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Part 1: Instructions & Success Criteria 

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Part 1: Instructions & Success Criteria 

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Read "The Macabre Story Of Ed Gein..." (linked here). In the aftermath of his crimes, his neighbors said that there were “clues” all along. Choose a category & discuss the “clues” that a professional would recognize as indicators of his criminal behavior or at minimum, criminal/murderous ideations. Simply click the + under the category you'd like to add to. See my example below

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For years, Ed Gein holed up inside his dilapidated home in Plainfield, Wisconsin as he carefully skinned and dismembered his victims in order to fashion everything from a chair to a bodysuit.

Most people have seen classic horror films like Psycho (1960), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). But what many may not know is that the terrifying villains in these three movies were all based on one real-life killer: Ed Gein, the so-called "Butcher of Plainfield."

When police entered his Plainfield, Wisconsin home in November 1957, following the disappearance of a local woman, they walked straight into a house of horrors. Not only did they find the woman they were looking for - dead, decapitated, and hung from her ankles - but they also found a number of shocking, grisly objects crafted by Ed Gein.

Police found skulls, human organs, and gruesome pieces of furniture like lampshades made of human faces and chairs upholstered with human skin. Gein's goal, as he later explained to police, was to create a skin suit to quasi-resurrect his dead mother with whom he'd been obsessed for years.

Ed Gein's Early Life And His First Murder

Born Edward Theodore Gein on Aug. 27, 1906, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Ed came of age under the influence of his religious and domineering mother, Augusta. She raised Ed and his brother Henry to believe that the world was full of evil, that women were "vessels of sin," and that drinking and immortality were the instruments of the devil.

Frantic to protect her family from the evil which she believed lurked around every corner, Augusta insisted that they move from La Crosse - a "sinkhole of filth," she thought - to Plainfield. Even there, Augusta had the family settle outside of town since she believed that living in town would corrupt her two young sons.

As a result, Ed Gein only ever left his family's isolated farmhouse to go to school. But he failed to establish any meaningful connections with his classmates, who remembered him as socially awkward and prone to odd, unexplained fits of laughter. What's more, Ed's lazy eye and speech impediment made him an easy victim of bullies.

Despite all this, Ed adored his mother. (His father, a timid alcoholic who died in 1940, cast a much smaller shadow over his life.) He absorbed her lessons about the world and seemed to embrace her harsh worldview. Though Henry sometimes stood up to Augusta, Ed never did.

So, it's perhaps not a surprise that Ed Gein's first victim was likely his older brother, Henry.

In 1944, Ed and Henry set out to clear some vegetation in their fields by burning it away. But only one of the brothers would live through the night.

As they worked, their fire suddenly got out of control. And when firefighters arrived to put out the blaze, Ed told them that Henry had vanished. His body was found soon afterward, face down in the marsh, dead from asphyxiation.

At the time, it seemed like a tragic accident. But accidental or not, Henry's death meant that Ed Gein and Augusta had the farmhouse to themselves. They lived there in isolation for about a year, until Augusta's death in 1945.

Then, Ed Gein began his decade-long descent into depravity.

The Horrific Crimes Of The "Butcher Of Plainfield"

Following Augusta's death, Ed Gein transformed the house into something of a shrine to her memory. He boarded up rooms that she'd used, keeping them in pristine condition, and moved into a small bedroom off the kitchen.

Living alone, far from town, he began to sink into his obsessions. Ed filled his days by learning about Nazi medical experiments, studying human anatomy, consuming porn - though he never attempted to date any real-life women - and reading horror novels. He also began to indulge his sick fantasies, but it took a long time for anyone to realize it.

Indeed, for a full decade, no one thought much about the Gein farm outside of town. Everything changed in November 1957 when a local hardware store owner named Bernice Worden vanished, leaving nothing behind but bloodstains.

Worden, a 58-year-old widow, had last been seen at her store. Her last customer? None other than Ed Gein, who'd gone into the store to buy a gallon of antifreeze.

Police went to Ed's farmhouse to investigate - and found themselves in the middle of a waking nightmare. There, authorities found what would later inspire horror movies such as Silence of the Lambs, , and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

What Investigators Found Inside Ed Gein's House

As soon as investigators stepped into Ed Gein's house, they found Bernice Worden in the kitchen. She was dead, decapitated, and hung by her ankles from the rafters.

