The story of the maniac Ed Gain horrified his contemporaries as soon as they managed to solve his crimes. She also shudders the modern average man. For many of his acquaintances, he seemed a rather harmless man, though with his own oddities. As it turned out later, the man had a considerable set of "skeletons in the closet." And not only in a figurative sense.
How it all started
Known around the world as a carreader of corpses, the man spent most of his life in Wisconsin, on a farm near Planfield. His father George owned land and was engaged in agriculture, achieved certain successes in the chosen field. He had only two passions: agriculture and alcohol. Having taken the next portion, he suddenly noticed all the mistakes of his son, for which he was ready to punish him, sparing no strength on the slap in the face.
The mother of Ed Gin Augustus was completely different. The woman was born into a pious family, some said that she was obsessed with faith. Lust and filth filled her for everything earthly, nevertheless, she became pregnant twice, both times gave birth to boys. The first child was born when the family lived in La Crosse, but the woman hated this city and persuaded her husband to move to Planfield, considering its inhabitants more devout. In practice, it turned out that there were almost no differences, so Augusta did not let the children off the farm, trying to protect them from city sins.
Life and its vicissitudes
In many ways, the fate of the maniac Ed Gein was determined precisely by his mother. In 1940, the father died, the woman finally took control of the lives of children. The elder tried to move away from relatives, for which he paid with his life. His body will be found in 1944. Although it is officially believed that suffocation was the cause of death, many claimed head wounds. For some reason, the investigators chose to close their eyes to them.
The future necrophile Ed Gain remained with his mother alone. A little time passed, she suffered an apoplexy stroke, which caused paralysis. The son looked after the woman around the clock, which did not stop her from scolding him and screaming. On the other hand, Ed himself believed that without his mother he could not survive, Augusta understood this. The son begged the woman not to die, not to leave him alone. The second blow caused death. It happened in 1945.
New milestones and new paths
The death of a mother was a difficult test for a man. As you know from the biography of Ed Gain, it was then that he finally succumbed to madness. At first, the neighbors did not pay attention to it. The man was closed, practically did not leave his possessions, he was selected to the city if the help of a mechanic was required. Even then, he became noticeably stranger than during his life with his family, but this did not catch the eye of others.
According to experts, Edward Theodore Gin himself made people suspect that something was wrong with him. His contemporaries recalled that the man liked to talk about the Nazis, cannibals, surgery for sex change - he read about all this in magazines. Gradually, the jokes became more and more cruel. A little time passed, in Planfield for the first time a man disappeared - the hostess of the motel and restaurant Mary Hogan. Gain already loved to joke that she had moved to live at his house. However, the jokes didn’t amuse anyone: although the woman disappeared, a pool of blood remained in the motel, which made it possible to understand that this did not happen by her will.
Oddities: is there a limit to them?
In those days, Edward Theodore Gin was a rather interesting target of persecution for local children. Although they were afraid of him, many still tried to get closer to the house. Looking through the windows, the children saw human heads - they will then be told to the elders about them, but at first no one will pay attention to such inventions. The very object of the rumors laughed, said: the brother used to serve in the south, in sea waters, it was from there that he sent heads as presents.
Many people were sure that Ed Gein, no matter how wonderful he was, was not able to offend anyone. Indeed, who today is without strangeness? It was known that he could not stand the sight of blood, did not take part in the local tradition and fun - deer hunting. However, soon a new event occurred that stirred the city, Bernice Warden disappeared.
How did it all happen
Bernice disappeared in November 1957. In the afternoon, her son, returning from the hunt, drove into a store run by a woman, did not find her on the spot, and the doors were open. Upon careful examination of the room, bloody traces from the window to the back door became visible. In addition, there was a receipt lying on which the name of Ed Gain appeared.
The man immediately called the law enforcement service, in the company of the sheriff, they went to the farm. Arriving here, they discovered an open human body on the terrace. They called immediately, called for help. Only 30 minutes passed, and now about a dozen people have been studying the farm, which will later be called the house of horrors. The case will be recognized as unique: before, American police have never encountered this.
Nightmare: and it is in reality!
Studying Ed Gain’s cuisine revealed many pots filled with boiled skulls. For the upholstery of the chairs used leather. Lampshades were made of flesh and smelled disgustingly. In a box found in the corner, the police saw a huge collection of noses. Gain found nipples on his belt, lips on his bedspread, and dried genitals in a shoe box. On the wall hung nine female faces, carefully crafted to ensure long-term preservation. A shirt made of women's skin was found - then the maniac will tell you that he slept in it, introducing himself as Augusta.
In the refrigerator of Ed Gaine internal organs were stored, one of the pots was with a heart. As the sheriff calculated, in total, the remains of approximately 15 people were found in the house. The search lasted several hours, and ended only at half past four in the morning. The last find was a bag with a human head - it belonged to Bernice. Then the criminal will say that he was preparing it to decorate the wall of the house.
