On November 16, 1957, while investigating the disappearance of local hardware store owner Bernice Worden, authorities stumbled upon a sight straight out of their worst nightmares.
A Waushara County Sheriff’s deputy discovered Worden’s decapitated and mutilated body in a shed just a few miles southwest of Plainfield, Wisconsin.
Worden’s body was hung upside down and “dressed out like a deer.”
The culprit behind her murder was Ed Gein, a seemingly average Joe who made a living from odd jobs.
Little did authorities know that Worden’s slaying wasn’t the only secret Gein was hiding.
While going through Gein’s filthy farmhouse, the State Crime Lab discovered a ghastly collection of paraphernalia, including a chair upholstered in human skin, a belt made of nipples, a box of preserved vulvas, and a skin suit.
Gein told investigators that he began creating a “woman suit” soon after his mother’s death so that “he could crawl into her skin.”
After his mother’s death, Ed Gein boarded up the rooms she used, including the upstairs, downstairs parlor, and living room, leaving them untouched.
The disturbing artifacts found inside Gein’s farmhouse were photographed and cataloged before being “decently disposed of.”
After Gein’s admission to a maximum-security mental facility, his possessions, including the farmhouse, were scheduled to be auctioned on March 30, 1958, amid rumors that the house and the land it stood on might become a tourist attraction.
In the early morning of March 20, the house was destroyed by fire. Although some suspected arson, the theory has never been confirmed.
When Gein learned of the incident while in detention, he shrugged and said, “Just as well.”
