IN THE MIND OF A SERIAL KILLER

By: Chris Veal

What Makes a Serial Killer Someone who has murdered at least 3

people Require “cooling off” period between

each murder Main cause is psychological pleasure Many believe that they are not doing

anything wrong; rather helping the world Many serial killers were abused as

children or had abnormal childhoods Most have above average IQ

Evil

The intention of effect of causing harm or destruction Murdered two women and exhumed nine female

bodies from their graves Dismembered them and created their dismemberments

into clothing, jewelry, other paraphernalia Worn skin of other women around his house and

spoke like his mother He said that the reasons he killed older women was

because of his love-hate feelings toward his mother Determined that Gein had necrophilia and

cannibalistic acts with some of the bodies Although never admitted to cannibalistic or necrophilia

activities

Abnormalities

Was not allowed to have any friends Father was a drunk, could not hold a job Mother poured scalding water on him for

masturbating Ed never had a full time job

After mothers death lived on subsidies and worked odd jobs

Early Life:

Born August 27, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin

Smart student best subject was reading Most time spent doing chores Mother made sure he did not have any

friends Bullied as a child

Mother

Augusta Born 1878 – Died 1945 age 67

Believed sex was for procreation only Caught Ed masturbating, poured scalding

water on him as punishment Did not allow Ed to have any friends Favored Eddie over his brother

Father and Brother

Father (George) Died in 1940 of heart attack Alcoholic Violent Couldn’t keep a job

Brother (Henry) Normal older brother Died in 1944 age 43 of suspicious brush fire Blunt force trauma to the head Asphyxiation Did not like his mother

Media Attention

Modern movies based on him The Texas Chainsaw Massacre The Silence of the Lambs (also a novel) Psycho (also a novel)

Music Ed Gein (band) Ed Gein: The Musical

Actions of Gein

Trophies Head found in cardboard box Heart in plastic bag Purse, bracelet, and knife sheath made of human skin Rug, chair upholstered, lampshade, wastebasket, belts

made all of skin Belt buckles of human nipples Box of noses Necklace of lips Bowls made from skull crowns Shinbone table legs Refrigerator of female genitalia and internal organs Masks from faces of the dead

Actions Continued

Trophies Cont. Vests made of human breasts Coat made of vaginas and breasts Skin leggings

Dug up female bodies from there graves Reburied the bodies around his house Dress and behave as a woman and talk

like his deceased mother

Arrest

Arrested after police found the body of Bernice Worden beheaded and hanging in his house

He admitted to killing Worden and Hogan Dug the rest of the bodies from graves and

reburied them in his house During interrogation period officer slammed

Gein’s head into a desk making his confession inadmissible

Diagnosed as schizophrenic, clinically insane and mentally unfit for trial

Sent to mental hospital where after 10 years was diagnosed as competent to stand trial

Trial

Found guilty of first degree murder of Bernice Worden But clinically insane at the time of murder

Committed to Central State Hospital for criminally insane in Wisconsin Good patient

Transferred to Mendota Mental Health Institute Died here of Cancer on July 26, 1984

After Effects

Body buried next to his mother Gravestone stolen in 2000 recovered in

Seattle and placed in a museum in June 2001 Many movies and novels written after

Gein The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Psycho The Silence of the Lambs Deviant Red Dragon