146 85
English Pages [268] Year 1981
s
AMERICA'S MOST BIZARRE
by Judge Robert H.Gollmar With eight pages of blood-curdling police photographs
fcH I
Ln Ln Oa b-« -\J I
Ln LU -O
.
PSYCHO! Due
to legal complications the "official" true
story of the
Gein case could not be
told before
now.
What follows is probably the most unusual case in modern times. It is the story of Edward Gein, America's most bizarre murderer, grave robber, maker of exotic household items and wearing apparel; possessor of undoubtedly the finest private collection of female heads and vaginas and, unquestionably, the most notorious character ever to stand before me in court.
Judge Robert H. Gollmar
PINNACLE BOOKS AND TRUE DETECTIVE MAGAZINE TEAM UP FOR THE GRISLIEST TRUE CRIME STORIES IN PRINT! (486, $4.95) BIZARRE MURDERERS Edited by Rose G. Mandelsberg are too shocking to be believed, but they are true
The crimes
nonetheless:
The "vampire" who drank his victim's blood The hooker who was cooked alive • The killer who kept his victim's brain as a souvenir • The murderer who fed his victims to the pigs BIZARRE MURDERERS recounts some of the most sensational slayings in the annals of crime. You won't believe what you •
•
read — but
it's all
true.
And truly bizarre.
CELEBRITY MURDERS
(435, $4.95) Edited by Art Crockett Some were in the wrong place at the wrong time, others were the victims of an obsessed fan. Bob Crane, Sharon Tkte, Sal Mineo, Rebecca Schaeffer, George Rose, and others: stars of the screen and stage, darlings of the media. All had brilliant careers cut short by an act of bloody violence. Read the true accounts of the stars who last roles were played out on a cold, coroner's table.
SERIAL MURDERERS
(432, $4.95)
Edited by Art Crockett
Some of them,
like
Son of Sam,
are
world. Others are not well known, like
known throughout
the
Henry Lee Lucas, even
though he killed 176 people. And there are those who are still unknown, their carnage gone unstopped, like the Green River Killer. They are all serial killers, slaughtering their innocent victims for reasons known only to themselves. No one knows where they'll strike, or when. Or why. We know only one thing: Once they do start, they will write their stories in blood until someone stops them. Available wherever paperbacks are sold, or order direct from the Publisher. Send cover price plus 50C per copy for mailing and handling to Pinnacle Books, Dept. 537, 475 Park Avenue South, New York, N. Y 10016. Residents of New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania must include sales tax. SEND CASH.
DO NOT
by Judge Robert KGoimar
? PINNACLE BOOKS WINDSOR PUBLISHING CORP.
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©
Copyright 1981 by Chas. Hallberg and Co., Inc. Published by special arrangement with Chas. Hallberg and Co. Inc.
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7
1
Contents
FOREWORD
by George W. Arndt,
M.D
vii
PREFACE
xv
INTRODUCTION 1
xvii
MURDER
1
Bernice Worden Missing Gein Arrested 12
3
"My God, Here She Is!" 14 2 GEIN'S CONFESSION The Third Degree 3
29
Crime Lab Obtains Confession
35 Search for Additional Evidence A Judicial Review 38 Proof of Grave Robbing 48
The
36
3 THE MEDICAL REPORTS Bernice Worden's Autopsy 53 Dr. Warmington's Report 56 Mr. Colwell's Report 61 Dr. E.F. Schubert's Report 65
4
GEIN'S 1958
51
HEARING
Sanity Issue Decided!
73
76
Shock 79 Murders? 81 GEIN'S 1968 TRIAL
Plainfield in
How Many 5
State of Wisconsin
v.
The Appointment of Counsel The Initial Motions 99 Testimony Testimony Testimony Testimony
89
Edward Gein
of Allan Wilimovsky of Jan Beck 109 of Wilma Rothermel of Dr. Miller 1 1
93
96 103
116
Testimony of Edward Gein 120 Testimony of Frank Worden 159 Jan Beck in Rebuttal 162
The
Court's Decision
An An
A
Interview with Dr. Schubert 181 Interview with Gein 187 Visit to Plainfield
APPENDIX A. B.
163
A VISIT TO CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL & PLAINFIELD
6
173
175
199 George Arndt on "Gein Humor" 201 About the Author and Other Contributors 2 1 Dr.
Foreword
History since
is
replete with tragedies of
man
is
human
violence,
the most aggressive beast in his
inhumanity. Edward Gein
is
unique as the "case
of the century" in which not only was there mur-
der but also perversion, possible
fratricide,
and
cannibalism.
Even among the more recent horrendous crimes in Texas, California, New York, and Illinois, the crimes for which Mr. Gein was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" are unique. Interest continues to be manifest in his atypical type of psychopathology, combining
murder with sexual elements,
perversion and fetishes resulting in displays of
human art and trophies. The outpouring of grim gore and gallows humor concerning this case is also unique as I discovered through my research into the initial situation vii
EDWARD GEIN And, it has resurged several times since the original Gein trial in 1968, especially when Gein petitioned for release from Central State Hospital for the criminally insane and during the subsequent court procedures in 1974. Newspapers and magazines from throughout the United States published articles on Ed Gein's trial a decade after the murders and again seventeen years after the in
1957.
The result of which I examined Gein and testified regarding his mental condition) was his return to
event, during his try for release. that try (at
still psychotic and insane. Edward Gein's family moved, when he was still a young man, to a rural section in central Wisconsin.
the hospital as
In such rural areas people often believe they
much
know
about each other because of their close proximity, similar backgrounds, and mutual involvement and interest. Gein was a lonely, or
all
isolated, schizoidal, "strange" individual
who was
not given to communicating openly with his neighbors.
He was
a
man who
himself with others only cial
purportedly involved
when
there was a finan-
reason or personal need of assistance. His
neighbors
may have thought they knew all about yet, for more than a dozen years,
each other, and
Gein apparently committed multiple murders and grave robbings without detection. In retrospect, we now know that
and age,
likely that,
when he was
it
is
possible
thirty-eight years of
what had been called the "Cain and Abel"
aspect of this case occurred.
Ed
Gein's brother
was found dead in the midst of a large Vlll
pile
of
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
and brush which was being cleared
debris
to
burned.
Of
brother's
body was reportedly found on the
special interest
est collection deposit
on
be
the fact that his
—some have said
The
a funeral pyre.
is
larg-
as if placed
following year his mother
died and Gein repeatedly attempted to raise her
from the dead with ter
is
apparently
his willpower. Shortly thereaf-
when he began grave
robbing.
from which the human troon his mantel, were located in the cemetery not far from the family plot where his parents were buried. The grave robbings and murders included removing heads, chest skin including mammries, and pelvic areas including vaginas. These were found in Gein's home and attested to the morbid,
Some of
the graves
phies were taken, and later found
perverse "secondary psychic kicks for psychological
gain" he seemed to receive from removing
"appropriate" and "interesting" anatomical parts
from the bodies of then added to
Ed
his
his victims.
Each trophy was
ghoulish collection.
Gein's unusual interest, preoccupations,
and
pastimes were not discovered until at age fifty-one
he was caught with
his last victim's
body
still
hang-
ing in the shedlike area at the back of his house
dressed out like a deer.
home community with a populaunder seven hundred people, there developed a tremendous outpouring of apprehension, fear, panic, and a sense of being totally overwhelmed by the depth and breadth of the psychopathology which had been discovered. In such In Gein's small
tion of
ix
EDWARD GEIN mid-western towns people are not prone to be frightened. In general, they experience each other as stoic, reliable, conscientious
religious
and
people with a strong
practical educational
background.
Such people tend to be very trusting of friends and usually seem to believe they know and can vouch for everyone in town. As people who would not lock a door, day or night, they were shocked no aghast at having "the Gein" in their midst.
—
The neighbors were situation
Ed Gein was
man
literally
dumbfounded
at the
which was presented to them. For many, a friend or acquaintance or the handy-
who helped around He was a nice quiet man. People,
or part-time carpenter
the neighborhood.
especially children, liked him.
who so strongly believed in themand each other could experience this horror with an individual who had lived in their midst for over half a lifetime, what protection is there If these people
selves
for people who, living in isolation in cities, are fearful of their own neighbors, the next neighborhood, and/or the criminal element who continu-
ously prey
on
society?
Here were God-fearing
people, living an upright, struggling, productive life
and
this
happened.
The shock was overwhelming and
Gein's neigh-
bors very naturally reacted with stress and tremen-
dous anxiety. Not only
in
Plainfield
and the
surrounding communities, but also in towns and cities hundreds of miles distant, people relieved their tension with a type of
humor which had
not
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
been heard since the Elizabeth Borden affair over one hundred years ago. Periodically there are news reports about individuals who display a history of mental disturbance or prior hospitalization which precipitated tragedy. Here, however, was a literal bolt from the blue. Gein had no known history of mental
Are there other Edward Geins? How many? Where? Are you sure? We must study the questions posed and begin to realistically develop programs to identify and assist the mentally ill person. They must become more productive, self-sufficient, reliable individuals, to protect themselves, the public, and most importantly the lives of their immediate neighbors and families. Certainly there must be a way our society can do more, in a preventive way, to reduce the increasing number of such tragic events which have occurred and continue to occur in our society. With the recent emphasis during the last quarter century of deinstitutionalization with its sometimes illness.
tragic turning loose of those mentally unable to
fend for themselves, we have seen repeated episodes of "the criminalization of the mentally for unable to cope, they It is
time to take as serious a view of mental
illness as
We
ill,"
commit crimes.
we do of heart disease, cancer, and aging. to do something other than simply
need
deinstitutionalize mentally
be more
to
Superficial
ill
persons so there can
their lives than privileged neglect.
freedoms within the context of a hu-
man warehousing
concept of institutional XI
treat-
EDWARD GEIN ment
will
no longer do;
it
can no longer be
justified.
Psychiatry, medicine,
and science are continu-
gaining knowledge and slowly unlocking the secrets of that mental apparatus called the mind.
ally
Today we have the means to chemically detect many types of mental illness and effective treatments designed to relieve the untold suffering of who develop thinking disorders, schizophrenia, and manic-depressive illness. Unfortunately, many who need and could benefit from treatment those
decline, resist, or refuse treatment that could help
them. Further they are aided and abetted by the sometimes strange, and in many cases, peculiar beliefs of members of the legal profession who too often take it upon themselves, under the guise of protecting the civil rights of the individual, to deny mentally ill people the right to receive needed and appropriate treatment. What freedom is there for a person with a tormented mind struggling with false beliefs, false perceptions, false ideas, and
bend toward self or mass destruction? Today, we have a situation in which treatment is available and people decline to avail themselves of it. And, this is further offset by the tragic a bizarre
misuse of other chemicals by the public. Certain
now abuse mindway as to destroy the thinking capabilities and perhaps even the
large segments of our society altering agents in such a brain's
genes of future generations.
needed medicaand other therapies necessary to assist men-
Psychiatrists are obtaining the
tions
xii
AMERICA'S tally
ill
normal
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
people in stabilizing and leading more unencumbered by their symptoms.
lives,
Simultaneously, however,
we now
also
encounter
masses of people being coerced by peer pressure in a mass hysteria of increasing use of alcohol, marijuana and other mind destroying drugs in
They sabotage themselves with naurally occurring and man-made "brain cell killing chemicals/' Brain damage is not increasingly self-destructive ways.
something which
The
is
readily treated or reversible.
an increasingly large population of seriously brain impaired individuals who have net result
is
become incapable of self-decision and/or
who
self-care,
are tragically invalid to themselves as they
become increasing burdens
to those with
whom
they live and/or the taxpayers.
Interference with the proper treatment of tal illness, as
well as the
men-
noninvolvement of our
and welfare of those who suffer has become increasingly evident not only
society in the care
from
it,
to the professionals in the medical field but also in
the popular press. Articles decrying then neglect
and disenfranchisement of the mentally ill in our open society are becoming more frequent and more forceful. Edward Gein, because of his quiet, isolated, secluded existence was one who came to the attention of the authorities only through the
ultimate event/crime of detected murder.
The sub-
sequent discovery of the extent of his ghoulish grave robbing and other perverse behaviors revealed his acts to be different from psychiatric practice only in degree xiii
and
in
legal/criminal
EDWARD GEIN Gein could and did exist as a bachelor recluse in a rural area, and was accepted there. Many of the mentally ill, deprived of a sanctuary or refuge, (i.e. the asylum), cannot exist in our detection.
communities without support. Hence they come into the
more
frequent,
open
conflict with the law
because of their inability to understand or appreciate the impact of what they do or fail to do. These people, who are obviously men-
and
tally
civilization
ill,
decision
are incapable of adequate, rational
and
alization laws
but a positive suffer
much
self-
The present deinstitutionhave, in many ways, been anything influence toward helping those who
self-care.
from mental illness. These persons are very need of help in the management of their
in
day-to-day
lives.
The Edward Gein
case symbolizes the type of
exist and carry on his bizarre life-style, without detection, for a dozen or more years. His pattern of behavior and macabre activities were a result of serious mental illness and disordered thinking. It is the hope of the author that through understanding of this true story of Edward Gein, citizens in all types and sizes of communities throughout our nation will begin to examine seriously the problems of the mentally ill, and particularly the problems of
situation in
which an individual can
the mentally
ill
comes involved
Fellow,
individual
who
coincidentally be-
in crime.
George W. Arndt, M.D. American Psychiatric Association xiv
Preface
Due
to legal complications the "official" true story
of Edward Gein could not be told until now. in
What follows is probably modern times. It is the
the most unusual case
true story of
Edward
Gein, America's most bizarre murderer, grave
maker of exotic household items, wearing apparel and possessor of undoubtedly the finest robber,
private collection of female heads, vaginas, vulvas
and unquestionably the most notorious character ever to stand before
me
in court.
In November, 1957, the entire nation was rocked
by the disclosure of the ghoulish discoveries made on the Gein farm near Plainfield, Wisconsin. This was followed by an equally widespread wave of "Gein humor" that was analyzed and reanalyzed in heavy scientific papers by learned psychiatrists, such as Dr. George Arndt.
xv
EDWARD GEIN Gein. alter a short hearing, without trial, was sent to Central State Hospital for the Insane at
Waupun. Wisconsin. Suddenly he was returned for
trial.
ten long years later,
As the
the Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit,
Waushara County, the scene of sided at his
judge of which includes
circuit
his crimes,
I
pre-
trial.
This book
based on the transcript of that
is
Gein's confessions to the Wisconsin crime
trial.
laboratory as taken by Joseph Wilimovskv.
my
trial
notes, official medical reports, conferences with
counsel and the police officers involved in
trial
the case as well as
my
personal
visit
with Gein at
Central State Hospital. there "a time to
Is
kill?"
have tried murder cases, recurred to me.
women
Over the years
this biblical
there a time
Is
are compelled to
kill
as
I
phrase has
when men
or
by emotions which
overpower their rational minds? Did Gein feel this compulsion? Were the bodies he removed from graves so unsatisfactory that he needed freshly killed
women
killing a result
training?
for his strange activities?
of
Was and
his is
Was
his
mother's twisted '"religious"
Gein insane, or trulv
"sly as a
fox" with an ability to convince psychiatrists and psychologists of his insanity so as to protect himself
mav
from
a life sentence
reach his or her
behind bars? The reader
own
xvi
conclusion.
Introduction
January 1968. I sat in my chambers at Baraboo and read again the letter I had just received from Dr. E.F. Schubert, superintendent of Central State
Hospital for the Criminally Insane. official
Couched
language, Dr. Schubert advised
his staff
Gein was
me
in
that
had determined that Edward Theodore fit
to stand trial;
he could intelligently
confer with counsel and participate in his defense.
Then
the final sentence: the staff believed that
Gein was still insane. Only in the "Alice In Wonderland" labyrinth of American jurisprudence could this occur. Now we were faced with a long and arduous legal proceeding, costing thousands of dollars, with a predetermined end: no matter what the degree of guilt or nonguilt, in the end, Gein would return to Central State
Hospital for the Criminally Insane. xvii
EDWARD GEIN I
promptly made a long-distance
call to
Howard
Waushara County. Dutcher, Howard had prosecutor, young A tall, fair-skinned than most cases murder already prosecuted more the district
attorney for
rural district attorneys get in a lifetime. After
read the letter to
stunned
Howard
silence; then,
there was a
moment
I
of
could have heard his roar
I
without the seventy miles of telephone wire be-
tween after
us. all
'Judge, you can't do this to me!
these years?
the McBrair
murders
Why now? You that
I
told
Why,
me
in
was young and needed
Haven't I had enough training?" "Simmer down, Howard," I said, "we don't have any choice and you know it. Now, let's get down to business. Alert Buck (Buck Batterman, the sheriff), and Jerry (Jerry Brillowski, my court reporter). I will be up in a few days to work out trial training.
the preliminary details." Still grumbling, Howard hung up, and I sat back and let my mind go back ten years to
November, 1957.
I
am
at
ham
and I some was pleased that an
heart a
actor
could not
resist
a feeling of pleasure.
judge was
to try
Ed Gein
accident of geography gave
am
I
me
If
that privilege.
an extrovert, and as a young lawyer opportunities to speak in public flowed my way. I became a county judge and then a circuit judge. In the sharp interchange of legal battle, I found my great love and enjoyment. Over thirty years on the bench has not changed my pleasure in well-contested jury trials nor diminished my enthusiasm. As a country judge I heard both civil Admittedly
I
xviii
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER cases. My suitcase was always packed
AMERICA'S
and criminal and I eagerly accepted assignments anywhere
in
the state.
My circuit in circuit in
1968 was an L-shaped, four-county
south central Wisconsin.
It is
a beautiful
region and includes such well-known resort areas as Devils
Lake and Wisconsin
Dells.
Waushara, is an
the farthest north of the four counties,
untouched, unpolluted area containing over seventy lakes and miles of trout streams. the Pine River, as is
it
Of the
rushes busily about
its
latter,
business,
the most beautiful.
In 1968 the whole country contained only teen thousand people, and
fif-
Wautoma, the county
had a population of sixteen hundred. The who lived there were warm, friendly, and independent. They preferred the wide open spaces where a motorist is far more likely to see a deer than other motorists. Hunting and fishing were primary pursuits for both men and women. The talk in the bowling alley where they gathered for coffee was always about the outdoors. These were people who had learned that there are far more important things in life than amassing money. The "rat race" of city life was not for them. When the fish were running or during deer hunting seat,
people
season, they just locked the doors of their busi-
and went. Everyone understood and would And, no doubt, life goes on the same way today. nesses
await their return.
Up
in the northwest corner of the county
Village of Plainfield,
whose population xix
in
is
the
1957
EDWARD GEIN was just over
six
hundred.
A
few miles south in
the Township of Plainfield, on an unworked 160acre farm lived Edward Gein, a fifty-one year-old
hermit and bachelor.
November
16, 1957, a
Saturday, was the open-
ing day for deer hunting in Wisconsin
and
this
important to our story. By that nightfall, sheriffs and their deputies would converge on fact
is
Plainfield
from
all
surrounding counties. The
Wisconsin crime laboratory would be "hard on their heels," closely followed by a large concourse of newspaper reporters, cameramen, and TV personnel. W hispers would run through the streets r
of Plainfield and over rural telephone party
Grim-faced
citizens
would gather
lines.
in shock, horror,
and anger as stories of the ghoulish discoveries on the Gein farm rocked their quiet village. In November of 1957, the Waushara County Sheriffs Department consisted of three men: Sheriff Arthur Schley, who had been in office six weeks and was a former highway department truck driver; Arnold Fritz, full-time deputy who had also served under former Sheriff Leon "Specks" Murty; and Dan Chase, former sheriff and now traffic officer. (Dan's father, Frank Chase, had been sheriff for some years, and Dan had spent most of his life in law enforcement work). Back of these men was a thin line of special deputies who could be called in an emergency: r
Specks Murty,
who was now the marshal of the Arden Spees in Red Granite,
Village of Wild Rose,
Frank Worden
in Plainfield,
xx
and a few more.
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Law enforcement personnel from large cities may find it difficult to understand another thin line
men
of support. In rural areas of Wisconsin, law are in close and friendly contact with their
fellow officers in the surrounding counties.
A
call
immediate and unquestioning help. So it was to be on November 16, 1957. Captain Lloyd Schoephoerster of the Green Lake County Sheriffs Department heard the call and left immediately for Plainfield. He was early on the scene for the first phases of the investigation and was closely followed by Sheriff Herbert Wanserski of Portage County as well as men from Adams and Wood counties. for help
in
on the
police radio brings
Rural officers such as these are largely untrained formal police work, but they have three assets
that city officers generally
do not have. To a man,
They develop a keenness for clues, and tracking a man is not too different from tracking an elusive fox or deer. A second asset is their deep knowledge of the people with whom they deal. Their third and perhaps greatest asset is the rural grapevine. City people may, and do, ignore their next door neighbor, but rural people usually know and are interested in the most minute details of their neighbors' lives. Because the police are often friends and even relatives of the townspeople, the people cooperate with the law quickly and willingly. Frank Worden, the deputy sheriff in Plainfield, was closely and personally involved, for it was his mother, Bernice, whose disappearance triggered the uncovering of the Gein story. they are seasoned outdoorsmen.
xxi
EDWARD GEIN AMERICA'S MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
1
MURDER
Bernice Worden Missing
November
16,
1957 was a quiet Saturday in the
Village of Plainfield.
It
was the opening day of
deer hunting, and virtually all able-bodied men and youths (and many of the women) were in the woods hunting. On Main Street, Bernice Worden, a fifty-eight-year-old widow, was alone in the
Worden hardware Frank,
like the rest
store.
Her son and
partner,
of the community, was deer
hunting.
One man had
not gone into the woods.
Edward
Gein, a middle-aged handyman, was on his lonely
farm a few miles away. Gein got up early on the morning of November 16. He noted a fine rain falling, breakfasted, and drove downtown. He parked his car in front of Worden's store and went in to buy some antifreeze. No one noticed him or his car on the street. He took a glass jug
EDWARD GEIN from
his car,
purchase.
He
entered the store, and
Worden drew from jug out and put
new
his
it
a steel barrel,
and carried the
He
then reentered
in his car.
the store to talk to Mrs.
chase of a
made
paid for the antifreeze which Mrs.
Worden about
the pur-
.22 rifle.
At about 9:30 a.m. the Worden hardware truck drove out of town but no one noticed
it
leave.
No
one noticed who the driver was nor observed the grisly object in the back of the pickup truck. Somewhat later, Gein walked unnoticed to his car and drove it away; not even the attendant at the filling station across the street from the Worden's hardware store saw him. That Saturday, Sheriff Art Schley and Chief Deputy Arnie Fritz had spent the day in Wautoma, the county seat, performing their usual duties.
Dan
Chase, the county's only traffic officer, inves-
tigated a traffic accident at 2:00 a.m.
He
later
went home and then went deer hunting. That evening he went to a restaurant in Hancock. Captain Lloyd Schoephoerster of nearby Green Lake County and other officers in the surrounding area went about their routine duties. In Madison, the state capital, Allan Wilimovsky, ballistics specialist for the Wisconsin crime laboratory, spent the
day
assisting his brother, Joe, build
The weather turned cold, raw, and sleety afternoon. He went home feeling tired, ate
a garage. in the
his dinner,
and took a nap.
day; a quiet day that
is,
for
It all
was indeed a quiet but Ed Gein.
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Gein returned from Worden's store and busied himself with certain important chores. About 3 p.m. his neighbor, Mr. Ueeck, dropped by to apolgize for shooting a deer on Gein's property
but Gein was too busy taking the snow car to discuss
tires
off his
After he finished changing
it.
tires
he went back into the house where he busied himself for a couple hours until he was again interrupted. This time
needed help
met him
in
it
was the
Hill boy,
who
Gein hurried out, the yard, and then took him to to start his car.
Plainfield.
The
parents of the Hill boy ran a grocery store
on the edge of
Plainfield.
Here Gein bought
He also helped out at The Hill home was next to the
his
simple groceries.
times in
the store.
store.
Irene Hill had a vivacious and bubbly personality.
She talked freely to me about that day. She had known Gein from their grade school days. Gein often came to the Hill home because he enjoyed TV and he had no electricity in his home. This Saturday, Gein had stayed at the Hills' home for supper. They had pork chops, she recalled. After supper, Gein sat on the davenport playing a game with one of the younger children.
Jim Vroman,
He
a son-in-law of the Hills',
came
in.
was excited and said something had happened
Worden
store and the state crime lab was coming. Gein said to Vroman, "Boy, someone sure at the
must have been bloodthirsty.
Is that right?'*
suggested that he would like to go
Gein
downtown and
EDWARD GEIN see the excitement.
He and
the Hill boy then went
to Gein's car.
Meanwhile, at about 5:00 p.m. that evening Frank Worden returned from deer hunting and was surprised to find his store locked and dark. Inquiry at the
filling station across
the street dis-
closed that the store had been shut practically day.
The
litde
thought as
Worden
filling station it
operator had given
was not
uncommon
to lock the store while she
all
this
for Mrs.
went out on
errands.
Frank returned, unlocked the door, and enNot only was his mother missing, but there was a pool of blood on the floor and a trail of blood leading to the back door. Frank ran out the back door only to discover that his hardware truck was missing from the garage. tered the store.
Worden, in great excitement, called Sheriff Schley Wautoma, fifteen miles away, and over the phone blurted "murder." At 5:30 p.m. Chief Deputy Fritz was at home reading the newspaper when his phone rang. It was Sheriff Schley in great agitation: "Come quick. We have a murder in Plainfield." The two officers started out. Schley, who had been sheriff just six weeks, was upset and told Fritz: "I don't know anything about it. I want out, you take over." Worden was outside his store when at
they arrived. All three quickly entered the store. Officer Fritz reported what they saw:
Over
by the counter by the cash register there
pool of blood on the floor and there was a
was a
trail
'
of
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
blood like something had been dragged from that pool into the back where they kept the truck. We followed this trail of blood back to where the truck
around
was supposed to be parked. We could see a little messing around in the tracks and there was blood on the dirt
and
the truck
was gone.
Quickly Fritz went to the public phone and called
Specks Murty
at Wild Rose. Specks was village marshal and a part-time county deputy. He too had been deer hunting. Murty quickly drove to Plainfield and joined the other two officers. At 6:15 p.m. Captain Schoephoerster received a call
from Sheriff Bartol of Green Lake saying
that
there was an apparent murder, kidnapping, and
robbery flashing
at Plainfield.
and
He
started out with red lights
siren blasting because of the heavy
traffic. On the way he heard more on the radio and a statewide call to look for a red Chevrolet pickup truck with the name Worden Hardware on it. At 6:30 p.m. Dan Chase left the restaurant at Hancock. He went "10-8" on his radio and heard Deputy Fritz say: "Get your ass up to Plainfield. There has been a murder." At about the time Allan Wilimovsky received a call from Charles Wilson, head of the crime lab in
deer hunting details
Madison. Wilimovsky, too, started out for Plainfield,
up fellow staff members Jim Halligan and Beck with the crime lab's mobile field unit. Jan Schley and Fritz, meanwhile, had asked Worden if he suspected anyone. Worden said, "Ed Gein." Murty asked him why, and he said, Gein had been picking
EDWARD GEIN asking his mother to go roller-skating with him;
Gein had been in the day before inquiring about antifreeze; and that Gein asked Worden if he was going to go deer hunting. Worden told Gein that he was, and that he expected to be in that
the
woods
all
day.
A quick check of Mrs.
Worden's
sales slips for the day disclosed three sales, one of
them
for antifreeze. Unbelievably, this was
all
of
the evidence against Gein. Probably the thinnest
evidence that ever caused a manhunt.
There was one further fact. A few years before Mary Hogan, a tavern keeper operating across the line in Portage County, had disappeared. A pool of blood had been found in her tavern. Murty and Fritz for some reason had suspected Gein in that case but had no evidence. Fritz this time,
said:
When we saw the blood, Specks and I got our heads together. See, we had the finger on Ed Gein for the Mary Hogan deal, but we never could prove it. To me the Hogan deal was the same thing: a pool of blood on the floor, blood marks out the door, loaded her on a truck and left. Then we decided we better get some help and. see if we could find the truck. We called in help from all neighboring counties. Pretty soon, Sheriff Artie and Deputy Neilson came from Marquette County; Sheriff Sharky and another officer from Wood County; Sheriff Wanserski and two or three men from Portage County; the sheriff from Adams County and Schoephoerster from Green Lake. Maybe more.
A map
of Plainfield was secured and divided 8
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
EDWARD GEIN As the neighboring officers were assigned to the search for the truck. The next morning the truck was found hidden in a pine plantation on the edge of the into four sections.
arrived, they
village.
Meantime, Dan Chase had arrived and it was decided that he and Marty should go out to the Gein house, a distance of four or five miles. Total darkness had fallen as they drove down the lonely road to the farm. Chase swung the car in the yard so that
its
headlights shone
on the back door.
The old frame house was dark and there was no sign of life. Chase stayed by the car while Murty knocked on the back door. There was no response knocked again. The door slowly swung
so he
open. Inside
it
was pitch dark and as neither Murty
Murty lit a match. The and he was afraid of starting a fire. Murty stumbled forward and found another door but there was no response to his repeated knocks. Carefully he made his way out and back to the car. Obviously Ed Gein was not at home. Back in town there was a small group of men on the sidewalk in front of the Worden hardware store. The sirens and red lights of the arriving squad cars increased the excitement, and a large crowd gathered. Officer Fritz had made inquiries at the filling station and at the Gamble store. It did not take nor Chase had a
flashlight,
floor was littered with papers
10
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
"Chase stayed by tke car tohile Murty knocked on the back door."
11
EDWARD GEIN long to canvass the few blocks of the business on Main Street. The name of Ed Gein was
district
whispered. There was a rumor, never substantiated, that
Gein had been seen that morning driving the
Worden
truck.
Gein Arrested
It
was decided that Gein should be found,
possible. Since
Dan Chase knew
if
Gein, he was sent
being an officer of the
to look for him. Chase,
old school, never questioned the fact that he was
being sent alone,
at night, to pick
up
a probable
murderer. After Chase
not go alone.
left,
A
Fritz
radio
decided that Chase should call
reached him and he
returned so that Deputy Arden "Poke" Spees could go with him. The two officers started out and Chase said, "Let's go out to the Hill store because Eddie goes there a lot and does his grocery shopping." Chase talked to Mrs. Hill and was told to look in Gein's car, which was parked by the Hills' back door. Chase gave this account of what happened next: / saw Eddie Gein sitting in the car. There was a light or something on and I could see him. One of the Hill boys was sitting with him. I walked up to
porch
the car
and
said, "Eddie, I
would
12
like to talk to
you.
"
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Eddie came over and got in the car with Poke Spees in the back seat. I asked Eddie to tell me where he was from six that morning until right now. He went through it and I said, "Now go back to where you entered Worden's store and tell me that again.'' He started and went back through it. I said, "Now, Eddie, you didn't tell the same story coming through there." He said, "Somebody framed me." I said, "Framed you for what?" "Well," he said, "Mrs. orden?" "Well, Worden." I said, "What about Mrs. she's dead, ain't she?" I said, "Dead! How do you know she's dead?" He said, "Well, I heard it." I said, "Where did you hear it?" He said, "I heard them talking about it. " I knew then what I had.
W
The three men returned to Plainfield and parked on Main Street. Deputy Fritz met them and said, "She's been murdered." On the way into Plainfield Chase told Gein to lie on the floor of the car because he was afraid of violence if Gein was seen by the townspeople. Gein was greatly
amused by this precaution. Chase then placed Gein under arrest and he and Spees took him to Wautoma and placed him in jail. When Chase had Gein undress he noted a spot of blood on Gein's arm. in Plainfield, the crowd on the street grew and there were dark mutterings of "hang him." But fear rode over all; fear and bewilder-
Back
larger
ment.
How
could
ful little village?
this
horror come to their peace-
Women
ran frantically about in
the residential area calling their children home.
Shades were drawn and doors locked that had not
known
a key for
many
years. It
13
was a dark,
swirl-
EDWARD GEIN ing fear.
No one knew
Had Ed
Gein, this quiet
for sure little
what had happened.
handyman who had
eaten in their homes, helped with their chores,
and baby-sat
their children,
murdered Bernice
Worden? Meanwhile Captain Schoephoerster and SherSchley had decided to look for Gein. As they started out, they received a radio message from Chase that he had the suspect, Gein, in custody. Schley and Schoephoerster decided to drive out to the Gein home instead and look iff
around.
