Murder: True Crime Stories - SOLVED: Bernice Worden, Pt. 2

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

When police discovered Bernice Worden's body in Ed Gein's farmhouse, they also uncovered a collection of horrors too terrifying to comprehend. And as they learned more about Gein and his motivations came into focus, the story only became more disturbing. Murder: True Crime Stories is part of Crime House Studios. For more, follow us on Instagram @crimehouse. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This is Crime House. One of the best things about living in a small town is that you really get to know your neighbors. Through social functions, school events, and seeing each other around town, people get to build a community. As these neighborly bonds are forged, people become familiar with each other on a deeper level. They celebrate the highs and sympathize with the lows. Community and family almost become synonymous. But in the fall of 1957, the people of Plainfield, Wisconsin had to confront a frightening reality. No matter how well you think you know someone, you never really know what's going on in their head. And when the truth about a local handyman named Ed Gein was revealed,

Plainfield was never the same again. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original. Every Tuesday, I'll explore the story of a notorious murder or murders.

At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community, for making this possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly matters. This is the second and final episode on the murder of Bernice Worden, a 58-year-old hardware store owner who was killed on November 16, 1957. Last time, we went into Bernice's sudden disappearance and the discovery of her body inside the house of a reclusive handyman named Ed Gein. Today, Ed Gein. Today, we'll detail Ed's life leading up to November 1957. Then, we'll take you into the other shocking discoveries found in his home and the disturbing motivations behind his crimes. All that and more, coming up. Coming up.

Hey everyone, it's Carter. I have a favor to ask you. If you are enjoying Murder True Crime Stories, I would be honored if you took a moment to rate and review us on Apple and Spotify. Your valuable feedback helps us improve and expand our reach so other true crime fans can find us too. Your support means everything. For over 20 years, Bernice Worden was the owner and operator of Worden's Hardware Store in Plainfield, Wisconsin. She was a staple in the tiny community, someone who had inherited a small business and led it to success for over two decades. But on November 16, 1957,

the first day of Wisconsin's deer hunting season, Bernice vanished. The search for 58-year-old Bernice had barely got started when her son Frank suspected that a local handyman named Ed Gein may have been involved. Apparently, he was obsessed with Bernice. Two officers quickly tracked Gein down, and he was taken to the station for questioning. Meanwhile, Sheriff Art Schley and another lawman made their way to Gein's isolated farmhouse. Inside, they discovered one of the most shocking things they had ever seen. Bernice Warden's body, hanging from the ceiling, butchered like a deer carcass. Schley couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't fathom how someone could do this to

another person. Everyone knew Ed Gein was the town oddball, but it seemed unfathomable that he, or anyone, could be capable of such savagery. It left him wondering, who was Ed Gein really? It left him wondering, who was Ed Gein really? Like Bernice, Ed Gein was a fixture around Plainfield, and also like Bernice, he wasn't originally from the area. Born on August 27, 1906, Ed originally hailed from La Crosse, Wisconsin. He was the second child of George and Augusta Gein, and had a brother, Henry, who was five years older. George and Augusta Gein weren't the most welcoming parents, nor did they fit the so-called traditional roles expected of men and women at the time. George struggled to support their family. Though he had apprenticed as a blacksmith,

George spent a good part of his early adulthood bouncing around from job to job, and when he wasn't working, he drank. A lot. Meanwhile, Augusta Gein was the true leader of the family. She was the child of very religious German immigrants and developed a strong domineering personality, one filled with biblical rancor. Very quickly, she became the one who dictated life in the Gein household. By the early 1910s, Augusta became convinced that La Crosse was a cesspool of sin and fornication. So in 1914, she decided to move the family to a small, untainted community, Plainfield. Despite George's lack of financial stability, Augusta had managed to save enough money to buy a small farm about six miles from town.