True or not?
It took him several hours to interrogate Heine to plead guilty to the murder of Bernice. A few months later, he admitted that Mary's death was also the work of his hands. He explained the existence of the remaining evidence by excavations in the cemetery, in which he was helped by the local moron. Gus was digging up bodies; Ed was collecting parts of them. Once, when Gus did not come to the rescue on time, Ed, who needed new trophies, came up with nothing better than to kill.
When rumors of what had happened spread, residents began to avoid the farm. However, after a few months the kids became bolder enough to start stoning the windows. Many were sure that the house was a symbol of debauchery, but the authorities decided to sell it by organizing an auction. Local protests did not help, but soon the building burned down. Whether it was an arson, who was guilty of it, they never knew.
Curious or terrible?
As many locals thought, the fire helped save the village from becoming a monument to the madness of one of its inhabitants. However, the curious could not be counted, many wanted to buy at least some of the property that survived the fire. The plot received at its disposal a real estate agent, who soon got rid of the ashes and undergrowth.
Quite curious was the moment of the sale of Hein's car - the one he used on the day of the last committed murder. There were a total of 14 people wishing to purchase the lot, the final price was $ 760, which for that time was a fabulous sum. The buyer has remained anonymous. It was assumed that this was also a native of Wisconsin, a resident of Rothschild. Probably, it is he who will organize a fair in Seymour in the future, since there will be an attraction - “Ed Gain Machine”. Soon, however, authorities banned showing the car, and its further fate is unknown.
The story goes on
The arrest of the offender did not mean that they would cease to gossip about him. In 2002, a certain Fisher published stories of meetings with Hein. He said that in the late 1950s he worked in the forensic laboratory, where he met the maniac for the first time. He was brought here to interrogate with a printing device - he was used to confirm guilt in the murder of Mary. At that moment, it was important for her relatives to solve the problem of inheritance as soon as possible, but it was not possible to do this, since the woman was still considered to be missing.
It so happened that Ed Gain spent most of his life in a correctional facility. He died here in 1984. The causes of Ed Gain's death are published as natural. However, despite such life circumstances, the necrophilia still became a true legend of the underworld. Ed Gin’s grave is in the Planfield Public Cemetery. The man will become the prototype of the main villain of the movie "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."
Where does the popularity come from?
The case of Ed Gain was truly unique. Officially, the maniac had only two victims - these women were mentioned above. Many suspected that he had killed at least ten more, but the data never found confirmation. The crazy man became the prototype for many modern films, was the inspirer of writers, directors. His habits became legends, they were told about naughty children, forcing them to behave quietly. The unnatural passions inherent in a madman were the subject of research by the best American psychologists - earlier they had no opportunity to work with such unique material.
In many ways, his criminal career is associated with childhood experiences. Gaine will tell the investigation that Augusta made them and her brother constantly read the Bible and work hard. Boys were forbidden to communicate with children of their age, the mother believed that they would pick up the bad. In her opinion, all local women were of easy virtue. The brothers were together all the time, and the woman severely punished them for trying to make friends with classmates. At the same time, Ed, although a little strange in behavior, showed good academic success, and he was best able to read. Peers chuckled at him because of the growth on the eyelid.
Who is guilty of what?
When the father passed away, and the influence of the mother on the life of his sons became all-consuming, the older child began to worry about this. He criticized maternal behavior, which displeased not only the woman, but also the youngest son, who literally idolized Augusta. Apparently, this provoked Ed to the first wrongful misconduct.
In the future, the maniac’s life will be studied far and wide, hundreds of the best minds in the field of forensics and psychology will work on his history. Psychologists agree that the maternal influence had an extremely destructive effect on the personality of the child and his addiction in the sexual sphere.
Quite curious is the fact that Ed loved to read and used it "to his advantage." From brochures and books he learned about the features of the exhumation of bodies, got acquainted with the anatomical details. At the same time, the neighbors, although they considered the man strange, more than once trusted him to look after their kids when they needed to go away on business. This indicates the level of trust. Ed talked about his hobbies to everyone who was ready to listen to him, and such stories also did not make people worry.
What happened to Henry?
At the moment, the fact of fratricide has not found confirmation. The official version of the investigation was as follows: grass was burning on the field, the man tried to cope with the fire and died. However, after some time it became known that this happened just when the older brother began to take a particularly critical view of maternal behavior and its influence on his second son.
In May 1944, the brothers were engaged in burning grass on their lands. A little time passed, the ring of fire began to expand actively, which was noticed by the neighbors. The sheriffs were called, they soon found the body of the deceased man. Many said that he had bruises on his head, although there are those who are willing to argue with this position (an alternative version is the absence of visible damage). In any case, according to the coroner, suffocation was the cause of death. They did not begin the autopsy, immediately recording Henry as victims of an accident.