'My God, Here She
Schoephoerster gave
when
this
Is!'
account of what occurred
they arrived at the farm:
It
was 8:00 p.m.
We
tried the doors.
They were
all
locked but the door leading into a woodshed attached to the
my
house didn't seem
to be
latched too tight. I put
and pushed and the door came open. Knowing Gein had no electricity, we took our falshlights and went in.. As I tried to open the door going from the woodshed into the house, Sheriff Schley looked around a portion of the woodshed. foot against
it
heard him cry out, "My God, here she is." I went over to where he was and saw a woman's nude, headless body hanging from the rafters by her
I
ankles.
14
EDWARD GEIN
"My
God, here she
15
is.
EDWARD GEIN Both men immediately ran out and Sheriff Schley became violendy
ill.
Schoephoerster radioed
Deputy Fritz that Mrs. Worden's body had been found and that all cars should come to the Gein farm. The coroner and district attorney were also
summoned. Schoephoerster 's account continued:
We
then went back in
had been
and found
that
Mrs. Worden
completely dressed out like a deer with her
head cut off at the shoulders. Gein had slit the skin on the back of her ankles and inserted a wooden rod, 3 112 feet long, about 4 inches in diameter, and sharpened to a point at both ends, through the cut tendons on the back of her ankles. Both hands were
The center of the a pulley on a block and tackle. The body was pulled up so the feet were near the ceiling. We noticed that there was just a few drops of watery blood beneath the body on the dirt floor, and not finding the head or intestines, we thought possibly the body had been butchered at another tied to her side with bindertwine.
rod was attached
to
location.
Other
officers arrived
and the barn and out-
buildings were searched without result. Captain
Schoephoerster and Deputy Neilson of Marquette
County decided
to search the house.
Schoephoerster's story of the account
is
follows:
As we went
into the house
we found it to be in a from one end of the
terrible state; completely littered
house
of
to the
other with bones, barrels of junk, stacks
clothes, papers,
and
so forth.
16
We
went upstairs,
as
AMERICA'S which was
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
less littered
than the
in a box on the floor found a this
outside
and showed
it
rest
of the house,
and
We
took
human
skull.
to the sheriff
Someone
could have been Mary Hogan, missing from Portage County since 1954. Murty arrived and he and Schoephoerster returned to the house. Murty found an automatic revolver under the pillow of Gein's bed and behind the door in the bedroom he found a human head in a plastic bag. Sheriff Wanserski thought the head in the bag resemsuggested
it
bled that of Mary
Hogan.
Allan Wilimovsky, of the crime witness in
many
trials in
interested in his precise
my
lab,
court.
manner of
I
has been a
am
always
speech: choos-
ing his words with great care and exactitude.
entered the scene at
count of
this
He
point and gives this ac-
his observations:
Upon arriving, there was a rather large gathering of people; some were law enforcement, but the majority I believed to be people of the press. I was wooden door that was painted no windows. The door later was idenme as being the door which entered into
directed to a solid white, with tified to
a so-called summer kitchen area. The sheriffs personnel held the news media away from the scene; they had the scene generally secured. I had a lantern. I opened this door and I flashed the light into this darkened room. There was no light inside the room and at that time I saw a body which was decapitated and which was suspended by a gambrel by the ankles which in turn was attached to a pulley and chain hoist system to the ceiling joist
of
this
portion of the
house.
My
first
impression was some degree of shock.
I momentarily stepped back
17
and without saying
EDWARD GEIN anything other than thinking to myself, "What type of individual would do something like this?"
Wilimovsky was joined by Beck and Halligan from the crime lab. An electric generator was secured from Wood County so that photographs could be taken. Wilimovsky then went to Plainfield and called Charles Wilson, director of the lab, apprised him of the situation, and suggested that he come up from Madison. He also suggested that his brother, Joe Wilimovsky, also come up and interrogate the prisoner. (Joe did the polygraph or "lie detector" test for the lab). Allan Wilimovsky then returned to the Gein farm. Officers were going in and out of the house, many of them carrying grisly objects found therein. Considerable confusion ensued and there was a general feeling of shock
among
these seasoned
law officers. Wilimovsky concerned himself with a search for the instrument used in the decapitation
of the body.
Ray Goult, the undertaker, had been on the grounds for many hours. Finally, in the early morning hours, the headless body was placed in a plastic bag and given to him for transportation to his
home in Plainfield. The searching officers made various observations.
funeral
Schoephoerster recounted: / had a feeling I never had before in my life because I had never seen anything like this. It was so horrible.
We found
skulls
skin portion of the head that
18
and masks; that is, the had been stripped from
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Among the things
Gein made from human a wastepaper basket, lamp masks, and bowls made from skullcaps. belt of nipples,
19
in
or bone mere: a ,
chairs, fcxe
EDWARD GEIN and preserved and put in plastic bags. There were several of those skulls. We found a box that had women's organs in it and I noticed one small one was gilded a gold color with a ribbon tied on it; I believe a red ribbon. We found leg bones and discovered the chair seats were made out of human skin. They were crudely made. The outside portion would be smooth and if you looked underneath you could see strips of fat. It wasn't a good the skull
job-
There was a knife handle made of bone and lamp and there was one upper portion of
shades from skin
a woman's
torso
from
down both and everything You could set it up
the shoulders, cut
sides to the waist, with her breasts
was stiff. had everything attached to it. Gein told Dan Chase that he would put these female parts on himself at night and go out in the yard and parade around completely tanned. It
and
it
in them.
he was with Murty when the latter found a Mauser pistol. This was later identified by Wilimovsky as the weapon that killed Mary Hogan. Fritz described the search in the
Deputy
Fritz said that
house: The house had a path through
the middle so
you
could walk around from one room to another. It was dark and the only thing you could see was what you
saw with the flashlight. Everything was a mess. We also found Mary Hogan s mask that night. That was found behind the kitchen door. I picked it up. I don't know what possessed me to do it. The kitchen door was ajar and behind that was one of these old horsef
hide robes that they used to use years ago in the
buggy. It was full of dust and dirt. I picked it up and saw a paper bag there. I picked the bag up and held
20
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
"There were skulls on the bed posts.
21
'
EDWARD GEIN bag open with one hand and looked in it, which was sort of hard with the flashlight in the other hand. You could see the hair on it, you know, and I held onto the bag and flashlight and Specks [Murty] was going to hold it up. "By God," he said, "It's Mary the
Hogan.
"
There was a stack of old overalls about four feet high if it was an inch. Every time they would get dirty and full of holes he would just throw them on the pile. There was a lot of clothing all
over the woodshed.
There were skulls on the bed
posts.
Schoephoerster recalled: There was a pound coffee can that had little wads of gum; I bet if there was one in there, there was two thousand. You know like when you get through chewing it, you know, it's a little wad. Gein would never throw anything away. During his confession they
would interrupt every once chew his gum.
in a while so
Gein could
Wilimovsky made a search through the summer kitchen.
He found
another gambrel
sitting
on the
ledge between two of the studs of the wall. There
was a large wooden barrel with some loose binder twine in it which resembled the cord used on Mrs.
Worden's body. The men from the crime lab worked on through the night. Wilimovsky said:
We found a
—a drum— drum contained nine integuments—which
cardboard drum
cylindrical
in a small bedroom area. This
integuments
—head
covering of the
skull.
is
We 22
also
the skin
found a shoe box
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
"Her heart was found
in
23
a saucepan on
the stove."
EDWARD GEIN which contained nine vulvas. The uppermost vulva in the box appeared to be relatively fresh and a fatty surface of the tissue revealed the presence of a crystalline material indicative of salt. Mrs. ordens heart was found in a saucepan on the stove. And a glass container of antifreeze was observed
W
nearby.
We
also found
a hunting-type knife contained in a
sheath, the sheath being bly originated from
chairs
three
resembled
—
made of material
—
straight-back type
human
that proba-
a human body. There were two or
On
skin.
the seat covering
the second floor
we found
two or three skull caps.
The entire house, with the exception of one room, was in a state of shambles. In the living room was a large textbook on medicology. Mr. Halligan looked through
this
book
and
the
pages were relatively clean
with the exception of two areas. These two areas were evidently referred to rather frequently and they were
on
the
human head and on
the
female reproductive
areas.
The one room was completely different; it was a room and bedroom area which we were advised had been occupied by Geins mother. It had been nailed shut from the time of her death to the present time. The room contained several pieces of furniture. In the bedroom was a bed and a cedar living
chest.
In
this
area everything appeared
to
be in a
normal, orderly fashion. The room had not been occupied for quite a while as there was a rather heavy
uniform coating of dust on the upper surfaces of
the
furniture.
The night. sleet,
investigation
went on through the long colder; it began to
The weather turned then to slush, and
Through and gained more
finally to
the long night one query arose
24
snow.
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
and more importance. Were was Mrs. Worden's head? At about 4:30 a.m. Halligan and Wilimovsky discussed the problem. There was so much trash in the house.
Where
to look? Finally they deter-
mined to go back to the summer kitchen area and try again. Here, they noted two dilapidated mattresses.
One
of the
men
a corner of
lifted
the top one. Between the mattresses was a bur-
from
The men
lap bag.
Steam was
looked
each other. They knew what they had
at
rising
it.
found. Wilimovsky bent over and opened the bag.
There was
a
human head
—a
female head. In-
bag were also two tenpenny nails bent in the form of hooks. At the head end of each nail side the
was attached a piece of binder twine making a loop; the
hook portions of the
nails
were
in the
ear sockets of Mrs. Worden's head.
No one
will
ever
know what
plans Gein had for
Would he have head of his bed to sway gently in the breeze? Or perhaps on the wall of his living room? Deputy Fritz was called in to identify the head. "Yes," Fritz said, "It's her head." The head was perfect; just like she was sleeping; the eyes were closed. The rest of Mrs. Worden's internal organs were found in a box back in a corner. The head was placed in a plastic bag and delivered to Deputy Chase for safekeeping. He had to keep it in his car until the next day, when displaying this grisly trophy.
hung
it
at the
25
EDWARD GEIN it
was conveyed
X-rayed.
to a local doctor's office
The X-ray
and
disclosed a bullet inside the
head. Chase then took it to Goult's funeral parlor where the head and body of Mrs. Worden were reunited.
26
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
"The hook portions of these nails were in the ear sockets of her head."
27
GEIN'S CONFESSION
Deputies Chase and Spees had taken Gein to the
and placed him in a cell where later Deputy Murty joined them. It was 2:00 a.m. on November 17. Suddenly the door opened and Sheriff Schley rushed in. Schley was a large, burly man. Gein was small and not very heavy. What occurred next is taken from a later transcript of testimony.
jail
The Third Degree Deputy Chase
testified:
Q. What happened at that time? A. They came into the jail; Sheriff Schley asked
31
me
if
EDWARD GEIN he had come clean. I said, "Not too much. " Sheriff Schley grabbed him, whirled him around, and shoved him up against the wall. Q. When you say shoved him against the wall, who
do you mean? A. Mr. Gein. Q. That happened in your presence? A. That's right.
Q. Sheriff Schley grabbed Mr. Gein physically hit him up against the wall? A.
That's right.
Q. What kind of a wall was that? A. I believe it's a concrete wall. And did the head of Mr. Gein A. I don't know.
Q
Deputy Spees testified and peppery and interesting: Q.
and
Were you present
hit the
his
wall?
answers were
at the time in the county jail
with Sheriff Schley, Mr. Chase and November 17, 1957? A. No, I wasn't in there at that time.
Q. When were you there? A. The night that we took him
Mr. Gein on
there.
Q. Who else was there? A. I don't think anybody else. What night was that? A. That was the night of the sixteenth. Q. Will you tell the judge what you saw happen in the county jail? A. Well, when Schley came in he took ahold of Gein
Q
by the shoulders.
Q. A.
What
did he do?
He
would have knocked his head against quite a few times but we stopped him. Q. When you say, "we", who do you mean?
A. All of us. Q. Who all was there?
32
the wall
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S A.
Dan was
Q.
Now
there
tell
us,
and
so was Specks Murty. what did you see Schley do
to
Gein
at that time?
Take him by the shoulders like that and cram him up against the side of the building. That was in where the bull pen over there where the table is
A.
—
they feed the prisoners.
Deputy Murty
testified:
Q. What did you observe at that time? A. Well, when Sheriff Schley came in he asked Dan if he had gotten anyplace by questioning him, and
—
Dan answered the same thing as "No" I guess and Schley took ahold of him and shoved him against the wall. Q. When you say took ahold of him, who do you I can't remember just what
—
mean? A. Eddie Gein. Q. What did he do
to
him?
A. Shoved him against the wall
Judge's note:
Our memories
concrete and Murty had
are
it
that Sheriff Schley
frail things. It
said the wall
made out of
point, to the court,
evidence of third degree
and
brick wall.
Chase
really doesn't matter, but
The important
—
tactics
was
bricks.
was the blatant
of the worst kind
had pounded Gein against
that wall to obtain a confession. Obviously, his
treatment of Gein must have been very rough for the sheriffs
own
deputies to have to pull him
away from the cowering prisoner. I
cannot excuse such conduct, although
understand
it.
I
can
Schley was under great pressure.
Given the responsibility of sheriff (for which he 33
EDWARD GEIN had no training), and with a big case unfolding, he must have been upset indeed, especially in light of the great local indignation and anger that demanded an immediate solution to the case. In spite of the third degree treatment, Gein did not confess that night. Later, because of this occurrence in the jail and the testimony of psychiatrists, I suppressed the confession Gein made to Joe Wilimovsky of the Wisconsin crime lab. That Sheriff Schley's conduct was greatly regretted by Schley himself was established by many of his acquaintances.
Shortly before Gein's
trial
in
There were Waushara County who believed that worry over his being subpoenaed to testify hastened his 1968, Schley died of a heart attack.
those in
death.
November
17,
1957, was a
—a
Sunday
Sunday
unlike any other in the history of Plainfield.
Normally, the good people of the village would
church of their choice in the mornit would have been noted with good-natured smiles that there would be a heavy preponderance of women and children in church. Normally, the men would be out in the woods, once again hunting the elusive deer. This day was different. A hunter of women had struck their community. Suspicious of strangers, as rural people often are, the local people re-
go
to the
ing.
Normally,
sented bitterly the strangers on their
were largely reporters from big
—questions
ers asked questions like:
What was Gein
The
They
report-
they had to ask,
really like?
34
streets.
cities.
What about
his
AMERICA'S parents?
What about
his love life? If
were short and
given, they nity
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER evasive.
answers were
The commu-
was beginning to develop a sense of horror that
became almost an obsession. This just could not have happened in their peaceful, law-abiding community.
A
feeling that was to develop into a "closed
door" attitude that would linger for many years.
Crime Lab Obtains Confession At the jail in Wautoma, Joe Wilimovsky of the crime lab interrogated Gein. No third degree now, just a quiet
and persistent questioning by an ex-
pert at interrogation. Gein steadfastly denied the
murder. At the hearing on the suppression of all agreed that swayed by suggestion from a questioner. Maybe so, but the crime lab's Joe Wilimovsky found Gein obdurate in his refusal to confess. Finally, when on November 17, Gein was smuggled out of the jail and shown Mrs. Worden's body, then, and only then, did he confess. Later, when Sheriff Schley decided to take Gein to Mary Hogan's tavern, he and Deputy Fritz devised a method of evading the reporters. While
Gein's confession, the psychiatrists
Gein was
easily
Schley kept the reporters busy at the front of the
jail,
Fritz
took Gein out the
the waiting squad car.
It
35
fire
escape to
was agreed they would
EDWARD GEIN meet Schley at the Catholic cemetery and proceed Mary Hogan's former tavern. The plan worked perfectly and Gein enjoyed the escapade very much. to
The Search For Additional Evidence On Monday, when
Gein was taken
to
Madison for
further questioning, the officers decided to search his farm for additional evidence. One hundred and sixty acres of wild land is a big territory so a week was spent in the search. Deputy Fritz described the procedure used:
We must have had a dozen steel rods made with a handle welded on each one. The rods were four feet long and three inches wide. Every little depression out there on that farm was gone over. I bet every inch of the farm was walked at least three times. Every place where there was a little depression or a little mound, especially in the woods, we were in there with rods.
Our arms
got so sore.
In spite of the long, hard search, no evidence of value was found, although that he did find
Dan Chase reported
some human bones "down
corner of the woods."
36
in the
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
£ £ e
5
I
37
EDWARD GEIN A Judicial Review granted the motion suppressing Gein's confession, I did not read it until long after the
Because
I
trial. It is
a voluminous document, originally taken
on tape and later transcribed, which consisted of several hundred pages. Joe Wilimovsky did the questioning, with Doctor Ganser present during a
portion of
it.
Gein was questioned at length at the Waushara County jail on November 17, the day after the discovery of Mrs. Worden's body. He was then taken to the crime lab at Madison and from there to the Dane County jail Extensive interrogation took place at each of these locations. During Gein's stay at the crime lab he was given a polygraph test,
or as
it is
Much of the
popularly called, a
went over the
lie
detector
test.
repetitive as Joe
Wilimovsky
salient features again
and again
material
is
with Gein.
My impression from the confession is that Gein was one smart cookie. He never admitted to anything serious unless the evidence against him on that point was very clear. His favorite answers
were: "I didn't
kill
anyone that
my
I
know
of."
"To
knowledge, I didn't do it." "In a way, I can't remember about it. I might have [done] something but not to my knowledge." Gein maintained, throughout, that the killing of Mrs. Worden was an accident. In fact, he steadfastly maintained this position down to and includ-
38
AMERICA'S ing the
trial
summary
in
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
ten years later. Wilimovsky's report, says,
"His replies to relevant ques-
were calculated, guarded and evasive." Because I still have nagging doubts about whether he was insane or very cleverly giving the appearance of insanity, I find this interesting. Certainly tions
his extracurricular activities, particularly with the
bodies, were abnormal, but perfectly sane people
often do abnormal things privately, as ten noted in cases involving sex
I
have of-
activities.
Very significant to me is an early statement Gein made to Joe Wilimovsky. He said, "Give me a lie detector test. It will show my mental unbalance." Psychiatrists stressed Gein's suggestibility.
They
would try to answer questions in a manner that would please the questioner. I have a strong feeling that Wilimovsky would have been pleased if Gein had been cooperative, but he was said that he
not. It is interesting, too,
Gein admitted the
that at the
Dane County
Wilimovsky and others, but only when he was not being recorded. In the area of his abnormal activities Gein spoke freely and almost eagerly. These were shocking
jail,
killings to
but not serious crimes from a legal standpoint.
Without question Gein was smart enough to know both when to talk and what to talk about.
A comment
at this point
on Gein's following
statements about two of his victims
is
in order.
Mary Hogan may or may not have been
as
Gein
believed her. Certainly his characterizing of Mrs.
39
EDWARD GEIN Worden
as "bad"
is
totally
refuted by the
facts.
Unquestionably Mrs. Worden was a woman of fine character and standing in the community. In fact, not too long before her murder, she had
been given an award as an outstanding Gein's paranoid view, he had to justify acts
citizen. all
In
of his
by casting the blame on other people.
It is
particularly interesting at this point to contrast
what Gein
told
Wilimovsky about the two women:
Q. What do you think about Mrs. Worden? A. I liked her [Mrs. Worden] that way; she was nice. I did take her for the resemblance of my mother; her height and everything was the same and she had resemblance in the cheekbones.
Q.
Were your feelings about Mary Hogan had toward Bernice? [Worden]
the
same
as you
A. That's right. Q. And what was that feeling? A. Every time I went there she was friendly and nice. What about Mary [Hogan] did you find was the same as your Mother's? A. That friendliness and thinking it over now, I believe that she must have been about the same,
Q
,
same height and everything. Q. Could you have taken Mary and put her in the casket that had formerly been occupied by some other
woman?
A. Could
be.
Wilimovsky questioned Gein at length in many Gein stated that he had dug up nine or ten bodies between 1950 and 1954 from three cemeteries. The first one was a Mrs. Sherman areas.
from the Plainfield cemetery. He named others as Adams, Bergstrom, Everson, and Sparks, the 40
— AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
mother of Henry Woodward, who was also a depThere was a Mrs. Foster from the Hancock cemetery and a Mrs. Beggs from Spiritland. Some bodies were returned to the graves "not too many." Gein said, "See, some of them were left right there and not taken away." He told Chase that he sometimes rolled the body over in the casket and removed the parts he wanted, such as the head and skin from the back. At the time of his arrest Gein was questioned at uty sheriff.
length about other unsolved disappearances, in-
cluding Evelyn Hartley of La Crosse, Mary Jane
Weckler of Jefferson, and Dick Travis of Adams County. Detectives came from Chicago to check
on a Jackson girl. Gein has never admitted involvement in any of these cases although the evidence strongly suggests
it.
There was discussion of his disposition of the bodies. Mrs. Worden's heart was found in a stew pan on the back of the kitchen stove. Gein claimed he meant to burn it and not to eat it. He thought he would have buried the body rather than burn it because "his stove was so small." Although Gein never admitted cannibalism,
he did engage in
this
it is
practice.
steadfastly maintained that
very possible that
At the
trial
he
he never shot a deer
because "he couldn't stand the sight of blood." Nevertheless, there were
whom
numerous neighbors
to
he presented packages of "venison." (And, Mrs. Worden's body cavity had been washed out, 41
EDWARD GEIN just as
one would have when butchering a deer or
a cow.) I
quote further from the confession:
Q.
You
told
me
that
you removed some sections of
the flesh ?
A.
Yes.
Q. What section of the flesh did you remove? A. The head.
How
Q. The head? A. Well, that
—
about the vagina?
not always.
Q. In removing the head, did you first cut through and then snap the bone?
A. I guess that would be snapping. Q. Would you work the head back and forth in the same fashion as you would when you attempt to break a piece of wire in two? A. That's a good description of it. I never took any
saw
to the
cemetery.
[The transcript
when Gein was
discloses that
during the period
giving the foregoing answer he
was eating a piece of apple pie with cheese on it that the cheese was dry.] Wilimovsky then asked some searching questions about Gein's inner thoughts on sex:
and complaining
Q. Did you ever have the thought that you would have liked to remove or cut off your penis and preferred to have it in the shape of the sexual
organs of a A.
woman?
Well, part of that What part of that
Q. A. That
is
true.
is
true?
removing part of myself. Q. Does that part mean your penis? A. Well, it doesnt seem like. Well, that seems that was before, when I was young. like
42
like
— AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Do you
ever have any recollection, Eddie, of taking any of those female parts, the vagina specifically, and holding it over your penis to
Q.
cover the penis?
A. I believe that's true.
Q
You
A.
bodies of other women? That I believe I do remember; that's right.
recall
doing that with the vaginas of the
Q.
Was
A.
that of your mother? I believe there was some.
How
Q.
a resemblance
there
That I of
did.
some of these faces
Have you own face?
about the face?
faces over your
A.
in
to
ever placed the
I'm pretty sure of that. The parts sort those parts of a head. There should
—
like eyes
be some parts of just a head and I suppose there would be about two or three. Well, do you remember how you held the faces over your own face? A. I believe there was a cord here. Q. Do you think you would wear the face over a
Q
prolonged time? A. Not too long; I had other things
about an hour or
Would you
Q.
to do.
Maybe
so.
ever put a pair of women's panties and then put some of these vagi-
over your body
A.
nas over your penis? That could be.
One found a
of the garments in the
woman
home was
—
if it
can be called that
the complete front skin of
including breasts. This had a cord to
suspend it around the neck. Gein told Chase that on moonlight nights he would put this on and prance around the yard. In reference to
Mary Hogan he was asked: 43
EDWARD GEIN Q.
You just peeled
the skin off the skull
and
disposed
of the bone and other material that was in the
head
is
y
that it?
[He also admitted taking the vagina.] Q. The preparation of the flesh? A. In some of that skin, probably you know, from that one woman / probably put some oil on possibly, that's all, to keep it soft, you know. A.
That's right.
—
—
Q. A.
Which woman do you mean? It's
where
this
upper part of her
is
taken.
From
Adams woman. What kind of oil?
the
Q. A. Pentrating
oil.
Q. Did you wear the rubber gloves? A. With Mary Hogan, I'll say right out that I did.
Shown two
pieces of tissue, he was asked:
Q. You think that they are reversed breasts? A. That's right. Q. Were they from Mary? A. I think you're right as far as I remember. Q. How did you remove the skull caps? A. A hacksaw. Q. How did you remove the scalps? A. It was a large-bladed pocket knife. Q. The skullcaps: did you want to use them as containers? A. I think you got the right idea. I think that's taken from an old Norwegian style. These old songs the Norwegians used to sing, and they were supposed to have used skulls for what was that drink?
—
Mead? Q. The waste basket: What A. That's human skin.
Q.
It
seems that
from
this
is it
made op
is from a leg, or probably sewed in two places? (These
item
two. Is that
items looked like old
army puttees or leggings
were wrapped around the leg from ankle
44
that
to knee.)
AMERICA'S
Gein danced in the breasts
and
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
the moonlight
the vaginas
wearing the face, the
of his
45
victims.
hair,
EDWARD GEIN That's from a person
from the grave. What about the face masks? A. When I made these masks, you see, I stuffed them A.
Q
paper so that they would dry. On the you know, sprinkle a little salt. had you painted this particular vagina with
all out xvith
vagina I
Why
Q.
silver or
did,
aluminum paint?
was getting a greenish color. Q. Beginning to decay? A. Yes. I put that paint over to see A.
It
preserve
Q.
and
stop
Would you open
if that
would
the entire casket or just
one of
it.
the halves?
A. Just the half. Q. And slip 'em out? A. That's right.
Gein was asked if anyone ever came to the cemehe was there. He said that only happened once. He assumed they were lovers and he tery while
stayed
down
in the grave so they didn't see him.
—
At another point referring to the doctor who examined him he made the following significant statement: "I think I've got them pretty good convinced; anyway I hope so." Bill Belter told me that after Harvey Polzein
—
was appointed guardian they made a further search of the house. Even though the crime lab men had presumably removed all of the human material, they found a belt
made of female
nipples. This
too was sent to the crime lab.
So much for the confession, at least at this point. To those of you who are insatiable collectors of antiques and would pay any price for a lamp shade of human skin made by an authentic crafts-
46
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
J.I.
"He stayed down in
the grave so the lovers didn't see
47
OLU60H
him."
EDWARD GEIN man
in
graphed
at
disposed
of.
and answer is: none were duly photothe crime lab and then decently form of
this
are available.
The
art,
grisly relics
Proof of Grave Robbing Gein talked freely, almost eagerly, about his grave robbing exploits. realize that,
to the officers
He seemed
to
shocking as they were, they were mi-
nor indeed, from the law's standpoint, compared murder. Again the officers went with Gein and took him
to
to the three cemeteries involved. Fritz recalls that
Gein admitted digging up nine to eleven bodies, most of them in the Plainfield cemetery. The question of whether or not the graves should be opened to ascertain the truth of Gein's statements was hotly debated in the community. Some of the victims' relatives were strongly in favor of ascertaining the facts; other relatives were strongly opposed. Finally the officials decided to open some test graves.
The state crime lab was called again and Allan Wilimovsky returned. He described the security measures taken to guard against the press and the public:
The law
entire cemetery area was literally ringed by enforcement personnel to keep unauthorized
48
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
people out. There was a single engine light plane flying overhead. The information conveyed to the people on the ground was that this was a plane that had been hired by a member of the press, so at each of the grave sites to prohibit viewing from ciently
that
in
from
we
erected
above.
the perimeter
a canvas tent were suffi-
We
of the cemetery so
no one could readily observe what was being
accomplished.
Three graves were opened, and the findings corroborated exactly what Gein had told them. At one grave the casket was empty; at another a pry bar had been lost and entry had failed; at
The
the third, entry had been effected.
corpse
had been removed but parts thereof, as well as the rings, had been returned. Gein is a small, relatively slight man and the question arose: how could he accomplish this act unaided? Wilimovsky gave this explanation: The graves were not completed at the time that the of the bodies was accomplished. There was considerable speculation whether or not a person could in fact dig down into a freshly filled grave and remove a body from the casket. It was our observation that it was a relatively easy job to do. The casket was placed in a wooden rough box. The boards on the cover ran in the direction of the short dimension of the box. The head end of removed
the casket could be easily established.
of the wooden boards approximately up to
to
my
plus or minus. It was sandy
Deputy
Fritz
the
knee
From
ground
the top
level
—two
height
soil.
was one of those present
49
was feet
at the
EDWARD GEIN opening of the graves. He agrees with Wilimovsky that they found exactly what Gein said they would find in each grave. Since the opened graves verified Gein's story, only the three graves were opened. The impact of these findings on the community were stunning and shocking. This was followed by a deep anger that still remains. A decent, lawabiding village cannot understand or accept the enormity of Gein's crimes.
50
THE MEDICAL REPORTS
Eigenberger, a pathologist from Neenah, Wisconsin, was called to Plainfield to perform the Dr.
The doctor's
autopsy.
unusual
skill
report clearly indicates Gein's
as a surgeon. It reads, in part, as
follows:
Bernice
Worden's Autopsy
an over-middle-aged allegwoman, well-shaped, and in of nutrition. It had been decapitated at
The body was
that of
edly fifty-eight-year-old
a good
state
shoulder level by a smooth circular cut which severed skin
and
tebrae
and the intervertrebal and seventh cervical ver-
all the soft structures,
cartilage between the sixth
had been cut with a sharp instrument. There
53
EDWARD GEIN was no evidence of jagged edges, indicating that no axe or similar implement had been used. The body had been opened by a median incision from the manubrium sterni and extending in the midline to the area just above the mons veneris. Here the around the external genitalia for the complete removal of the vulva, lower vagina, and the anus with the lowest portion of the rectum. To accomplish this, the symphysis pubis had been split and the pubic bones cut circled
widely separated.
From
appearance of the cut for evisceration,
the
it
was concluded that the cut was started from the lower end and terminated above the stomach pit. The reason for this was the somewhat jagged appearance of the cut skin near the chest indicating hesitation in terminating the knife cut. The vulva and adjoining structures that had been removed were preserved in a carton box together with preserved and dried other specimens of the same type.
The freshly removed vulva fitted well into the tissue of the body. Only a few pubic hairs had remained on both sides of the removed organs, and a portion of this hairy skin was removed for purposes of indentification. Examination of the outer genitalia revealed no evidence of trauma and no conclusion could be reached whether or not sexual intercourse had taken defect
place.
The body
cavities
had been
completely eviscerated to-
gether with most of the diaphragm. Inspection of the trunk and extremities revealed how the body had been hoisted by the heels.
There was a deep cut above the Achilles' tendon of and a pointed crossbar made of a rough wooden stick covered by bark had been forced underneath the tendon. The left side of the crossbar had been tied to a cord which was tightly fastened to a cut of the left leg above the heel. This cut had severed the Achilles' tendon and had necessitated the tying with the right leg
cord
to
wrists
hold the body securely to the crossbar. Both tied with longer hemp ropes to the
had been
54
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
corresponding ends of the crossbar attached to the feet, thus holding the arms firmly when the body had been suspended by the heels.
The skin of the back, both arms and legs, chest, and abdomen was somewhat discolored by dust which showed irregular smudgy areas of heavier covering. Rather striking was the amount of black dust covering both plantar surfaces, dust which appeared somewhat "rubbed in, " as iffrom walking barefooted on a dirty, dusty floor.
Both
breasts
appeared good-sized and, for her age,
medium firm, mostly because the adipose tissue had hardened from the exposure to cold. The right nipple appeared normal, the left was somewell formed. They felt
what
inverted.
Both breasts appeared
to
lean upward,
apparently due to the long suspension by the heels. There was no evidence of mutilation of the breasts. The empty body cavities were glistening and free from blood and appeared as if they had been washed.
In describing the bullet
wound
the doctor
concluded: had apparently not been a contact nor a very close The other head trauma had occurred while the blood had still circulated. Death had apparently ocIt
shot.
curred very shortly (seconds or minutes) after the shot the body
had been fired. All the other mutilations of had been carried out after death.
(There
is
some of the the police
an interesting speculation offered by police officers. As experienced hunters,
tell
me
that a .22 bullet entering at that
point in the head would bleed very less,
little;
neverthe-
there was a large pool of blood in the store.
A
deer hunter would instinctively cut the throat of a deer to cause prompt bleeding to improve the
55
EDWARD GEIN meat. Query: Did Gein cut Mrs. Worden's throat immediately after shooting her? How else did that large pool of blood get
on the
floor?)