Augusta loved the solitude and made sure to keep her two boys isolated from any corruption. However, Ed wasn't entirely kept away from others. When he was eight, he was able to go to school, and although he did well in his studies, he had a hard time making friends. The moment Ed appeared to be getting close to someone, Augusta would sabotage it. As a result, Ed became increasingly distant with people as he got older. While Augusta controlled Ed and his brother's lives, George continued to wallow in the bottle. Unsurprisingly, he was a lousy farmer. To forget his failures, he drank,

and when he drank, he physically took his anger out on Augusta, Henry, and Ed. George's abuse came to an end, though, when he died on April 1st, 1940. With George no longer around to provide for the family, Ed and Henry left the farm a little more to help make ends meet. For the most part, Ed was a handyman and at times a babysitter. Yet despite working away from the farm, Ed didn't move away from the farm. Even in his 30s, Ed still lived with his controlling mother. One would think that this toxic relationship would lead to resentment as they got older. Not for Ed.

relationship would lead to resentment as they got older. Not for Ed. In fact, with each passing day, Ed grew closer and closer to his mother. In Ed's eyes, Augusta was a saintly angel. However, Ed's older brother didn't feel the same way. Now in his early 40s, Henry knew Augusta wasn't worthy of that kind of admiration. While Henry never directly bad-mouthed Augusta, he made comments indicating that he believed Ed's relationship with Augusta wasn't exactly normal. Henry's opinions appear to have created a rift between him and Ed, and they may have been cause for tragedy. On May 16th, 1944, an out-of-control brush fire swept through the Gein's farm. Ed and Henry struggled to put it out out and eventually got separated in the chaos.

Fearing the worst, Ed rushed to find help. A search party formed and later that day, they found 43-year-old Henry's lifeless body. Officially, Henry died of asphyxiation, Officially, Henry died of asphyxiation, despite the fact that there were large bruises on his head. One theory was that Henry must have hit his head on a rock once he passed out from the smoke. However, some have speculated that Ed killed his older brother, perhaps in response to his opinions of Augusta. Despite Augusta's inability to emotionally connect with either of her sons, she took Henry's death extremely hard. Shortly after Henry died, Augusta had a stroke. While she recuperated, Ed waited on his mother hand and foot. recuperated, Ed waited on his mother hand and foot. But Ed couldn't nurse Augusta back to health. At the end of 1945, she had a second stroke. She died on December 29th at age 67.

In the span of five years, Ed Gein had lost his entire family. Over the next decade, Ed secretly spiraled. And yet, to the people of Plainfield, he seemed fine. Sure, he was quiet and a bit odd, but he was always friendly and had a joke at the ready. Throughout the 1950s, Ed Gein was just Ed. So when Sheriff Archly and Captain Lloyd Shupoyster gazed upon Bernice Worden's mutilated body in Ed's home, it came as a total shock. It seemed entirely unimaginable that this somewhat strange but very friendly loner could do such a heinous act. They, along with the rest of America,

were about to discover that this was only the beginning of what Ed Gein was capable of. To be continued... of the world's most notorious serial killers. Names like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, the Night Stalker, featuring expert psychological analysis from licensed clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Tristan Engels. Mind of a Serial Killer will take you into their stories like never before. So get ready to uncover what drives someone to commit the unimaginable. Mind of a Serial Killer is a Crime House original. New episodes drop every Monday. Just search Mind of a Serial Killer and follow wherever you listen to podcasts. If you're fascinated by the darker sides of humanity, join us every week on our podcast, Serial Killers, where we go deep into notorious true crime cases.

With significant research and careful analysis, we examine the psyche of a killer, their motives and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree. Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday. On the night of November 16th, 1957, Sheriff Art Schley stumbled out of Ed Gein's house, fell to his knees, and vomited. He had just discovered the disfigured body of 58-year-old Bernice Worden. She was hanging from the ceiling by her feet, head missing, and body gutted.

It was like nothing Schley had ever witnessed. A few moments later, Captain Shupipoister rushed out of the house. As Schleipoister pulled himself together, Schleipoister made for the car and radioed what they had found. Before long, a swarm of officers descended onto the farm. Strapped with flashlights and kerosene lamps, they began searching the house. The officers discovered a home in complete disarray. Trash and junk were piled everywhere. It was as if a tornado had blown through the place.

Dishes, bottles, newspapers, boxes, and clothes were thrown about in a chaotic frenzy. The investigators also found a treasure trove of oddities. There was a wash basin filled with dirt, an old coffee container with used bubble gum, a pair of decayed dentures on a shelf. They wondered how someone could live in such filth. And yet, it was only the beginning. One officer picked up what appeared to be a bowl.