There were also countless bones, both whole and fragmented, skulls impaled on his bedposts, and bowls and kitchen utensils made from skulls. Worse than the bones, however, were the household items that Ed had made from human skin.

Authorities found chairs upholstered in human skin, a wastebasket made of skin, leggings made from human leg skin, masks made from faces, a belt made of nipples, a pair of lips being used as a window shade drawstring, a corset made of a female torso, and a lampshade made from a human face.

Along with the skin items, police found various dismembered body parts, including fingernails, four noses, and the genitals of nine different women. They also found the remains of Mary Hogan, a tavern keeper who'd gone missing in 1954.

Ed Gein readily admitted that he'd collected most of the remains from three local graveyards, which he'd started to visit two years after Augusta's death. He told police he'd gone to the graveyards in a daze, looking for bodies that he thought resembled his mother.

Ed also explained why. He told authorities that he had wanted to create a "woman suit" so that he could "become" his mother, and crawl into her skin.

How Many People Did Ed Gein Kill?

Following the police visit to Ed Gein's house, the "Butcher of Plainfield" was arrested. He was found not guilty by reasons of insanity in 1957 and sent to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. Then, his farmhouse mysteriously burned to the ground.

Ten years later, Ed was deemed fit to stand trial and was convicted of the murder of Bernice Worden - but just of Bernice Worden. He was never tried for Mary Hogan's murder because the state allegedly saw it as a waste of money. Ed was insane, they reasoned - he would spend the rest of his life in hospitals either way.

But that raises a chilling question. How many people did Ed Gein kill? Until his death in 1984 at the age of 77, he only ever admitted to murdering Worden and Hogan. The other bodies - and police found as many as 40 in his home - he claimed he'd robbed from graves.

As such, we may never know how many people fell victim to the Butcher of Plainfield. But it is certain that Ed Gein stands as one of history's most disturbing serial killers. He's also seen as the inspiration for the mother-loving Norman Bates of Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre's skin-wearing Leatherface, and The Silence of The Lamb's Buffalo Bill.

Those movies have terrified generations of movie audiences. But they aren't quite as chilling as the real-life story of Ed Gein himself.

After learning about the disturbing crimes of Ed Gein, read about still-unsolved case of the Cleveland Torso Murders. Then, read up on the horrific crimes of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer.

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The Story Of Ed Gein - The Killer Who Used Human Body Parts In Strange Ways

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Most people have seen classic horror films like Psycho (1960), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and The Silence of the Lambs (1991). But what many may not know is that the terrifying villains in these three movies were all based on one real-life killer: Ed Gein, the so-called "Butcher of Plainfield."

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Here I would write about how certain biological factors may have been early clues to what Ed Gein would become. I am getting this information from "The Macabre Story of Ed Gein.." article. I chose a picture that is appropriate, not too grotesque or inappropriate.

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Here’s how Ed Gein childhood affected him throughout his whole schooling that affected him to be the person he was because Ed Gein only ever left his family’s isolated farmhouse to go to school. But he failed to establish any meaningful connections with his classmates, who remembered him as socially awkward and prone to odd, unexplained fits of laughter. What’s more, Ed’s lazy eye and speech impediment made him an easy victim of bullies.

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The childhood circumstances Ed Gein faced was a very religious mother who taught him and his brother that the world is full of evil. His mother moved them to a smaller city in hopes to prevent the evilness getting to them from the previous town. Because of her beliefs, Ed had a very restricted childhood and wasn’t allowed to leave his house besides going to school. In a result of all of this, Ed was a victim of bullying from a young age which contributed significantly in the reason why he became a serial butcher. I got my information from “The Macabre Story Of Ed Gein”

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Ed adored his mother as his father died in 1940. He took in his mother’s lessons about the world and seemed to agree on her harsh worldview.

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Ed’s childhood wasn’t the best which could’ve been an early sign of his gruesome act. He injured and suffered bullying due to him being socially awkward, his lazy eye, and speech impediment. Ed also praised his mother very much, while his brother didn’t, which most likely was the reason his brother was his first victim.