Doctor Warmington's Report
After his arrest, Gein was sent by Judge to Central
State
Bunde
Hospital for examination. His
statements there clarify his background and
He was
first
seen by Dr. Warmington,
who
life.
reported
in part:
Physical inspection disclosed a well-developed, wellnourished middle-aged white male that was ambulant and not in any apparent distress. Menially he was found to be in contact with his surroundings, carried on a coherent conversation and verbalized without difficulty while speaking in a rather quiet, well modulated voice. His ton indicates he lias been closer to the mother than
drank and was on occasions. Mention was also made by him that he never married, lias never had sexual relations, and the impression was gained that tfie
father, possibly since the father
somewhat
irritable
he has been rather limited in his social contacts. Personal and family history: This patient was admitted to this institution on November 23, 1957, for a 30-day observation period under W.S.S. 957.27(3) after he had been arrested and charged with the crime of murder, first degree. The offense occurred at Plainfield, Wisconsin, on or about November 16, 1957 ,
and involved
a woman, one Mrs. Worden, by the patient. Gein had entered a hardware store, which the victim operated, sometime during the the shooting of
56
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER morning of November 1 6, looked over the guns, took one from a rack, found he had a .22 caliber bullet in his pocket, placed it in the gun, and shot the women in the head. The bullet apparently struck her obliquely and passed through the skull. He then walked over to her and pulled the body into a back room where it would not be visible from the street. At this time he declares he was nervous agitated, and did not think clearly, but put the body in her truck, which was standing in the back of the store, drove it some distance, abandoned the truck, walked back to the town of Plainfield, got his car, drove to the truck, and put the body in his own car. The body was then taken by him to his home and according to reports was strung up by the feet, disembowelled and mutilated. Toward evening he was taken into custody as a suspect since people had seen his car earlier in the day parked in ,
front of the hardware store and had also seen him driving the truck. It appears that he confessed to the homicide, and investigation of his house revealed several so-called masks, the use of human skin as upholstery
human
material for a chair, and other remains of human anatomy. These findings prompted a further search
of the property and several human bones and dismembered parts were excavated. According to the records, confessed to the murder and admitted exhuming several whole bodies and parts of others, particularly the head and neck. Before coming here he was subjected to interrogation by authorities, was the subject
given
lie
detector
tests,
and revealed
his actions.
Personal history reveals that the patient was born
on August
8,
1906,
at
La
Crosse, Wisconsin, spent
short time there with his parents, the Plainfield area
and
then
moved
a to
where they lived on a farm. In
addition to the patient there was one other male child in the family who lost his life in a fire in 1944. Edward attended a country school, attained 8th grade, and did odd jobs, farm work and babysitting after
57
EDWARD GEIN leaving school.
He
had no technical education but
being interested in study and read considerably. Since childhood his attachment xvas closer to the mother than the father as the latter drank in earlier years and seems to have been a threat to both the mother and the patient at times. The father preceded the mother in death and at the time of arrest Gein xvas living alone as the mother had died in a hospital from a second stroke. The first stroke occurred sometime previously and resulted in her incapacitation and the patient's occupation with her nursing needs. He believes the stroke may have been precipatated by the witnessing of neighbor argumentation and disturbances, particularly in connection with the first stroke, and in his mind she suffered a further setback after the death of her elder son. In recent years he has been a lonely individual who occasionally had some visitors to his home and did baby-sitting in the area but did not have the ordinary describes himself as
social outlets.
an introverted, had difficulty relating closely to other people. He also has shown some paranoid trends but on the other hand may have been duped and unfairly used on some occaPersonality makeup:
The
subject
is
odd, withdrawn personality that has
sions as he speaks of doing work for other farmers and failing to be paid for his labor. He is passive,
and somewhat evasive when questioned about and may harbor deep-seated feelings of hostility. He denies ever having had sexual experience and declares that in this connection he was inhibited,
the offense
taught the moral code by his mother that sexual experi-
—
"If a woman is good enough for intercourse, she is good enough for marriage." In his general reaction immaturity and shyness are noted; however, a certain cleverness and ability to plan are present. A belief in spirits is also expressed by him and he tends to be superstitious. Mental status: Since coming here the patient has
ence before marriage was wrong
58
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER been very tractable, cooperative the institution rules.
During
and
readily abides by
sessions he sat quietly
displayed no belligerency. Information was volunteered and he discussed his case but when interrogated for details he became cloudy, cried, or gave indication that the subject was distasteful. He has been clean in personal habits and shows no particular mannerisms or stereotypy of speech or action. He
and
has slept a considerable amount and relates this to his inability to procure uninterrupted rest prior to his hospitalization here. Consciousness
no
is
clear, there is
of epileptic seizures, orientation is correct in all fields, and the train of thought is coherent and relevant but sometimes somewhat illogical. Faces have been seen by him in leaves and he spoke of hearing his mother's voice while in a twilight sleep zone but it is uncertain if these should be designated as overt hallucinations. No delusional material has been elicited but his behavior has been very unusual as he admits to excavating several bodies, as mentioned before. In this connection he is not always clear in his history
statements
he
and
at times holds his
head and declares
not sure of his actions. During interviews he talked of using a rod to determine the nature of the rough box by its sound is
upon tapping and also knew some of the exhumed people in life. They were all women of varying ages. The
—
were removed from three cemeteries and Hancock; but some were returned after a short time as he became remorseful. In other instances he made the so-called masks from the heads by removing the skin and separating it from the bones. The tissue in the back of the neck was cut and the cavity stuffed with paper or sawdust. One of these was placed in a cellophane bag but others were kept throughout the house. The unused parts of bodies were burned or buried and eating is denied. He had also denied having sex relations with the bodies or parts of them. He declared the odor was bodies
Plainfield, Spiritland,
offensive.
59
EDWARD GEIN His memory
is
for most subjects but when
intact
emotionally charged situations are encountered there is a suggestion of a self-serving amnesia or vagueness. Denial or inability to recall shooting Mrs. Hogan is made and there is an intimation that the most recent homicide may have been accidental. At times the remark was made "It seems like a dream, impossible. Since the death of his mother he has had feelings that things were unreal. He felt that he could raise people from the dead by willpower and some ambiguity was noted in his account of the happenings. Mrs. Worden in one interview was described as being short, inconsiderate, and brusque, but during a later interview was declared to be a friendly, pleasant woman. Physical attraction for either woman was not admitted and he denied seriously attempting to escort Mrs. Worden to a roller-skating rink. Mrs. Hogan was a tavern operator and it is gathered that she was regarded by the patient as being a rather poor representative of womankind and he could have felt justifed
—
in shooting her because of his self-righteous, rigid attitude.
Criminal motivation factors and psychodynamics: 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. He has spoken of the bodies as being like dolls and a certain comfort
was received from
although ambivaregard probably occurred. When
their presence,
lent feelings in this
questioned regarding the reason for Jus bizarre conduct,
no explanation
it
given but sex relations with the
bodies has been denied several times. This does not
seem to check with hearsay in which he admitted having sex activities with the cadavers. He has been
a
lonely
mother,
man, particularly since
and some
have arisen in
Review of
this
the death
of his
drive, uncertain at this time,
area
to
account for
the life of this individual indicates
60
may
his misconduct.
poor
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
ego structure, excessive self-consciousness,
and
deep-
seated feelings of insecurity in his social contacts. The source of the poor ego strength is problematic but
could be related to psychologic traumatization suffered at the hands of the father, overidentification with the mother, and morphologic factors of small
and
stature
eye defect.
Mr. ColwelVs Report Gein's social history was taken by Mr. Colwell clearly
and
shows the family background:
Personal died in
history:
1940
condition.
He
The
patient's father,
and was an orphan who had education. During the patient's Crosse, the father
When
little
early
opportunity for while in La
life,
worked in a tannery, as a carpen-
ter for the railroad,
plant.
George Gein,
at the age of sixty-five of a heart was born in Coon Valley, Wisconsin,
and for
the patient
the
was
La
Crosse
city
eight years
power
old,
the
family moved to the farm in Plainfield which now belongs to the patient. The father was described as a heavy drinker who would become easily angered when inebriated.
He
"did not like to work"
and on occasion
mother found jobs for him. The father drank less in later years and was a semi-invalid for some time the
prior to his death.
The
Augusta nee Loehrke, died She was described as the dominant parent who handled family decisions, and at times managed the farm work. She was of German extraction and very thrifty, hard working, and moralistic. The patient was closely identified in
patient's mother,
1945
at the age of sixty-four.
61
EDWARD GEIN with her, accepting her guidance
and her demands.
He described her courageousness even while stating that she never complained, but
"enjoy fun
The
and make
bedridden,
was able
to
other people feel better.
Henry, who was five years 1944. Both were treated equally well
patient's brother,
older, died in
and adjusted well to each other except for the usual arguments that brothers always have. The brother worked away from the farm much of the time and on one occasion was a foreman for a farmer who hired Jamaicans. "He was the only man in the area who could handle those guys." His death occurred when a marsh fire got out of control and went to help his brother, but could not find him. He states that he got a search party and "when we returned, I went right to where he was. Funny how that works." The patient assumes that the brother was either overcome by smoke or had a heart attack. by the parents
The patient describes his childhood as not happy due to the family's poor financial situation occasioned by the father's drinking and difficult job adjustments. The father was abusive when drunk
and
the
mother had stated that she would have
left
for the children. The family moved to the farm at Plainfield because the father wished to be independent. It would appear that the mother's moralistic preachings were not well accepted by the neighbors and the patient indicated that they were envious of the farm, which was always neat and well cared for. It is probable that the family did not accept the father except
and
a point was work on Sundays. He also stated that when "we came there the neighbors did not cooperate and tell us how to work the sandy soil." The patient completed the eight grade of school and got along well with his classmates, joining them the habits of their neighbors
made of the fact
in recreational
quite
that Geins did not
and
social activites
when
time could
be spared from the farm work. After the completion of
62
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
school he remained on the family farm, assuming more responsibility after the father's death. With the
death of the brother and the mother's invalidism, he was unable to operate the farm as efficiently. Following the mothers death he kept stock on the farm for a time, but began working out on a day-to-day basis with the neighbors. Later he sold the stock and the farm gradually deteriorated. He stated that he pre-
ferred
hoped
to
let
He had
reseed itself to woodland.
it
to sell the
farm,
throughout the
visit relatives
country for a time, and then settle down in some other part of the country. He felt that he was not excepted in the neighborhood and states, "People would come to visit me, but I would soon find that they only
came to borrow things or added that "we had always
to
ask for
my
help.
n
He
good neighbors With the exception
tried to be
but people took advantage of us. " of a couple of families, he was not invited into other
homes although "the women were kinder in this gard than the menfolks." For recreation the patient has skied most of his
and
also practiced archery.
ketball
games and other
in music
and
mouth organ.
He
life
enjoyed watching bas-
sports events.
He
is
interested
plays the violin, the accordian,
He
re-
enjoyed listening
to
and
the
music, prefer-
to modern, but lost his interest in music after the mothers death. He frequently attended movies, preferring adventure and western sto-
ring old-time music
ries to love stories. He and the brother frequently attended dances but "we were too self-conscious to
dance. "
a
He
did, however, enjoy square dancing,
for
time.
Sexual
history: Patient's early sexual
information
was given by the mother who impressed upon him the need for sexual abstinence prior to marriage. He indicated that she was not as strong in her admonitions against masturbation.
He
obtained additional
information in a more uncouth classmates.
He
manner from
his
views not marrying, in part, as a
63
EDWARD GEIN family trait, saying that his brother did not marry, nor did two of his mothers brothers. The patient gave more thought to marriage after the death of the mother and felt he would have married if he could have found "the right girl." He rejected one girl after he learned that she could not get along with her mother and "I couldn't straighten her out on that. I almost fell in love with another girl, but found that she had had many affairs with other men. The patient also described the moral standards of his two victims. The first "was a dirty talker, operated a tavern, and people said that she was in some crooked business." He states that the second victim wooed her husband away from another girl and married him shortly after the other girl committed suicide. (He became tearful when describing his sorrow for the other girl.) He went on to describe the husband's death as his just punishment and then relates that his victim broke up another marriage. His comments have a strong religious connotation.
The patient received
religious training
from
his
mother whose strict teachings were unusual in the community but were not viewed as excessive by the patient. He did not attent church frequently because there was no Lutheran church in Plainfield. After the mother's death he "turned away from God because he did not feel it was right that his mother should have suffered so much." Later he decided that "God
knows
best,"
and now
feels that the Bible gives
him
hope for the future.
He
indicated that he would not have gotten into
his present difficulty if he
bors
had
sell his
treated
him
farm and
had married, if the neighor if he had been able to
better,
travel.
He stated
that prior to the
grave robbing incident, he had been reading adventure stories of headhunters and cannibals. He related in detail one story of a man who had murdered a man, acquired his yacht, and was later captured and killed by headhunters. He learned about
first
64
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
shrunken heads, death masks,
etc.,
from
other similar
stories.
He admitted to feelings of excitement during the grave robberies, and describes periods when he felt he should return the bodies. There were also feelings that the bodies should be preserved and that he should care for them. When asked about the sexual aspects of this activity he commented on the great variations in age of the bodies. When it was pointed out that he was
interested only in the bodies of
women, he
stated
that the articles he read indicated that these heads
were more valuable because of their longer hair. to the murders, he recalled the sequence of events up to the act itself which in the latter case he
Relative
described as accidental, activity
following the
but had no recall for his
acts.
Doctor Schubert's Report
Gein was ably interviewed by Dr. E.F. Schubert on two dates: December 9, 1957, and December 12, 1957. The interviews were as follows: December 9, 1957. Gein immediately began speaking about the difficulty which hrought him to the institution. He rather vehemently stated that none of this would have happened if his neighbors had shown some interest in him and would have visited him. He stated the that only time the neighbors came to his home was when they wanted to borrow things. He complained about the neighbors playing "dirty deals."
He
applied
this
phrase
to
business dealings that he
had had with one particular neighbor who had rented a field from him some years ago for $10 a year. This
65
EDWARD GEIN
"He admitted to feelings of excitement during robberie*."
66
the
grave
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
neighbor paid the rent for the first year but neglected to pay the rent for subsequent years. He claims that about five of his neighbors were constantly taking advantage of him and that they all owed him money. He denied that he had any difficulty with the people in Plainfield, although he said that many of them didn't appreciate the things that he did for them. He complained of memory deficits and more specifically with regard to the crimes he is accused of committing. He stated that he is unable to recall any
of the details of the murder of Mrs. Hogan and said that some of the things they claim he said in Madison at the crime laboratory were not true. He said that he is unable to figure out how he could have had time to do everything they have accused him of doing. He also claims that he is not clear on many of the details involved in the murder of Mrs. Worden. He vaguely remembers putting a cartridge which he found in his pocket, in a rifle which he took from a rack in the Worden store, but he feels that her death was an ,
accident
because the
accidentally.
He
states
gun must have discharged that he does not
remember
putting the body in his truck and driving
it
to his
home, although he admits he must have been the one who did this. His opinion of Mrs. Worden is that she was a rather disreputable woman who was known to have a bad reputation. He also stated that he feels Mrs. Worden received her just desserts when her husband died of some blood dyscrasia
and
that this
was in
the
nature of a punishment for her.
Much
of the interview was spent in discussing his His mother was a very
feelings about his mother.
woman and
his only description of her was was good in every way." His mother suffered two strokes and much of his time was spent in caring for his mother after the first stroke. He began
religious
that "she
to cry
when he
described his mother's infirmities
and
stated that "she didn't deserve all of her suffering.
67
EDWARD GEIN stroke followed an argument that a neighbor by the name of Smith had with his wife and daughter. This man Smith was "an evil man" who brought a married woman to live with him on the farm neighboring the Gein property. This man would have temper tantrums, and on one occasion,
His mothers second
killed
a puppy because
the
dog
The
irritated him.
mother suffered her second stroke shortly after an argument which this man had with his wife
patient's
and daughter, and
man
the patient feels that this
was, therefore, responsible for his mother's death. His feelings for his father are completely negative.
He
stated that his father drank excessively and would abuse both him and his brother. Following the death of his mother in 1 945, he was very depressed for about two years and it was during this
time that the
farm
fell into disrepair.
He
states
of the blues," and that he wanted to sell the farm because of all the unpleasant memories connected with it. Apparently he made some
that he "has
had
spells
halfhearted attempts to
he planned ally settle
to visit
down
States with the
sell this
some of his
farm and stated that and eventu-
relatives
in the southern part of the United the sale of the
money obtained from
farm.
He says that his lapses of memory started after the death of his mother. While discussing much of his symptomatology he becomes tangential and irrelevant. When
asked specifically about his interests since the
death of his mother, his only answer was that he wished he could have had more contact with other
He stated that since the death of his mother, he has had feelings that things around him are unreal and at one time, shortly after the death of the
people.
mother, he felt that he could raise people
from
the
dead by willpower. He also stated that he heard his mother talking to him on several occasions for about a year after she died. His mother's voice was heard while he was falling asleep and, apparently, this is in
68
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
of a hypnagogic hallucinatory phenomenon. has also had dreams that his mother was with him upon occasion. He mentioned one unusual experience occurring two or three years ago in which he saw a forest with the tops of the trees missing and vultures sitting in the trees; he feels that this was more in the nature of a dream. He feels that the death of Mrs. Worden was justified because she deserved to die, and he goes on to explain that he is actually fatalistic and that this whole sequence of events was ordained to happen. December 12, 1957. The patient was interviewed on this date. He again denied any knowledge about the death of Mrs. Hogan and stated that he had admitted to this crime because this was what the investigators wished him to do. It was impossible to obtain a chronological series of events with regard to the death of Mrs. Worden. Gein specifically denied the nature
He
remembering the evisceration of the body. He stated that he had violated nine graves and when questioned as to his reasons for doing this, stated that he thought it was because he wanted a remembrance of his mother. He denied any sexual relations with any of these bodies and gave as his reason for this that "they smelled too bad. " He again admitted that for a period of time after his mother's death he felt that he could arouse the dead by an act of willpower. He claimed
to
have
tried to arouse his
dead mother through
willpower and said he was disappointed unsuccessful.
He
when he was had attempted bodies which he had
also admitted that he
of thing with some of the exhumed. Questioning this man requires a great deal of this sort
because he
is
extremely suggestible
and
tact
will almost
invariably agree to any leading questions.
At
the present time he
is
in contact with his sur-
roundings and cooperates as completely as possible. Gein's knowledge of current events is intact and his
memory for past
events, with the exception of details
69
EDWARD GEIN involved in the evisceration of Mrs. Worden and the death of Mrs. Hogan, is also intact. He denies any hallucinatory phenomena at this time. There is ample reason to believe that his violation of the graves was in response to the demands of his fantasy life, which was motivated by his abnormally magnified attachment to the mother.
70
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
71
GEIN'S 1958
HEARING
In 1958, the Honorable Herbert A. circuit.
Wisconsin Rapids, the court called
The
Bunde was
and had Waushara County At a special term held on January
the circuit judge
in his 6, in
State v. Gein.
was represented by District Attorney With him were Stewart G. Honeck, attorney general of Wisconsin and William Platz, assistant attorney general. Rare indeed are the trials in which the attorney general personally takes part. His presence clearly indicated the importance of the case and its widespread interest. Bill Platz was an expert in criminal law in the attorney general's office. William Belter appeared for the state
Kileen.
defendant.
75
EDWARD GEIN Sanity Issue Decided!
The
court and counsel promptly agreed that the
issue
was the sanity of the defendant and a deter-
mination by the court as to whether or not the defendant had the capacity to sufficiendy cooperate with his counsel in his defense. Criminal law
has changed radically in the
1958 Wisconsin laid
down
in the
still
last
decade, but in
followed the old English rule
—can the defend-
McNaughton case
ant distinguish between right and wrong?
hearing was held on
Belter called Dr. Schubert as his
The
The
this basis. first
witness.
examined him. The doctor stated his expert qualifications and then gave his testimony from which we herewith quote the most court
first
important points. Central State Hospital is the maximum security mental hospital in the state of Wisconsin. The defendant had been given a complete physical examination and then a series of psychological tests. On the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale he was found to have an IQ of 99 (100 is average.) Bendertest was negative. The Rorschach, or ink blot test, showed an individual suffering from a mental disorder. Figure drawing showed that Gein was withdrawn and having a
Gestalt
rather expansive fantasy life. A further test suggested odd and possibly bizarre religious beliefs and a ten-
dency
to project the
blame for
evil
on alcohol or some
other person. [Gein's confession shows this latter ten-
dency in marked degree. Gein never admitted any blame; it was always someone else's fault for everything.]
76
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
The Rosenzweig
test
showed he had various
feel-
ings of shortcomings and guilt. The Blacky picture test disclosed that sexually he was functioning at a
pregenital
state.
The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory revealed that he had little faith or trust in people, in
difficulty
periods,
concentrating,
disturbed sleep,
and feelings of wanting
to
blank
smash things
at
times.
The
court carefully outlined the law and then
asked the witness his opinion as to the sanity of the defendant.
It is the
considered opinion of the staff of Central
State Hospital that
Mr. Gein
is
He
legally insane.
[Gein] felt he had no real choice in the matter [Mrs. Wordens death]. This was something that was to happen and he was the agent that carried it out We reached the conclusion that this is an illness that has been going on for a number of years, probably for at least twelve years, and his is a chronic mental .
.
.
disorder.
Attorney general Honeck tried manfully
in his
cross-examination of Dr. Schubert to show that Gein was legally sane. Many questions, like the following ones, however failed to alter the doctor's opinion.
Q.
You would say then, I take it, that his sojourn during that period of time [at the hospital] down
A.
That's right.
to the
present has been uneventful?
Q. His behavior generally, in the broad sense, is no different than an average person without a men-
77
EDWARD GEIN tal illness so
far as
these entries
on
this
record
are concerned? A.
Yes.
Belter then called Dr. Milton Miller, a psychi-
who had examined
atrist
the defendant at Cen-
Dr. Miller stated:
tral State.
Mr. Gein
I feel that
is
suffering from a long-standing
chronic schizophrenic condition
.
.
.
although I can
not state whether the defendant can consult with his attorney
to
.
.
.
I think he
is
legally insane.
Honeck offered to produce four lay witnesses show the normalcy of Gein's conduct with other
people but
The
finally
psychiatrist
withdrew
his offer.
then called Dr. Edward M. Burns, a
state
who had
also seen the
defendant
at
Central State. Asked his opinion, he stated:
Mr. Gein but he
is
is
not feebleminded or mentally deficient,
chronically mentally
cooperate with his counsel
ill
.
and
.
.
he however can
therefore
is
legally
sane.
THE COURT:
Are you trying
you
believe he
that
what you are trying
A.
is
to say,
Doctor, that
medically insane but legally sane; to
is
say?
Yes.
Judge Bunde thoughtfully reviewed mony and stated:
the
testi-
/ can't see how my opinion can be anything other than to find this defendant insane. I so find him and I do hereby recommit him to the Central State Hospital in Waupunfor an indeterminate term commitment.
78
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER From
the opinions of the various experts, I think it is me to say that it does not appear that he
adequate for
will ever be at liberty again.
able conclusion.
court
My
is
That
Perhaps that is a desirthe hearing and the
closes
adjourned.
Judge Bunde, was prophetic as He had no way of ten years later Gein would be re-
old friend,
to the liberty of the defendant.
knowing
that
turned to face trial for his offense. But that was not quite the end of Judge Bunde's participation in this case. There was one small tag end. In March, 1958, the crime lab reported possession of a pathetic list of items: one bunion pad, one woman's white girdle, one jar of antifreeze, a sales slip for the latter item, one 1922 silver dollar, one cash register, and other items. May 6, Judge Bunde entered an order providing in part: "The sum of $182.75 seized by the sheriff by Waushara County from the said Edward Gein and clearly belonging to Bernice C. Worden, together with the Winchester brand single bit ax head, the mop handle, and the lady's wrist watch, Hampton brand, shall be returned forthwith to the co-executors of the estate of Bernice C. Worden."
Plainfield in Shock
Although Gein was
swiftly declared insane
and
the entire matter disposed of in record time, the
people of Plainfield remained in a state of shock.
79
EDWARD GEIN How
could such a thing have been going on in
town of only 647 people without their How close had they come to being killed when Gein was in their homes? No one knew the full story because there had not been a trial. Rumors fed upon rumors until ten years later when the trial was finally held and even then very little information reached the peotheir
little
knowing
it?
ple in the area. Stories of Gein's cannibalism sent dozens of peo-
ple to their doctors suffering
from stomach prob-
lems after they remembered eating the packages of "venison" given them by Gein. College kids kept trying to throw beer parties in the "ghoul's house" to
and
it
required full-time guards
keep them out.
The crowning blow came when
the townspeople
learned that plans were being to
made buy
house, at auction, and to turn
it
Gein's
into a tourist
The House of Horror. The auction was scheduled for March 30, Palm Sunday, 1958. But, on March 27, the house and all its contents burned to the ground in a mysterious fire which has never been officially solved. House or no house, the auction proceeded as planned with over two thousand people in attendance. Total proceeds for all that Gein owned came to a bit over $5,000. The farm land brought $3,883. The 1938 Chevy pickup truck which Gein used to haul Mary Hogan's body went for $215, to haul scrap metal. The big surprise of the auction was that fifteen people bid for Gein's 1949 Maattraction as
80
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
roon Ford, the car used by Gein to haul Mrs. Worden's body. The high bid was $760. Its buyers intended to display the car at county fairs but we know of one such exhibit which the sheriff closed because of public displeasure. In the aftermath of the Gein discoveries there a wave of "Gein humor," a black humor, which had occurred only once before in our nation's history during the Elizabeth Borden case over one hundred years ago. And, as Dr. Arndt points out in his appendix to this book, "Gein humor" was looked upon very differently by the people of
came
Plainfield.
How Many One
of the delightful
nection with Gein
And, did he or for the
more
The money but
I
find
kill
is,
Murders?
fields
of conjecture in con-
how many people
did he
kill?
for the bizarre reasons he stated
prosaic desire to obtain
money?
question has never really been raised,
it
a thread running through
much
of
his life.
Due
to
prohibitive costs, Gein was tried for
—
murder that of Mrs. Worden. He also admitted killing Mary Hogan. To use a common expression, the authorities had the goods on him only one
in these
two
cases.
He was
questioned as to
other disappearances but denied 81
all
many
of them.
EDWARD GEIN
"Gein's house
and
all its contents
burned
to the
ground in a
mysterious fire which has never been officially solved."
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
During the Worden
the state, in rebuttal,
trial,
Hogan
offered certain testimony about the
show
This was offered to
a pattern.
testimony subject to objection and struck the record afterwards. Nevertheless,
ing and
I
it
this
from
interest-
it is
present the important parts thereof.
Waterman
Vilas
killing.
took
I
testified
that
of 1954 he was chairman of the
in
December
Town
of Pine
Grove in Portage County; that he knew Mary Hogan; and that we went to her tavern on the evening of December 8, 1954, about 5:20 p.m. He saw what appeared to be blood on the floor,
a
tipped-over
chair
near
the
blood,
a
tipped-over coffee cup on a table, a .32 caliber
of which
was green, and that he had not seen Mary Hogan since December 8, 1954. Waterman further testified that the tavern was about seven miles from the Village of Plainfield. William Kvatek testifed that he was a deputy sheriff for Portage County and gave the shell revolver
the
shell,
base
indicating age,
to
the
sheriff.
The
shell
eventually
came
to
Allan Wilimovsky, as did the coffee cup, and
both were taken to the crime lab in Madison.
There the
exhibits
rested
until
November
16,
1957.
Wilimovsky
testified
taken from the Gein
that
one of the items
home was
Mauser automatic-loading listics test was conducted on the Mauser, from which I quote:
caliber
83
a
German
pistol.
shell
A
.32 bal-
and the
EDWARD GEIN As a result of that comparative examination I concluded that the cartridge case which I had received from Sheriff Thompson had been fired in the
Mauser kill
pistol.
[Proof that Gein's gun was used
to
Mary Hogan.]
Jan Beck of the crime lab then testified that he had photographed a fingerprint "apparently in blood" on the coffee cup, and that he compared this with the right thumbprint of Edward Gein
and found them
identical.
Herbert Wanserski sheriff of Portage visited
the Gein
testified that
County
in
he had been
1957, and that he
home on November
16,
when
Mrs. Worden's body was found. His testimony
concerning Mary Hogan
is
THE WITNESS:
[Mr. Wanserski] I seen a lot of was about ten heads in particular Did you recognize any of those heads? Yes. One head in particular looked like that of Mary Hogan. Did you know Mary Hogan? Yes, I knew her.
stuff but
Q. A.
Q. A.
as follows:
—
it
murdered Mary Hogan, and own gun along. Why did he kill her? Mary Hogan had about fifteen hundred dollars on her premises when she was murdered which disappeared. Gein denied taking it, and at one point said that it must have been taken by someone who came to the tavern after the killing. I suspect that Gein got Mary Hogan's money. So,
Gein
clearly
that time he took his
84
AMERICA'S
Remember
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
too that there was $182 in the
Worden
cash register, which Gein took. is an interesting sidelight to the Hogan The physical evidence clearly established that Worden had been dragged out of the store.
There case.
Mrs.
On
the other hand the blood trail indicated that Mary Hogan had been carried out. Gein was strong but not strong enough to have carried Mary Hogan, a very large woman. Who helped him?
Dan Chase told me that Gein did have a friend another man and that shortly after the Hogan
—
disappearance
He was
this
man became
violently insane.
confined in a mental institution and died
shortly thereafter. Did
sudden mental turmoil
the crime and possible cannibalism that he
at
may
have witnessed cause his insanity and death? Moving into the realm of conjecture, there are two other possible murders that tie in with money. Gein's older, unmarried, brother, Henry, died in a
marsh
fire in
Adams County
after the death of
Gein's father, but before the death of his
mother
in 1945.
While questioning Gein about Bernice Worden, Joe Wilimovsky asked Gein about the death of his brother:
Q
What
A.
He
wanted to burn a marsh that belonged to him. When your time is up, it's up. I coaxed him and tried to keep him home, but he just kept at me 'til I took him there.
It
was Gein
did
Henry
die
op
who found 85
his brother's
body lying
EDWARD GEIN near the burned portion. Apparently the authoriaccepted the accident theory and no real inves-
ties
tigation
was ever made, nor was there an autopsy. left Gein as the sole heir of
The death of Henry his
mother's estate.
The second
case involved a
man named
Travis,
from Chicago, who disappeared and mysteriously after visiting an Adams County tavern. his friend
This mystery
is
still
unsolved. Incidentally, their
car also disappeared. All that was ever found was
men and his dog. These in were found the woods near the Gein two items home. Shortly after their disappearance a neighbor of Gein's complained of a strong odor or stench coming from Gein's garden. Gein's story to Joe Wilimovsky about this was that he burned mice and maybe a rat. However, he said that he only caught one or two a day. Later Gein said that he burned portions of the bodies he took from the graves. Gein admitted to Joe Wilimovsky that he knew Travis. There is a story that Travis's the jacket of one of the
friend was exhibiting a large roll of
tavern
when Gein was
bills
in a
there and that Gein offered
two men hunting. Gein told Bill Belter that Travis was killed by a neighbor and that he, Gein, could guide the authorties to the grave. Apparently this offer was never followed up. Dan Chase told me that he to take the
flew over the area
many
times looking for signs of
a grave but never found one.
One
thing
is
sure:
Gein was a digger of outstanding qualifications 86
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
and 160 acres is plenty of land in which to bury an automobile. There are two other unsolved disappearances
A young babydisappeared in La sitter named Evelyn Hartley Crosse, Wisconsin. Gein was born and raised in La with clues leading directly to Gein.
who
lived only a
girl at
the time of
Crosse and was visiting an aunt block or two from the Hartley
her disappearance. How did she disappear? Like Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden, the only trace
was a pool of blood in the garage with a trail of blood leading to what must have been a waiting
When
home was
searched, a young and also the vulvas of two females judged to have been about fifteen years old. Who was Gein's other young victim? Probably the unsolved case of a young girl named Mary Jane Weckler who disappeared at Jefferson, Wisconsin. The authorities had only one real clue: a white Ford was seen in the area of the crime. Traffic officers were alerted throughout the state. Dan Chase, as Waushara County's traffic officer, car.
girl's
Gein's
dress was found
searched the entire county looking for white Fords.