However, after a closer look, he discovered that it was actually a human skull. The top had been sawed off. In fact, they found 12 different skulls throughout the house. They also found some chairs that had been gruesomely modified. Instead of a normal fabric seat cushion, they were lined with human flesh. The chairs, though, weren't the only household item created with human skin. The chairs, though, weren't the only household item created with human skin. They also found a lampshade and gloves made of flesh, as well as a belt crafted from women's breasts. There were boxes filled with other female body parts, including noses and sexual organs. But what made some of these discoveries even more shocking

was the fact that many of these items, including masks made out of human faces, were clearly intended to be worn. Ed had created clothes or costumes out of flesh. But there was still one more grisly discovery left. While searching in the kitchen, an officer noticed a bag stuck behind the door. He bent down, picked it up, and looked inside. What he initially saw was just a clump of hair. He reached in and pulled it out, revealing a severed head. When another officer looked over, his jaw dropped. He said, by God, it's Mary Hogan.

Mary Hogan was a middle-aged woman who owned and operated a tavern in Pine Grove, just down the road from Plainfield. Virtually nothing is known about Mary, except that she spoke with a German accent, swore like a sailor, and lived in Chicago before moving to Wisconsin. On December 8, 1954, Mary disappeared. A farmer named Seymour Lester dropped into Mary's tavern and discovered that it was empty. He looked around, spotted blood on the ground, and quickly alerted the authorities. Investigators discovered a trail of blood leading to the back door of the tavern where they found the cartridge of a.32 caliber bullet. It seemed like she'd been dragged into the parking lot and loaded into a car

but the police never figured out who took her or where they went. For three years Mary's disappearance baffled the folks of Pine Grove and Plainfield. Now, in the late hours of November 16th, 1957, the cold case had ostensibly been solved. As mentioned in the last episode, Ed Gein had been arrested earlier that evening. At the time, he was merely a suspect in Bernice's disappearance. Now, though, it was obvious he had brutally killed her and Mary Hogan. Sheriff Art Schley wanted to know why Ed had mutilated their corpses and find out who else he may have killed. At around 2.30 in the morning, Schley arrived at the county jail in Watoma,

15 miles from Plainfield. Schley was heated. Ed's house of horrors had rattled him, so much so that he grabbed Ed and slammed him against the wall. The other officers had to pull the two men apart. Ed was shaken up by the attack, to the point that he refused to speak to police. While Ed went silent,

the first wave of rumors began to circulate through town. All people knew was that Bernice Warden's body had been found in Ed's home, and that he likely killed her. Most people reacted with confusion. No one seemed to believe that Ed Gein could be a killer. By late the next day, though, more details trickled throughout Plainfield and the rest of Wisconsin. There were whispers that the Gein farm was actually some sort of murder factory. Finally, law enforcement confirmed some of the details, including skeletal remains, reupholstered furniture, and Bernice's butchered corpse.

Everyone was in complete shock. Ed's story continued to spread. Within two days, Plainfield was the talk of the entire country. Such grotesque evil had captivated the media. People wondered how a small, nondescript town in America could also be home to such savage brutality. Luckily for law enforcement, Ed Gein was about to give them an explanation. As police continued sweeping through the house, Ed, for whatever reason, decided to talk.

It started with a simple request, apple pie and a slice of cheese. From there, Ed opened up, describing what happened on the day he killed Bernice Worden. On the morning of November 16th, Ed walked into Worden's hardware store and asked Bernice about filling up a jug with antifreeze. After filling a little over half a gallon, Ed paid his bill and left.

The next thing he knew, he was back in the hardware store looking down at Bernice's dead body. at Bernice's dead body. During his confession, Ed claimed to be in a daze and said some of the details were fuzzy, but he did remember dragging her through the store, loading her into the warden's truck, taking her back to his farm, and hanging her upside down. Ed also admitted to butchering Bernice's body like a deer. Yet that wasn't the most shocking part of his confession. Naturally, investigators wanted to know about the other human remains found in the house. They wondered if Ed was a serial killer, wondered if Ed was a serial killer, maybe even a cannibal. According to Ed, he was neither. He told detectives that between 1947 and 1952,