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Ed Geins farmhouse was on the outskirts of town and isolated from the rest of Plainfield. Once his brother and mother passed this made it easy for him to be able to get away with his obsessions due to nobody thinking or suspecting the Gein farmhouse

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Ed gein child was really effective for him mentally and physically. He was born Edward Theodore Gein on August 27, 1906, in La Crosse, Wisconsin, Ed came of age under the influence of his religious and dommering mother. He failed to establish any connection with his classmates and family, he was known to be not too social with others. As a result, Ed Gein only ever left his family’s isolated farmhouse to go to school. Ed gein absorbed his mothers lessons about the world and seemed to embrace her harsh worldview. Though Henry sometimes stood up to Augusta, Ed never did. Perhaps not a surprise that Ed Gein’s first victim was likely his older brother, Henry.

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Ed’s childhood circumstances affected him deeply. He had a religious and assertive mother. His mother raised him at a farmhouse away from the town causing him to become more isolated. She raised Ed and his brother Henry to believe that the world was full of evil, that women were “vessels of sin,” and that drinking and immortality were the instruments of the devil. This mentally affected Ed’s view on others.

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Ed Gein’s unusual behavior with his mother, Augusta, stemmed by a deeply isolated and obsessive relationship rooted in her extreme religious views and controlling nature. After her death in 1945, his mental health went downhill from there.

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Ed Gein childhood gives good enough reason to suspect he will be a serial killer. Gein had a strange relationship with his mother. He always adore her and followed her word even though she was a lil crazy to. Gein is suspected of killing his brother.

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Some childhood circumstances that may have caused Ed Gein to engage in violent crimes that he committed were his traumatic characteristics of his mother. His mother Augusta Gein was a very religious woman who enforced that many behaviors such as sex were an evil thing and engaging in anything outside the house should be avoided. Additionally, he grew up with a verbally and physically abusive father that also abused alcohol very heavily. Within 5 years of each other his father, brother, and mother passed away, leaving him alone.

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Edward Theodore Gein, Born on August 27, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin.

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Ed Gein and his brother (Henry) who we’re mainly raised by his mother (Augusta) who made them believe that the world was full of evil and that women were “vessels of evil” and drinking/immortality were the instruments of the devil. His mother moved the family outside of the city because she believed that is they lived in the city it would corrupt her sons.

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Ed Geins childhood affected his life and why he committed those crimes. His whole life he was isolated in their family’s farmhouse, leaving only to go to school, where he was bullied. His mother made him believe that the world is full of evil, that’s why they lived far away from other people. She taught him that women were vessels of sin and that drinking and immorality were instruments of evil. He absorbed her lessons about the evil world and adored her. It could be said that he was kind of “in love” with his mother. Compared to his brother who sometimes stood up for himself, Ed never did, he always listened to her. He wanted to become his mother at that point.

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The father of Edward Gein (geen) was an alcoholic and both verbally and physically abusive to Gein and his brother. However, Gein’s fanatically religious mother, Augusta Gein, dominated his early life by teaching him that sex was evil and a contaminating influence to be avoided. In 1914, the Geins moved to a farm near Plainfield. Gein’s father died in 1940. His brother died in 1944 while fighting a fire near their home. Some investigators have speculated that Gein killed his brother in the fire, but no one has proven this assertion. Augusta’s death in 1945 left Gein alone and appears to be the catalyst that drove his descent into full-blown psychopathic behavior.

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Ed Gein’s interests and behavior throughout his life were always odd. From a young age he idolized his mother and never spoke out against her like he was obsessed with her. So eventually when his brother Henry brother spoke against his mother Henry ended up dead in their farm lands supposedly after a fire, but the cause of death was ruled asphyxiation all while Ed came out un-touched. After his mothers death he began studying Nazi medical experiments and human anatomy all while his mental health was deteriorating and his urge to fulfill his sick fantasies grew.

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Ed Gein at the early ages of his life was heavily influenced by his own mother by the name of Augusta. Him and his brother were lead to believe that the world was evil, especially women. As a result, Gein was never outside of their small, outside of town home unless it was to go to school. He never made connections with kids his age as they called him “socially awkward and prone to odd”.

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Growing up his mother believed and taught him “the world was full of evil, that women were “vessels of sin,” and that drinking and immortality were the instruments of the devil.”