He found only two in the whole county; both were cleared of involvement. When Gein's property was searched the officers found his pickup truck, the maroon Ford he usually drove, and a white Ford. No one had ever seen Gein driving a white Ford.
two vulvas of young girls found in Gein's were not those of the Hartley and Weckler girls, he must have murdered a couple of If the
collection
87
EDWARD GEIN teen-age runaways because a close study of the
records of
all
cemeteries in the entire area dis-
closed that no girls age twelve to eighteen
been buried during the time
in question.
these vulvas of young girls came from live and not Gein's grave robbing activities.
me
had Hence,
victims,
the most is any of these people has ever been found. The bodies of most murder victims are found sooner or later, usually sooner. Certainly we must conclude that Gein demonstrated unusual ability not only as a digger but also at dissecting and disposing of bodies.
Probably the fact that bothers
that after
many
years
no
88
trace of
GEIN'S 1968 TRIAL
16, 1968. Ten years and ten days Judge Bunde committed Gein to Central
January
after
State
Hospital, I entered an order to the superintendent of the hospital to remand the defendant to
the custody of Sheriff Virgil Batterman and an order to the sheriff to produce Gein in court at Wautoma on January 22, 1968, at 1:00 p.m. I remember going to Wautoma that day to sign the order for the sheriff. Batterman, or "Buck" as we called him, sat in my chambers. (Buck was tall, lean and hard muscled, with black hair and a perpetually tanned complexion. In his brown uniform, complete with revolver, he always looked to me as if he had just stepped off the set of a western movie.) Buck expressed concern as to the community attitude and what might happen to Gein if he were held in the local jail.
91
EDWARD GEIN I looked sternly at him and said, "Buck, he is your responsibility. No excuses will be accepted. Get such help as you need but if anything happens to Ed Gein, I will hold you personally
responsible."
Buck looked at me for a long moment and then "You really mean it, don't you, Judge? Okay, nothing will happen to him." And nothing did. That there were hotheads in the county I had no doubt. Even after ten years, Gein was not forgiven. I am also sure that the word was passed that no quick justice would be tolerated. During the long months preceding the trial, Gein was kept over forty miles away at the Winnebago County jail in Oshkosh. Later when there said,
was an even longer delay, he was returned
to
Central State Hospital.
On January 22, 1968, I returned to Wautoma. This day I was to see the famous (or infamous) Ed Gein for the first time. There had been a rather humorous incident the day before. I received a phone call from a TV station at Minneapolis-St. Paul. The young lady at the other end asked if pictures
would be permitted.
I
indicated consent
but not during court session. She then asked
if
they could take pictures of the courtroom before
again indicated consent. She then would be during' the lunch hour, should she need to reach me. Without giving my answer much thought I said, "Ted's Bar." I heard a gasp on the other end and I knew she had visions of an intoxicated judge coming into court. court opened.
asked where
I
I
92
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
quickly assured her that Ted's Bar was also a
I
restaurant and
my
I
would be
lunch.
State of Wisconsin
It
was 1:00 p.m. as
bailiff,
ye,
eating, not drinking,
I
v.
Edward Gein
entered the courtroom.
Dan Chase, intoned
My
the age-old ritual: "Hear
hear ye; Circuit Court for Waushara County
now open,
is
the Honorable
Judge Robert H. Gollmar, presiding. Silence is commanded." As I half listened, I looked around the old
On
courtroom.
the wall
—two
predecessors
of
hung
whom
I
pictures of
my
had known. One
was Herman Severson, whose name is rememless as a judge than as the legislator who
bered
—
had fathered Wisconsin's prohibition act the Severson law. (What problems that ill-fated attempt to ban the sale of liquor caused the nation!) Another picture was of Byron Park. Years before,
when
I
started the practice of law, Park
was the
judge. Although he was often brusque and short-
tempered with the older lawyers, he was patience personified with me, a young, inexperienced lawyer. I always had a soft spot in my heart for him. I remembered too his uncanny recall for testimony taken in court. In one week-long case which I sat in on, he took no notes and yet remembered the 93
EDWARD GEIN
1
looked closely at the defendant. Could this wispy little man with thinning hair and a half smile be the infarruxus Edward
GeinV
94
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER testimony better than lawyers with voluminous notes. This
My
is
a faculty
have never mastered.
I
opening statement
in Wisconsin v. Gein indi-
cated the continuing and revived interest of the
communication media. "Members of the press and TV and so forth, if you want to, you can sit over here in the jury box, but no pictures may be taken while court
is
of Wisconsin, fendant.
Is
in session.
the
This
is
the case of State
Edward Gein, dedefendant here in court? Are you
plaintiff,
versus
Mr. Gein?" Gein answered, "Yes." I then looked closely at the defendant. Could this wispy little man with thinning hair and a half smile be the infamous Ed Gein, murderer, grave robber, and possible cannibal?
which some had called
his face,
more
like the act
The
little
pected him to wiggle a nonexistent
The
I
to
me
of a puppy trying to ingratiate
himself in the court's good graces.
Then
on
smile
seemed
sly,
I
almost ex-
tail.
said:
state
is
Mr. Howard Dutcher, Waushara County, and by
represented by
the district attorney for
Mr. Robert Sutton, assistant attorney general, State Attorney General's Department. Let the record show that Mr. Edward Gein has been returned
to
this
court
upon a finding
by the
State of Wisconsin at Central State Hospital where he has been confined and that he is now mentally
able to confer with counsel
and
participate in his
defense.
Let
me
again interject a recollection. At a later
95
EDWARD GEIN point the attorneys were arguing a complicated
point of law. Sutton was arguing and cited a U.S.
Supreme Court decision. Suddenly Gein leaned over to attorney Frinzi and in a stage whisper said: "He isn't quoting that right. Cite him" (naming another Supreme Court case). Frinzi looked at me in some anguish but I had my mental hearing aid turned off and ignored it. It was obvious that
who was
Gein,
spent a
lot
certainly
admittedly a constant reader, had
of time in the hospital law library. Gein
was not insane
in this area.
The Appointment of Counsel THE COURT:
Obviously, under the law, the first
matter that concerns the court
is
the
appointment of
counsel for the defendant to represent him in these proceedings. I take it, Mr. Dutcher, that so far as the is concerned there is no contention that Gein is not indigent? In other words you are not contending he's able to retain his own counsel? DUTCHER: May it please the court: Your Honor, I understand all the worldly possessions of Mr. Gein
state
were sold, he was placed under a guardianship and this guardianship has terminated, and there are no longer assets available so, he'd be indigent.
THE COURT:
Upon
the statement
attorney the court will find that
and he
is
entitled to the
of the
Mr. Gein
is
district
indigent
appointment of counsel at
state expense.
At
this
point
I
was faced with a delicate ethical
96
AMERICA'S question. since,
upon
It
and
I
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
was one I had never faced before, nor doubt if any other judge has passed
it.
THE COURT: I have before me a petition and a proposed order for appointment of counsel which is signed and verified by Mr. Gein, and in it he asks that he be represented by Mr. William M. Belter of Wautoma. It is my understanding, Mr. Belter, that you represented Mr. Gein at the time of the original hearing before Judge Bunde. Is that correct? BELTER: That's right, Your Honor. THE COURT: The only complicating factor that we have in this appointment is the fact that at the present time
Mr.
Belter
is
the assistant district attor-
ney of Waushara County. Mr. Belter has advised me that he proposes to permanently resign as assistant district attorney. Is that correct, Mr. Belter?
BELTER: That's correct, Your Honor. THE COURT: Now, let me ask you, Mr.
Belter,
have you taken part in any of the proceedings that have been taken since this matter has been referred back
to this
court?
BELTER: None whatsoever. THE COURT: Now, Mr. Gein,
it
is
my under-
standing that you have signed this petition asking for the appointment of Mr. Belter. Is that correct?
GEIN:
Yes,
Your Honor.
THE COURT: And that
you do wish him
GEIN:
to
does the court understand be your attorney?
Yes.
THE COURT: Do you at the present time he
GEIN:
is
understand and know that
the assistant district attorney ?
Yes.
THE COURT: Do you feel
that creates any problem so far as you re concerned? In other words, do you have any feeling that because of the office he presently holds and which he is proposing to
97
EDWARD GEIN any problems would be created for you in undertaking your defense? Do you understand resign,
his
my
question?
GEIN:
Well, pretty good. I think he's honest
everything, so I wouldn't have
no
I couldn't say just what trouble
it
and
objection that way.
would be
otherwise,
you know.
THE COURT: At least so far as you're concerned, that's
what you want?
GEIN:
That's right.
THE COURT:
Any comment from
the state?
That opened the door not only for comment first legal argument. Both Dutcher and Sutton stated their objections. The gist of their argument was that at some future time, Gein might claim error due to this appointment. but for the
The court recognized the problem. I pointed out the lapse of time involved and that Belter, having represented Gein before, might have knowledge of
facts
defendant. to
I
make sure
that could be invaluable to the said "I have a very strong duty that the defendant gets the best
At any rate, at this point, Mr. Belter, if you desire to do so, you may file your resignation as assistant district attorney/' This was done. Then I signed the order appointing Belter as counsel for the defendant and big Bill Belter solemnly rose from the state table possible representation.
and moved across
to the defense table.
98
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER The Initial Motions
AMERICA'S
There was discussion as to whether the defendant should be remanded to county court for a preliminary hearing and whether the court should hear testimony as to the defendant's capacity to stand trial.
As
to the latter point,
I
ruled that
I
would
stand with the finding of the staff at Central State Hospital and take no testimony.
Since Belter wanted an opportunity to confer
with his client,
I
took a recess until January 23, Thus ended the first day.
1968, at 1:30 p.m.
January 23, 1968. A new member had been added to the cast of characters. Belter asked for the appointment of Dominic Frinzi of Milwaukee as special counsel for the defendant. I had known Frinzi from my experience in Milwaukee courts and I knew him to be a skilled, experienced attorney; especially in the criminal defense field.
I
promptly appointed him. There was further argument on procedure but surprisingly we all agreed on one point: that a person can be insane but still can be competent to stand
trial.
—
of many motions all proper but necessarily time-consuming. The reader, Frinzi then
I
am
made
sure, unless
the
first
he be a lawyer,
is
not interested
of the law and
I will not go was a motion to dismiss because the Complaint was insufficient. Under the law in 1968, the Complaint was not sufficient but under the law in 1958 it was. The
in these ramifications
into detail about them.
The
99
first
EDWARD GEIN ground
rules
change and a case
tried ten years
many of
these problems. I after the fact contains denied the motion and the issue went to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where, in an unpublished opinion, I was affirmed but it was April by that
—
time.
On
same
cast present.
April 24, 1968, court resumed with the
The defense had had been agreed tion
was
in effect,
filed
two motions on which
to take testimony.
The
first
it
mo-
to suppress the physical evidence. That,
was
to bar evidence of the finding of
Mrs. Worden's body in the Gein home. This
in-
volved a very difficult point of law. Basically, the
contention was that the search was
illegal because have the officers did not a search warrant. As a matter of fact, no search warrant was ever obtained and no effort was ever made to get one, even though County Judge Boyd Clark was present at the Gein home and probably could have issued a search warrant on the spot. In defense of rural justice, I can only say that the shocking and macabre discoveries in the Gein home and the dressed-out body itself overcame the normal need for a legalistic approach. The second motion was to suppress the confession given by Gein to Joe Wilimovsky of the crime
lab.
Technically,
if
these two 'motions had been
granted, the state would have been without a case
and Gein would have gone free. It was obvious to the court and the attorneys that these issues were the crucial points of the case.
100
The
finding of Mrs.
AMERICA'S Worden's body
up
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
at the
to that point
was
Gein farm solved a case that
thin,
almost to the ridiculous.
hinged upon a hunch or guess by Frank Worden based upon a sales slip for antifreeze and an idle conversation about Worden going deer hunting. Fate takes some unusual turns. What would have happened if the Hill boy had not gone over to Gein's home that afternoon and asked Gein to take him to town? The body of Mrs. Worden had already been dressed out like a deer, and given a couple of more hours, Gein could have totally disposed of the body. At least it would not have been All of the investigation
hanging in the woodshed where the officers practistumbled into it. Like Mary Hogan years before, Bernice Worden might well have just cally
disappeared.
The important motions made in April of 1968 were followed by learned and able briefs in July. Wisconsin's always reluctant spring
slid
slowly into
summer. Then fall followed with Waushara County in full leaf color. the searing heat of
I
denied the motion to suppress the physical
—the
evidence
body.
I
ruled that Mrs.
Worden
being missing, and there being strong evidence of
had a right to search and without a warrant for her. (Presumably she might have been found a prisoner or in an injured condition where prompt action would be helpful and required.) As to the many articles removed the next day and for the balance of the week, these were clearly found as a result of an foul play, the police officers
quickly
101
EDWARD GEIN the search was
illegal search, since
made
without a
warrant.
granted the motion to suppress Gein's confes-
I
improper third degree methods of Sheriff Schley. Additional factors were the long and protracted interrogation at Madison and the testimony of the psychiatrists as to the sion largely because of the
suggestibility
The
of Gein.
actual trial started
on November
6,
1968,
moved faster, but time was not an element because we knew
at
9:00 a.m. Probably we could have
from the beginning that regardless of all legal maneuvers, Gein would remain in a mental institution. Besides, I was engaged for most of September in Green Bay with the Hebard mass murder trial
—the story of which
Of A
Prior to Gein's
underbrush. waive a jury and legal
The
is
told in
my
book, Tales
Country Judge.
we cut away considerable The defense had decided to
trial
try the case before the
judge.
an inditement with one count of murder (Mrs. Worden) in the first degree and one count of theft (the cash register) .During the state filed
trial I
dismissed the theft count. After ten years
the state simply could not produce the necessary elements of proof, even though the cash register
was found
The
in Gein's
home.
case was to be tried as a bifurcated
trial.
That means we would first try the murder charge and then, if Gein was found guilty, the sanity issue. First degree murder requires proof of intent to kill. While I knew that Gein would admit 102
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
to the actual shooting
of Mrs. Worden, he had
always contended that the killing was accidental.
The
defense, therefore, was aiming at a finding of second degree murder or manslaughter. For the statistically inclined, the trial was reasonably short as
murder
my court reporter,
trials go. Jerry Brillowski, took and transcribed 581 pages
of testimony. Nineteen witnesses testified. Only 37 exhibits were received, although during the entire proceedings 529 exhibits were marked.
Much
of the opening testimony dealt with the
occurrences at the store, the arrest, and the finding of the body.
The
interest because
deals with the lawyer's battle to
it
following testimony
is
of
prove or to disprove Gein's claim that the shooting was an accident.
Testimony of Allan Wilimovsky
Allan Wilimovsky was sworn and examined by Sutton:
Q.
A.
You recovered a
bullet
Bernice Worden.
Do you
you? on
It's
the head of Mrs. have that bullet with
from
the table before me, yes.
SUTTON: Mark this, please.
[Object was marked 15 for Identification.] Q. I show you State's Exhibit No. 15 for Identification and ask you what that is. Plaintiffs Exhibit No.
103
EDWARD GEIN A. Exhibit 15 contains a .22 caliber fired bullet which was recovered from the head by Dr. Eigenberger, and also contained within Exhibit 15 is a glass vial in which 1 placed the bullet at the time of its recovery. The vial is banded, or was originally banded, with adhesive tape which is marked by Dr. Eigenberger and myself. Q. What, if anything, did you do with the bullet after you did that? A. It remained in my possession until I returned to
Madison. Q.
Now,
I direct your attention to November 18, 1957. Would you tell the court whether or not you had occasion to be on the Worden store premises on that day?
A. 1 did. Q. Why did you go to the store? A. To conduct a cursory examination of the store. Q. Who, if anyone, went with you? A. Mr. Halligan, a Mr. Beck, and I believe Deputy
Arnold Fritz of
the
Waushara County
sheriffs
office.
Q.
Approximately what time on the eighteenth did
you get
to the
A. I don't recall that
it
was
Worden
store?
this specific time.
late that day.
My
recollection
I don't know. To
is
my
recollection it was dark outside. Q. Did you enter the premises? A. I did. And what, if anything, did you discover on the premises? What observations did you make first
Q
of all? A. The observations which I made were of a general nature, and in addition I "specifically was looking for any .22 caliber firearms that may have been
on Q.
the premises.
And
did you discover any .22 caliber firearms on
the premises?
A. I did. Q.
And
where did you discover such a weapon?
104
m^*
m,
Ed Gein
at the time of his arrest.
Plainfield POPULATION
642
PJP
Ed
Gein's
Ed
home community.
Gein's home.
The exterior of the hardware
store
where the murder of
his last victim took place.
The amount of blood on the floor cut his victim's throat.
indicates
Gein also
ED
GEIN'S LAST VICTIM
"The body had been opened by a median incision from manubrium sterni and extending in the midline to the area just above the mons vereris. Here the cut circled the
around the external genitalia for the complete removal of the vulva, lower vagina, and the anus with the lowest portion of the rectum. To accomplish this, the symphysis pubis had been split and the pubic bones widely separated The empty body cavities were glistening and free from blood and appeared as if they had been washed. .
.
.
9 y
Gein's
home burning
to the
ground.
Gein's car on display at a county fair.
AMERICA'S A. In a
rifle
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
rack behind the counter in the hardware
store.
Q.
And would you
describe what, if anything,
you
did at that time with that rifle? A. I operated the action of the three rifles which I observed, and from one of the three, as a result of operating the action, a fired cartridge case was ejected.
Q. What, if anything, did you do with that cartridge case?
A. I immediately recovered
SUTTON: Mark
Identification [Object
it.
No. 16 for was marked Plaintiffs Exhibit
this
State's Exhibit
No. 16 for Identification.] Q. In what manner did you secure that cartridge case?
A. I placed the cartridge case in a small coin envelope with adhesive on the flap and took possession
of Q.
it.
And
where did you take that cartridge case
ultimately?
A.
To Madison.
Q. I show you what has been marked State's Exhibit No. 1 6 for Identification and ask you what that is.
A. State's Exhibit No. case
and a small
16 contains a fired
cartridge
coin envelope in which I placed
the cartridge case after finding the cartridge case
in
a Remington .22 rimfire
slide action rifle
at the
caliber,
Model 121
bearing serial number
Worden hardware
store
149099
on November 18,
1957.
Q
Now, what did you do with the weapon itself? A. I don't recall if the weapon was removed from the store and placed in the mobile field unit and locked.
Q. Did you have occasion to secure the weapon on the nineteenth of November, 1957? A. I did.
105
EDWARD GEIN Q. What, if anything, did you do with the weapon at that time? A. On the nineteenth of November, 1957, I placed the weapon in a cardboard box, cradle fashion. I cradled the firearm in this cardboard box; it was placed in the trunk of the sheriffs automobile and was taken to Madison. SUTTON: Mark this State's Exhibit No. 17 for Identification. [Object was marked Plaintiffs Exhibit No. 1 7 for Identification.] Q. Now, I show you States Exhibit No. 17 for Identification and ask you what that is. A. State's Exhibit No. 17 is a Remington .22 rimfire caliber slide rifle, Model 121, bearing serial number 149099, which I recovered from the rifle rack at the
Q.
A. Q. A.
Worden hardware
store
on
the nineteenth
of November, 1967. Directing your attention to Exhibits 15, 16, and 1 7, did you subsequently make any examination involving those exhibits? I did. And what was the purpose of those examinations? The purpose of the examination was to establish, if possible, whether or not the fired cartridge case, which I had ejected from the rifle, Exhibit 1 7, had been fired in the rifle, and whether or not the fired bullet contained in Exhibit 15, which was recovered from the head, as to whether or not this particular bullet had been fired from the rifle,
Exhibit 17. Q. Now, directing your attention to Exhibit 17, 1 ask you what examinations you made involving it. A. I made a visual inspection of the firearm to determine its mechanical operating condition. I testfired the firearm, recovering the test-fired bullets and cartridge cases for subsequent comparison purposes.
In addition, prior to the pushed through the bore patches.
106
test-firing the rifle, I
clean, white, dry
gun
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Q. And what did the examinations disclose? A. Examination revealed that the firearm was in mechanical operating condition, and as a result of comparison microscope examinations involving
and
the test-fired bullets
fired
from
those
cartridge cases which I
the rifle. Exhibit 17,
tests
with
the
and comparing cartridge
fired
case
Q
contained in Exhibit 16, and the fired bullet contained in Exhibit 15, it is my opinion that Exhibit 15 had been fired from the rifle, Exhibit 1 7, and the first cartridge case contained in Exhibit 16 had been fired in the rifle, Exhibit 17. And your conclusion is that the bullet in Mrs.
A.
The
Q.
Calling your attention to Exhibit 17, do you know whether or not that exhibit has any safety device with reference to the trigger?
Worden's head came from that
rifle?
bullet recovered from the head, yes.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY FRINZI:
A. It does.
Q. Could you point that out to the court? A. The rifle, Exhibit 1 7, has a cross bolt type safety which is located at the rear of the trigger guard. You don't know what the condition of that safety
Q
November 15, 16, 17, 18, or prior to your coming into contact with the device was on either exhibit?
A. No, I do not. *
*
Q. Calling your attention bullet
to
*
Exhibit 15, what type of
is it?
A.
The fired cartridge case contained in Exhibit 16 is a Remington manufactured .22 rimfired caliber cartridge case. The fired bullet contained in Exhibit 15 is a .22 caliber plain lead type fired bullet consistent with Remington manufacture.
Q Q
Now,
And how many
A.
There
A.
are there different types of .22 bullets?
Yes.
is
the .22
types are there?
BB
cap, the .22
107
CB
cap, the .22
— EDWARD GEIN and magnum.
short, the .22 long,
the .22 rimfire
Q.
Now
and
—
someone were trying that exhibit out a bullet would fit in there, could you demonstrate that to us? How would he go 17
A.
the .22 long rifle,
if
to see if
about that? There are two ways that this can be accomplished, one of which would be to insert the cartridge through the opening on the right-hand side of the receiver
—physically
inserting the cartridge into
chamber of the rifle. The other method would be magazine tube or withdraw the
remove the inner a point which tubular magazine.
to it
to
exposes the loading part of the The cartridge would be then inserted, base first, permitting it to be dropped into the tube. The
inner tube would then be depressed into
its
locked
position.
To bring the
from
the cartridge
chamber would require
the
the
magazine
into
functioning of the
firearm to bring the cartridge into the chamber ready for firing. Q.
Could you Exhibit 17
tell
the court the
put to? A. Generally a firearm of target shooting or small
Q.
normal use
that
is
intended for hunting.
this type is
game
Now, would you use a 22 and shoot a deer?
rimfire short to go out
A.
This is prohibited by law. Q. Would a .22 rimfire kill a deer? A. If the bullet was properly placed upon the target, it's my belief that it would.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY SUTTON: Q.
Mr. Wilimovsky, when you secured the weapon and transported it to Madison, would you describe how you held it?
A.
My
first physical contact with the rifle, Exhibit
17, was on the night of November 18, 1957. The rifle was in the rifle rack at the Warden hardware store. It was in a vertical position with the
108
AMERICA'S butt
down,
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER the barrel
piece of wood,
magazine
tube,
was supported
by
a cutout
and I grasped the end of and simultaneously depressed
action release button which
is
located
on
the
the the
un-
derside of the receiver. I further pushed the magazine tube
down which caused the cartridge case that was chambered in the firearm to be extracted and ejected.
—physical contact—
The next contact with the
rifle,
the rifle
was handled by
had end of
that I
the
the magazine tube and by the edge of the trigger guard, the rifle was cradled in a cardboard box, placed in the trunk of a vehicle, and transported to Madison, and I was an occupant of the vehicle. Q. Did you handle this weapon in this manner
intentionally?
A. I did.
Q
For what purpose?
A. For the purpose of fingerprint identification.
The
state
had
to
prove
its
case by circumstantial
evidence since obviously there was no eyewitness to the
murder of Mrs. Worden.
Testimony ofJan Beck The
next witness was Jan Beck,
who was
the fin-
gerprint expert for the state crime lab. Having
proved the murder, having placed the body at the Gein farm, and having proved the murder weapon, the state, through this witness, placed the final piece in the picture. Again I quote only the pertinent portions of his testimony: 109
EDWARD GEIN Q.
[Sutton] Could you describe briefly what academic training and experience you have had
related to the area of fingerprint comparison and examination? A. My first experience goes back to a period of six months as a trainee in the National Police Laboratory of Stockholm, Sweden, where I learned the fundamentals of fingerprint classification and specifically
identification.
Q. And when was that, approximately? A. Nineteen forty-nine.
Q. And continue. A. I'm a graduate of the School of Criminology at the University of California where my courses included a one-semester course in personal identification, which is basically fingerprint identificaf
My work experience at that time, November, 1957, was my period of service at the state crime laboratory in Madison. That is fourteen months. Q. I direct your attention to November 19, 1957. Did you have occasion to be in the Worden hardware store in Plainfield, Wisconsin? tion.
A. I did.
And who were you with at that time on those premises? A. Mr. Wilimovsky, Mr. Halligan, and I believe Q.
Deputy
Fritz.
Q. Now, I show you State's Exhibit No. 1 7.
What
is
that?
A.
A
Q.
And would you
rifle.
seen that
rifle
tell
the court whether you've ever
before?
A. Yes, I have. Q. Where? A. At the Worden hardware store at Plainfield, Wisconsin. Q. A.
When was
that?
On the Nineenh of November, And how did you identify it as
Q. A. By
its
serial
1957. the same
rifle?
number, 149099, and by a
110
little
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
defect in the wood of the stock that I remember from photographs of the rifle. Q. When you say on November 19, 1957, who, if
anyone, was with you? A. Mr. Wilimovsky and Mr. Halligan. Now, what, if anything, did you do with Exhibit
Q
17 on November 19, 1957? A. I examined
may
it
for fingerprints or palm prints that
be visible on the weapon,
white fingerprint
powder
the rifle to try to develop
and I also applied wooden part of
to the
any
latent or hidden
prints.
Q. Did you observe any visible prints on the weapon? A. Yes, I did. Q. And, did the powder reveal any latent fingerprints on the
weapon?
A.
Yes.
Q.
Now, what was
17? A. I handed of the Q.
And
subsequently done with Exhibit
the rifle, Exhibit 1 7, to Allan
state
Wilimovsky
crime laboratory.
what, if anything, was done with the its transportation?
rifle
regarding
A. I believe I assisted him in putting the
rifle in
a
cardboard box, a cradlelike arrangement, for transport back to Madison.
Q. Now, do you know the defendant, A. I do. Q. Did you have occasion 18, 1957? A. Yes, I did.
to see
Edward Gein?
him on November
Q. And where was that? A. At the Waushara County Jail.
Q
And
what, if anything, did you do at that time?
A. I took inked fingerprints
and palm
prints of
Mr.
Gein.
SUTTON: Mark
these, please. [Documents were marked Plaintiffs Exhibits Nos. 18 and 19 for
Identification.]
Ill
EDWARD GEIN Q.
Now,
I
show you what has been marked
Exhibit No.
A.
18 for
Identification
State's
and ask you
what that is. a fingerprint card that I took of Edward Gein on November 18, 1957, at the Waushara County
It's
jail.
Q. And what does it reflect? A. Fingerprints of ten fingers rolled out with black printer's ink, which is the standard record of fingerprints.
Q
State's Exhibit No. 19 for Identificaand ask you what that is. A. That is a palm print made in black ink on paper of Edward Gein's right palm right hand palm which I took on November 18, 1957. Now, where did you take Exhibit 18 and Exhibit
I
show you
tion
—
—
Q
marked for Identification after you had obpalm print and the fingerprints? A. I brought them back to the crime lab in Madison. Q. Now, I direct your attention to the visible fingerprint which you testified you observed on Exhibit 17 on November 19, 1957, when you were in the Worden hardware store. Did you make any re19
tained the
cord of that print? Yes. I took a photograph of it. SUTTON: Please mark this. [Document was marked Plaintiffs Exhibit No. 20 for Identification.] Q. Now, I show you what has been marked State's Exhibit No. 20 for Identification and ask you
A.
what A.
that
Q. Now, A. I did. Q.
is.
an enlarged photograph showing
the fingerprint on the receiver of the rifle. That is the central blue steel part of the rifle, Exhibit 1 7. It's
And
who is
ferred
A.
Yes.
Q
And
is
took that photograph?
that the visible fingerprint that
to in
that
you
re-
your prior testimony?
what
is
reflected enclosed in the red
area in the enlargement?
112
AMERICA'S A. Q.
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
That's correct.
Now,
I direct your attention to the latent
you
palm
you discovered on Exhibit 17, by dusting on November 19, 1957, in the Worden hardware store. Did you make any prints which
testified that
record of that print!
A. I did. Q. And, how did you do that? A. I photographed it.
SUTTON: Would
you mark this State's Exhibit [Document was marked Plaintiffs Exhibit No. 21 for Identification.] Q. Now, I show you what has been marked State's Exhibit No. 21 for Identification and ask you what that is. A. It's an enlarged photograph of the palm print which I developed with white fingerprint powder on the pistol grip of the rifle, Exhibit 17. Q. And who took the photograph? No. 21 for
Identification.
A. I did. Q.
And what
is
reflected in the enclosed red area
on
that enlargement?
A.
The
V
area of the palm print shown here
is
about
three times the enlargement.
Q.
Now, did you have occasion to make any comparisons between Exhibit 18 and Exhibit 20?
A. I did. Q. And did you have occasion to make a comparison between Exhibit 19 and Exhibit 21? A. Yes, I did.
Q. Now, where did these comparisons take place? A. At the crime laboratory in Madison. Q. And do you know on what dates the comparisons took place? A. On the twentieth and twenty-first of November,
1957. Q.
And would you
describe the comparison test that
you made? A. With a magnifier I pared the fingerprint
visually visible
113
on
and
directly
com-
the receiver of the
EDWARD GEIN rifle
shown here
in the photography Exhibit 20,
with the fingerprints on the print card, Exhibit 18.
Q.
And what and 21
A.
A
Edward Gein finger-
comparison did you make between 19
?
similar comparison. But, in addition to the
visual comparison using a magnifier, 1 compared the photograph in that comparison with the photograph of the palm print with the direct
also
original ink palm print of Edward Gein. Q. What did you conclude as a result of those tests? A. I concluded that the fingerprint visible on the rifle, Exhibit 1 7, on the steel receiver was made by the left hand middle finger of Edward Gein. Q. And what did you conclude with regard to Exhibits
A.
19 and 21?
That the palm print on the pistol grip of the rifle stock, Exhibit 1 7, was made by the upper area of
hand palm of Edward Gein. you mark this for Identification please. [Document was marked Plaintiffs Exhibit No. 22 for Identification.] And also mark this State's Exhibit No. 23. [Document was marked Plaintiffs the right
SUTTON: Would
Exhibit No.
Q A.
23 for
Identification.]
Now,
I show you what has been marked State's Exhibit No. 22 for Identification and ask you
what that is. a side-by-side arrangement of the two enlarged photographs representing, on the left side, the visible fingerprint on the receiver of the rifle, Exhibit 1 7, and on the right side, the left middle It's
finger taken from the fingerprint card of Edward Gein. Q. Now, under whose- direction were those photographs taken? A. Under my direction. Q. Now, that exhibit has twelve numerical designations
on
it,
is
that correct?
A. That's correct. Each photograph, both identically marked Nos. 1 through 12.
114
sides,
are
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
Q. Would you explain to the court the significance of those numerical designations, generally? Not necessarily each of the twelve, but just generally. A. The significance of the numbers is to serve as a point, and indicator, for each one of the individual characteristics that serve to identify this unique fingerprint, and it corresponds with the very same characteristics in the known print the inked
—
fingerprint.
Q
Now,
you what has been marked
I show
Exhibit No.
23 for
Identification.
What
is
State's
that?
A.
arrangement of enlarged photographs showing on the left the palm print which I developed on the pistol grip of the rifle, Exhibit 1 7, and on the right, a portion of the palm print which I took in ink of Edward
Q.
And under whose direction
This
also
is
a
side-by-side
Gein.
were those photographs
taken?
A.
Under my
Q.
And
direction.
that exhibit also has
on both
right
and
a numerical designation
left side, is
that correct?
A. That's correct.
Q. Is the significance of those numerical designations the same as on Exhibit 22? A. Yes, they are. They point out the individual characteristic features
Q.
of
this
Did you find any
Edward
particular
palm
print.
prints other than prints of Gein on the gun on that rifle, rather?
