EP44: Ed Gein • The Butcher of Plainfield

In 1957, police in a quiet Wisconsin town entered a farmhouse and uncovered one of the most disturbing crimes in American history. What they found inside revealed a life consumed by grief, isolation, and madness. This episode explores the true story of Ed Gein - the man whose obsession with his mother and the dead blurred the line between devotion and horror, and whose crimes still cast a shadow over modern culture and film today.

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RESOURCES: 

• Ed Gein (overview, trial, myth-vs-fact anchor): https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ed-Gein
• “How Many People Did Ed Gein Kill?” (victim count context): https://www.britannica.com/topic/How-Many-People-Did-Ed-Gein-Kill
• “Body of Ed Gein’s final victim, Bernice Worden, is found” (Nov. 16, 1957): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/november-16/ed-gein-kills-final-victim-bernice-worden
• “Ed Gein dies” (1984 death at Mendota): https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/july-26/real-life-psycho-ed-gein-dies
• Ed Gein Farm Auction notice (IM2022): https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM2022
• Ed Gein at State Crime Lab (photo, Nov. 17, 1957): https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM41777
• Milwaukee Journal Sentinel photo gallery (includes the shed photo; graphic): https://www.jsonline.com/picture-gallery/news/2023/09/15/images-from-the-strange-highly-disturbing-case-of-ed-gein/70863276007/
• “Who Did Ed Gein Kill?” (Mary Hogan & Bernice Worden, tape details echoed): https://people.com/who-did-ed-gein-kill-11823922
• “Was ‘Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ Inspired by Ed Gein?” (media influence context): https://people.com/is-the-texas-chain-saw-massacre-based-on-a-true-story-11828098
• House fire & planned auction (farm burned 10 days pre-auction): https://www.biography.com/crime/a68908579/ed-gein-house-monster-netflix/
• Ed Gein profile (pop-culture tie-ins, institutionalization):

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Follow  / Support The Crime Shack and Host Michelle Pense:

Website: www.thecrimeshack.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/thecrimeshackpodcast

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@thecrimeshack

SUPPORT THE SHOW: Invisawear Safety Jewelry: The 'smart' jewelry that could save your life!