Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - Ed Gein Pt. 1

Episode Date: November 3, 2025

We explore the twisted mind of Ed Gein, whose gruesome killings inspired horror movies Pyscho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Gein was known for years as the local handyman... in Plainfield, until it was uncovered in 1957 that he killed two women and robbed the graves of multiple other women. Stay up to date with changes coming to the feed on @serialkillerspodcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey listeners, producer Chelsea here. For the next two weeks, we're revisiting our episodes on Ed Gein. They first aired in 2018, but if you follow true crime in the media, you know he's been in the spotlight again. Today, in part one, you're going to hear about Gein's origins, who he was before he became the butcher of Plainfield, and all about his descent into grave robbing and murder. Next week, we'll finish out his story with everything that happened after his arrest. Let's dive in. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. And this is serial killers, a podcast diving into the minds and motives of the world's most notorious serial killers.
Starting point is 00:00:43 Today we're going to take a look at the life of Ed Gein, the butcher of Plainfield, a murderer, grave robber, and the inspiration behind many notorious movie villains. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Vanessa's not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but she's done a lot of research for the show. Hi, everyone. We'd like to ask a quick favor. Would you leave a full of... five-star review of serial killers on your favorite podcast directory. It seems so simple, but it really helps us out. And don't forget to subscribe while you're there because a new episode comes out every Monday. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram at Parcast. And on Twitter at Parcast Network. Now, let's get back to the case of Ed Gein. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When
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Starting point is 00:03:40 soft lightly lined cups for a natural shape, and no wire comfort that lasts all day. All over smooth, all-day comfort, vanity fair lingerie. Find yours at Target today. Gein's neighbors in Plainfield, Wisconsin, mostly knew him as weird old Eddie, but there was way more to that innocent nickname than they ever thought. When he was arrested in 1957, he also confessed to the 1954, murder of Mary Hogan and admitted to making around 40 visits to graveyards to exhumed buried bodies between 1947 and 1950. Initially, the court ruled that Gein was legally insane
Starting point is 00:04:20 and he was institutionalized. In 1968, doctors re-evaluated Gein and said he was competent enough to stand trial for the murder of Bernice Warden. Gein was found, quote, not guilty by reason of insanity. Even though his home was filled, with human flesh and bones, Gein denied to District Attorney Earl Colleen upon his arrest that he ever consumed any human parts as a meal or had sexual contact with any of the dead bodies. Psychiatrists formally diagnosed Gein as schizophrenic, mentally incompetent, and a sexual psychopath who exhibited symptoms of acute transvestism, fetishism, and necrophilia. In the 1950s, Sexual psychopathy wasn't a psychological term, but a legal one that encompassed a broad range of behavior.
Starting point is 00:05:12 Many people still label Gein as a necrophile and cannibal, despite his insistence that he remained a virgin until his death in 1984. Modern psychology actually has multiple classifications for necrophilia, which is defined as the sexual attraction to dead bodies, and two of them don't involve having intercourse. That's very interesting. Did these classifications and understand of necrophilia exist back when Gein was arrested in 1957? Well, our current understanding of the condition was revealed in a study in 1989, a few years after Gein's death. So if Gein were alive today, would he be considered a necrophiliac?
Starting point is 00:05:51 Possibly. If Gein did not engage in sexual activity with the corpses he dug up, he could have been experiencing necrophilic fantasy, in which the desires and sexual attraction to the dead stay in the person's head. person's head. He could have also been considered a pseudo-necrophile who only feel a transient attraction to corpses and only occasionally act on it in sadistic ways. The crime-abuse of corpse is broadly defined in the United States as corpse mutilation, sexual contact, exploitation, and even illicit storage. Gein has also stated that he often fell into a days-like state
Starting point is 00:06:28 when he made his many visits to the graveyards. And that is also a common symptom experienced by necrophiles, Greg. Most psychologists say necrophiliacs fear rejection, so intimacy with a corpse provides them with a partner that will not say no. Some wish to be reunited with a now-deceased significant other, and then there are those who do it to receive a self-esteem boost by exhibiting some kind of control over the victim. For Gein, he was drawn to exhume the corpses of women who resembled his mother. Dr. R. Warmington wrote the following in his evaluation of Gein's motives, prior to his commitment to a mental hospital. Quote,
Starting point is 00:07:07 the motivation is elusive and uncertain, but several factors come to mind, hostility, sex, and a desire for a substitute for his mother in the form of a replica or body that could be kept indefinitely, end quote. Dr. Martin Miller's psychological assessment of Gein at his trial further pointed to Gein's mother Augusta
Starting point is 00:07:27 as a significant motivator for his crimes. Dr. Miller stated, quote, his activities were the result of a split level of consciousness. In his conscious mind, his mother was, as good a woman as it was possible to be. The hatred he felt on account of her mistreatment of him was pushed onto women who reminded him in appearance or situation of her, end quote.