—
A. No.
Q. [Frinzi] Now, Mr. Beck, I show you Exhibit 1 again, and assuming that the exhibit is in this is it possible to find the put the palm print in the area that you described where you found it if one were to pick it up from this position with the trigger facing away?
position [indicating],
—
palm
to
A. Assuming
it's
against the wall?
Q. Right. A. Yes.
115
EDWARD GEIN Q.
Now, Mr.
Beck, if the
gun were
in this position
put the palm print in the area you just described? [Frinzi holding gun
[indicating],
is it
possible to
upside down] A. Depends on other obstructions. Q. Assume there are no other obstructions.
A.
Yes. It
would be awkward, but possible. to know if it would be awkward, but
Q. I dont want is it
possible?
A. Yes. Q.
Then turn
it
around with
the
gun
in this position
down:
[indicating], with the trigger facing
gun up
possible to pick the
to
is
it
put the palm print
in the position you described to the court?
A.
Yes.
Q.
And
it's
possible that
Mr. Gein had
hand
in the cradle of the rifle and the in the position you are now indicating,
his right
hand and that
left
both those prints could be placed there while just
holding the gun,
is
that correct?
A. Yes. Q.
Now, am that
I correct that the only prints on the
you discovered
gun
that were suitable for identifica-
tion purposes were the
palm print and
the finger-
print of Mr. Gein? A. That's correct.
Testimony of Wilma Rothermel The
next witness was Wilnta Rothermel,
who
testi-
was with Mrs. Worden on the evening of November 15, 1957, and that they had gone to the hairdresser at Wisconsin Rapids. This fied briefly that she
merely proved that Mrs.
Worden was
116
alive at
mid-
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
night the night of November 15. There were a few questions of Dan Chase and the state rested. The defense then made motions, one of which I granted. This was a motion to dismiss the robbery
count on the cash register. As previously indicated, the state raised no real objection to this motion. The defense then moved for dismissal of the murder count on the ground of insufficiency of evidence.
I
quote only a portion of the argument
by Sutton: .and that Exhibit 1 7 bears the fingerprints of the defendant, Edward Gein, who also is the man on whose premises the body was found to quote from .
.
—
Shakespeare by way of Justice Heffernan in State
Smith "wh finds flesh, and sees fast
by
suspect 'twas he that
made
And
in the
the heifer
Smith
FRINZI: Vd
a butcher with an
case
like
to
v.
dead and bleeding axe, will
the slaughter.
—
know what Shakespearean
play that comes from.
SUTTON: Henry VI. THE COURT: I'll refer you
The
to Justice
Heffernan.
court denied the defense motion with
little
comment.
Testimony of Dr. Miller November
12,
1968.
The defense opened who had
Dr. Miller, one of the psychiatrists
117
with exa-
EDWARD GEIN mined Gein
in 1957.
quote a small portion of
I
his
testimony:
Mr. to the
Gein's recital of the events of the day that led shooting were by way of describing a series of
some
some apparently unrelated, which a certain time in Mrs. Worden's store with the intention of making a purchase; saw him asking her permission to examine the rifle; saw him handling the rifle and inserting a shell into it; events,
trivial,
saw him then
at
saw him attempting
gun going
to
disengage the
shell,
and then
him stating to me that he was not certain whether the gun went off accidentally or not, that he was unable to say that with certainty. That Mrs. orden fell over; that he examined her body to see if she was dead; that he experienced the
off with
W
—he
himself terrified
an animal caged ing what
in a
described himself to
me
as like
room running about not know-
to do.
—
He
then described himself as carrying as dragging her body out_ to a truck which was apparently
not his; putting the body in the truck, puzzled.
puzzled
And he
—about
somehow
able
He
and being
—being
talked a great deal about this the fact there
to start
was no
key, but
he was
it.
then drove the truck out,
and parked it. He and closed
said he walked out in front of everybody the garage door, and then drove the
truck out somewhere, and apparently moved the body from the truck to his car, took the body to his home, and there midst a series of interruptions with people coming somebody wanting to borrow something, someby body having trouble with Ms car midst going out back and forth to deal with people who had come, he began some kind of dissection of the body. Those would be the events of the day as he de-
—
—
scribed them as I
Q. [Frinzi] cal
and
remember them.
Now,
Doctor, within the realm of medi-
psychiatric probabilities,
118
do you have an
AMERICA'S opinion as
to
what caused Edward Gein
manner he did
My
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER to act in the
after the alleged shooting?
to your question is that which the patient gave to me relative not only to this event, but to his prior history, which includes robbing graves, bringing into his home the bodies of females, and handling those bodies in a certain rather compulsive and destructive way, that
A.
opinion with regard
the history
that history
is
relevant in this sense.
me that from about the year 1947, continuing for a period of several years, ceasing, according to his statement, five years before 1957, approximately, that for a period of some years in there, he, with some regularity, robbed the local graveyard, or local graveyards, follwing recent burial of deceased; that he brought home the bodies, all Mr. Gein
related to
female, and that he mutilated them, cut out parts of them, preserved parts of them. These acts were complex, difficult to understand acts, but included in part the attempt of a psychotic and lonely man to bring a form of perverted companionship into his isolated home.
With that background, and the history of his fascination with regard to, and his extraordinary history of involvement with, deceased human female bodies, it would seem to me that the handling of the body of Mrs. Worden takes on complicated understanding. In particular, what seems to me a puzzle, he is attempting to clarify what his intentions would be with regard to a body, female, middle-aged which is characteristic of many of the bodies which he brought home what his intentions would be with regard to the body; whether the body was primarily an object to
—
—
be disposed of because of the guilt associated with it, had other bodies been for
or whether the body was, as
him, a form of trophy, a form of stimulus,
and a part
of a psychotic way of gaining gratification.
So the defense called Edward Gein and rather fully:
119
I
quote
EDWARD GEIN Testimony of Edward Gein
FRINZI: Your Honor,
at this time we'd like to
go
defense of the first part of the case, and as our next witness we'd like to call the defendant,
back
to the
Edward
Gein.
THE COURT:
Mr. Gein, and be sworn? FRINZI: Now, Mr. Gein,
will
you come forward
before
we
start
asking
you any questions, I want to tell you, as your attorney that under the law of the State of Wisconsin you do not have to take the witness stand and testify in this case.
You understand?
THE WITNESS: FRINZI: And several times,
is
Right.
I have gone over this with you
that correct?
THE WITNESS: FRINZI: And
Right.
you don't take the stand and come to any conclusions as to your guilt or innocence because you didn't testify in this case, and the judge cannot draw any inference of your guilt or innocence because you did not take the witness stand. You understand that? testify,
if
the judge cannot
THE WITNESS: FRINZI: And
Yes.
I have gone over this with
you
several times?
THE WITNESS:
Yes.
FRINZI: Knowing you have a right not to testify, what is your pleasure? What is your wish? You want to testify in this case
THE WITNESS: FRINZI:
on your behalf? Yes.
All right.
DIRECT EXAMINATION OF QEIN BY FRINZI: Q. Will you state your A. Edward Gein.
name for
the record please?
Q. And where do you live? A. Well, at the present time in Wautoma. Q.
Now, how
old are you?
120
AMERICA'S
"Q. Will
A.
you
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
state
your name for
Edward Gein."
121
the record, please?
EDWARD GEIN A. Sixty-two. Q. And are you married or single? A. Single. Q. How far did you go in school? A. Eighth grade.
Q. Did you graduate from the eighth grade. A. Yes. Q. Did you go A. No.
to
any schools after that?
Now, Mr.
Gein, on the sixteenth day of November, 1957, where did you live? A. In the Town of Plainfield. Now, did you have a home there? A. On a farm.
Q.
Q
Q. Pardon? A. On a farm. Q. I see. And on this farm where you lived, will you tell the court whether or not you had any rifles or revolvers or pistols? A. Yes.
What, if any, of these types of weapons did you have on your farm at that time? A. One twelve gauge shotgun, one .22 Marlin reQ.
peating bolt action rifle,
old
and one
—what
rifle,
one single shot Stevens
—/ couldn't say—
old style
type
it
A
was.
it
was
.22 single shot
rolling block, I guess they call
it,
and one
old .22
revolver, short barreled, that wouldn't work,
32
a Mauser Q.
Now,
automatic
in the past, did
so
too,
and
pistol.
you at any time do any
hunting? A.
Yes.
Q.
Did you in
at any time have occasion your pocket?
A.
Yes.
Q.
Now, on
to
put
bullets
day of November, 1957, what time you got up on that morning, if you remember? the sixteenth
would you
tell
the court
A. Six o'clock about.
122
AMERICA'S
Q
What,
A. I
if anything, did
made my
the dishes
Q
What
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER breakfast,
—washed
you do
and
after
you got up? up
after that cleaned
the dishes.
did you do? light A. And, it was raining outside at that time and it probably was half an hour till the rain rain died down. Q. All right. What, if anything, did you do after the rain died down? A. Then I decided to go uptown. else
—
—
Q
Now,
before you left your farm, will you tell the court whether or not you took with you any of these rifles or weapons that you had on the farm ?
A. I did not.
Do
you know whether or not you had any bullets your pockets? A. No. Q. Now, after you left the farm, where did you go? A. I took my / was going to get kerosene. I had a kerosene stove. I took the kerosene can, and I put it in my car. And I wanted to get some antifreeze permanent antifreeze a gallon of that so I took a glass container and put that in my car. Q. And where did you go? Q.
in
—
—
A.
—
—
And
then I drove up to Plainfield, and stopped to a Standard station to get the kerosene, and after that I drove to Mrs. Wordens place and parked
in front of her place of business. Q. Now, when you parked your car in front of Mrs. Wordens hardware store, did you park your car
out in the open?
A. Right in the open,
yes.
Q. Now, at the time when you got out of your car, will you tell the court whether or not you observed
—
any people in the area of the hardware store the Worden hardware store? A. Well, right across from Wordens was a filling station run by Spees a fellow by the name of Spees Tm sure that he was out there talking
—
—
123
EDWARD GEIN with someone
else. They always used to weigh deer They had deer scales there. Q. Now, do you remember what day the sixteenth of
there too.
November was,
in
19517
The first day of deer season. Q. All right. Now, would you tell
A.
the court why you did not buy the antifreeze at the gas station where you bought the kerosene ? 1
was an advertisement in the paper a week before that there was a special price on permanent antifreeze at Wordens hardware store. Q. Is that the reason why you went to the Worden hardware store? A. Yes. That same week I bought two gallons, and the next week I went up Saturday and bought A.
Well, there
another gallon. Q.
Now,
will you tell the court whether or not you were in the Worden hardware store on Friday, the day before, on the fifteenth of November,
1957? A. No. Q.
When was
the last time that
Worden hardware
you had been in
store before the sixteenth
the
of
November, 1957, if you remember? A. That was the week before. Q. That was the last time? A. Right.
Now, will you tell the court what happened after you got out of your car after you had parked it in front of the Worden hardware store? What happened then? A. I took my kerosene can and I believe that glass jug at the same time and carried them in no, I / had the kerosene already. I took the left the Q.
—
—
glass container for the antifreeze. Q. And where did you go with that? A. I went into Mrs. Wordens store. And what, if anything, did you do after you got into the store with the glass container? A. I told her I wanted another gallon of that.
Q
124
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Q
And what happened
then'?
—
A. She filled that up, and I took / paid her, and took it out and put \t in my car. Q. After you put this glass container with the antifreeze in your automobile, what, if anything, did you do then? A. And then I went back in because I thought that I wanted to trade my Marlin rifle for one that Mrs. Worden had in her store. What did you do? A. So, I went back in and asked Mrs. Worden if I could look this rifle over. Q. At the time you asked Mrs. Worden if you could try this gun, or rifle rather, where in relation to you was she standing? How far away from you was she? A. She walked up to where the rifles were, and I was standing we were side-by-side.
Q
—
Q. At that time? A. Yes. Q. And what did you do? A. I asked her if I could see that rifle. Q. And what happened then? A. And she said, "Sure. It's my favorite type of rifle."
Q. And what did you do then? A. So I reached in and removed it from under the chain that was in front of the rifle. Q. Where was this gun rack, or rifle rack located in the
A. Q.
It
Worden
was on
How
is
store, if you remember? the east side of the main room. that gun facing? was that
How
facing when you picked
gun
up, if you remember? barrel was resting against it
The back of the rifle and the stock on the bottom of the case. Q. I see. What did you do after you removed this one rifle from the rifle rack? A. I asked her if it would handle all of the .22 calibers, the .22 short, the .22 long, and .22 long rifle, and she said yes. A.
the wall,
125
EDWARD GEIN Q. And then what happened? A. I believe I ashed her if it would handle a .22 short, because there are quite a few rifles that only handle .22 shorts, some longs, and some chambered just for the .22 long rifle. Q. And then what did you do? A. And then I remember that I had been hunting squirrels the day before red squirrels and I felt in my pocket, and there was one or two shells. I couldn't say now. Will you tell the court whether or not you put those shells in your pocket that morning before you left your home, or whether or not they were in your pocket? A. They were in my pocket from the day before. Q. All right. Now, what did you do after you reached in your pocket and felt these shells? What did you
—
—
Q
do? A. I thought I would try it because my Marlin rifle wouldn't handle the .22 long rifle like it was stated it would. All right. What did you do? A. So I took this .22 short and put it in the magazine. Q. Now excuse me, Mr. Gein. I'm going to give you Exhibit 1 7, and ask if you will show the court what you did on that particular morning to the best of your memory. Turn around so the judge
Q
—
can
see you.
A. If I remember how this works. Will you describe to the judge what you are doing, as you did it, as you best remember, on November 16, 1957. A. This is the magazine [indicating]. There should be a slot in here somewhere where the shell goes in. There should be a slot in here. Q. Can you speak up so we can all hear you? THE COURT: He said, "There should be a slot
Q
in here."
FRINZI: [Frinzi handling down here [indicating]. 126
rifle]
There's a slot
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
SUTTON: Object to that as leading and suggestive. FRINZI:
Til withdraw that.
THE COURT: FRINZI:
—
go ahead. Your Honor.
Well, he's apparently
I withdraw that statement,
THE COURT:
I didn't even hear it. Will you speak up so we can hear, Mr.
FRINZI: Gein?
THE WITNESS:
I put the .22 short shell in here
[indicating].
And then what did you do? And slid this down [indicating].
Q. A.
FRINZI: pushed
Let the record show that the witness
down
the tube
THE WITNESS: know either. FRINZI:
into the port.
Now,
this is
something I don't
—
Tell us to the best of your memory the that gun on the sixteenth
you remember doing with day of November, 1957. best
A. You see now release
this is
locked [indicating], there
on here [indicating]. Must be here
is
a
[indi-
cating],
Q. Let the record show that the witness is pointing to the lever on the bottom of the trigger guard. [Pause in proceedings while witness handling rifle] Will you tell us what you did on this particular day? A. Well, that day it was ready for loading, and now this hammer is back in here and she's locked [indicating].
Q. And, then what did you do? A. But after I put the shell in—
Q. You can
sit
what you
down, Mr. Gein. Go ahead. Describe
did.
—
A. I operated
—
there she goes
/ operated this ac-
tion that holds the shell in the chamber, but I
—
didn't have this locked
Q.
A.
the
magazine
locked.
And
then what, if anything, happened? What, if anything, happened after that?
Then
this
I can
tell
here slide will not operate [indicating].
when
the shell enters the
127
chamber of the
EDWARD GEIN
—
—
a clicking sound and there was no this down, but before to operate the slide you have to pull the trigger to release the hammer if I had known this was underneath this [indicating], there's no need of pulling the trigger. That releases the action. So, I had to pull the trigger to release that, but after I pushed this down and operated the slide the shell went into rifle
there's
—
sound, so I shoved
—
the chamber. Q. Then what happened? A. I couldn't pull the trigger because the gun would fire, and I turned the rifle in many positions looking for some release on the rifle. I may have
had
it
this
way
[indicating], this
or might even
had turned
for a
And
release.
here [indicating], I
or
it
in doing
Now,
[indicating],
down looking and trying on
this,
may have pulled
might have gone off by
Q. All right.
way
upside
it
this trigger,
itself I couldn't say.
at that time, did
you hear any
noise?
There was a sound, oh, like a low-powered Just a low sound. Q. You can sit down, Mr. Gein. At that time did you have occasion to look up after you heard this
A.
Yes.
air
rifle.
noise?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you have occasion to see Mrs. Worden? A. Yes. Q. And where was she in relation to you? A. About, I'd say, twelve feet from me. Q. And did you have occasion to see her? A. Yes. She was standing there. Q. What did you observe? A. She was standing there as if she didn't hear. Q. And then what did you observe? A. So I glanced down at the rifle again. Q. And which way was Mrs. Worden facing? A. She had been facing northwest. Q. Now, was her back to you, or was her face
you?
128
to
AMERICA'S Her
A. No.
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
face was towards the north. Kind of
northwest.
Q. Was her back facing you then? A. That's right. Cornerwise. Slantwise. Q. And what did you next observe? A. When I was looking down I heard a sound like something striking metal like a metal can or
—
something.
Q. And then what did you do? orden was gone. I couldn't A. I looked up and Mrs.
W
see her.
Q A.
And
then what did you do? There was an island in between so I coudn't see
around
her, so I stepped
island
this
and
I
saw her
laying there.
Q. And what, if anything, did you do then? A. I believe I laid down the rifle to see if she was hurt or what was wrong.
Q. A.
And And
then what did you do?
saw blood
then I
mind
either the bullet
rifle fired,
Q. Will you
you aimed
had fell
or she
tell
there. So it came to my had struck her when the
that way. I didn't know. whether or not at any time at the person of Mrs. or den?
the court
the rifle
W
A. No, I did not.
Q.
And what on
A.
did you do after you observed
the floor?
From little
here on on,
—
this
blood
well, I better explain this:
from
whenever I saw
blood, I'd either faint or
just about faint. I'd just like black out. So that
why I Q.
can't
What, this
answer
if anything, did
you do with
the
gun
at
time?
A. I believe I put the remember, I had to. Q.
is
at this time.
Do you
recall in
gun
back,
because as I
what position you put
the
gun
back on the rack, if you remember? A. I believe the same as the others. Q. Now, do you remember what, if anything, you did with the body of Bernice orden? What is the
W
129
EDWARD GEIN when you saw Bernice Wardens body on the floor, if you remember? A. I'm afraid I do not remember that. Q. Do you remember anything else you did on that day you saw the body of Bernice Worden on the next thing you did
floor? A. I do not.
Q
Did you
at any time prior to November 16, 1957, Mrs. Bernice Worden that you wanted to go dancing with her? No, I did not. I do not dance. Did you at any time prior to November 16, 1957, ask her to go to a movie with you? No. Did you ever tell her Bernice Worden that you wanted to go roller-skating with her? That was said in a joke after they had opened a roller-skating rink towards Hancock, Wisconsin. Do you remember when that was said? No. That was a long time before. Do you know what the circumstances were? I never roller-skate, because when I was young I tell
A.
Q. A. Q. A.
Q. A. Q. A.
tried roller skates that
Q A. Q. A. Q.
—
—
my
brother had,
and
I fell
on the floor and that cured me. I never tried it since. It was just a joke. Did you ever argue with Bernice Worden? No. Did you ever have a fight with Bernice Worden? No. Did you ever have any bad words with Bernice
Worden? A. No.
Q. Could you ory
tell
how many
the court to the best of your memyou had been in the Worden
times
hardware store? Through the years it would be quite hard to Q. How often in a week would you go there?
A.
tell.
A. Probably once a month.
Q. Did you at any time see or have anything to do with Mrs. Worden away from the hardware store?
130
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
A. No.
Q
Did you ever
see her
away from
the
hardware
store?
A. I seen her on the street. That's all. Like any other person? A. Right. Q. Did you ever have occasion to go to her home?
Q
A. No.
Q.
It's
your testimony you never went out with her
socially?
A.
Yes.
FRINZI:
That's
all.
CROSS-EXAMINATION OF GEIN BY SUTTON: Mr. Gein, before November 16, 1957, am I correct, you had extensive familiarity with the workings of rifles, did you not? A. With the bolt action and single shot. Q. How long when did you first FRINZI: Hold it. Hold it. I can't hear Mr. Gein. Mr. Gein would you speak up loud enough so we can Q.
—
—
hear you?
THE WITNESS: shot
rifles.
That's
With
the bolt action
and
single
all.
SUTTON: When
did you first learn
to
shoot a
rifle?
THE WITNESS:
Oh, single
shot,
about eight
years old.
Q. And, intermittently from the time you were eight until this occurred when you were fifty-one years old,
A.
you had handled
rifles?
Yes. Single shot.
Q. Were you taught the safety precautions in the use
of weapons? A.
Yes.
Q.
Was it your normal procedure to finger the trigger of a weapon when you were checking what kind of shell it took?
A. Not always.
Q. Did you ever do that before?
131
EDWARD GEIN life of one neighbor boy. He crawled through the grass, and he thought he had something in the barrel of this rifle, and he looked down the barrel from the muzzle end, and the hammer was back on the rifle, and I pushed it away. Q. My question is: did you ever handle a rifle like that before with your finger on the trigger when you were checking to see what kind of shell it
A. I saved the
took?
A. No.
Q. You would never do that again, would you? A. No. Q. Why did you do it that day? A. I suppose because I had first time to release the
Q.
to
pull the trigger for the
mechanism.
Did you murder Mary Hogan Bancroft in 1957?
FRINZI: may answer.
Object.
I'll
withdraw
in the
town of
the objection.
He
THE WITNESS:
No. week before this occurrence, do you recall what you did on Monday or Tuesday of that week? Do you recall what you did the day before
SUTTON: Now,
the
the fifteenth?
THE WITNESS: I believe I sawed wood Friday helped the neighbors saw wood cordwood. Q. Did you go into Plainfield on Friday at all?
—
—
A. No. Q. How about Thursday? A. I dont remember. Q. Any time that week do you remember going into Plainfield? A. No. Q. When did you purchase '-the two gallons of antifreeze that you already had?
That was the week before. Q. Where did you buy that? A. Mrs. Wordens. Q. Why didnt you buy three gallons?
A.
132
AMERICA'S A. Because
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
—metal
was a two-gallon container
it
container.
Q
What were you going
A.
Two of my cars pickup and passenger car. And had you already installed the two gallons
Q.
—
antifreeze that
to
use the antifreeze for?
of
you purchased?
A. Yes. In which? The pickup or the car? A. Both. But you needed another gallon of antifreeze? A. Yes. Q. Was the antifreeze on sale when you went in the
Q Q
week before? A.
Yes.
Do you
deny having a conversation with Frank the opening of deer season? A. I didn't have FRINZI: I didn't hear you, Mr. Gein. THE WITNESS: I don't remember anything about Q.
Worden about
—
that.
SUTTON: tion?
You don't remember having a conversaYou might have had a conversation about the
opening of deer season? A. I'd say no, that I didn't. Q. Do you deny asking Mrs. Worden to go rollerskating with you? A. In a joke I said, "Let's go try out the new floor." Q. A.
Was
A
that the
week before
month or more
this
happened?
before.
Q. Is there any reason why you remember it? A. Because that was a new roller-skating rink that had been put in. That's how the joke come. How long had you lived on the farm? A. In the Town of Plainfield?
Q
Q, Yes. A. Since I was / believe since I was eight years Q. How long had you known Mrs. Worden? A. Oh like personally?
—
—
Q. Yes. A. Sixteen or seventeen years
133
old.
old.
.
EDWARD GEIN Q. You mean you were sixteen or seventeen? A. Yes. That's right. Q. How old was she then, do you remember? A. I couldn't say. Q. Was she also a young woman? Was that before she was married? Let me ask you that. A. She was married to Worden then. Q. Do you remember the circumstances of her marriage to
Mr. Worden?
A. No. Q. Did you ever tell anybody that you remembered the circumstances of her marriage to Mr. Worden?
THE WITNESS: ried before
You see, Mrs. Worden was marwe was up in that country, so I couldn't
say.
SUTTON:
Well, that's not exactly my question. ever remember telling anyone you knew about the circumstances of her marriage? Let me ask you this: did you ever tell anyone Mrs. Worden had stolen her husband from another girl?
Do you
A. I was told
that.
Q. And you resented A. No. Q.
Do you know ted suicide?
A. I was told
that, didn't
you?
that the other girl allegedly commit-
Did you know
that?
that.
Q. And you remember that day, don't you? A. Right. Q. And you knew that in 1957? A. Well, I never thought of that at that time. Q. Isn't it a matter offact that you held Mrs. Worden responsible for the death of that girl? A. I don't believe I did.
Q.
You
don't believe
you did? You might have?
Is
that it?
FRINZI:
I can't hear that question.
SUTTON:
Did you ever tell anyone you thought Mrs. Worden was a bad woman because of that? THE WITNESS: No.
134
AMERICA'S Q.
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
When you went
into this store, did
you take in a
glass container?
A. Yes.
Q
By a that
"glass container"
a
A. Well, you'd call
Q
A jug? And
what do you mean? Was
or what?
bottle,
it
a jug.
Mrs. Worden, where did she fill the
antifreeze from?
A. In the office from a steel barrel. Q. And then you paid her for it? A. Yes. And then you left the store, is that right? A. To put the jug in my car. Q. Where did you put it in your car? A. I believe the back seat, on the floor.
Q
Q
Now, you said that you wanted your guns on this one?
to
trade in one of
A. Right.
Why didn't you bring that down to you? A. Because I wanted to try it out first Q. Check it for what? Q.
the store with
—check
A. To ask whether
it
it.
could use the three caliber, the
long rifle, because I wanted a would handle all three. You had no rifle that would handle all three? No. But you didn't bring your gun with you? Not at that time. When you went back into the store, did you tell Mrs. Worden you were thinking of trading your gun in on that one? short, the long, or rifle that
Q. A. Q. A.
Q.
A. Yes. Q. Did you
Did
know
was the usual procedure? weapons on the ones they were
that that
they allow
selling?
A.
Yes.
Q. A.
And
then what did she say to you?
How
do you mean that?
135
EDWARD GEIN Q. I mean, what did she say to you
you wanted
Did
to
she say something to you about
favorite rifle?
A.
when you
told her
trade in your rifle on thai one?
Did you
testify to that
it
on
being her direct?
Yes.
Q. Did you just forget that a minute? A. You see, you confuse me a little bit there. Did she say that or didn't she? A. She said that before, yes, when I asked if it would
Q
handle all three cartridges, the short, long, and long rifle. Q. What did she say ? A. She says, "Yes, it will.
It's
my favorite weapon
—or
rifle."
Q. And, you didn't believe her, is that it? A. Well, I doubt if anybody would believe everything just by saying so, especially when I was told that the rifle that I bought dle all three,
and
it
—
that
Marlin would han-
didn't.
Q.
What kind of a coat were you wearing Mr. Gein? Do you remember?
A.
Summer jacket.
that day,
Q. Where were the shells? A. In my overall pocket. Q. And you had put them there the day before? A. Yes. Q. And you had been hunting squirrels the day before? A. Red squirrels. Q. Did you shoot any squirrels the day before? A. I believe I did. One.
Q.
Now, was Mrs. Worden there when you took shell out and inserted it into the weapon?
A.
Yes.
the
Q. Did she say anything then? A. At that time she was lodftirig out the window, towards the north. Q. She had her back to you then? A. Well, on a slant. Q. Did she see what you were doing with the gun? A. I doubt it.
136
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
FRINZI: Wait a
THE COURT:
minute. I want to get that answer. "I
doubt it." tell her you were going
SUTTON: Did you a
shell into the
to
put
gun?
A. No.
Q
And, as you
you had weapon?
described,
the shell into the
difficulty
putting
A. Right.
Q. Why was that? A. Because this magazine is different than the one on my Marlin. Did you ask her anything about that?
Q
A. No. Q. About how long would you say it took for you to figure out how to put the shell into the weapon? A. Three four minutes. Q. And during that time, during that three or four
—
minutes, where was Mrs. Worden? A. I would say at that time she was looking out the window at her son-in-law's Chevrolet new Chev-
—
rolet.
Q
Where was
that?
A. Parked over by the Gambles
store.
Q. Could you see that from inside the store? A. Yes. Q. And how did you know that was her son-in-law's new Chevrolet? A. She said so. Q. You had more conversation in the store then? A. You never asked before. Q. What did she say about that? A. She said, "I see Bud has a new car. I do not like the Chevrolet." Q. What did you say? A. I didn't say anything. Q. You were trying to put the shell into the gun? A. Yes. Q. Now, will you stand up again and take the rifle in your hands, please? [Witness picked up rifle] Now, the time you were attempting to put the
137
EDWARD GEIN weapon, was the gun in substansame position it is in now? A. I believe I was working with the magazine here shell into the
tially the
[indicating].
Q. And you are right-handed, aren't you? A. Yes. So I presume that you used your right hand to manipulate the magazine? A. Rigt. Q. Would you do it again as you did when Mr. Frinzi was cross-examining? FRINZI: Direct examining. SUTTON: When Mr. Frinzi had you on direct examination. THE WITNESS: Well, you pull it all the way up [pulling out magazine tube]. You have to with this
Q
rifle.
Q. And then you put the shell in? A. Right. Q. And it took you three or four minutes to figure it out? A. This works altogether different than my Marlin. Q. But, it took you three or four minutes to figure that out? A. You see
—
Q.
That's right, isn't
or four minutes
it,
Mr. Gein?
It took
you
three
figure it out? FRINZI: Now, just a minute. COURT: Wait a minute. He's trying to
THE
figure
—
THE WITNESS:
It took that
locks different than mine.
long because
Then I operated
to
this
the action,
but no shell came in. You can hear a clicking sound when the shell goes into the chamber. SUTTON: Were you holding the weapon as you are now? A. Yes.
Q. With regard to where you were standing, where was Mrs. Worden standing when you were doing this?
138
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
A. While I was doing there.
Q
she was standing over
this
[Witness pointing] Slant.
That's where the
window
is?
A. Right. Q. Were you facing this direction? A. Right. And she had her back to you and she was looking out the window?
Q
Well, she was on a slant. Q. And then what happened? A. Then you have to lock this in like that [indicating]. It's altogether different than the Marlin. Q. Go ahead. What happened then? to operate the action you A. Then, you see, before have to pull the trigger if it's cocked before. When I operated the slide that naturally cocked the gun
A.
—
and
locked
it.
Q. Just as you are standing now you did it? A. Well, I was just demonstrating now. That's what I want you to do to the best of your
Q
recollection.
FRINZI: Just a him
to
minute. Just a minute. Let's get understand. I think he should be
SUTTON: witness.
He
I
—
object
can have
to
this.
I'm examining the
redirect.
Id like to ask that the prosecutor inform the witness as to his question that he wants him to demonstrate as best he knows how how he did it on the sixteenth of November, 1957. FRINZI: Just a
THE COURT:
minute.
I don't
—
know whether
that's
—
what
he wants or not.
SUTTON: Of course FRINZI: Ask him
that's
THE COURT: All right. SUTTON: You have been you did on Mr. Gein?
the sixteenth of
THE WITNESS: Q.
Show
us
what I want.
then.
demonstrating just what November, haven't you,
No.
how you did
November.
139
it
on
the sixteenth of
EDWARD GEIN A.
That's quite hard to remember after almost eleven years, but I'd say I probably bly took three or four
—
like I says, it probaminutes that I figured out to
this button and slide it. Were you holding the gun like that? A. As I'm right-handed, I would. Q. Now, we have gotten past that point to the fact that you have gotten the gun into the bullet into the gun. Now, you're having difficult with the
push
Q
—
trigger, right?
A. Right. Q.
Mrs. Worden is standing sideways looking out the window, right?
A.
Off this way
Q
[indicating].
You're looking at me, light? A. Right.
Q. And that's the way you were in the store? A. That's when I pumped the shell and was operating it, right.
Now, demonstrate
to me how you held the weapon you were trying to work the trigger. I don't want you to turn, Mr. Gein, I want you to show me how you did it, not the judge. Show me how you did it. A. That's what I was just going to show you. This
Q.
as
way. [Witness turning
to the right
a
little]
Q. Why? A. You see, after almost eleven years, it's pretty hard to show exactly how I stood almost eleven years ago. Everybody should admit that. Q. But you do remember that you turned? A. Yes. I may have been standing this way after I loaded it [indicating], but I was facing you because we were talking and. I naturally turned that way, and I hate to point this at people. THE COURT: Go ahead. If it isn't empty it's somebody else's fault. I'll blame you, Sheriff. FRINZI: Hold it. Before we do any more demonstrating, I value my life. I'd like to have one of the firearms guys back there check this gun. This gun
140
AMERICA'S was
used.
