Ed Gein, a Plainfield, Wisconsin farmer, was convicted of murdering hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957 and confessed to killing tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954; investigators also found human remains taken from graves used to make household items and clothing.
On November 16, 1957, Bernice Worden, a 58-year-old hardware store owner in Plainfield, Wisconsin, disappeared from her shop. Her son, Deputy Sheriff Frank Worden, discovered the store's cash register open and blood on the floor that evening. He told investigators that Ed Gein, a local farmer, had been in the store the previous evening and was expected to return for a gallon of antifreeze; a sales slip for that purchase was the last receipt Worden had written. Gein was arrested that night at a nearby grocery store, and the Waushara County Sheriff's Department searched his farm.
Deputies found Worden's decapitated body hung upside down in a shed on Gein's property, with mutilations made after her death. A search of Gein's house recovered numerous items fashioned from human remains, including furniture upholstered in human skin, bowls and masks made from skulls and facial skin, and other remains later identified as belonging to Worden and to Mary Hogan, a 51-year-old tavern owner who had disappeared in December 1954. During interrogation, Gein admitted to shooting Hogan, though he said he had no memory of the details of her death. He also admitted to exhuming bodies from local cemeteries between 1947 and 1952, targeting graves of recently buried middle-aged women he believed resembled his mother, and using their skin and bones to create keepsakes, including a "woman suit." He stated he had visited graveyards as many as forty times and admitted to robbing nine graves; investigators exhumed three test graves and found Gein's account largely corroborated.
Gein was questioned about several other unsolved disappearances in Wisconsin, including those of Georgia Jean Weckler, Evelyn Grace Hartley, Victor Harold Travis, and James Walsh, but lie detector tests did not implicate him in these cases, and no charges related to them were brought.
Gein was arraigned on one count of first-degree murder on November 21, 1957, and pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. He was initially found incompetent to stand trial due to schizophrenia and was committed to a psychiatric facility. In 1968, doctors determined he was competent, and his trial began on November 7 of that year before Judge Robert H. Gollmar, sitting without a jury at the defense's request. On November 14, 1968, Gollmar found Gein guilty of murdering Bernice Worden. In a subsequent phase addressing his sanity, Gollmar ruled Gein not guilty by reason of insanity and ordered him committed to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Gein was never tried for the killing of Mary Hogan, to which he had confessed, reportedly due to the cost of a second trial.
Gein remained institutionalized for the rest of his life and died at the Mendota Mental Health Institute on July 26, 1984, of respiratory failure secondary to lung cancer. He is buried in Plainfield Cemetery.
Edward Theodore Gein born in La Crosse County, Wisconsin.
1940-04-01
Gein's father, George Gein, dies.
1944-05-16
Gein's brother Henry dies under circumstances later reconsidered as possibly suspicious; officially ruled accidental.
1945-12-29
Gein's mother, Augusta Gein, dies.
1947-05-01
Georgia Jean Weckler disappears near Fort Atkinson; Gein later questioned but not charged.
1952-11-01
Victor Harold Travis and Raymond Burgess disappear while hunting near Gein's property; Gein later questioned but not charged.
1953-10-24
Evelyn Grace Hartley disappears while babysitting in La Crosse; Gein later questioned but not charged.
1954-06
Neighbor James Walsh disappears; Gein later tentatively linked but not charged.
1954-12-08
Tavern owner Mary Hogan disappears; Gein later confesses to killing her.
1957-11-16
Bernice Worden disappears from her Plainfield hardware store; Gein arrested same evening and his farm searched.
1957-11-21
Gein arraigned on one count of first-degree murder; pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.
1968-11-07
Gein's trial for the murder of Bernice Worden begins before Judge Robert H. Gollmar.
1968-11-14
Gollmar finds Gein guilty of murdering Bernice Worden; later phase finds him not guilty by reason of insanity.
1984-07-26
Gein dies at Mendota Mental Health Institute of respiratory failure secondary to lung cancer.
Best coverage
Titles and descriptions are the creators’ own and may not reflect current legal status; see the dossier above for sourced case facts.
VIDEO
Bailey Sarian / 11 min
A Mother's Influence: The Story of Ed Gein's Family
People
Frank Worden
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Waushara County deputy sheriff and son of victim Bernice Worden; discovered evidence of the crime at the hardware store.
Bernice Worden
VICTIM
58-year-old Plainfield hardware store owner murdered by Ed Gein on November 16, 1957.
Robert H. Gollmar
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Judge who presided over Gein's 1968 trial without a jury and delivered the guilty verdict and subsequent insanity ruling.
Ed Gein
CONVICTED
Found guilty of first-degree murder of Bernice Worden in 1968; found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric institution; confessed to killing Mary Hogan but was never tried for that killing.
Mary Hogan
VICTIM
51-year-old tavern owner who disappeared in December 1954; Gein confessed to shooting her.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
unclassified
Ed-Gein
Credit: Unknown authorUnknown author · Public domain · Source
unclassified
Ed Gein Headstone
Credit: Bryanwake at English Wikipedia · Public domain · Source
Ed Gein, a Plainfield, Wisconsin farmer, was convicted of murdering hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957 and confessed to killing tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954; investigators also found human remains taken from graves used to make household items and clothing.
Where did the murder happen?
Plainfield, Wisconsin.
Who was convicted?
Ed Gein (Found guilty of first-degree murder of Bernice Worden in 1968; found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a psychiatric institution; confessed to killing Mary Hogan but was never tried for that killing.).
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