Starting point is 00:07:52 We'll need to take a look into Ed Gein's early life to examine how his particular relationship with his mother may have triggered his crimes as an adult. Ed was born Edward Theodore Gein on August 27, 1906, in La Crosse County, Wisconsin. His father George was an often unemployed alcoholic, and his mother Augusta was a one-time grocery store owner, housewife, and devout Lutheran. Young Ed had a flat, fleshy growth on his left eyelid, and he was bullied at school due to his droopy stare. His parents often argued about Ed's school situation and many other things in their tense marriage. In these frequent arguments, George threatened to have an affair and leave the family.
Starting point is 00:08:35 Augusta accused George of being a failure and a drunk who was unable to fulfill his husbandly duties with her. They taunted each other and sometimes got violent. Augusta often prayed for her husband's death right in front of her two sons. Ed and his older brother, Henry, grew up on a 275-acre farm in the town of Plainfield, which was isolated from the rest of the population. Augusta preferred it that way because she didn't want her sons to be tainted by what she believed to be the evils of the world,
Starting point is 00:09:06 other women. Augusta was not a warm, sweet, and caring mother. She was brash, domineering, and fanatically religious. Throughout Ed and Henry's lives, she instilled in them the idea that women were, quote, painted harlots due to their short skirts and makeup. She punished her sons when they attempted to make friends at school. When she caught Ed,
Starting point is 00:09:28 masturbating in the bathtub at age 12, she poured hot water on him and told him that his genitalia was, quote, the curse of man. Vanessa, how likely is it that Augusta's behavior could have influenced Ed's later attitude toward women? Very likely, Greg. Parents have a significant influence on how their children turn out. Mothers who create a stressful environment for their children put them at risk of developing their own emotional issues. A strong mother and child, bond is necessary for the child's healthy emotional development. But Augusta and Ed's closeness was so intense that even her older son Henry questioned it. Ed has been quoted as calling her a saint, and he worshipped her, despite her cruelty.
Starting point is 00:10:14 It's likely that he saw her this way as part of coping with her abusive tendencies. According to Gein's testimony in 1957, his mother greatly influenced his relationships with women, or rather lack thereof. Gein told the district attorney, quote, I blame all my trouble on my mother. She should have made me a girl. I almost never went out with girls. I was afraid of them.
Starting point is 00:10:38 All I could think of was my mother and how much I really loved her, end quote. And it was his mother who introduced him to his first mutilated corpse, a moment that likely linked Augusta and death in his mind for the rest of his life. Augusta and George Gein made a rule. Ed and Henry were forbidden to enter the farm's slaughterhouse. One day, seven-year-old Ed decided to defy his parents' wishes and sneak into the slaughterhouse. He saw a hog carcass hung upside down. Ed watched Augusta, sliced the animal's torso right down the center with a large, sharp blade.
Starting point is 00:11:14 Young Ed observed as she proceeded to gut the pig. Ed witnessed his mother put the innards of the corpse into a metal tub, all while Augusta and George were covered in blood from head to toe. young Ed felt something he didn't know how to define. Finally, Augusta noticed her trespassing son. She didn't mind his presence. Instead, she asked what he thought of the slaughter. Young Ed was confused.
Starting point is 00:11:39 He didn't know exactly what he was feeling down below. Young Eddie had ejaculated for the first time as he watched this gruesome sight. Could Gein have been sexually excited by this disturbing moment? Was it an innocent, spontaneous arousal by a, young boy entering puberty? Or maybe it was merely an edipal moment between mother and son? Vanessa, what do you think? Well, certainly early childhood events can mold our sexual preferences as adults, including what turns someone on and off. For Gein, his view of sex as an adult could have been warped by this memory. His first moment of sexual pleasure has been forever linked to
Starting point is 00:12:19 his mother and a bloody corpse. Now that we've gotten to know Gein's family, we'll next examine how their tragic deaths affected him and how his first suspected victim may have been his own brother. Snoring, gasping during sleep, feeling fatigue, ask your doctor about Zepbound, terseptite. The first and only FDA-approved prescription medicine for moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA, and adults with obesity. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea, OSA. and obesity to improve their OSA.