Can
to see if there
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
I be excused a minute to check it out are any bullets in herel [Wilimovsky
checking gun] Judge, if anything happens we can blame the State of Wisconsin. Mr. Wilimovsky says there is nothing in the gun. COURT: Okay. Leave it there until he asks you a question. Go ahead, Mr. Sutton. SUTTON: Before we get back to that, I refreshed my recollection on something. The weapon you were
THE
to trade in an this one, which of the caliber didnt it fire? A. Twenty-two long rifle would jam. Q. And you were interested in buying a gun that would shoot that caliber? The shell you put in here was a .22 short, wasnt it?
going shells
A. Right. Q.
How would that prove
to
you
it
would shoot a .22
long?
a difference in rifles. Some will no long, and some are chambered just for the .22 long rifle. Q. And you wanted one which shot the .22 long? A. All, the short, long, and long rifle. Q. Now, will you stand up again, please? Take the rifle in your hands. Now, would you lean it against the wall in back of your chair as it was similar to the position it was in when you first saw it in the store? Now, you went up and picked A.
You
see, there 's
take a .22 short but
—
—
the
A.
weapon up,
is
that right?
—
hasnt been mentioned in any in the court proceedings so far, but there was a chain across It
here
and
full length in front of the
rifles,
and
some shotguns, I guess. Q. So, what happened then? A. To take it out youd have to take it this way out [indicating], from underneath the chain. Q. And did you do that? A. Yes. Q.
And, where was Mrs. Worden when you did that?
141
EDWARD GEIN A. She probably would be just where the judge
is
down. Standing there. Q. And, was this the point where you had the conversitting
sation with her?
A. Yes.
Q
What did she say to you at this point? A. This was the point when I ashed her about if handled
Q
And
it
all three.
she said, yes?
A. Yes. Q. And what did you do then? A. Just looking the rifle over then. That's all at that time.
Q
And
then what happened?
A. Well, she walked over then. Q. Did she walk over by the window? A. Yes. Q. In what direction is that? A. Northwest. Q. In a northwest direction she walked? A. That's right.
Q. And then what did you do? A. I just demonstrated that once already. Q. I know, and I'm sorry to belabor the point, but I'd like you to demonstrate it again. This time facing the right direction.
A. Well, reaching in the pocket, putting the shell
and
in,
you don't push this so it goes down, it won't chamber the shell. Q. And this took you three to four minutes, and during this time she was over by the window, is if
that right?
A.
You
operate
—
Q. Is that right, Mr. Gem? That took you three or four minutes while she was over by the window? A. You're wrong. Q. Well, what happened? A. I stated before that I operated the action, and no shell
went in
the chamber.
142
AMERICA'S
Q A.
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
All right Then I didn't see any release, so the only way do it is point it down and pull the trigger.
to
Q. Point it toward the floor? A. Right. And that's what you did in exactly that position,
Q
or as close as you can recall?
A. That's right. (?. Then how did you shoot Mrs. Worden if she was standing over there? A. She wasn't standing there. Where was she standing? A. She was standing where I told you. She was northwest of me. Q. She was by the window when you shot her? A. Facing the window. I still don't know how it works. [Witness handling gun]
Q
Q
All right. As you were bringing the gun down, the gun accidentally discharged, right?
you say A. I'd say
Q
that, yes.
And you
looked
up when you heard
the report?
A. Right.
Q
And you saw Mrs. Worden
standing up ?
A. Right. Q.
And
then you looked
up and you
down
again,
and you looked
couldn't see her?
A. I heard that noise.
Q. You may
A
.
sit down. Something striking metal
like;
—
something rattling
metal rattling. Q. You may sit down. Where was the counter in this store with relation to where you were standing. A.
There was an island in front here where things could be put on. There were things on it too.
Q. Where was the side door, the door
was? A. That would be over here
to the
—where
the truck
gun
at the north
end of
rack.
Q. Where did Mrs.
Worden 's body come 143
to rest?
the
EDWARD GEIN A. Northwest from
me where
I was standing on the
floor.
Q
That was quite a lengthy distance, would you the door to where the truck was?
say,
from A.
Oh— me
was it on the same side of the door to the truck was? A. You see, in back through that doorway was where they overhauled tractors, and I guess, loading Q. Let
ask you
this:
store as ivhere the
and
Q
and then off on the side there park a truck or car off south
things like that,
was a room from there. Well,
my
to
—
was that door on the opposite ordens body from where Mrs.
question:
side of the store
W
came to rest as you described the shooting? A. That would be east. That goes in the back part. Q. Let me ask you this: did her body come to rest close to where the door was to the truck area? A. No. Q. Some distance away from that? A. Right.
Q
Then what did you do after you heard the noise of something hitting metal? A. I went over to see what it was what caused it. Q. Now, by "went over" would you describe what you mean by that? Did you walk directly, or did
—
—
you go A. I had
by
to
—
to the end of the where I was. counter, where was her body?
walk around the back
island. I couldn't see her from
Q. With relation to the A. That would be northwest. Yes, northwest. Q. Was the counter between you and her body ? A.
Yes.
Q.
And,
by
mean
by that?
"island," could
you
tell
us what you
in hardware stores, where they put on canned goods. Any store they call them islands. It's like a table, and most of them have shelves.
A. They generally call them, islands,
144
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Q. How high was that? A. Oh, 3 112 feet or so.
Q. So you walked around the island? A. Yes. Q. Was her body on the other side of that island? A. Right. Q. So her body was not in back of the counter?
THE COURT:
Are
and
the counter
the island the
same thing?
THE WITNESS: SUTTON:
No, they're different. The counter and island are two
differ-
ent objects, right?
THE
VSITNESS:
SUTTON: And
Right.
you
testified that
her was behind that island? FRINZI: Wait a minute. Object This is not the testimony.
SUTTON: Then
he can say no. minute. Don't
FRINZI: Just a say. I got
an
objection,
and
where you shot
to that question.
tell
him what to form of the
object to the
question as assuming a fact not in evidence. COURT: Well, I think your phrasing
THE
is
Mr. Sutton. Rephrase it, please. SUTTON: At the time you shot Mrs. Worden, you
unfortunate,
were standing on one side of the island, right? FRINZI: Just a minute. Object on the same ground that there is a conclusion in the answer. He's assuming a fact not in evidence.
THE COURT: can get at
it
FRINZI:
Well, I think so too. I think you without using that phraseology. Fortunately we don't have a jury. This
would be prejudicial
THE COURT:
error.
Well, you're not prejudicing the
court.
FRINZI:
I
know
THE COURT:
that,
Judge.
All right,
try it
again.
SUTTON: at the
With regard to the island, Mr. Gein, time you shot Mrs. Worden where were you
standing?
FRINZI: Just a
minute. Mr. Gein, don't answer.
145
EDWARD GEIN THE COURT:
The trouble is "at the time he an implication of a conclusion there. SUTTON: The gun was in your hand, according your testimony, and you pulled the trigger, and the
shot." There's
to
gun went off, right? FRINZI: Wait a
minute. If he wants to ask a triple question, not a double question. Vm going to object. THE COURT: I think you can go back to your other phrasing of it, Mr. Sutton, and leave out this
—
questions
that's
"he shot her" part.
SUTTON: When the gun went off, Mr. Gein, where were you standing with relation to this island you're talking about? FRINZI: If he
knows.
SUTTON: If he doesn't know,
I assume he wouldn't
answer.
THE WITNESS: SUTTON:
East of
that.
And, where was Mrs.
THE WITNESS:
Worden?
I believe that's been
gone over
half a dozen times.
THE COURT: We may have to go over it again. SUTTON: With relation to the island, where was she?
THE WITNESS:
She was on
the northwest side
of the island. Q. Was she on the other side of the island? A. Right. Q. Now, where you were standing when the gun went off, where was the counter the store counter?
—
A. By her Q.
Well,
office.
in
what direction from where you were
standing?
A. That was north. Q. That was almost, would you say, directly north of where you were standing? A. Right.
Q
So, if I understand the time the
your testimony
gun went
off
146
and
correctly, at
at the time that
AMERICA'S Mrs. Warden
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
disappeared, she was standing north-
west of this island you testified to? FRINZI: Just a minute. Object to the
form of the
question as assuming a fact not in evidence. There
is
nothing here that the body disappeared. THE COURT: Yes. He said so. Disappeared from his sight.
FRINZI: He should
THE COURT: FRINZI: The
state so in his question.
Oh, I think—
appelate court wouldn't understand
that.
THE COURT: Go ahead, Mr. Sutton. SUTTON: At the time the gun went off and Mrs. Worden disappeared from your view, she was standing on the other side of that island, right?
THE WITNESS: Q.
And about fifteen is
A.
Yes.
or twenty feet east of the counter,
that right?
West.
Q. Which direction was she from the counter? FRINZI: Why don't you answer the question?
THE COURT: He from
asked what direction she was
the counter.
SUTTON: Do you
deny that she fell in back of the
counter?
THE WITNESS:
I do.
Q. All right. Then what did you do after you went
around
the isle?
A. Looked at her. Q. Was she facedown on the floor or was she faceup? A. Well, you'd call it faceup. Q. She was faceup? A. Yes. Q. She was laying on her back? A. Yes. Q. All right. A. Yes.
And you
testified that
you saw blood?
Q. Did you see a lot of blood? A. Just blood. I couldn't say how much.
147
EDWARD GEIN Q.
And
where was the blood coming from, could you
tell?
A. No.
Q
Was
A.
Yes.
Q.
And the
there blood by her
head?
—
then you took the
gun around
Did you take you when you
strike that.
the counter with
went to look at her body? A. I can't remember that. Q. And then you went and put the rifle back in the rack? A. Yes. Q. Did you put it underneath the chain? A. I cant remember that. Q. But you do remember putting it in the rack? A. Either over it or under it. Q. And then what did you do? A. Well— ordens body then? Q. Did you move Mrs. A. That's where I can't remember too well.
W
Well, search your recollection. Do you remember moving her body? A. I can't remember that. Q. Let me ask you this, Mr. Gein: Do you consider yourself a good shot with a rifle? FRINZI: Objected to, Your Honor. THE COURT: He may answer. THE WITNESS: At that time I was seeing double. SUTTON: Oh, you were seeing double? A. If I looked close up I'd see double. If I looked through rifle sights or something I'd have to wear
Q.
glasses.
Q. Did you have glasses on? A. No.
Q. You remember that? A. Yes. Q. You're sure of that? A. Right. Q. When you went over and looked at Mrs. Worden's body did you know she was dead?
148
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
A. No.
Q. Did you realize that she had been shot? A. I saw blood, that's all.
Q. Did you think to get a doctor? A. I'd say no to that. Q. Did you think that there was any connection between the fact that you had been handling that
weapon and it discharged, and the fact was laying on the floor with some blood?
that she
A.
Yes.
Q
So then did you take her body around behind
the
counter? A. No. You're sure of that? A. Yes. Did you take her body out
Q Q
to the
back of the store
where the truck was? A. That I don't remember. When did you see your car again?
Q Q
A.
The same
day.
When
do you remember seeing the car again? A. The same day. That's all I can answer. Q. Well, how long after what happened in Mrs.
W
orden's store? A. Probably an hour. Q. Where did you see it, do you remember? A. Parked in front of her store. Q. Okay. What happened then? A. Drove home, I guess. You don't remember driving home? A. I remember being home. Q. And do you remember being home with Mrs. orden's body? A. I don't remember that. Q. Look at these pictures, Mr. Gein. Do you remem-
Q
W
ber that?
A. [Witness looking at photographs] Some of these
—
pictures
Q.
Do you remember some FRINZI: You've
of these pictures? Mr. Gein, so the
got to answer,
149
EDWARD GEIN reporter can mark it down. [Witness looking at photographs and shaking head with long pause in proceedings] Would the court reporter indicate on the record that the witness nodded his head in a negative manner? SUTTON: Object. I have no idea what he means.
FRJNZI: Ask
SUTTON: what
him.
I ask you again.
Do you remember
those pictures portray?
A. I know what they portray y but I don't remember seeing anything like this.
Q
You dont remember seeing that at your farm? All You may put the photographs down. Do
right.
you remember eating supper that evening? That was to Lester Hill's place. Q. What time did you go over there? Do you remem-
A.
ber that?
A.
Q
That was after dinner, but His daughter It was after dinner?
—
I couldn't exactly say.
A. Yes. Q. Where did you eat dinner? A. To home. His daughter and her brother,
—
and
two brothers came to my place. Q. They came to your place? A. Right. Did you tell them that anything had happened Mrs. Worden?
Q
— to
A. No.
Q
Why
not?
A. I couldn't say.
Q. You had no reason for not telling them? FRENZI: He already answered he couldn't say,
Your Honor. Object
to 'the
question as repetitive.
He
already answered the question.
THE COURT: I think he answered. SUTTON: Were you afraid that you'd hended by the police? FRINZI: Object on answered.
He
the
same grounds
said he can't say.
150
be appre-
He
already
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER THE COURT: Well, the court doubts if it's
a
proper question.
SUTTON: Mr.
Gein,
when you
took the rifle out
of the case, could you recall whether the safety mechanism was on or off? THE WITNESS: It must have been off because the action worked.
Q. Did you manipulate at all the safety mechanism
during the time you handled the
rifle?
A. No. Q. Did you recollect these events as you testified to them today in October of this year, 1968? A. Would you explain that? Q. Yes. Last month did you remember these events that
you
testified to?
A. Yes, I believe
Q.
so.
Have you remembered
these events continuously
since they occurred?
A. For a quite a few years.
FRENZI: What was that answer? THE WITNESS: For quite a few years.
SUTTON: Did you remember them on the night of November 16, 1957, when you were arrested? A. All the events? Q. Events you the
gun
testified to today, the
—of
the rifle
—and
manipulation of
the other things
you
testified recalling today.
A.
Tm sure
of
Q
Do you
recall
it.
having a conversation with Dr. Crawley in the Winnebago County jail on October 23, 1968? [Dr. William Crawley, a psychiatrist from Milwaukee]
A. Yes. Q.
You
didn't
tell
Dr. Crawley any of these things,
did you? A. Just answered his questions. Some of his questions were about what happened in Mrs. Wordens store weren't they? A. He didn't ask me very many questions as I remember.
Q
151
EDWARD GEIN Q. You admit that you didn't tell him anything about this loading of the gun, and having the difficulty putting the bullet in, and wanting to test it to see whether it took .22 shorts, and having your finger on the trigger and having the weapon go off? You didn't tell him any of those things, did you? FRINZI: Just a minute. Object to that question. The question was whether he admitted to Dr. Crawley these things. It's an improper question, Your Honor. SUTTON: Did you tell him about those things? THE WITNESS: No.
Do you remember
Q.
the night of
November 16,
1957, and having a conversation with Deputy Dan Chase about what had happened in Mrs. Worden's store? A. At the jail. Wautoma jail. Q. You didn't tell him anything about this either, did you? A. I believe I tried
Q
You
you
say
to,
told
but they wouldn't listen. them that you put in the .22
short and all of those things? FRINZI: Just a minute. Object
That was not about
his statement.
to the question.
He said he didn't ask
him
it.
THE COURT: He
said he tried to
tell
them but
they wouldn't listen.
SUTTON: Now, were a
little
you
testified that
ever since you
boy the sight of blood caused you to black
out?
A.
Yes.
Q. Is that animal blood as well as human blood? A. Well, it would have been the same.
Q.
When you went hunting for squirrels animals, did you black out
or deer, or
when you would
see
blood?
A. I didn't hunt deer. Q. Well, the squirrels that you shot, the one squirrel you shot the day before, when you shot it, did it
152
AMERICAS MOST BIZARRE MURDERER A. I
Q
left it lay
Did
it
where
it
fell.
bleed?
A. I didn't go
up
to see.
Q. Because you were afraid you'd black out if you
went up
to see it?
A. I couldn't answer that. Did you ever dress an animal
Q
—
for
and prepare
it
after killing it?
My father and mother done that. Q. Were you ever present when that was done? A. Seldom. Q. On occasion were you, though? A. Right. Q. Did you pass out then, or black out, I mean? There was a lot of blood then, wasn't there, under those circumstances? A. Not small animals, no. Q. Well, did you experience this blackout when you would see any blood when your father was doing A.
this?
When
A.
we'd butcher I'd always walk out in the
field or something like that,
away from
it.
Q. Your mother died in 1945, is that correct? A. I believe so. From 1945 to 1957, did you ever have occasion to butcher any animals, small or large? A. No. Do you deny that you mutilated Mrs. Worden's body as those photographs show it? Q. [Long pause] I don't remember it, but Q. If you did do it, is that the first time you ever did anything like that?
Q Q
—
FRINZI:
Object to the question.
SUTTON: FRINZI:
He
I
mean
to
an animal.
I believe that question has been answered.
said he doesn't remember.
THE COURT: He said he didn't
remember doing
that.
SUTTON: Do
you deny you ever butchered an
animal yourself?
153
EDWARD GEIN FRINZI: He
already answered that. Object on the repetitious. Mr. Sutton asked if he butchered animals, large or small, and he said no.
grounds that
it's
THE COURT:
That's been covered.
He
said he
any animals. SUTTON: Other than your amnesia relating to the events after Mrs. Worden was shot in the Worden store, were there any other times in your life that you have had amnesia or that you have no recollection of the events that happened? FRINZI: I'll object to that, Your Honor. It's not didn't butcher
within the province of
—
If he experienced this type of amnesia before? Do you know what I mean by "amnesia"? this witness.
SUTTON: Have you
THE WITNESS. Yes. THE COURT: He says yes. FRINZI: If he had amnesia, he wouldn't know. The very statement begs the question. THE COURT: No, he may answer. THE WITNESS: When I was to Central State—to give you a little example / wheeled in a patient for examination in the operating room, and he had a rectal examination and they put an expander which caused bleeding, and I almost passed out then. That was Dr. Laramore there and Dr. Schneider. SUTTON: Other than that, can you tell the judge whether you ever experienced amnesia as you testified you did on November 16, 1957? FRINZI: Object to the form of the question, Your
—
Honor. There's nothing in the record where he said he experienced amnesia on November 16, 1957. He testified to certain questions that were put to him. SUTTON: Well, all right. I'll withdraw that. Mr. Gein, you recall these events that transpired on the morning of November 16. About what time did this happen?
FRINZI: I'll object to the vagueness of the question. What are we referring to? SUTTON: What time were you handling the weapon and the gun went off? 154
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
THE WITNESS: Probably half past eight. Q. In the morning? A. Right. Q. What is the next thing you remember that day? A. That would be when this Darlene Hill and her brother Bob and her little brother came to my place. That's the plainest I can remember. Q. What time was that? A. That was right after twelve
o'clock,
Vd
say.
Q. Noon? A. Noon.
Q.
So,
Vm
correct that
you do not remember any
event that transpired between approximately 8:30 in the morning and 12:30 November 16, 1957.
in the afternoon
on
A. Except what I testified to. Q. Except what you testified to, is that right? A. Right. Q. Do you remember anything about the cash register in the orden store?
W
FRINZI:
Objected
to
THE COURT:
was
if
he remem-
it.
THE WITNESS: put money
may answer
Well, he
bers anything about
her, she
as immaterial. That case
Your Honor.
dismissed,
The only
thing,
when
I paid
in.
SUTTON: How many bullets did you have in your pocket when you went into the Worden store? A. That I couldn't say. Well, could you say that they were all the same
Q
caliber?
A.
Yes.
Q. Were thy all .22 shorts? A. Yes.
Q. You had no .22 longs? A. For squirrels I used shorts.
Q. You had no .22 longs with you? A. No.
Q
Was
it
your intention
to test the
155
weapon
to see
EDWARD GEIN whether
it
took
22
long
shells
and .22 long
rifle
shells?
A. I didn't have any with me. Q. So that was not your intention? A. So I couldn't test it. Q. That's
want
my point. Was
your intention? Did you
that
whether it could shoot .22 longs and .22 long rifle bullets? A. I couldn't test it without shells.
Q
to test that rifle to see
Did you want
to test it?
A. Remember, I said I asked her. Q. But, you didn't believe her when she told you, did
you? A. No.
FRINZI:
as argumentative. tell— FRINZI: Wait a minute. SUTTON: Let me finish my question. FRINZI: You finished your question. I want the
Object
to that
SUTTON: Did you
court to rule.
THE COURT: As far as
the original question
you
asked, the court will sustain the objection as argu-
mentative.
SUTTON: Did
you
examination, Mr. Gein, it
tell
me
earlier in
when Mrs. Worden
cross-
you you didn't believe her was true in your other told
took the three caliber bullets,
because they told you that
gun? FRINZI: gone over
Object to that question as repetitive. He's
that before.
THE COURT: He may answer. THE WITNESS: Will you repeat
that, please?
SUTTON: Read
Do you
it
back
to
him.
under-
stand what I mean?
THE WITNESS: I'd say yes.
Q
And
A.
Yes.
Q.
Am
that
is
why you
inserted the .22 short, right?
I correct that you have stated that you were
interested in determining whether the rifle could
156
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
take .22 shorts, .22 longs,
and .22 long
rifles,
but you didn't have any .22 long shells, did you?
A. No.
Q
And you
didn't
have any .22 long
rifle shells,
did
you? A. No. Q.
And
as a matter offact that
is
not why you loaded
that bullet into that rifle at all,
FRINZI:
Objected
SUTTON: FRINZI:
That's
is it
Mr. Gein?
as argumentative.
to all.
I got a couple redirect questions.
THE COURT: All right. REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY FRINZI: Q. Mr. Gein,
how
old were you at the time that your
had this meat market? If you remember. A. Around five. Q. You were five years old? folks
A.
Yes.
Q.
Now, what, if any, activity did you see across the street from the orden hardware store at the time
W
you arrived there? A. Mr. Spees
and another
person.
Q. And what were they doing, if you remember? A. I believe they were getting a deer scale ready for weighing.
Q
Pardon?
A.
Getting a deer scale ready for weighing deer.
Q.
Now, Mr. Gein, did you ever see anyone shot before your eyes prior to November 16, 1957?
A. No. Q.
When
did you first decide
Worden hardware
store?
to test this rifle in the
Was
it
after
you bought
the antifreeze?
SUTTON: FRINZI:
Object.
Leading and suggestive.
Tell us when.
THE WITNESS:
Yes, after.
That would be
after.
Q. Pardon? A. After. Q.
What was your
reason, originally, for going to
157
EDWARD GEIN the Worden 1957?
on
store
the sixteenth
day of November,
A. For the antifreeze. Q. To buy antifreeze? A. Yes.
FRINZI:
That's
THE COURT:
all.
Is that all,
Mr. Sutton?
SUTTON: No. I have a question. RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY SUTTON: SUTTON: After you bought the antifreeze, you decided
to test the
weapon to see whether it would fire and .22 long rifle bullets?
.22 short, .22 long,
FRINZI:
Objected
SUTTON:
to.
That's not the evidence here.
I'm asking him whether
that's true
or
This
is
not.
FRINZI: That was
not his
testimony.
recross-examination.
THE COURT:
I'm going
to
sustain the objection.
That's not a proper question.
SUTTON: Did you after
you had taken
make
that decision,
Mr. Gein,
the antifreeze out to the car?
FRINZI: Object to the form of the question. We know what he's referring to. What decision?
don't
SUTTON: FRINZI:
The decision to test the rifle. to, Your Honor.
Objected
THE COURT: He may THE WITNESS: Yes.
answer.
SUTTON: You thought of that while you were putting the antifreeze in your back seat?
THE WITNESS:
Yes.
Q. And then you went back into the store? A. Yes. Q. And then you discovered the bullets in your pocket? A. Yes.
Q
So when you made the decision you didn't even know you had pocket?
FRINZI:
Objected to. That's all
SUTTON: FRINZI:
I want a ruling.
158
to fire the rifle,
bullets in
your
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
THE COURT: guing
to the
FRINZI: He the big
Objection sustained.
You're ar-
court through the witness.
goes too fast for me,
and
Vm from
city.
THE COURT: FRINZI: He
I have
no doubts.
does that
when
it's
going against
him. I have one more question.
THE COURT: All right. REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY FRINZI: Mr. Gein, you see Dr. Schubert and you see Dr. Miller?
Q.
in court here
today
A. Right. it was a month after November 1 6 that you them what you testified here today about what orden store? happened in the
Q. And, told
W
A. I believe
so.
Following the testimony of Edward Gein the
defense presented an expert on firearms to
who
tried
demonstrate that the shooting was accidental.
Testimony of Frank November
Worden
Even murder trials are not on this day a stir went through the courtroom with Sutton's opening 13,
1968.
usually too dramatic, but
statement:
My first witness and he has
this
merous other times in the here
Mr. Frank Worden, and nupast when I have been up
morning
is
indicated both on this occasion
and attempted
to talk to
159
him, tremendous hostil-
EDWARD GEIN toward the defendant and has advised both myself the sheriff that he feels there is a possibility if he sees the defendant he will be unable to control himself. I realize this is very unusual, but I ask the deferity
and
ence of the court either to take the testimony of Mr. Worden in here and have the defendant stay out in the courtroom, or alternatively, take the testimony of
Mr. Worden
and have
in the courtroom
the defend-
ant remain in here.
THE COURT: FRINZI:
Well,
Well, this
THE COURT:
Yes,
is
Mr. Frinzi? unusual, Your Honor.
it is.
FRINZI: Mr. Sutton knows what not going
the
law
Vm
is.
to try his lawsuit.
SUTTON: What does that mean? FRINZI: The law requires the defendant
to
be
present in all stages of the procedure. SUTTON: A right which he can waive.
FRINZI: Honor,
Let
me
confer with
Mr.
Your
Belter.
law requires that the defendant be present at all stages of a proceeding, and that he confront anyone that testifies against him. Unless Mr. Sutton can tell us some arrangement whereby Mr. Gein is present to hear and see that witness, whether we operate in here and Mr. Gein is at this door and we work there, or Mr. Gein at that door and the witness is over there, that is one thing, but I can't in conscience waive a right of Mr. Gein's to be present at the time that this testimony is offered. He's got a right to face the man that is going to give testimony against the
him.
THE COURT: question that that
SUTTON: about that
I don't think that there
is
I don't think
either.
THE COURT:
there
I just felt I
attention of the court. Well,
Mr. had
is
any
the law.
would
had it
is
any question
to call
suit
it
to
the
your problem,
Sutton, if Mr. Gein sat here in the doorway and the door open? This is unique, but would that
160
AMERICA'S assist
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
your problem? I don't know
own feeling
is
SUTTON:
—
I don't
man, and my
this
know him, and I'm not a
psychiatrist, but the depth
of his feeling is itself obvious to me, that he is not making it up the way he feels about Mr. Gein, and, frankly, this is one of the conditions upon which he has requested me to make I told him in all probability I would be granted. COURT: He can't make conditions about
in order to
didn't think
THE how him
testify.
it
to testify,
and if he doesn't testify, I shall find and treat him accordingly.
in contempt
SUTTON: never
I probably spoke too strongly there.
directly indicated that he's not
the witness stand
going
on
and
THE COURT:
eventually forget everything. Of course that can happen too.
That's maybe your problem. I'm willing to do
Mr. Frinzi
He
to get
this.
If
have Mr. Gein sit in this door, but I think he has to sit in such a place where he can see the witness, and hear what he says. consents, I'm willing to
SUTTON: That's perfectly THE COURT: All right.
—
agreeable.
you
Sheriff,
Mr. Gein move his chair around here and in the doorway. with
either
sit
so he's sitting
FRINZI: the
If this is the case, for the protection of defendant and everyone else in the courtroom, I
—for security reasons—check
ask you to
this
—
guy out
make a search of him so that he doesn't come in here armed. I mean what the heck. You called this to the court's attention.
SUTTON:
Don't be prosecuting me.
FRINZI: I'm
Mr. Belter feels there's hard Mr. Gein and Mr. Worden. THE COURT: I feel very strongly that I would not want to have an unpleasant incident occur. I think, Sheriff, that we should be assured that this man is not armed. I don't know what the depth of his feeling is, and, frankly, we have never run into this not, but
feelings between
sort of situation before, even in But, I want to be assured that he
161
kind of a case. not armed, and I
this is
EDWARD GEIN want to be sure that he does not injure the defendant. That's not hisjob.
He cannot takejustice into his
—
own hands heor anybody else. Okay. You're abig man. You can handle it, I'm sure.
We ended up with the defedant sitting in the door from my chambers into the courtroom, the witness on the left, and the judge between the two of them. Fortunately
my
my
trusty bailiff,
Dan Chase,
Gein smiled broadly throughout these proceedings. He seemed very calm and at was
at
right.
ease.
The
testimony of
Worden was prosaic. He had November 15, 1957, in the
seen the defendant on
The defendant had asked the witness if he was going hunting and Worden had answered, store.
Other than that he could not remember. and Frinzi waived cross-examination. The witness left and there was no disturbance. yes.
Sutton's examination was very brief
Jan Beck
in Rebuttal
Jan Beck of the crime- lab then
identified
ous pictures of the interior of the
The purpose of
numer-
Worden
store.
this testimony and show the cluttered condition of the store with racks for merchandise and other obstructions between the gun rack from which the murder
was
the pictures
to
162
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
weapon was taken and the pool of blood. This testimony was important to refute Gein's claim
was an accident.
that the shooting
After some testimony that the state rested
its
rebuttal.
I will
not detail here,
There was no
surre-
by the defense and testimony closed in the phase of the case. It then became the duty of
buttal first
the judge to determine whether or not the state
had proven
degree murder.
first
until the following
I
took a recess
morning to consider my decision.
The Court's Decision November
14,
1968. At the opening of court
decided the murder portion of the case.
mind
analyze the case.
attempted
at in
that the defense insisted that
I
it
had been an
accidental shooting.
At
the close of the testimony yesterday the court
indicated that
it
wanted time
and make a proven under the
to reflect
decision as to the type of offense facts in this case.
Before I go into my consideration of the evidence, a couple of general statements that it wants to make. the court has
We
a country in which we have what we a democratic form of government. I was brought most forcefvMy to the atten-
live in
believe to be
presume thai
I
quote
The reader must bear
that decision rather fully because least to
I
163
EDWARD GEIN week when we had an election in won't take any sides in that election by commenting on it. I merely want to point out that the electors were divided almost evenly between the two popular candidates. Nevertheless, the next day when the election was over, there were no tion of everyone last
this
and
country,
armed
The people who lost made up would proceed under our demo-
rebellions in this country.
accepted their their
I
minds
loss,
and
that they
cratic process to
move toward
I have no doubt,
regroup their forces, as
it
were,
and
the next election.
One of the important features of our form of democracy, in my judgement, is our concept of law our courts and the care we take to make sure that every person accused of a crime has a full, fair, and complete trial. Not only is he given his day in court, as it were, but we also make every effort to make sure that he or she, as the case may be, is represented by competent counsel, skilled in this particular area of the law. I make these statements particularly because I am well aware of the fact that there are people and undoubtedly people in this community—who have expressed some doubts as to whether or not this case should be tried. I am sure there are some people who have prejudged it. I am equally sure there are some who have criticized those who determined that Mr. Gein was fit to stand trial and returned him here for
—
—
—
trial.
This court is firmly committed to the concept thai one of the great things we have in America is the right of every man to have a trial, either before a court or jury of his peers. This is the great concept that we must cling to, because when the day comes that this right is not extended to this man, or any
man, that same day, you and I, and the rest of us who think we are good citizens, will find ourselves deprived of our rights. other
And so to
the court, publicly and on the commend Dr. Schubert and those on
164
record, wants the reviewing
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
committee for the fact that to stand
Edward Gein was fit to the
court for
when
determined returned him
they
trial, they
trial.
to commend counsel on both sides. This case has been well tried, and carefully prepared, even though it was not at all easy to prepare and try because it is now eleven years after the facts. Counsel
The court wants
has done an excellent job. They have conducted them-
a lawyer-like manner at all times. The court is pleased with them. The court too is pleased with the community because,
selves properly, in
again, as in the election, there are, as I said, many am sure, who take a rather dim view of this
people I trial.
no one in
Nevertheless,
made any to take the
this
community has
effort to interfere with the process
law into
an improper
his
nature.
ofjustice, hands, or do anything of this commendation, of course,
own
And
extends to the sheriff and his officers who have made sure that this case was conducted within the law.
Now, specific
the issue before the court this
finding as
morning
is
a
to the offense.