She helped shape his mind to believe this by moving him around to protect her family from evil and by doing so she also kept him very isolated except for school.

By not connecting with his classmates and being made fun of he believed that everything his mother told him about the world full of evil was true. Which later on lead him to become overly obsesses with his mother after her dead. Contributing to him becoming a serial killer

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Ed gein weird obsession with his mom and his eye led to his mental snap

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Ed gein weird obsession with his mom and his eye led to his mental snap

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growing up ed gein mother thought the word was full of sins and taught her sons that women were vessels of sins. So she moved ed and his brother outside of a small town in a farmhouse, because she said that the town still possess evil still. Ed Gein only ever left his family’s isolated farmhouse to go to school. But he failed to establish any meaningful connections with his classmates, who remembered him as socially awkward and prone to odd, unexplained fits of laughter. What’s more, Ed’s lazy eye and speech impediment made him an easy victim of bullies. Ed absorbed her lessons about the world and seemed to embrace her harsh worldview. Henry the brother sometimes stood up to Ed never did. So, it’s perhaps not a surprise that Ed Gein’s first victim was likely his older brother, Henry.

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Ed Gein’s failure to make any meaningful connections with classmates could be a leading factor to his gruesome actions. He was also known to be socially awkward and odd. These weird behaviors also could have been influenced by his mother.

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ed gein’s life was shaped by isolation and a mom who filled him with a lot of fear and shame. after she died he went into an obsession and he often blurred fantasy’s with his reality. his crimes, turning human bodies into clothing and furniture, was not really about rage but more so about mind rotting alone. he seemed unnoticed until it was too late.

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Despite all this, Ed adored his mother. (His father, a timid alcoholic who died in 1940, cast a much smaller shadow over his life.) He absorbed her lessons about the world and seemed to embrace her harsh worldview. Though Henry sometimes stood up to Augusta, Ed never did.

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Ed Gein was born in 1906 in , La Crosse Wisconsin under the care of a domineering mother who was fanatically religious and an alcoholic neglectful father. The main contributor to Ed’s childhood trauma was his mother, who raised him to see women as vessels of sin and lead him to believe every corner of the world was filled with evil. In order to “protect her family” from the “evil that lurked every corner of the world” she moved from La Crosse to Plainfield. The family took residence outside of town and in order to make sure her son’s didn’t get corrupted by the outside world he only left his family’s farm house when it was time for school. Despite the contributions his mother had on Ed’s life he truly adored his mother. His brother on the other hand tended to stand up to his mother from time to time, Leading to Ed’s brother being his first kill. Another fact to note would be that Ed Geins alcoholic father died in 1940 he was a timid man and had little contribution as to who Ed Gein became.

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the media that Ed Gein was actively consuming following his mothers death in 1945 might have been what led him to start actively committing murders as well as the mourning & grieving process possibly being a minor influence. when Geins mother has passed away, he was educating himself in human anatomy as well as Nazi Medical Experience's and consuming 18+ media. those factors as well as the fact that gein was still isolative physically from others and being alone constantly with his thoughts, could have led into intrusive homicidal thoughts/ideation to which he never fought back those issues.

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When Ed Gein’s mother, Augusta, whom he was obsessed with, passed away in 1945, his “mental state deteriorated”. He mourned her death quite strangely, boarding up room’s that she used and keeping them tidy to feel as if her presence was still there. His relationship with his mother was one rooted in complex obsession and deep hatred. This was a sign that perhaps he saw his mother as something more than a maternal figure. This is also why he ended up killing women who resembled his mother, removing their skin to make a skin suit to “become” Augusta.

Sources: https://allthatsinteresting.com/ed-gein

https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/ed-gein

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Some childhood circumstances that professionals would recognize as indicators of Ed Gein’s criminal behaviors are that his mother was very religious and domineering and taught him that the world is evil. Ed Gein lived on the outskirts of his town and only left his farmhouse to go to school. Classmates remember him as odd and socially awkward, so Ed never had a connection with any of his classmates. He was easily a victim of bullying due to his speech impediment and lazy eye. I am getting this information from “The Macabre Story of Ed Gein…” article.

