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The True Story of Ed Gein, the Butcher of Plainfield

Ed Gein's Gruesome Crimes Detailed in Netflix's 'Monster'

Netflix's 'Monster' explores the horrifying true story of Ed Gein, a farmer who killed women and stole bodies. His crimes shocked the nation and inspired several horror films.

  • Ed Gein was a quiet farmer
  • Admitted to two murders
  • Stole corpses from graves
  • Found with human remains
  • Pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity
  • Died in a mental health facility

Edward Theodore Gein was a Wisconsin farmhand whose crimes in the 1950s revealed a house of horrors. His actions inspired some of the most famous horror works and remain a stark warning about isolation and obsession.

Early Life and Family

Edward Gein was born on August 27, 1906, in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, the younger of two sons to George and Augusta Gein. The family moved to a 155-acre farm near Plainfield when Ed was a child. His father drank heavily and abused the boys. His mother, a devout Lutheran, taught that women were instruments of sin and forbade social ties. Gein attended school but lived in fear of punishment for making friends.[1]

George Gein died of heart failure in 1940. In 1944, Ed’s brother Henry died in a barn fire ruled accidental despite bruises on his skull. Ed then cared for his mother until she died of a stroke in 1945. Alone on the farm, he grew withdrawn and fixated on preserving his mother’s memory.[2]

Grave Robbery and Macabre Collection

From 1947 onward, Gein exhumed recently buried bodies—mostly of women—from Plainfield Cemetery. In his farmhouse, investigators later found:[1][2]

  • A lampshade made of human skin
  • Masks crafted from female faces
  • A corset made from a female torso
  • Chairs and bowls fashioned from human remains

Gein claimed these items would help him recreate his mother or allow him to wear a “woman suit”.[3]

Confirmed Murders

Mary Hogan (1954)

Mary Hogan, a 51-year-old tavern owner in Pine Grove, vanished on December 8, 1954. Gein later admitted killing her and bringing her remains home. Hogan’s skull and other parts were found among Gein’s collection.[3]

Bernice Worden (1957)

On November 16, 1957, hardware store owner Bernice Worden disappeared. Deputies found blood and a receipt in her store with Gein’s name. That evening, they found her decapitated torso hanging in a shed on Gein’s property. Her head was in a box, and her body had been shot and mutilated postmortem. Gein confessed to both murders, saying his victims resembled his mother and that voices urged him to “get another mother”.[2][3]

Gein was arrested on November 21, 1957. He pled not guilty by reason of insanity and was found unfit to stand trial. He was confined to Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. In 1968, he was deemed competent, tried, and found guilty of Worden’s murder. A subsequent hearing again found him legally insane, and he returned to psychiatric care. He was never tried for Hogan’s death or the grave robberies.[2]

Death and Cultural Impact

Gein died on July 26, 1984, at Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Wisconsin, from respiratory failure related to lung cancer. His Plainfield farmhouse burned under mysterious circumstances in 1958. His crimes influenced Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960), Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and Thomas Harris’s The Silence of the Lambs (1991).[2]

Sophia Clarke

Sophia Clarke

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Sophia Clarke is a senior international journalist with nine years of experience covering global politics, human rights, and international diplomacy. She earned her M.A. in International Relations and Journalism from the University of Oxford (2016), where she specialized in global governance, conflict reporting, and cross-cultural communication. Sophia began her career as a foreign correspondent for BBC World Service and later joined The Guardian, where her insightful analyses and on-the-ground reporting from Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America earned her recognition for accuracy and integrity. Now based in Paris, France, Sophia contributes to Faharas NET, providing comprehensive coverage of diplomatic affairs, humanitarian issues, and policy developments shaping the international landscape. Her storytelling combines investigative depth, journalistic ethics, and a strong commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices in global dialogue.

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Elena Voren is a senior journalist and Tech Section Editor with 8 years of experience focusing on AI ethics, social media impact, and consumer software. She is recognized for interviewing industry leaders and academic experts while clearly distinguishing opinion from evidence-based reporting. She earned her B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, Berkeley (2016), where she studied human-computer interaction, AI, and digital behavior. Elena’s work emphasizes the societal implications of technology, ensuring readers understand both the practical and ethical dimensions of emerging tools. She leads the Tech Section at Faharas NET, supervising coverage on AI, consumer software, digital society, and privacy technologies, while maintaining rigorous editorial standards. Based in Berlin, Germany, Elena provides insightful analyses on technology trends, ethical AI deployment, and the influence of social platforms on modern life.

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  1. Add reporter credentials and full publication data for transparency.
  2. Source psychiatric diagnoses from court transcripts or hospital records.
  3. Verify Henry Gein’s death details via coroner or fire department archives.
  4. Confirm the 1958 farmhouse fire through local news or fire reports.
  5. Include ISBNs and release dates when citing inspired films and novels.
  6. Embed keywords like “true crime,” “Wisconsin murderer,” and “grave robbing” for SEO.
  7. Link each claim to a specific source: Wikipedia, People.com, and Britannica.