If this case had been tried before a jury on the facts
we have had them, the court believes that it would have submitted to the jury for determination two possible offenses: one, first degree murder, and the other, second degree murder. as
The court
is
really sitting here today, at this point,
as a jury rather than a judge,
and
the court hopes
it
can determine this issue on the material facts that have been allowed in evidence in this case. The issue in a sense may be said to be a very narrow one. It is basically a question of whether or not the defendant formed an intent to kill, and that word, of course, is used within the meaning ascribed to
it
by the law.
because the law
is
This
is
basically
well established,
an issue of fact, and we all know
a practical matter you cant look in any mind and examine it to determine whether or not an intent was formed. It isn't like a picture; you can't look at it afterwards and see what was there. that as
person's
165
EDWARD GEIN The law presumes
that a person intends the natuof his or her acts. This is a
ral consequences
presumption.
We
—and
am
happy that we do have certain that a man charged with any offense is innocent until his guilt is proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Within the context of these rules, we have to examine the evidence presented. Someone has said in argument that his is a unique also
I
other presumptions
—presume
and
I think that is the understatement of the unique in many, many respects. The undisputed testimony establishes that when it was discovered that Mrs. Worden had disappeared, for certain reasons suspicion was directed toward the defendant. The officers went to the home of the defendant and there they found the body of Mrs. Worden with her head removed and dressed somewhat like a deer might be dressed. Later investigation disclosed that a certain rifle, case,
year. It
is
now marked
Exhibit 1 7 in this case, was in the store of Mrs. Worden, and it had a discharged shell in it which the evidence establishes was fired out of that gun. A bullet was recovered from the head of Mrs. Worden, and the expert testimony here is undisputed
was fired from Exhibit 17. Certain fingerprints were found on Exhibit 17 and these have been identified by an expert in this that that bullet
field as a fingerprint
and a palm
print
from Mr.
Gein. And, of course, I think we have all reached the point that we accept as a matter of course that no two
people have identical fingerprints and that recognized method of identification.
The defendant in his
own
this is
a
in this case elected to take the stand
defense and* testified as
to the
events that
occurred in the store as he remembers them. Unlike the Perry Mason stories, we didnt have a surprise witness at the end who was peeking in the window and observed it, and so on. We have to go on
we get them. The defense in this case
the facts as
is
166
basically
one of acciden-
AMERICA'S tal
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
discharge of the gun,
and
the thrust
of
argu-
this
would remove any intent. Experts who have examined this gun have testified that the gun was in perfect mechanical condition and ment of course
gun
that the course,
is
the
that that
is
contained certain safety factors. One, of mechanism just behind the trigger, and
another is a built-in safety factor that requires release by pressing a lever on the bottom of the gun. The court has examined the photographs of the store, and the court has reread its notes. So, then, we get to the question of whether or not there was an intent. And these lawyers know, of
under the law is not an intent must be formed a month or a week, or a day before. It can be formed, as far as the law is concerned, course, that this intent that
the instant before.
The evidence is undisputed that Mrs. Worden was a bullet fired from this rifle, and that at the time of firing the rifle was in the hands of the killed by
defendant. This
is
clearly established.
The court might point out
also that in this case,
rather uniquely, a psychiatrist was called by the de-
fense as a part of the main case. Usually we keep all of that until the second part. But, I think we can say without question that
was
it
established here, as a
part of the main case, that the defendant at the time of this occurrence was psychotic, that he was a
—and
schizophrenic
—and
illness
that,
of course,
is
a mental a
that this condition existed for quite
number of years prior Dr. Miller examination,
to this
testified also,
occurrence. as a part of his direct
Mr. Gein had told him December of 1957. At that time the defendant told him that he was unable to say whether or not the gun went off accidentally. We to
the story
when he examined him
now
get
story
of what occurred
down
to the
in
defendant's
own
—and we have
—
testimony to
in the light of the other evidence to try determine whether or not the facts show an intent.
story
167
his
examine that to
s
EDWARD GEIN Mr. Gein
testified that when he went to the store, he was unarmed. He did have some .22 shorts in his pocket but his testimony indicated that he did not realize or know that they were there when he went in. There was the business about buying some antifreeze, and he said he took it out and put it in the car, and then came into the store and asked Mrs. Worden' permission to examine the gun, and she granted it to him. As a part of the examination, he opened the gun, placed a .22 short in it, closed the gun so that it was in firing condition, and at that point the gun went off. And, again, the question is, did he deliberately aim at Mrs. Worden or did it go off accidentally? Counsel for the defense argued, well, I think, that Mr. Gein could have taken a gun with him on that day if he had an intent to kill Mrs. Worden, and the court is familiar enough with the hunting habits in this area to realize that a man walking down the streets in the village on that day carrying one gun or y
half a dozen guns would not have attracted any is a rural commu-
particular attention because this
which most men take part in hunting activities. Counsel also argued that the placing of only one shell indicated a lack of intent to kill. There are some interesting conflicts in the evidence. Mr. Gein testified that he had not been in the store for a week before, and specifically, that he had not been in the store the day before, or conversed with Mr. Frank Worden, and he denied asking Mr. Worden whether he was going hunting. nity in
Mr. Worden
testified that he had been in the store day before, and that he had told Mr. Gein he was going hunting.
the
The court found, very interestingly, that the inside store, both as shown by the pictures and also from the testimony (I think we can say certainly without any criticism) was a typically old-fashioned country store in which a great many things were of the
168
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
around on the islands, and so forth, and this a factor that the court believes requires consideration on the question of intent. Evidence discloses zvithout any question that the defendant was familiar with firearms; he had been using them from the time he was eight years old. He indicated that squirrels had been a great annoyance to him, and that he had shot squirrels. In fact, he had shot one the day before. The court thinks it reasonably sitting is
probable that the defendant is an excellent marksman and that his skill has probably been sharpened by his squirrel hunting.
The court
thinks,
that
too,
we have
to take into
consideration the facts immediately after the shooting. Counsel did not argue this, but the court finds it significant that the defendant testified that after
Mrs.
Worden disappeared from his line of vision, that he went around the island and he saw her lying on the floor. alive.
He He
did not check to see if she was dead or did not do, from that point on, what most
people would do if a shooting were accidental. This may be somewhat conjecture, but I think most people
under circumstances of an accidental shooting would rush out into the get
a
this.
He
his car.
street
and
and
seek immediate aid, try to
The defendant did not do loaded the body into a truck, and then into And while he testified that he had no per-
doctor,
so forth.
sonal recollection of dissecting the body, there
can be no question that
defendant,
and
that he
hung
this
etc.,
I think
was done by
the
her in his woodshed.
This line of conduct, of course, does not fit with
an
accidental shooting.
The court observed the defendant on the stand, and the court is well aware of the psychiatric testimony that this man is mentally ill. The court is also well aware of the fact that this man has had opportunity to work out, in his own mind, a story. Whether he worked the story out as a result of the psychiatric reason testified to by Dr. Crawley, or whether he
169
EDWARD GEIN from his reading I cannot say and an educated man (never having gone beyond the eighth grade), I have a suspicion he is a well-read man in the sense that he has done a great amount of reading, and is quite well self-educated. The court does not accept the defendants story. It just does not ring true to me. The court is satisfied worked
it
while he
out
is
not
man
—
some instance perhaps, as one of when Mrs. Worden walked across the room but at some point prior to the actual shooting the court is satisfied that the defendant formed an intent. Why, I don't know, and I don't have to know. But I am satisfied that he formed an intent to take Bernice Worden's life. that this
at
the witnesses testified,
—
I
am
satisfied that he has not told the truth in all
Perhaps we can't blame him for this. If we were on trial for our lives, we'd maybe switch our story a little too. He has not categorically denied a deliberate killing. He has simply said he did not know whether he did it deliberately or whether it was
particulars.
accidental.
The surrounding physical facts
indicate to the court
that the odds are very great that if the shot
fired in the
manner
the defendant indicated,
had been it would
not have been possible for the bullet to bypass all of the materials that were in the way and enter directly into the
head of Mrs. Worden.
The court
is afraid that the defendant was "squirrel hunting" that day, and the court is satisfied that he had the skill required to place one bullet in Mrs. Worden's head. In view of all of this, the court has determined that the offense committed here is first degree murder and
will so find.
We case
then moved into the second part of the
—the
sanity issue.
Interestingly, the law in
Wisconsin had changed radically between 1957 170
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
No longer were we burand 1968 dened with the McNaughton rule of "right and wrong." In the Esser and Shofner cases the Wisconsin Supreme Court permitted the use of the Ameriin this area.
Law
can
Institute test as follows:
A person is not responsible for criminal conduct if at the time of such conduct as a result of mental disease or defect he lacked substantial capacity either appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct or conhis conduct to the requirements of law.
to
form
The defense
burden of
elected to accept the
proof and proceed under the ALI
rule.
I
will
not detail this testimony as there was no contest. Dr. Schubert gave his opinion that "Mr. Gein was suffering from a very serious mental disorder that was classified, in those days, as a
schizophrenic, chronic undifferentiated type. It
is
his
my
opinion Mr. Gein could not conform
conduct
Under
to
the requirements of the law."
the rule stated, this was an opinion that
Gein was insane. Dr. Miller agreed with Dr. Schubert.
The
state called
one witness on
this issue,
Dr.
William Crawley, a recognized psychiatrist from
Milwaukee.
He
stated that
Gein was psychotic and
agreed with Dr. Schubert that he had chronic schizophrenia. Dr. Crawley stated that he did not
have an opinion under the ALI
Testimony
closed.
The
court had no difficulty
with this phase of the case and 171
rule.
I
stated:
EDWARD GEIN on November 16, 1957, Gein, was suffering from a mental disease. The court does further find that as a
The court does find
the defendant,
result
this
of
that
Edward
mental disease he lacked substantial
capacity to conform his conduct to the requirements of law. The court does, therefore, find the defendant not
The defendant is, therefore, Central State Hospital for the Insane.
guilty by reason of insanity.
committed
to
So ended the year after
of
we
trial
started
of Edward Gein, nearly a it
many thousands of
and
after the expenditure
dollars.
the place he started from
Gein returned
to
—Central State Hospital.
172
A VISIT TO CENTRAL STATE HOSPITAL
AND PLAINFIELD
On
a cold day in February
my
court reporter,
Jerry Brillowski, and I traveled to Central State Hospital where we were graciously received by the superintendent, Dr. Schubert.
I
told Dr. Schubert
had decided to write an "official" case history on the Gein affair and as a closing entry I wanted to include firsthand information on Gein's years at Central State Hospital. Dr. George W. Arndt, forensic psychiatrist, met with us at Central State Hospital and Jerry taped our conversations, which are quoted as follows: that
An
I
Interview With Doctor Schubert
JUDGE: Welly Doctor, I came here this morning with the hope of asking you, and possibly Mr. Gein, 175
EDWARD GEIN some questions. You advised me that Gein has filed a a rehearing but my questions deal more particularly with what has occurred in the past. Ed Gein has been here approximately fifteen years, is petition for
that correct?
SCHUBERT: Pretty close to that. JUDGE: I would like to ask you first,
in all the
years that he has been here, has he ever said or done
anything that would indicate insanity
to the
ordinary
layman?
SCHUBERT: No. JUDGE: In other "normal"
words he has led a perfectly
life.
SCHUBERT: A
very
uncommunicative one in
and with
guarded one, and a very his
relationships with us
the other patients.
JUDGE:
At
the time of the first
hearing before
Judge Bunde and later in the trial before me, you and the other psychiatrists were convinced that Gein was insane. I recently have been reading, as perhaps you have, of a man who was written up in Time, (7 forget his name), who for fifteen years had led a criminal life, but had convinced people that he was insane so as to stay out of jail. Did you read about him? SCHUBERT: No, I didn't. JUDGE: Well, apparently he has been a great student of psychiatry and read extensively in the field, and every time he was arrested for a crime he con-
vinced the psychiatrists that he was insane. He now admits this was an act he put on. My question to you, perhaps, is do you think it would have been possible for Gein to do this? SCHUBERT: Well, anything is possible. I don't think so with Gein because he is, and has been, a very
—
naive, unsophisticated type offellow. I don't think his
knowledge of psychiatry,
his
knowledge of mental
disorder, or the desire to deceive with the use of such knowledge is very likely. I doubt if he knew anything
about psychiatry before he originally got into
176
difficulty.
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S
As a matter of fact, I think the most important thing is that Gein did not want to be locked up. He wanted to proceed with his trial That was his desire many years ago,
to
JUDGE:
proceed with
it
and
get
it
over with.
That's interesting. I did notice
and was
rather struck by the fact that early in his confessions Gein said to Joe Wilimovsky (who was interrogating
him) words to this effect, "Do you think that this will convince the doctors of my mental unbalance. " And, at another point, he indicated that if he was going to be locked up he much preferred a mental institution to a regular criminal one. SCHUBERT: It could very well be true that this was his feeling about these things, but it is a very, very common feeling that it is better to be hospitalized than to be in a prison. There is the connotation of prison having much more evil involved with it, and a much stronger sense of the lack of pleasure, than being in a hospital. However, I dont think Mr. Gein would hold to that idea after seeing what it is to be in
a maximum
security hospital. I think there is an idea many people hold that you have escaped justice if you get locked up in a mental hospital after you have
that
committed a crime. These people are very soon disenchanted with that idea. We dont have many people
who
like
it
here.
As far as my experience
goes, the
vast majority of people committed to Central State Hospital want to go to trial and if I say, no, you need
some treatment first, they will pretty much hang onto my coattails when I go through the institution, asking when they can get out of here, when can they go back to court, how do they go about getting back to court on their own initiative, and so forth. So this fellow that you indicate was written up in Time is a rare case.
Maybe
he
is
one of these people that psychiatric
literature at times reviews; tally ill
not mentally
maybe this
maybe he
but at this later date in his ill,
is
actually
life
he was just kidding. In actuality,
the psychiatrists were not naive after all.
man was
menwas
says he
mentally
ill
but
177
had no personal
Maybe insight
EDWARD GEIN into his mental disturbance. For anyone to maintain a picture of mental disorder for fifteen years is unusual,
extremely unusual.
JUDGE:
Apparently the reason
this
man
did
it
was to be sent to a hospital (not as secure as this one) from which he could escape, because his chances of escape from a mental hospital were greater than from a regular prison. SCHUBERT: We have had a man like that. He is not in residence now.
He
is
in escape status over in
Iowa where he got into some serious crime after he escaped from here. This man has been going through like this for at least twenty years. He commits a crime, he becomes mentally ill, he gets locked up. He eventually ends up in a veterans' hospital and then runs away from the veterans' hospital only to enter into his life of crime once again. He escapes prison (which he obviously doesn't like) by being a chronic mentally ill individual and he does a
the system
very
But when you look at this man who has to find a to why he acts in this self-destructive manner guy is mentally ill. He is really sick.
good show of
closely,
solution that this
it
is
it.
obvious to anybody
JUDGE: Sick in a different way. SCHUBERT: He is sick but he does not want to admit that he is that sick. He will acknowledge his sickness only when it suits his purposes to get out of prison or to keep out of prison. But this does not alter the fact that the
JUDGE:
man
is sick.
Getting back
to Gein's confession, I noof the fact that you, Dr. Miller, and others felt that Ed Gein was quite suggestible, he was very reluctant to admit his murders and only admitted to them when the evidence was put right before him. On the other hand, ,Gein talked very freely to Joe Wilimovsky about the bizarre things he had done with the bodies. He seemed to be almost volunteering this information. Does that give any indication of a desire to prove his insanity?
ticed that in spite
SCHUBERT:
I think you have to look at what
178
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Gein obviously did as a mark that he was mentally disturbed. The fact that he killed one person or perhaps two or more persons, in itself, I do not think is anything of great import regarding Geins mental disorder. But, of great interest was his digging up graves and removing bodies and what he did with the bodies. That was a sign of serious mental disorder. Perhaps his disarraying the body was one of the more bizarre, but that in itself was not necessarily a sign of mental disorder. What he did, how he lived, how he thought, how he wanted to return to being a child in his mothers arms, and how he tried to recreate his mother with the bodies that he dug up these are signs of mental disorder. Very unusual signs of men-
—
tal disorder, certainly.
JUDGE: You
mentioned his other murders. I used on purpose. There is no question about it as the boys from the crime lab established, that Gein the plural
Mary Hogan and he admitted it. I am thoroughly convinced that Gein also killed numerous other people. I believe that he killed his brother, whose death was never investigated and who died mysteriously in a marsh fire. I think Gein did that because he was motivated, in part, by his desire for money. This was never stressed, but Mary Hogan had $1500 that disappeared. There was $182 in the Worden cash register. And, there was the matter of Dick Travis and his friend who disappeared mysterikilled
ously after flashing a large roll of bills in a local tavern frequented by Gein. All of these incidents
indicate to
me "murder for money." Do you have any
comment on
that?
SCHUBERT:
Oh,
it
could very well
be.
But, of
course, as I indicated, the actions of Gein which to us were very significant in pointing the finger at a
mentally disordered person were not the killings that allegedly were performed, but
what Gein had done
with his existence while living in that broken-down farmhouse in Plainfield. What Gein had done with parts of the bodies was proof positive of a mental
179
"
EDWARD GEIN To go
and
for money is certainly a if you succeed with it, then you are successful at murder. And apparently Gein did succeed with it, as he did these things for a number of years. However, the fact that Gein was a "successful" murderer in no way alters the fact that he was also insane. JUDGE: I do not want to go on with this too long, but is there anything you want to say or do you have any final comments on Ed Gein or the case? SCHUBERT: Oh, I think about the only thing you can say is that psychiatrically Ed Gein is a very special, very interesting, and a very unusual case. I think the more that can be gathered and put down in records and for publication after this man's death, so much the better in understanding why he acted the way he did. Perhaps with his permission, this could be done at this time but as I said, he is not inclined to be very cooperative. His tack years ago was: I don't have to talk about it, you found me insane. His tack now is that it's all over with, let it rest. There will always be some misgivings or some questions as to whether or not Gein is actually mentally ill (did not understand what he was doing) and whether or not he escaped "justice. ARNDT: I don't know, I have wrestled with that problem for a long time and I really think what the public is getting is what the public wants. I have come to the conclusion that it must be a very rare individual who is not responsible for the acts he disorder.
out
kill
well-recognized motivation
and
performs. People, unless they are floating pretty far out on cloud nine, must be responsible for what they do. Actually the only ones that
from criminal
ought
to
be excused
penalties are people suffering
organic
some
following an epileptic seizure, or something where they are completely functioning automatons and don't know what they are doing. Anybody else that commits a crime has pretty well chosen his line of action and ought to be responsible for that action. Psychiatry
severe
brain
disease,,
180
or
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
has gotten its finger into the pot and has been involved in this subject for some years. The
McNaughton not want
rule
and
the idea that society does
punish those who are mentally ill is a bunch of foolishness really. I think society ought to treat all people equally and the mentally ill should be punished, unless they could not have controlled their actions or known what they were doing. The legal to
—
is did they kill with intent? If they could not have formed intent due to insanity, they should not have been convicted of a crime in the first place.
question
JUDGE:
I always
McNaughton
had great
difficulty
with the
whether right or wrong. Thank you very much for your time Dr. Schubert. If possible, we will now have a chat with your famous patient,
Edward
An When
rule,
Gein.
Interview with
I
Edward Gein
originally expressed a desire to talk with
Gein, Dr. Schubert advised
me
that
Gein had
re-
fused to talk to reporters and others but that he
would ask him
he would meet with me. surprise, Gein immediately accepted. I found him somewhat heavier than I remembered him. He was most friendly and talkative. In fact, he smiled or laughed almost throughout the interview. Dr. George Arndt, who
Somewhat
if
to
my
had not previously met Gein, joined Jerry Brillowski and me in this interview. I carefully avoided serious questioning, although I did touch lightly on the Travis matter and at this point Gein's entire 181
EDWARD GEIN manner changed. He stopped and
smiling and became
Gein seemed to be reluctant to end the conversation and as we moved down the hall he continued to talk to Jerry. This interview was also recorded on tape and I quote from it as follows: tense
slightly flushed.
JUDGE: I
have been asked to write a book on your doing that. I have got all the old transcripts and that sort of thing. I thought I would like to come over here and talk to you. You do not have to, of course, but I would like to know if there is anything you want to tell me about it. Is there anything you would like to say in the book! GEIN: Well, I guess quite a bit came out there after the sheriff died. You apparently remember that. That was kept undercover too. He died and the case
and
am now
I
came out with the facts. That night in the jail, Ed, as near as I could tell, the sheriff kind of beat your head against the wall, didn't he? That was not a very nice thing for him to do, of course. GEIN: Also I was kept awake from the start of the deputies
JUDGE:
and almost all day the next day and that. That's something like in the old days when they had the third degree or whatever they called it. The only thing" we didn't have was all those bright lights shining in my eyes. JUDGE: I remember when you were in Madison evening
all night
questioning
this
did feed you. I remember in one place they brought you some apple pie and it had some cheese on they
it
and
the'
cheese
was kind of
old.
Do you remember
that?
GEIN: dont care
Ya, they had some too
much for
pumpkin
pie,
too.
I
either one.
JUDGE: Ed, somebody told me or I read somewhere that since you have been here, as a sort of a 182
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
hobby you were working on rocks making jewelry. you do that? GEIN: I done that before. Now I'm working in
powerhouse. I've been
to
Do the
Dr. Schubert's house and
worked in there and all over. JUDGE: Everybody up around Waushara County always said you were a good worker. GEIN: My jewelry one of the volunteers sold all at once for $50. I made quite a few hundred dollars worth of jewelry, sterling silver bracelets, and stuff, but it was all sold for $50. JUDGE: Do you still make those things? GEIN: No, I've been working out in the powerhouse with carpenters, roofing, and doing about everything.
JUDGE:
The things
that
you made, have
they all
be sold?
GEIN:
That's right. There was quite a
few hunwas kind of an instructor down there when they were working on rugs. Why I'd help the fellas out down there and show them how to do it. I trimmed the rugs. JUDGE: How old are you now? dred dollars
GEIN:
there.
Then
I
Sixty-five.
JUDGE: You
are just a boy compared to me. I'm
seventy.
GEIN: You have
JUDGE: GEIN:
Is
me
by five, Judge.
pretty
good?
Pretty fair, that's right.
JUDGE:
how do they treat you here? of the people that are in here. Is
Generally,
Not just you but the food
beaten
your health
all
good?
GEIN: The food
is good. Everything else is pretty good. The only thing now with the new ruling and everything they have kind of slipped down in the patient dining room. Some of them will jump up and start talking to someone else and go back and sit
down.
JUDGE: Do you
miss
GEIN: No. Not
really,
Waushara County? 183
EDWARD GEIN JUDGE: Were you Ed? GEIN:
happy when you lived up
Well, not what you
would
there,
call really happy.
There were a lot of debts on my place. I worked pretty hard to get them paid up and from then on the buildings were getting pretty poor. It was kind of a tension all the time.
JUDGE: I We were
saw an old friend of yours the other up that way and visited with Mr. and Do you remember them?
day.
Mrs. Hill.
GEIN:
That's right.
JUDGE: had dinner
She was telling me that the last time you you played checkers with one of the
there
boys.
GEIN: That
JUDGE:
could
be.
I forgot.
you would put in my book about this case? GEIN: Well, one thing, you probably remember that too, the sheriff said that he went into my place there and searched it, I guess with some others, and he didn't find anything. Do you remember that? like
me
Well, Ed,
is
there anything else
to
JUDGE:
Yes.
GEIN: You know
was gone at that time and I got proof of that. I was with the Hills. I was with them all the time. So that's kind of confusing isn't it? They search my place and there is no evidence and when they search it again there is evidence and I had never been there. JUDGE: Of course it was dark that night and the first time they came to your place they did not have any flashlights with them so they did not search it. GEIN: Well, they must have had flashlights and stuff. They had to have flashlights to make a good was gone
all the time
I
and I
search.
ARNDT:
Did you have
GEIN: No. And
electricity
on
the
farm?
without a search They should really have gotten a search they entered
it
warrant. w airant first.
JUDGE: Do you GEIN:
still
read a
lot?
Interesting things, newspapers,
184
and keep
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
AMERICA'S up on
Some fellows are
not up to that. They read a newspaper. You have to keep up with things in the world, you know. I listen to the radio and get the news. I got shortwave and I things.
don't even
want
to
from all around the world. But do you still read a lot? GEIN: Well, what's educational and of
get news
JUDGE: but a
of that fiction I'm not interested for kids but not for a grown-up person. lot
JUDGE: Do GEIN:
they
you want
GEIN:
to
library here?
you are allowed
to take
books out
and read them?
That's right.
JUDGE: Do you would Arndt?
like
ARNDT: more as a
okay
Pretty fair.
JUDGE: And that
have an extensive
interest
in. It's
you have any questions or anything to visit with Mr. Gein about. Dr.
Well, I would like to be talking with you
on some of the things that have occurred that would have some bearing in psychiatry, so that we could understand better what went on in the past and into the future. Perhaps that is something we can do another day. I think Judge Gollmar was interested in what he has talked with you about psychiatrist
and we can
talk
some other
time.
JUDGE: Would you mind and
talked with
GEIN: No,
if
Dr. Arndt came back
you someday?
I wouldn't mind.
JUDGE: I would like to tell you him. He was my pupil. ARNDT: Small world. When
something about
grew up
I
in
Baraboo, Judge Gollmar was one of my Sunday school teachers.
JUDGE: and
I hope
Well Ed, it has been nice visiting with you you keep your health and get along all
right.
BRILLOWSKI: Dan Chase said too, Ed. Do you remember Dan?
to
say hello to
you
GEIN:
Ya.
JUDGE:
Mr. Hill
is
not very well.
185
You remember
EDWARD GEIN him. Mrs. Hill seems fine. They are still living back of the old store but the store has been abandoned.
GEIN: Where
is
the boy, Robert Hill?
Do you
know?
JUDGE:
No, I did not think
to
ask them that. I do
know what has become of him. I suppose he is around there. You and he used to go to the movies not
quite
a
lot together,
GEIN: Some, much
didn't
you?
not too much. I didn't have too
to go out Saturdays and Sundays. was nice to you though, wasn't he? GEIN: Ya. I got along good with most all of them.
time. I
used
JUDGE: He Some of
the neighbors there I didn't like very well. I
was working and would come home and make my meal and they would come over and I would think they wanted to visit, but they didn't. They would say, "Ed, could you help me get some bales of hay, " or do some other work for them.
BRILLOWSKI: What
about that one neighbor,
Judge?
JUDGE: Oh
yes, you always had some kind of Ed, that one of your neighbors bumped off Travis. You remember, they asked you about Travis? GEIN: Ya. I remember that but the only thing, of course, it wasn't so much my idea, but the others were saying it because I didn't really know nothing about it. There had been a family living on a farm not too far from my creek there and they were supposed (this is all hearsay) to have gone hunting, him and an-
theory,
and he came back alone or something. I know anything and I hadn't seen the guy before. He was thirty -some years old and the last time I had other fellow
don't
seen him, he was seven or eight years old. JUDGE: Well, Ed, thank you for .talking to us. I will report your words in my book exactly as you have said them to us, and I am sure you and Dr. Arndt will
have many fine
visits
in the future.
186
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER Visit To Plainfield
AMERICA'S
A
A few weeks before visiting Dr. at
Schubert and Gein I decided to
Central State Hospital, Jerry and
drive up to Plainfield to visit the scene of the crime and interview some of the principal witnesses.
These
interviews, of course, duplicate
lier
views to
some
ear-
found these personal interbe of great interest and I believe you will
testimony, but
I
also.
The day was
perfect
A light rain was
falling
from a movie set viewpoint. and fog swirled and twisted
more than six ahead, and often less. As we rode
across the road. Visibility was never
hundred
feet
WGN
radio
talking to listeners about the effects of a full
moon
along we listened to Wally Phillips on
on people's
actions.
Driving toward
Wautoma
the occasional view
through the fog was eerie and depressing. About eight miles south of Wautoma I saw an object sitting
on the shoulder of the road. As we ap-
proached
I
discovered
it
was a bald eagle
sitting
absolutely motionless, holding a freshly killed ani-
As we passed within a few feet of moved its head ever so slightly to follow us with its eyes. Then it was lost in the fog. Alongside the road the trees moved their branches mal
it,
in
its
talons.
the eagel
macabre dance. At Wautoma we picked up Dan Chase. Jerry started the tape which I quote from as follows: as if in a
187
EDWARD GEIN BRILLOWSKI:
While driving up here, Dan, we Wally Phillips program and the discussion he had with some of his listeners about a full moon and how it has different effects on people as far as irritability, more babies being born during a full moon, more violence, murders, and so forth. Maybe this is what inspired Ed Gein to do some of his grave robbing and what have you. Can you tell us a little about that, Dan? listened to the
CHASE: Yes. Many of the different parts of the body that Gein had, he put strings on and tied them on himself and walked around in the yard at night in Gein also wore them at times when he dug up graves. Gein told me that himself when he was in the jail. BRILLOWSKI: Why did he tell you that? Why didnt he tell the sheriff? Did the sheriff beat him up or something and that is why he would not talk to him? CHASE: That is right. The sheriff roughed him up in the jail so whenever Gein wanted anything he would confer with me or with Murty. He would not the moonlight.
talk to Sheriff Schley.
BRILLOWSKI: Now
let's see. We drove our car road and we are sitting next to a pine plantation. Can you go on from there, Dan? CHASE: Gein came in from the south with the Worden pickup truck with the body in it and there were bushes around here. He unloaded the body in the bushes and then drove the pickup truck into the
down a
side
pine plantation
to
BRILLOWSKI: looking at right
hide
•
it.
Is this the
pine plantation we are
now?
right here. CHASE: Right, this is BRILLOWSKI: Where did they find the truck? CHASE: The truck was right back in there, and it,
you could
see
where the body laid, right here. Gein come and pick up the car later, or what?
BRILLOWSKI: Did body with his
188
AMERICA'S CHASE: up
Gein walked back
and
his car,
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER .
.
to
Plainfield
and picked
.
JUDGE: How far is it from here to Plainfield? CHASE: I would say a little over two city blocks. Then Gein picked up his car, came back out and loaded the body into the trunk of his car, and went from here out to his farm with it.
BRILLOWSKI: You mentioned something about him cutting Mrs. Worden's throat. Do you think that because of all the blood in the store? CHASE: Yes. I do not think that much blood could come out of a small hole from a .22 caliber bullet. I think as soon as Gein dropped her, he slit her throat.
BRILLOWSKI: Why
was that? So she could
bleed-out?
CHASE: make sure
I think so she could bleed-out
and
also to
she wouldn't come to again.
BRILLOWSKI: Now we hardware store
and
where
Ed
are in the Village of are parked next to the Warden We are looking at the back of the
and we
Plainfield
store.
the loading platform. Is this the place loaded the body of Mrs. Worden into their
truck?
CHASE: No, it was on the other side of that loading platform over where the big cooler is. The truck was inside and he loaded the body in the truck inside of the building and then he backed the truck out and he went that way with it, about the way we drove in from the pines. BRILLOWSKI: I see there is an old garage there. CHASE: That is right. It used to be the Paul Reinflesh garage and then the Wordens used it for the
hardware
store.
JUDGE: Now
in my notes it says that looking towards the front of the store there was a large display window in the front corner of the store and the antifreeze barrel sat right outside the
window.
Is
that right?
CHASE:
That
is
right.
There were cement blocks
189
EDWARD GEIN under the window and that is where the door used to go into the building. They remodeled this and that's where the front door used to be. That antifreeze barrel would be to the left of where those cement blocks are now.
BRILLOWSKI: Judge
Gollmar, Dan Chase, and home of Lester and Irene Hill, who were friends of Gein. Now, Judge, do you want to say something about them? You talked to them quite a I drove to the
bit.
JUDGE: Yes. They had a store right near their house and apparently still live in the same house. Mrs. Hill was quite friendly and spoke freely. Mr. Hill did not appear to be well and did not take part much in the conversation. Mrs. Hill said that she had known Ed Gein ever since she was in the second grade (he was in seventh or eighth grade). On the day in question, Ed Gein had come to their home. She said he often came there because he enjoyed TV and did not have electricity at his home. He helped them often as a sort of general handyman, as he did many people in the neighborhood, and if he was around at
suppertime she would offer him a meal.