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Starting point is 00:14:48 Ed and Henry continued to live at the Gein family farm. To help with expenses at home, Ed and Henry worked as handymen around town. Ed was mostly seen as harmless, and chilling as this sounds, he was often hired to babysit children. Henry also found work stringing up wires for a utility company and as a labor foreman. Ed and Henry got along well, except when it came to their mother. Unlike Ed, Henry saw his mother as a controlling, domineering presence in his life, one that he wanted to get away from. Henry fell in love with a divorced single mother and hoped to marry her,
Starting point is 00:15:24 but he noticed that Ed was still fiercely devoted to Augusta. Some believed Ed's intense love for his mother made him turn against Henry. But was it enough to motivate Ed to kill his brother? Henry Gein died on May 16, 1944, at age 43, under mysterious circumstances. On that day, Ed and Henry were trying to put out a marshal and fire near the family farm. How the fire started has been long debated. Ed told police that Henry started it so they could burn. off dry grass. I coaxed him and tried to keep him home, but he just kept at me until I took him there.
Starting point is 00:16:05 Ed was quoted saying. The local newspaper, however, reported that Ed started the fire, but that's not the most suspicious part of what happened. Ed and Henry tried to extinguish the flames together, but got separated as the fire burned out of control. Once the fire was extinguished, Ed couldn't find his brother and reported him as missing. And here's where it gets really interesting. When the authorities arrived, Ed led them right to Henry's body. When the police asked Ed how he knew where Henry was, Ed's only explanation was, quote, funny how that works. Police thought so too, but in a more serious way.
Starting point is 00:16:47 They became suspicious of the bruises found on Henry's head, leading them to think he could have been murdered rather than killed by the fire. Two days later, the Washera Argus newspaper reported Henry Gein's cause of death, saying it was due to asphyxiation. The coroner had determined that there was no foul play in Henry's death. But in the years following, people began to suspect that Henry's death may not have been accidental. Based on Ed's comments, there could have been some tension between the two siblings earlier that day. It's been theorized that Ed saw Henry as a threat to his relationship with their mother.
Starting point is 00:17:24 Henry's continued comments to Ed about Augusta may have sent Ed over the edge this time. By age 38, Ed Gein had only one family member left, his mother, but sadly only for a little while. Soon after Henry's death, Augusta began feeling faint. Gein took his mother to Wildbrose Hospital, where a doctor determined Augusta had suffered a stroke. It would leave Augusta frail and dependent on her son, which Gein did not mind. He became her full-time nurse, caring for her at home and completing all the chores she ordered him to do around the farm. In the evenings, he'd sit by her side and read to her. Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
Starting point is 00:18:08 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord? How long? It wasn't long at all. On December 29, 1945, Augustus suffered another. stroke and died at age 67. In addition to Ed Gein, a few of Augusta's siblings
Starting point is 00:18:38 showed up to her funeral, but he was by far the most devastated. He wept uncontrollably. His face covered in tears and snot throughout the funeral. Gein was now all alone, on the farm and in the world. By age 39, Ed Gein had seen the deaths of his father George, his older brother Henry, and his beloved mother Augusta. Her death had devastating Gien. He still performed odd jobs for the townsfolk, but he stopped showering and shaving. The Gine farm had overgrown weeds and rusted equipment. Depression after experiencing the loss of a parent is very common, especially when the parent and child are close. Psychologists recommend socializing with friends in order to renew one sense of control and to distract from any worries or pain.
Starting point is 00:19:27 So Gine tried to seek out companionship in Plainfield and do what his mother didn't want him to do. He tried to make friends. It was not easy for him, though. Townsfolk often observed his awkwardness and rode him off as just a weird, lonely guy. Gein joined a threshing crew to harvest farmers' crops, and he would often have lunch with them. While the rest of the crew took smoke breaks, Gein was said to fixate on the farmer's wives. Many got the uncomfortable feeling that he was leering at them. But if the women stared back, Gein would look away.
