fiction, although fictional characters inspired partly by Gein frequently committed far more murders than Gein himself was ever proven to have committed.