On
this
particular day he was there for supper and interestingly she remembered they had had pork chops. She also remembered that Ed was sitting on the davenport playing with one of the younger children when her
Jim Vroman, came from town and told them something had occurred at the Worden place. She said that Ed was not nervous. He seemed perfectly normal and showed interest in going back downtown because the son-in-law said the crime lab was coming and Gein thought it would be interesting to go downtown to see that. son-in-law,
BRILLOWSKI: Remember her reply when I
asked
her what effect Gein had on her? What was about the grinning Gein did all the time?
this
JUDGE: She said Gein had kind of a sly grin which bothered her but otherwise he was personally 190
AMERICA'S clean
and always
eat at various
crews
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
and
so
agreeable. She also said he liked to homes and he worked on threshing
on and often got
BRILLOWSKI:
This
is
to eat
around.
when Dan Chase came
into the picture.
CHASE: That's right. BRILLOWSKI: This is where you actually apprehended Ed Gein, isn't it Dan? CHASE: I stopped at the little store owned by the Mrs. Hill was in and I asked her if she knew Eddie Gein. She said he was to her place for supper and his car was still there. I thanked her and walked out and drove over there and I could see Ed's car still parked there with Gein and the Hill's son in the car. I asked Gein to get into my car because I wanted to ask him a few questions. BRILLOWSKI: One thing Mrs. Hill said—the police left Gein's car in her driveway and it bothered her for three days until she screamed so loudly about it that they finally towed it out. JUDGE: We are presently parked, having left the Hills, in the driveway to the Gein farm. The buildings are gone but there is an open space in front of us that indicates where the buildings were and it looks like there is one whole shed or part of a shed sitting in the woods. There are woods almost on two sides of where the buildings were. Across the road is now farmland but there is a great deal of woods and scrub brush and scrub oak in this whole area. BRILLOWSKI: Dan, did you say the house was to the right, just a few feet away? CHASE: There is a basement there and we can still go to where the basement is. The back woodshed wing is where Mrs. Worden's body was hanging, just about where the scrub oak is now. Hills.
the whereabouts of
BRILLOWSKI: Now Dan,
are
we
in the house
now, or what? CHASE: I'm standing just about were the house stood. You can still see the old wall here. This wing
191
EDWARD GEIN and
here was the woodshed here,
you went
to the
and
the kitchen
kitchen
BRILLOWSKJ: Where
and
living
then, in
room
part.
did you find bones
and
things like that?
CHASE: We found some
bones right
down
here in
the woods.
BRILLOWSKI: were.
Let's
walk towards where the bones beings in the woods?
You found bones of human
CHASE:
There were bones of human beings right
about here.
BRILLOWSKI: What type of bones were CHASE: Human bones. BRILLOWSKI: Were they whole bones
they?
or were
sawed up? CHASE: No, they were whole bones like leg bones. Then down this road, going farther west to get to the edge of the woods and twenty rods to the corner wood, they
is where work on
found a
they
lot
of
stuff,
although I didn't
that.
BRILLOWSKI: What kind of stuff? CHASE: More human bones. They found
quite
a
few human bones although I didn't work on it. I believe Specks and Arnie and the sheriff and Sharky and those fellows from the Rapids were down there and some of the prisoners from jail were also digging around there. BRILLOWSKI: You said you probed, with a metal rod, this whole area trying to
find the missing car of
the hunters that disappeared.
CHASE: The Travis car. We tried to locate that. We had some rods made BRILLOWSKI: Do you think it is still on this .
.
.
property?
CHASE:
I don't think
it's
on
this property.
I think
on the old Wagner farm over there because that's where we found the man's jacket and his little white it's
dog.
I
still
think that car
is
over in those pines
somewhere.
JUDGE:
Well, as you were telling us at lunch,
192
AMERICA'S Dan, you used
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
to fly
a
lot,
and you used
to fly
around
looking for the Travis graves.
CHASE: lot after
That's right. I was flying
I got
my
license
and
around
quite a
I flew that country time
and
time again trying to find any newly dug ground where Gein might bury the car. JUDGE: You never found anything? CHASE: Never found a thing! BRILLOWSKI: Did you find anything in the barn
or not?
CHASE: Nothing. BRILLOWSKI: Where was
that white Ford sitting? garage somewhere? CHASE: Those buildings were right along there. There were three of four sheds right along in here. Gein had a pickup truck in there. His maroon car sat over there in the woods and the white Ford was right in here a nice-looking white car. This is where the barn stood. I would like to mention that Jefferson County officers requested that we check the county for
Was
that in the
—
all the white Fords. I
checked and the only two white
Hensen and Ed Brooks from Wautoma. Then we came up with these two buildings of Eddie Geins and found a Fords
I
found
in the county belonged to Jake
—
white Ford a good-looking white Ford. They never knew it was there before. No one knew he had one. I knew Gein had this maroon-colored car but not a white Ford.
BRILLOWSKI: This is an unusual day. It's very foggy and dreary and you surely get an eerie feeling standing on this property and knowing all the things about the Gein case like we do. I sort of shudder out here.
CHASE: Those pines over there have all been planted since the Worden murder. The fellow that bought the farm planted it all in pines. BRILLOWSKI: You mentioned your brother-inlaw, Boyd Kelly, worked with Gein on the road, or your brother-in-law was a foreman or something.
What
is
that story?
193
EDWARD GEIN CHASE: Boyd Plainfield road, like
was a patrolman for the Town of to have help on the grading or brushing, he would hire Eddie
and whenever he had
Gein.
JUDGE: Boyd lived about CHASE: That's right. BRILLOWSKI: What is
half a mile from Gein? the statement he
made
about Eddie Gein?
CHASE: The men
Mary Ho-
were talking about
gan
while eating lunch out of their dinner pails and while sitting there, Gein mentioned that the officers
flubbed the dub because he went up there and got the body and brought it home in a pickup truck. Gein said, "I took my truck and went up there and got her and brought her home to my place." Then, everybody laughed and thought it was a joke. Now we know he was was actually telling the exact truth.
JUDGE: Let's go back to Plainfield. BRILLOWSKI: Judge, why don't you
describe the
we are riding. JUDGE: Well, we are going from Ed Gein 's farm back to the Village of Plainfield and the houses are not very fancy. There are open areas where we passed some irrigation equipment. Largely it is woods and scrub. It looks to me, Dan, like there is a creek off to countryside here a
our
little bit
while
right.
CHASE:
There
is
no creek in
there. It
just low
is
marsh land.
BRILLOWSKI: Sort of a We are driving on a
like this.
spooky area on a day side
road next
to
what
cemetery?
JUDGE: CHASE-
The Plainfield cemetery. If you want to go through
it
you can. I
don't care.
BRILLOWSKI: We now.
It is the
are approaching the cemetery
cemetery in which
eight, nine, or ten graves.
CHASE: Down
on
Ed
Where were
this side there
194
Gein dug up they,
Dan?
were two of them
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
and where the rest were, I do not know. out here and cut the people off.
JUDGE: there,
We just stood
There was a house right next door wasn't
Dan?
CHASE:
Yes.
There was a house right next
to the
cemetery line.
BRILLOWSKI: say.
Boy,
it
It
is
a huge cemetery, I would
really extends back.
JUDGE: One of the things we should note was Ed Gein admitted to digging up at least
that while
eight bodies in this cemetery, they never bothered to check but three of them. As for the rest of them, the people do not know whether the bodies are there or not. Or for that matter, no one really knows just how many bodies Ed Gein did dig up. He admitted to digging up at least eight but for all we know it could
have been twenty. CHASE: That is right. But the ones they did check they found just as Eddie Gein said they would.
BRILLOWSKI:
Let's see,
we are now
in the
Town
of Pine Grove in front of a building that used to be a tavern run by Mary Hogan until she was murdered. Right,
Dan?
CHASE: That is right. BRILLOWSKI: Is there
anything you want
to
say
about this?
JUDGE:
Notice the rather unusual construction.
made of concrete blocks and it has a curving type of roof on it. It looks like it was originally built as a commercial building rather than a house but it has been remodeled. I cannot help wondering if the people who live in this house now ever hear Mary Hogan walking around at night. CHASE: That is where Mary Hogan lived at the time Gein picked her off. The truck was sitting right here and you could see a trail of blood coming out of the tavern up to where he loaded her in the truck. He went out this way. It is
apparently
JUDGE:
Which way?
195
EDWARD GEIN CHASE: Right out around this corner. BRILLOWSKI: You said there were no drag marks like
with the
Worden
body.
CHASE: No. He picked her up and carried out. And since she must have weighed over y
her two
hundred pounds, we think Gein probably had someone
to
help him.
BRILLOWSKI: Dan, you said you had to guard Ed Geins house after he was committed to Central and that college kids came up to have it. What was that about? CHASE: Oh, college kids kept coming up to Gein's house and were determined to go in there. I had a State Hospital
beer parties in
hard time keeping them out. While I was keeping them out the front side, others would get in through
me they were bound and come out here and have beer parties in Eddie Geins house. It was impossible to stop them without spending a fortune for guards. The county was fortunate that a short while later the Gein home mysteriously burned down. the back. Finally, they told
determined
to
While Jerry and
I
were
in Plainfield
at the funeral parlor to see the
The back door was we walked
we stopped
owner, Ray Goult.
unlocked, in typical rural
No one
was in the buildRay was in the Twin Cities. Jerry did not like it in there and would not stay. I kidded him about this, especially since he was a veteran of the Korean War. Jerry said that he had seen plenty of dead bodies but this funeral home gave him the creeps after a day of visiting fashion, so
ing and
we
in.
later learned that
the scene of Gein's bizarre crimes.
A final stop at a truck stop for some food helped to dispel the weird,
uncomfortable feeling that 196
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
Jerry and I had all day. The bustle of burly truck drivers, the cheery waitresses bantering with the
and food made the ghoulish of Edward Gein, and the fog and outside, seem far away. customers, the
lights,
bizarre activities
197
APPENDIX
APPENDIX A
"Gein Humor"
Fellow,
By George W. Arndt, M.D. American Psychiatric Association
Preface
My original study of this phenomenon (which has occurred only once before in United States history) was entitled, Horror, Humor and Human Nature.
A shortened version, containing fewer examples, was published by the Menninger School of Psychiatry under the title of Community Reactions to a Horrifying Event and has since been reprinted in several textbooks.
201
EDWARD GEIN My following comments regarding "Gein Humor" are excerpts from these two previous writings,
which writings are now being expanded into a book length study to be published by Chas. Hallberg
& Company,
Inc.
"Gein
Humor"
Although Gein often gave obvious clues to his in a local group discussing the disappearance of Mary Hogan he joked, "She's up at the house now" these were passed off as crude witticisms. When the final crime was uncovered, the body found hanging and dressed as if it were a deer, neighbors recalled that he had frequently given them portions of "venison," although he remarked, while under psychiatric observation, "I've bizarre activities
— —
never shot a deer." The immediate response within the community itself was of horror, but also of profound indignation at the publicity suddenly poured upon the area. Beyond a ten to twenty mile perimeter of the afflicted town, the response to the crime was
anger or denial, the situawas dealt with through the media of grim humor, as though the unconscious was aware of what had happened. As Eysenck stated: "The elements contained in the joke must be experienced objectively, not emotionally." This is obvious in the response in far different. Instead of
tion
1
Plainfield
compared
to
the statewide reaction
202
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
where bravado was evidenced by the
retelling of the of the numberous "Gein-ers," as the grim jokes were referred to colloqually. The humor of these and many of the quips were gleefully recited by young and old alike, as the author discovered during a visit to Wisconsin where he personally gathered the material. The joking was so common that it could be considered a mass repetition compulsion. Gein raplatest
idly
became the most discussed
topic in the state
with pseudo-humorists trying to outdo each other with the "latest." All ages participated in the humor,
and before the Christmas holidays, the children were chanting: "
'Twas the night before Christmas And all through the school Not a creature was stirring, Not even a mule. The teachers were hung
From
the ceiling with care In hope that Ed Gein
Soon would be
there."
Their favorite carol was paraphrased: "Deck the walls with limbs of Mollie."
The humor can be roughly
divided into three
categories: (1) cannibalism, (2) sexual perversion,
and
(3)
combinations of the
Cannibalism
—Examples
first
of
this
two categories. type of
humor
are the following:
—As he said
to
you weren't a
some little
late arriving guests,
earlier
203
—
"Sorry
everybody's eaten."
"
EDWARD GEIN
— His telephone number was "O-I-C-U-8-1-2." —Someone asked him how were— he replied, "Delicious. — He couldn't operate farm— he had was a skeleton crew. — He used the cremated ashes of victims make "Instant People." favorites the taverns was —One of — his
his
folks
left
all
his
to
in
his
to
"That's lots of body but no
order "Gein Beer" head."
—What did Gein say the sheriff who arrested him? "Have a heart." —What did Gein give for Valentines Day? A box of farmer fannies. —What did they find Gein's cookie jar? "Lady to
his girl
in
Fingers."
—
Sexual Perversion The following are some examples of this category:
—Why New
did they
let
him out of the
Year's Eve? So he could dig
hospital
on
up
a fresh
girls
—there
date.
—They say he was were always a
lot
real
of
popular with
women hanging around
his
place.
friend stop going with —Why did Because he was such a cut-up. "Dig you —As a hearse went by he his girl
said:
Baby."
204
him? later,
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
—All the women used
field for
in the area are
going to Plain-
parts.
—They changed the population sign "gruesome/' because window, "Wombs for —Gein had a sign Rent." —They had keep heat on Gein's house—or the furniture would get goose bumps. —There were no mice around Gein's farmhouse at Plainfield
it
in his
to
in
else
because there were too
many
"pussies."
Cannibalism and Sexual Perversion of this category are as follows:
—
Illustrations
—They
—
could never keep him in jail he'd just draw a picture of a woman on the wall and eat his way out.
—He's the author of that of Women." —There was a man named Ed
article: "I've
Had My
Fill
Who
wouldn't take a woman to When he wanted to diddle, He cut out the middle And hung the rest in the shed.
—What did Gein have in
his
bed.
sewing box? "Belly
Buttons."
—Why won't anyone play cards with Gein? He might come up with a good hand. —Why did the Defense Department on Gein? To ship arms Vietnam. —Why do people go Plainfield? To get a head. call
to
to
205
EDWARD GEIN The Night Before Christmas
—"Twas the night before Christmas, when
all
thru
the shed,
were
All creatures
stirring,
even Old Ed.
The
bodies were hung from the rafters above, While Eddie was searching for another new love.
He went to Wautoma for a Plainfield Looking for love and also a meal.
deal,
When what to his hungry eyes should appear, But old Mary Hogan in her new red brassiere. how
Her
eyes
And
her dimples, oh
they twinkled, ever so gay
Her cheeks were
And
she
let
like roses
when
they.
kissed by the sun,
out a scream at the sight of Ed's gun.
Old Ed pulled the
He
how merry were
trigger
and Mary
fell
dead,
took his old axe and cut off her head.
He then took his hacksaw and cut her in two, One-half for hamburger, the other for stew. And
Up
laying a
hand aside of her heel, went his next meal.
to the rafters
He sprang
to his truck to the
graveyard he flew,
The hours were short and much work he must do. 206
AMERICA'S
He
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
looked for the grave where the
fattest
one
laid,
and
He
and spade.
started in digging with shovel
shoveled, and shoveled and shoveled
some
more,
he reached the old coffin door.
"Till finally
He took out his crowbar and He was not only clever, but
pryed open the box, sly as
a fox.
As he picked up the body and cut off her head,
He
could
tell
by the smell that the old
girl
was
dead.
He filled in the grave by the moonlight above, And once more Old Ed had found a new love. He
let
If
don't get caught,
I
out a
yell as
he drove out of sight, I'll be back tomorrow
In our culture, cannibalism taboos and all
is
people, yet
is
one of the
night.
stricter
deeply rooted in the unconscious of it
evoked a tremendous outpouring
of jokes in the wake of the Gein incident. Those able to handle this material in a
humorous man-
ner were fortunate as compared with those who were obliged to seek reassurance and treatment
from
their family doctor to protect
them from
erupting unconscious material via the organ langastrointestinal symptomatology. In re-
guage of
gard to the cannibalistic element, there
207
is
more
EDWARD GEIN humorous defense would There have been deep reactions in the area proximal to Plainfield in the form of functional gastric complaints. Drs. R.D. Wichmann and 2 RJ. Kjentvet of Wild Rose, Wisconsin, thirteen miles from Plainfield, reported that since the Gein threat than a superficial,
indicate.
expose, they have treated ten patients
who gave
a
history of developing complaints referable to the gastrointestinal system their
symptoms
and the
patients connected
to the incident.
None were
diag-
having ulcers and none were hospitalized. In the reaction of the school children, through
nosed
as
and humor, they were able
to
stand
abreast of their parental figures, and, in
many
witticism
cases,
knew
the risque quips before the former.
Children communicated the jokes
among
freely,
not only
themselves, but to their parents, thereby
provoking consternation and indignation. As Grotchildren do underjahn 3 points out, "Actually .
.
.
stand only too well the aggressive meaning of the
and
accordingly. Children are so genuine understanding of the much nearer to the They understand the point of the unconscious joke, all right, but they overlook the disguise which 'joke'
react to
.
is
.
it
.
essential for the adult's displaced attention."*
We
see that this
the
young school
grim humor
is
a subject close to
children's unconscious
and
to
Oedipal situation with both fears and wishes toward parental figures. Here, also, is a frightening situation of an adult man carrying out what children have phantasied and, on many occasions, acted out as a part of their play. Thus, their recent
208
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
the unreal, becoming reality, is a tremendous threat which is dealt with through grim humor. Here is a chance for the children to debunk the all-important parent by emphasizing, through humor, that an adult committed these deeds which have been forbidden to them. The people in Wisconsin reacted to Gein's horrifying crimes in an exhibitionistic and narcissistic manner, and gained pleasure from them through humor. t By this mechanism, they were able to have publicity directed at them, but were also able to forestall criticism of themselves for unknowingly tolerating such a criminal in their midst. To 8 quote Levine "Whether humor evokes an affective
or a perceptual disturbance, we infer that a
preconscious conflict has been aroused which
is
censored but threatens to erupt into consciousness"; also,
"The
fact that
humor can produce intense how sensitive is
emotional reactions demonstrates the individual to underlying
meaning of humor."
The people "master by humor" because more
di-
means are not accessible to them to deal with this threat. They chose the mechanism of grim humor to soften the blow to their good name and rect
reputations.
The quote
Bergler
tory self-irony
is
4
"And
the use of anticipa-
an attempt on the part of the
child in the adult to forestall the other fellow's ridicule of him,
which would again push him into
the passive masochistic corner and provide the
inner Frankenstein with
new
And, again Bergler 4 proposes 209
torture material." to
show
that
".
.
.
EDWARD GEIN Laughter is a necessary and healthy internal debunking process, and therefore, a fear reducing process, and that it is not directed at external powers, as more than fourscore investigators have claimed for centuries, but at internal powers."
The sists in
on the environment
effect
is
clear:
it
con-
a saving of expenditure of sympathy. Freud
expresses
it
thus: "It has
seemed
9
to us that the
economy of expenditure in inhibition, of the comic from an economy of expenditure in thought, and of humor from an economy of expenditure in feeling." Laughter is also a joint way of reacting. An alliance is formed between those who laugh and pleasure of wit originated from an
the laughter becomes a group situation. (The group in
Wisconsin had as an object of ridicule
scapegoat
—Ed Gein.)
—the
This unifying pact strengthens the tie between the people, but at the same time, the controlling and inhibiting function of the individual can become restricted or loosened. Thus in the identifi-
group and with the common humor can be released under the support of group sanction. The weaker the identification secured by the group situation, the cleverer the device must be so much better the cation with the
aggression, grim
—
joke; conversely, these standards are lowered
the collectivity
is
if
firmly established, until laughter,
apparently without cause, easily provoked, leaps
from person to person. Brody 10 states it in this manner: "The telling of a joke affects the listener as an invitation to common aggression and com210
AMERICA'S
mon
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
regression; thus the stronger the
group
spirit,
the less effort required to create laughter." 11
pointed out, "The importance of wit mechanism in everyday life will be readily admitted by any casual observer. It serves as
As
Brill
as a psychic
European and with present-day communication a good joke quickly becomes an interna-
a universal outlet in culture, facilities,
all
countries of
tional event."
The
simpler and
producing stimulus
more is,
the
primitive the laughter-
more does
the laughter
express "pure, uncontrolled motor pleasure" only.
The more complex
the stimuli, the broader the margins for variety of affects and emotions that can be discharged through laughter and the richer the shades of laughter. This paper is submitted as a discussion on the mechanisms of the response of the citizens of Wisconsin to the Gein incident. The event with its grief and horror was felt by the unconscious and conscious of all who learned of the activities and through the mechanism of humor, the horror was repressed, then released by the people who were near but not personally involved in the grim situation.
4
*Bergler "Hence children laugh more and more easily than adults do; they have more fears to counteract." :
"By proving through wit and comic
in general, that a seamy side to everything and flaws in everybody, the child in the
'the great isn't so great'; that there
211
is
EDWARD GEIN adult uses the tactic of anticipatory attack to gain respite and a breathing spell." Kris
5 :
"The
language it which adults
child's joy at playing with the
has just mastered
lives
on
in the pleasure
find in words and is a pleasure which wit justifies before the super-ego."
tObrdlik 6
humor) is manistrengthening of morale and of resistance of people who struggle for their "Its positive effect (gallows
:
fested above spirit
individual
in the
all
and national
Theodor Reik 7
:
survival."
"... gallows
humor
a reliable in-
is
dex of the morale of the oppressed."
BIBLIOGRAPHY 1.
EYSENCK, H.J.: The Appreciation of Humor: An Experimental and Theoretical Study. Brit. J. Psychol.
2.
32:295-309, 1942.
WICHMANN,
R.D. and
KJENTVET,
R.J.:
Personal communication. 3.
GROTJAHN, MARTIN:
Laughter
in
Psy-
choanalysis. Samiksa 3:76-82, 1949. 4.
BERGLER, EDMUND: Laughter and the Sense New York Intercontinental Medical
of Humor.
Book Corp., 5.
Process. 6.
1956.
KRIS, ERNST: Laughter Int. J.
OBRDLIK, logical
as
an Expressive
Psa. 21:314-341, 1940.
A.J.: 'Gallows
Phenomenon. Am. J.
Humor"-A Sociol.
Socio-
47:709-716,
1942. 7.
REIK,
THEODOR:
Psychoanalysis 2:12-20,
Freud and Jewish Wit. Winter 1954.
212
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER LEVINE, JACOB and REDLICH, F.C.: FailAMERICA'S
8.
ure to Understand Humor. Psa. Quart. 24:560572, 1955. 9.
FREUD, SIGMUND:
The Basic Writings of
mund Freud. New York, Modern
Sig-
Library, 1938,
p. 803. 10.
BRODY, MORRIS ter. Psa. Quart.
11.
W.:
The Meaning of Laugh-
19:192-201, 1950.
BRILL, A. A.: The Mechanisms of Wit and Humor in Normal and Psychopathic States. Psychiat. Quart.
14:731-749, 1940.
213
APPENDIX B
About The Author And Other
Contributors
JUDGE ROBERT H. GOLLMAR Judge Robert Gollmar is the author of the Award winning book, Tales Of A Country Judge, as well as numerous legal and other articles and a book on the circus entitled, My Father Owned A Circus. 215
EDWARD GEIN Judge Gollmar was born and raised in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin where he attended the public schools. He is a son of the late Fred C. and Lottie (Weirich) Gollmar. As a boy his father was one of the owners of Gollmar Brothers Circus which by the time Robert was thirteen grew from a few wagons to the fourth largest circus in the United
States, requiring twenty-five to thirty rail
cars.
Upon graduation from the University of WisLaw School in 1925, he practiced law in
consin
Baraboo (except for two years in Stevens Point) Sauk County Judge, taking office in January of 1956. Elected the first Circuit Judge of the newly created Twenty-fifth Judicial Circuit, he took office May 1, 1961 and served there until his retirement on August 1, 1973. Immediately upon retirement, Judge Gollmar was appointed a Criminal Court (Felony Branch) Reserve Judge in Milwaukee County and served there for two and one half years. Then, after a six month stint in the Sixteenth Circuit, Judge Gollmar was appointed Acting Judge of the Twenty-fifth Circuit on July 1, 1976, where he is presently Judge of Branch 1, Circuit Court, Walworth until his election as
County.
He
married to the former Mildred Chase they live on Lauderdale Lakes near and Jensen Elkhorn. Judge Gollmar has three children; Sandra Edwards of Baraboo; Robert Jr. of Rochester and Gail Tofson of Madison. There are three is
216
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
grandsons and two great granddaughters as well Karen Ewing of Ohio, James Jensen and Margaret Jensen of Wisconsin. Judge Gollmar is a past president of the University of Wisconsin Law School Association and a member of the Wisconsin and the Walworth County Bar Associations. In addition, he is president of the Circus World Museum, Inc.; past Grand Master of Masons in as three stepchildren:
Wisconsin; a thirty-third-degree Mason and has been awarded the Jay Cees Distinguished Citizen Award.
217
Joseph D'Lugosz
Art renderings for the Edward Gein story as well as the face of the book's dust jacket were created by Joseph D'Lugosz of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. D'Lugosz's professional work during the past thirty years has been in the very fluid and dynamic world of television; first as a station artist and rising to the status of TV art director. It was, however, his work as a free-lance illustrator that caught the publishers attention and the Edward Gein assignment ensued. D'Lugosz's credits, as a
TV
artist,
include the
usual commercial and promotional tasks designed to keep a station's visual image crisp, competitive and commercially appealing to the businesses who
219
EDWARD GEIN use the
medium
as
an advertising
assignments have taken him to
vehicle.
TV
Those
stations in
Rockford, IL and Philadelphia, PA, with what he considers the highlight of his career (thus
far), to
be assigned to cover the 1979, John Gacy murder trial in Chicago. For weeks his daily courtroom sketches were
shown each night on northern
Illinois
TV
homes.
screens in thousands of "I
think that the daily
study of the murderer, the prosecutor and the
defense attorney gave really
me
the insight
I
needed
to
understand the Edward Gein case," said
D'Lugosz.
Born and
raised in Philadelphia, D'Lugosz earned
BFA
degree from the Philadelphia College of where he majored in illustration. Prior to his TV broadcasting career, which began in 1958, he worked as a free-lance artist, specializing in various media. These included design, illustration, drawing and painting. a
Art,
The D'Lugosz home
for the past thirty years
and now Lake his wife, Marilynn; live in a comfortable home on three wooded acres. Although their two grown children, Dianalynn and Joseph are very active in their own careers they are always in communication with their has been in Rockford,
Illinois
Geneva, Wisconsin, where he and
parents.
Currently Joe D'Lugosz has embarked on a new career teaching commercial art, design and drawing to students at the Milwaukee Area Technical
220
AMERICA'S College.
Of
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
course he has not discontinued his
and continues and TV graphics
free-lance assignments booklets, brochures
variety of clients that include
lithographers.
221
TV
to
produce
for a wide
stations
and
George W. Arndt, M.D.
George W. Arndt was born July 21, 1925, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As a child his family moved to Baraboo, Wisconsin and George not only met the author of this book, Judge Gollmar, but became a member of Judge Gollmar's sunday school
class.
Upon
graduation from Baraboo high school in
Army
Corp and served during World War II in both the European and Pacific theaters until his discharge from the Army 1943, he entered the
Signal
in 1946.
After attending the University of Wisconsin's its School of Medi-
premed program, he entered cine
and
in
1953 was granted
223
his
Doctor of Medi-
EDWARD GEIN Arndt served his internship at Madison General Hospital and then joined the staff at Mendota State Hospital to pursue his intercine degree. Dr.
est in psychiatry.
July 1, 1955, Dr. Arndt became a Fellow at the famous Menninger School of Psychiatry in Topeka, Kansas, while serving also as a resident in psychia-
Winter General Veterans Hospital.
try at
during
this
It
was
period that Menninger published Dr.
Arndt's study, Community Reactions
to
a Horrifying
Event.
Upon
graduation from Menninger, June 30,
became the assistant chief, Continued Treatment Service at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Tomah, Wisconsin and also chairman 1958, he
of the hospital's Medical Records Committee. While at the
V.A. Hospital in Tomah, Dr. Arndt was
involved with organizing and clinically implemented their first
major Chemotherapy reserach program.
In 1959, Dr. Arndt became a Diplomat of the
American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. July 1, 1960, Dr. Arndt left the V.A. to enter private practice in Neenah, Wisconsin, where he also organized and developed the Winnebago County Guidance Center and served as director from 1960 to 1963. (Afterwhich, he periodically served as consultant.) In 1960, Dr. Arndt also joined the staff of the
Theda Clark Regional Medical Center
in Neenah. Department of Medicine and Medical Records Committee and remains on the active medical and psychiatric staff.
He
is
past chairman of the hospital's
224
AMERICA'S
MOST BIZARRE MURDERER
When Edward
Gein petitioned for release from
Central State Hospital, Judge Gollmar called on Dr. Arndt to examine Gein as one of the state's
foremost forensic psychiatrists. Since 1960, Dr.
Arndt has given consultation and evaluations
to
the criminal justice system (Courts, prisons, dis-
attorneys and defense attorneys.) Other current activities of Dr. Arndt include:
trict
Sex Crimes Program, Diviand Social Services at both Central Hospital and the Winnebago Mental Health
•Psychiatric consultant,
sion of Health State
Institute. (1972-81) •Consultant to the State of Wisconsin Division of Corrections, Clinical Sevices. (1960-81) •Psychiatric consultant to the Wisconsin Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, since 1961, and to the Wisconsin Veterans Home since 1973. •Member, Advisory Board, Winnebago County Mental Health Association, since 1965. •Chairman of Mental Health, Retardation and Drug Abuse Committee of the planning organization for a ten county area, preapring for the current Lake Winnebago Health System Agency. •Chairman, Clinical Directors Division of the Wisconsin Association of Community Human Services Programs. (Dr. Arndt was awarded the first Clinical Directors Award from that organization in 1979.) •Medical director, Waushara County Guidance Center (51.42) Unified Board since 1969. •Clinical director and consultant to Sheboygan County (51.42) Unified Board since 1977. •Psychiatric consultant to Marinette County (51.42) Unified Board beginning in 1981.
Somehow,
Dr. Arndt has also found time to be
225
EDWARD GEIN very active in
community and professional organi-
zations over the years.
•Fellow,
He
is
currently:
American Psychiatric Association
(1970).
•Member, Wisconsin Psychiatric Association of which group he currently serves as both its secretary and chairman of the Membership Committee. And, he is past president of the Northern Chapter. •Member, American Medical Association. •Member, Wisconsin State Medical Society where he serves as a member of the House of Delegates and is past chairman of the Credentials Committee. Last, but surely not least, we have just been informed that Dr. Arndt has been appointed by Governor Dreyfus to the Wisconsin State Board of
Medical Examiners.
226
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In jail for a killing he didn't
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We
of Andersonville?
KILLER'S BREED, an
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earlier
volume
the bloody days of the Civil
War
and incredible scenes of cruelty and violence as our young nation splits wide open, blue armies versus gray armies, tainting the land with a river of blood.
And Edge was
there.
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by Brian Hodge A plague of unknown origin swept through modern civilization almost overnight, destroying good and evil alike. Leaving only a handful of survivors to make their way through an empty landscape, and face the unknown horrors that lay hidden in a savage new world. In a deserted midwestern department store, a few people banded together for survival. Beyond their temporary haven, an evil was stirring. Soon all that would stand between the world and a reign of insanity was this unlikely fortress of humanity, armed with what could be found on a department store shelf and what courage they could muster to battle a monstrous, merciless
scourge.
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CAME OUT AT THE TRIAL
THERE WERE SKULLS ON THE BEDPOSTS. HER HEART WAS FOUND IN A SAUCEPAN ON THE STOVE. GEIN DANCED IN THE MOONLIGHT WEARING THE FACE, THE BREASTS, THE HAIR OF HIS VICTIMS.
Edward Gein. His story is the basis ot two ot the most terrifying films ever made: Alfred Hitchcock's
PSYCHO and Tobe Hooper's THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Now, read the before
whom
mutilation,
Judge Robert
Edward Gein stood
What compelled nibalism
case
truth; the horrible facts of "the
of the century," as told by
H. Gollmar,
trial.
this reclusive bachelor to murder,
fratricide,
grave robbing and even can-
-a catalogue of atrocities
unparalleled
modern annals of crime? Judge Gollmar's account, which includes transcripts from the
trial,
is
in
the
actual
straightforward, riveting,
chilling.
The Case
of
BIZARRE
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