he would occasionally go out at night and visit cemeteries. Generally, he did nothing except hang out, but on a few occasions, he dug up the bodies and took various parts. More often than not, they belonged to women who had recently died, women that Ed likely knew when they were alive. Initially, investigators were suspicious of Ed's self-proclaimed grave robbing. To them, it seemed like too wild of an explanation, especially considering the time and energy it would take. However, later in the investigation, officers went to a few of the graves Ed claimed to have robbed. They dug into the earth and discovered that the caskets had, in fact, been tampered with

and some of the bodies were missing parts. On Tuesday, November 19th, Ed was transferred to the State Crime Laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. He was hooked up to a lie detector for additional questioning. He continued his confession, which now included perverse interactions with the body parts. He confessed to wearing the masks and skin stockings and wearing them around the farm. Of course, the big question on law enforcement's mind was, why? As investigators continued to interrogate Ed, they would soon learn about his close attachment to his mother, Augusta, and how it went from a boy who simply loved his mom into a twisted obsession.

In November 1957, 51-year-old Ed Gein confessed to killing Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan, to killing Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan, as well as to a series of perverse grave robbings. Throughout the interrogation in Madison, Wisconsin, Ed was fairly open about the reason for his deeper, darker thoughts, and it all stemmed back to his mother, Augusta. Ed had been deeply devastated by Augusta's death. After all, he held her up as more than just a mother, but a saint-like figure. Maybe as a way to grieve, Ed began to visit cemeteries in the evening. Before long, these late-night visits escalated into grave robbing. The victims of Gein's grave robbing were middle-aged or elderly women who had just recently passed, and generally speaking, they bore some kind of resemblance to Augusta. In a way, it was as if Ed was attempting to recreate or connect with his mother.

But the grave robbing became more than that. It also seemed to have awakened something in Ed that he had been suppressing for a long time. Ed told investigators that deep down, he had feelings that he should be a woman, not a man. Slowly, he began to acquire medical books and search for ways to affirm his gender. The suits and stockings made out of flesh were a physical manifestation of Ed's confusion. Yet, even as these thoughts and feelings consumed Ed, his mother's presence never left him. When Ed saw Bernice Warden and Mary Hogan, two strong women, he was reminded of Augusta. Eventually, he snapped, or went into that daze, and killed them.

snapped, or went into that daze and killed them. Investigators were baffled by the way Ed freely spoke of his inner thoughts and feelings. In no time at all, they wouldn't be alone. On Thursday, November 21st, the Chicago Tribune broke the story behind Ed's motivations, revealing his dark secrets to the rest of America. An anonymous investigator who was in the room during the interrogation had spoken to journalists. Reaction among the public was a mixture of shock, horror, and confusion. As the nation grappled with the bombshell revelations, the time had come for justice to be served. On the same day as the Chicago Tribune report, Ed was formally charged

for the first-degree murder of Bernice Worden. Ed's lawyer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. lawyer pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. The plea left an unsettling feeling among the people of Plainfield, one that had been brewing all week. First, they discovered that a notorious killer had been living in their community. Second, that killer's heinous actions resulted in a flood of media and spectators flocking to get a glimpse of Ed's house. Now, Ed was pleading insanity, which many believed would help him escape justice. Tensions were so high that the judge actually ordered extra security to deter a mob from forming. ordered extra security to deter a mob from forming. The judge ultimately decided professionals would need to determine if Ed was fit to stand trial. So he ordered Ed to attend a 30-day observation period at the Central State Hospital for the criminally insane.

While Ed was there, he participated in a litany of physical and psychological tests. His doctor determined that he was, quote, a very suggestible person who appears emotionally dull, has rather rigid moral concepts which he expects others to follow, and tends to project blame for his own inadequacies on others. When Ed was asked about Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, he claimed to have memory issues. He said he had no recollection of killing Mary, but only admitted to it because the police wanted him to. Meanwhile, he claimed that killing Bernice Warden

was an accident. He admitted to loading a gun while he was in the hardware store, but said that it went off by accident. Perhaps the most illuminating discovery pertained to Ed's mental state. Ed claimed that Augusta spoke to him from beyond the grave, telling him to be good. He also said he saw faces in leaf piles and smelled rotting flesh around the farm. Finally, he claimed that Bernice's death was ordained by God. After the 30-day period, doctors officially diagnosed Ed with schizophrenia

and said he was not fit to stand trial. They also recommended that he be committed to Central State Hospital. After reading their report, the judge agreed. Ed Gein would not go to trial. Upon hearing the news, the people of Plainfield rose up in anger. Many refused to accept that Ed was crazy, but justice, if it came, would have to wait. In the meantime, though, someone decided to do something. Ed's farm was scheduled to go up for auction on March 30th, 1958. In the weeks leading up, the people of Plainfield feared that their little community was going to be turned into a tourist attraction.