Starting point is 00:20:05 They considered him harmless. The men on the crew felt the same way. about Gein, who they regarded as a hard worker. Gein hunted rabbit and squirrel with some of the locals, but refused to hunt deer because he said he did not want to remove its internal organs. That's right, Gein claimed to his new friends that he couldn't stand the sight of blood. Yet, Gein was fixated on violence and murder. He loved true crime magazines and often talked about the murders he read about to anyone who would listen. He studied the medical textbook Gray's Anatomy, but his innocent obsession started to turn into preparation and research for his eventual crimes. His favorite reading
Starting point is 00:20:45 materials are said to include stories about cannibals, body snatchers, and Ilse Koch, the bitch of Buchenwald. She was the wife of Nazi colonel Carl Koch and has been labeled as one of the worst villains of the Holocaust. Carl Koch commanded the Buchenwald concentration camp, which held over 20,000 prisoners. Together, Ilsa and Carl had a reputation for some of the war. sadism. Like Gein's mother, Ilse Koch was large, German, and brash, which may have led to his fascination with her. She whipped prisoners as she rode past them on horseback, and would often force them to have sex with her. Ilse ordered the death of inmates who had tattooed skin that she liked. She then used the skin to make lambshades, book covers, and gloves. She also had a collection
Starting point is 00:21:34 of human heads. It seems like Gein may have taken inspiration from his readings, and these stories in real life. It really does, Greg. Gein was also fascinated by stories about cannibals and headhunters in the South Seas. He especially enjoyed the descriptions of how to shrink human heads and delighted in a story about a drum made from the stretching of human skin. It was information that may have provided some of the inspiration for his crimes. Could these stories have inspired Gein to commit his similar heinous crimes later in life?
Starting point is 00:22:08 It's definitely possible. Some interest with true crime takes. is healthy and simply a part of human nature. Even today, the public is riveted by stories about real-life crimes in the media. For us, it's a way to explore the mysteries of human nature with our listeners of our true crime podcast. Psychologists have said that we get a jolt of adrenaline when hearing about the misdeeds of serial killers. Part of it just comes from wanting to know why someone would commit such horrible crimes. As for Ed Gein, perhaps he dived into his reading material for entertainment at first. But then his interest took a deadly turn. He may have been part
Starting point is 00:22:45 of the copycat effect, which is when media coverage and public fascination with murder and suicide results in imitation crimes. Well, it becomes obvious that eventually Gien found more comfort in his reading material than he did in people. He began retreating from the town and his new friends. The distractions of the outside world weren't enough. He missed his mother. He regularly visited a Augusta's grave and wished her back to life. Years later, Gein told investigators that he even dug up his mother's body. Do you believe that Augusta's death was what pushed Gien over the edge? It's entirely possible. According to Gein, he did not start visiting cemeteries often until after his mother's death. Out of his three deceased family members, he missed and mourned her
Starting point is 00:23:35 the most. Gein admitted to making around 40 visits to local graveyards at night, and he was a lot. Heen admitted to making around 40 visits to local graveyards that night from 1947 until 1950. He told district attorney Colleen, quote, I started to visit graveyards in the area regularly about 18 months after my mother died. Most nights I would just stand and have private conversations with my ma. Other times, I couldn't make myself go home without raising one of them up first. Maybe on about nine occasions. I took somebody or a part of somebody home with me. It was kind of evil spirit I couldn't control." During his days, Gein focused on digging up the cadavers of newly deceased women who had
Starting point is 00:24:22 been middle-aged or older. He even knew some of the women while they were alive. He didn't remember all the names of the bodies he exhumed, but he recalled the name Eleanor Adams. She was a 51-year-old Plainfield resident who reminded Gein of his mother. He seized her corpse only a few hours after her family buried her. Gein confessed to crime lab polygraph specialist Joe Willemovsky that he would open half the caskets and remove the heads. Occasionally, he would also remove the vagina.
Starting point is 00:24:55 Gein did have a collection of dead women's genitalia. The following is a graphic description of Gein's collection. Listener discretion is advised. Police found nine dried vulvas in a box in Gein's home. He admitted to sprinkling them with salt for reasons unknown. He also created a belt out of female nipples and a wearable vest he made from a woman's chest and breasts. He admitted to wearing this vest, as well as covering his own genitalia with a preserved vulva. Vanessa, why did he fixate on female body parts?
Starting point is 00:25:29 And why only women? Many of the interviews and evaluations conducted after Gein's arrest detailed his primary motivation as regaining closeness to Augusta. There are other conversations, however, that suggests that he also had an interest in becoming a woman. Gein's sexual identity, as well as his motives, were more complex than originally thought. Want to support your gut health? Take Activia's gut health challenge by enjoying two Activya yogurt today for two weeks and see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual.
Starting point is 00:26:09 Try Activia today. Enjoying activity twice a day for two weeks As part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle May help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort Which includes gas, bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want.
Starting point is 00:26:29 Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book to screen favorites you've already read twice. Off campus, L, every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. Ed Gein was a curious man, but he was also very eager to understand what it would be like to be a woman.
Starting point is 00:26:59 Even before his mother Augusta's death, though, he wondered what it would be like to have a vagina instead of a penis. After her death, Gein became fascinated with Christine Jorgensen, a World War II soldier who received gender reassignment surgery. and Denmark in the 1950s. Gein would often talk about it to the townspeople, but they wrote off his interest in the procedure as him just being weird old Eddie. Vanessa, could he have been considered transgender? Well, psychology did not have a deep understanding of transgender people, gender identity, and sexual orientation in the 1940s and 1950s.
Starting point is 00:27:36 The first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders was published in 1952, 1952 and listed homosexuality, cross-dressing, and rape under a section called sexual deviations. In the 1950s, Gein's desires puzzled the investigators and psychologists who evaluated him at the time. The Minnesota Maltifacphasic personality inventory indicated that Gein had a feminine identification. One psychologist was quoted saying that Gein was a frustrated transsexual, while others theorized that he simply craved closeness to his deceased mother. During that time period, though, psychology often attributed homosexuality and gender identity issues to what they called improper mothering. The era did not pay as much attention to the
Starting point is 00:28:24 father's possible role in the development of psychosis. So by today's standards, could we consider Gein to be someone who was transgender or at least wanted to be? Well, today, the American Psychological Association defines transgender as having a gender identity that differs from one's sex assigned at birth. Some transgender people transition to the other gender, and some do not. The term gender identity means the basic conviction of being a man, woman, or genders, such gender queer or gender non-conforming. Sexual orientation refers to one's sexual attraction, behavior, and emotional attachments. Gein has stated interest in gender reassignment surgery to become female, but it would be up to him whether he would identify as transgender,
Starting point is 00:29:11 As for his sexual orientation, not much is known. As we talked about before, Gien claimed to be a virgin until his death at age 74. He had a keen interest in the female anatomy, but it's unclear if he was ever sexually attracted to a woman or a man. He did, however, obsess over women who reminded him of his mother. Gein often drove to Pine Grove to grab a beer at a tavern managed by Mary Hogan, his first known victim. She was described as a heavy-set woman who spoke with a German accent. Hogan's resemblance to Augusta fascinated Gien, but also confused him. Unlike his mother, Hogan was a foul-mouthed divorcee with suspected ties to organized crime,
Starting point is 00:29:55 and for Gine, that was unacceptable. On Wednesday, December 8, 1954, a farmer named Seymour Lester walked into Hogan's empty bar and found a puddle of blood on the floor. A trail of the blood led from the puddle to the back parking area. Police found a used 32-caliber pistol cartridge nearby, but they couldn't find Hogan's body. It has been theorized that Gine stayed at the tavern late one night and shot Hogan as she was closing the bar. He then dragged her bloody body to the back, where his pickup truck was parked. Some sources have stated he actually loaded her body into a sled and dragged her back to his farm.
Starting point is 00:30:36 police thought that maybe her checkered past caught up to her, or perhaps she was attacked by local hoodlums. It would be several years before Gein would confess to murdering Hogan. Yet Gein seemed to express his involvement in an unexpected way, through humor. Farmer and sawmill owner Elmo Eweck employed Gein as a handyman. Eweck noted how much time Gein spent at Hogan's tavern, and once joked, quote, Eddie, if you had spent more time courting Mary, she'd be cooking for you instead of missing, end quote. Gein's response, however, was more morbid than humorous.
Starting point is 00:31:13 He said, quote, she's not missing, she's down at the house right now, end quote. He made similar so-called jokes any time she was mentioned, even including some odd details. I went and got her in my pickup truck and took her home, Gein remarked another time. As the saying goes, there's truth in Ed's. every joke. Sigmund Freud theorized that jokes often contain the unconscious desires or aggressive feelings of the person relaying the humor. Gein, however, could have been joking around, or he could have been being weirdly sincere. His harmless reputation in the town, though, led people to think he was trying to find some awkward humor in Hogan's disappearance. These jokes began to give Gein
Starting point is 00:32:00 a reputation in town for being more than just weird old Eddie, especially when a creepy rumor began to circulate among the plainfield townspeople, that Gein had a collection of shrunken heads. Shrunken heads are severed human heads that have been removed from the body and preserved for display. A common method of preparing shrunken heads involves removing the scalp and hair, and then cooking the head in a pot of boiling water, where it shrinks in size. The process was used by the Hevaroan tribes of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador and Peru, The tribes believed that shrinking the heads would block the vengeance of evil spirits and give control of the deceased person's soul.
Starting point is 00:32:44 The heads were also a symbol of victory and skill for the tribes. Gein possibly picked up this technique in his readings. It could have been another way for him to assert his power over his victims. Perhaps he thought the procedure would absolve any of his guilt. Or this may have been inspired by his reading about Ilsecoch and the South Seas. teenager Bob Hill claimed to have seen Gein's collection. Hill and Gein often hunted rabbit together and went to the movies. They were good friends, which is why Hill was one of the few people Gein led inside his decaying house.
Starting point is 00:33:23 On one of those visits, Gein showed Hill the shrunken heads. Gein claimed that his cousin fought in the Philippines during the war and sent the heads from there. On another occasion, Gein invited his neighbors Donald and Georgia Foster to the house to consider. a trade. He wanted to exchange his farm for their house. The Fosters were puzzled by the proposition since Gein's farmland was much larger than their lot, but they still considered the deal. Georgia Foster told reporters that the house was awfully dirty and full of stuff piled all over the floor. She had heard rumors of Gein's head collection and decided to ask him about it. Foster said she pointed to a bedroom and jokingly asked Gein, is that where you keep your shrunken heads?
Starting point is 00:34:08 Gein smiled and joked back. No, they're in this other room over here. The Fosters didn't think much of Gein's response at the time and declined the trade for unknown reasons. But around this time, residents in Plainfield adjacent towns began vanishing. After his arrest, Gein was a suspect in some of their cases, but these victims did not resemble his mother or the profile of his other victims. Serial killers, however, don't always murder who they consider to be their
Starting point is 00:34:38 so-called ideal victim. When the urge to kill occurs, they will often settle for a substitute victim to satisfy themselves. And these missing Wisconsin residents may have been just that for Gein. In 1947, an eight-year-old girl named Georgia Wechler went missing in Jefferson, Wisconsin, which is located over an hour away from Plainfield. A 43-year-old Adams County farmer named Victor Bunk Travis and his hunting buddy Ray Burgess, were last seen at Max Bar and Plainfield in 1952. They disappeared, along with Burgess's car. 15-year-old Evelyn Hartley vanished in 1953 during a babysitting job in La Crosse.
Starting point is 00:35:21 None of the bodies were ever found. They could have ended up in Gein's collection as well. Hogan may not have been Gein's first victim, and she definitely wasn't his last. Local shopkeeper Bernice Worden was Gein's only other known victim. She also bore a resemblance to Augusta in looks and personality. She was a no-nonsense businesswoman and widow who was a devout Methodist. Gein may have even asked her out to the new roller skating rink. That is, before he shot her.
Starting point is 00:36:01 But those stories will have to wait until next week. When we'll also talk about Gein's trial, his institutionalization, and the media fascination surrounding his arrest. We'll also examine Gein's insanity plea and why he only stood trial. trial for the murder of Bernice Worden. Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. If you want to listen to any previous episodes of serial killers, you can find them on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Spotify,
Starting point is 00:36:29 or in our website, parcast.com, spelled p-ar-c-c-s-t-t-com. If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review, or tell us what you think on social media. We're on Facebook and Instagram as at Parcast and Twitter at Parcast. work. It seems simple, but it really helps our show. Join us next Monday as we continue delving into the twisted psyche of Ed Gein, the butcher of Plainfield. Have a killer week. Serial Killers was created by Max Cutler and developed by Ron Cutler. It is a production of Cutler media and is part of the Parcast Network. It is produced by Max and Ron Cutler, sound
Starting point is 00:37:08 designed by Kenny Hobbs with production assistance by Carrie Murphy. Additional production assistance by Carly Madden and Maggie Admeyer. Serial Killers is written by Mallory Kera and stars Greg Polson and Vanessa Richardson. Our amazing voice actor is Mike Caposi. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts. Do you want to hear something spooky?
Starting point is 00:38:00 Some Monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snakelight lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide. Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours.
Starting point is 00:38:23 Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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