How Many People Did Ed Gein Kill?

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History

Ed Gein is one of the most notorious criminals in U.S. history. Known as “the Butcher of Plainfield,” he murdered two women—Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan—and robbed graves to use the body parts of women to make household items and clothing. Some also suspect Gein killed his brother, who died in mysterious circumstances during a fire. The death, however, was ruled an accident.

Ed Gein came to the attention of police in 1957, when Worden, a hardware store owner, went missing after last being seen with Gein. When law enforcement officials visited his farm, they found Worden’s body hanging by her feet in a shed. She had been fatally shot, eviscerated, and decapitated. Her head was in a box. During the search authorities also discovered the head of Mary Hogan, a tavern operator who had disappeared in 1954.

Did You Know?

Gein inspired the movies Psycho (1960), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991).

Gein admitted to killing the two women but pled not guilty by reason of insanity. In late 1957 he was deemed unfit for trial—he had been diagnosed as schizophrenic—and was subsequently confined in various psychiatric institutions. In 1968, however, after it was determined that he could participate in his own defense, Gein was put on trial. He was found guilty of killing Worden—reportedly due to financial reasons, prosecutors only tried one murder—but then was deemed insane at the time of the crime. Gein remained in a mental hospital until his death in 1984.