But ten days before the auction, on March 20th, Ed Gein's house suddenly burned to the ground. Exactly how it started, or who started it, remains a mystery. The people of Plainfield collectively sighed in relief. Ed may have been living in a state hospital instead of prison, but at least his house couldn't be immortalized. For the next decade, the residents of Plainfield slowly put their lives back together, including Bernice's son, Frank Warden. Two weeks after his mother's death, Frank reopened the hardware store,

returning to business as usual. He said, quote, we'll try to carry on as before. It was as if Plainfield simply wanted Ed to fade into obscurity. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In January of 1968, over a decade after Bernice was murdered, Ed and Plainfield were back in the spotlight. According to a doctor at Central State Hospital, Ed Gein was no longer unfit to stand trial. Based on 10 years of observation, they concluded that Ed could finally go to court. Ed's trial for the murder of Bernice Worden began on November 7, 1968. The defense requested that the trial be conducted without a jury, and the judge obliged he'd be the one determining Ed's fate. he'd be the one determining Ed's fate. Ed's trial lasted only a week and was fairly anticlimactic.

Ed continued to claim that the death of Bernice was an accident but the judge didn't buy it. On November 14th he found Ed Gein guilty of first degree murder. Almost 11 years to the day Bernice Worden's case had finally come to a close. And yet, in a way, Ed Gein got away with it. That same day, the judge also found him not guilty by reason of insanity. This confusing and almost contradictory verdict ultimately meant that Ed Gein would be sent back to the Central State Hospital. This second verdict was based upon listening to two doctors explain Ed's long-term schizophrenia.

And even though this technically opened the door for a possible release if Ed's condition became manageable, it appeared as if the judge was convinced that would never happen. Exactly what Frank Warden or the rest of Bernice's family thought of this decision is unknown. One could speculate a mix of relief and frustration that Ed wouldn't be going to prison. Perhaps they were just happy to be done with it all, especially knowing that Ed was never going to walk free. Ed remained in mental health institutes for the rest of his life. As he got older, he experienced memory loss and was diagnosed with cancer. Finally, on July 26, 1984, Ed Gein died at 78 years old. When Bernice Worden went missing that first day of hunting season in November 1957, it is unlikely anyone could have imagined the lasting impact of what happened next. Sadly, Bernice has gone largely forgotten in this tragic story.

It is her killer, Ed Gein's story, that stood the test of time. Gein's heinous acts of butchery and the psychology behind them left people fascinated and terrified. He also became the inspiration for famous fictional killers in books and in film. Most notably, Gein inspired psychos Norman Bates, Leatherface from the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Buffalo Bill in Silence of the Lambs. But Gein's actions were all too real, and so were the people that he hurt. Because of him, Bernice Worden never got to see her grandchildren grow up. never got to see her grandchildren grow up. She never got to experience the joys of retirement and see all the hard work she'd put into her business pay off. The same goes for Ed Gein's first victim, Mary Hogan. As of today, the building that housed Warden's hardware store

stands empty. Its locked door and shuttered windows stand as a grim reminder of a life taken too soon and a legacy cruelly cut short. Thanks so much for listening. I'm Carter Roy and this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back next week for the story of a new murder and all the people it affected.

Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Murder True Crime Pod on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference. We'll be back next Tuesday. Murder True Crime Stories, a Crime House original

powered by Pave Studios, is executive produced by Max Cutler. This episode of Murder True Crime Stories was sound designed by Ron Shapiro, written by Joe Guerra, edited by Alex Benidon, fact-checked by Claire Cronin, and included production assistance from Kristen Acevedo and Sarah Carroll. Murder True Crime Stories is hosted by Carter Roy. Carter Roy. Just search Mind of a Serial Killer and follow wherever you listen to podcasts. to notorious true crime cases. With significant research and careful analysis, we examine the psyche of a killer,

their motives and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree. Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday.