Ed Gein is famous primarily for the extreme brutality and bizarre nature of his crimes, which included murdering two women, grave robbing, and creating household items and clothing out of human body parts.[1][2]
Gein’s notoriety arose after police discovered the headless and disemboweled body of Bernice Worden on his property in Plainfield, Wisconsin, in 1957. Investigators also found the remains of Mary Hogan, another woman Gein killed, and body parts from an estimated nine exhumed female corpses.[2][3]
The most sensational details included Gein’s “woman suit,” crafted so he could “become his mother,” along with masks made from facial skin, boxes of preserved body parts, and furniture upholstered with human skin.[1][3][5] Reports also described soup bowls made from skulls and belts fashioned from human nipples.[4]
Gein’s crimes shocked the nation and profoundly influenced popular culture. His life inspired major fictional villains such as Norman Bates in “Psycho,” Buffalo Bill in “The Silence of the Lambs,” and Leatherface in “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” The media gave Gein nicknames like the “Butcher of Plainfield” and the “Plainfield Ghoul,” amplifying his infamy.[4][6]
Legally, Gein was found guilty of murder but declared not guilty by reason of insanity; he spent the rest of his life in psychiatric institutions, dying in 1984.[2][3][5]