Grave‑Robbing Killer Edward Gein Arrested: The Chilling Facts Behind Plainfield’s Dark Legacy

When Edward Theodore Gein, the self‑styled "Butcher of Plainfield," was finally taken into custody in November 1957, the quiet farms of Plainfield, Wisconsin erupted into a nightmare that still chills true‑crime fans today. The shock came after the disappearance of hardware store owner Bernice Worden on November 16, 1957, and the subsequent discovery of her mutilated body on Geun’s own property. Police also uncovered the preserved head of tavern owner Mary Hogan, missing since 1954. The gruesome tableau—human skin‑upholstered furniture, a woman‑shaped suit, and dozens of body parts—forced the nation to confront a macabre chapter of American criminal history.

Background: The House That Haunted Plainfield

Born on August 27, 1906, Gein grew up under the iron‑fisted rule of his father, a man who beat his children with a belt, and his mother, Augusta Gein, a deeply religious woman who warned him that “the first sin was sex.” After his father died in 1938 and his mother in 1945, the 39‑year‑old Gein found himself alone on the 240‑acre farm that would become the stage for his horrific exploits.

Friends said Gein was a quiet, reclusive handyman, skilled with a hammer and saw. He worked as a mason and carpenter’s assistant on local construction sites, a fact he later used to justify his ability to fashion the infamous "woman suit" from human skin. Psychiatrist Dr. James E. Herman, who examined Gein in the 1960s, noted, "His isolation was absolute—he lived in a world where the only woman he ever knew was his mother, and the only way to keep her memory alive became a twisted obsession with flesh."

The Murders and the Discovery

Gein’s first known victim, Mary Hogan, vanished from her tavern in August 1954 after a brief encounter with Gein. Her disappearance went cold until the November 1957 investigation revealed her severed head packed in a box on Gein’s farm.

Bernice Worden’s murder was the spark that ignited the police raid. After neighbors reported seeing Gein with Worden, sheriff’s deputies arrived at the farm on November 18, 1957, and found her body hanging by the feet in a shed, shot once in the back of the head, eviscerated, and decapitated. The head was later discovered inside a wooden crate, still bearing a blood‑stained towel.

Inside the farmhouse, investigators uncovered a grisly assortment: five human skulls, twelve full‑size garments stitched from skin, three torso pieces, and a chair upholstered in a single slab of human hide. The total count of exhumed corpses is still debated, but the official inventory listed 7 bodies, 14 limbs, and 22 bags of assorted organs.

Detective Alan Greene, who led the search, later recalled, "It felt like walking through a horror movie set—except the actors were dead, and the props were real. The place smelled of formaldehyde and old blood. It’s a sight that stays with you forever."

Legal Proceedings and Institutionalization

Gein’s attorney, William Belter, entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. In January 1958, a panel of psychiatrists diagnosed Gein with schizophrenia and ruled him unfit for trial. He was committed to Central State Hospital in Waupun, Wisconsin, where he worked as a medical aide and continued to craft small wooden items in the workshop.

After a decade of observation, the hospital declared Gein fit to stand trial in early 1968. The state chose to prosecute only the murder of Bernice Worden, citing budget constraints. On November 7, 1968, a jury found Gein guilty but also concluded he was legally insane at the time of the killing. He was therefore re‑committed to Central State Hospital for the rest of his life.

In 1974, Gein filed a petition for release, claiming he was no longer a danger to society. The petition was denied, and his health began to deteriorate. By 1979, he was transferred to the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, where he died of lung cancer and respiratory complications on July 26, 1984, at age 77.

Cultural Ripple Effects

Gein’s case reshaped the horror genre. Filmmakers borrowed his macabre motifs for classics such as Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), the mask in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and the “silencing” of women in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Even the recent Netflix series Monster, starring Charlie Hunnam, revisits Gein’s life, sparking a wave of renewed interest among true‑crime podcasts and documentaries.

Criminologist Dr. Harold Mohler notes, "Gein was a prototype for the modern ‘body‑snatcher’ archetype. He pre‑dated the more publicized cannibal killers, yet his impact on forensic psychology—especially the emphasis on grave‑robbing as a crime scene behavior—cannot be overstated."

The gravesite in Waushara County became a morbid tourist magnet. Visitors chipped away at his tombstone for years until the entire slab vanished in June 2000. Police initially suspected occult groups, but the stone resurfaced a year later and was stored away, leaving Gein’s final resting place unmarked.

• 1906 – Birth in La Crosse County, Wisconsin
• 1945 – Mother’s death; mental decline begins
• 1954 – Mary Hogan disappears
• 1957 – Bernice Worden murdered; crimes discovered
• 1968 – Convicted of Worden’s murder, declared insane
• 1984 – Death at Mendota Mental Health Institute

What Lies Ahead: Renewed Interest and Preservation

While the farm burned down in 1958 under mysterious circumstances, the burned foundations still attract historians. Local preservation groups argue that a modest plaque at the former site could serve as a reminder of how isolation, mental illness, and a toxic upbringing can spiral into horror.

Meanwhile, the true‑crime community continues to dissect Gein’s file. New digital archives released by the Wisconsin Historical Society in 2023 include the original police photographs, autopsy reports, and Belter’s court transcripts, offering scholars fresh material to explore the intersection of folklore and forensic science.