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Gein Had a very religious mother, despite that he adored her. He absorbed her lesions of the worlds and embraced how harsh she viewed the world. He was said to be socially awkward and prone to odd by his classmates as a child. Ed spent lots of his days studying Nazi medical experiments, human anatomy, horror novels, and inappropriate material. He supposedly started to indulge in sick fantasies he developed from the media he was consuming at the time. When police investigated Ed’s farmhouse they found countless bones, whole and fragmented, skulls impaired on bedposts, and bowls and kitchen utensils made from bones. Along with household items made from human skin. Ed admitted he’s collect remains from graveyards and he wanted to create a “woman suit” so he could “become” his mother….

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Growing up Ed Gein never had a chance to interact with other people. Ed’s mother Augusta purposely moved far away from town to keep her children away from the “sins” that lurked in the town. Ed would only be allowed to leave for school which he obviously had no luck of gaining any connections there due to his isolated upbringing. His only source of interaction was from his insane mother who would teach him about the horrors of the world, keeping him even more isolated.

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Ed Gein was isolated and he was obsessed with his controlling mother and after she died he turned to grave robbing women who reminded him of her, collecting body parts to make furniture and clothing, while also reading about death, Nazis, and cannibals. His strict upbringing, loneliness, and obsession with death all combined to twist his behaviors into trying to “bring his mother back” in weird ways.

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Ed Gein childhood circumstances such as being bullied throughout his childhood and even having little to no contact to the outside world could have restricted his mental development in his most formative years. While these issues were happening Ed's mother had a very high influence on him, making Ed become obsessed with his own mother and her views where she believed "the world was full of evil" and even saw women as a "vessel of sin". Combing just these small factors alone can indicate a reason as to why Ed Gein made his choice to do such acts of violence during his adult years.

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Ed Gein’s strange actions were heavily influenced by his mother, Augusta. She kept him isolated and under strict control, enforcing her extreme beliefs and shaping his outlook on life. Their unhealthy bond left him unable to form normal connections with others. When Augusta died in 1945, Ed became increasingly unstable, and his mental state quickly worsened.

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Today, you'll learn more about Ed Gein via a new source of your choosing (from the materials I posted on GC). You will then add another post to this Padlet under the provided categories BUT THIS TIME YOU WILL ADD A FULL-LENGTH MLA WORKS CITED ENTRY to the end

Ex.) "Free Mental Health Support Available." YouTube, uploaded by ProvinceofBC, 15 Dec. 2020, https://youtu.be/K8qo-e9Jexc. Accessed 9 Sept. 2021.

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When Ed Gein's mother, Augusta, whom he was obsessed with, passed away in 1945, his "mental state deteriorated". He mourned her death quite strangely, boarding up room's that she used and keeping them tidy to feel as if her presence was still there. His relationship with his mother was one rooted in complex obsession and deep hatred. This was a sign that perhaps he saw his mother as something more than a maternal figure. This is also why he ended up killing women who resembled his mother, removing their skin to make a skin suit to "become" Augusta.

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Extreme isolation- In 1915, Augusta moved the family to a remote farm to isolate her sons from what she saw as the evils of society (women). The boys were kept busy with chores and forbidden from making friends outside of school which caused Ed’s mental health to deteriorate even further causing these fascinations.

“The Real-life Leatherface”. YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, 29 Apr. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/c/biographics. Accessed 15 Sept. 2025.

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Ed Gein grew up on a lonely farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin, far from neighbors and friends. This isolation left him cut off from others and tied closely to his mother who was a bad influence on him. Living around barns, fields, and nearby graveyards made him grow used to death and solitude. These surroundings were early clues to the troubled man he would become.

Biographics. “Ed Gein: The Real-life Leatherface.” YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, 29 Apr 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q66Bmvw5x_4. Accessed 15 Sept. 2025.

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Ed Gein’s childhood was strict and isolated growing up. His mother (Augusta) made her two sons believe that the world was evil and made them despise women. His father (George) was an alcoholic, who was never there for his family. Once Gein’s father died, he went to go live with his mother in a farmhouse. This was a main factor of Gein personality because he started to become isolated from the world and learned to hate it. After his mother died, Ed stayed in the house and became a serial killer/body snatcher. M, Morris. “Ed Gein: The Real-Life Leather-face.” YouTube, Uploaded by Biographics, 19 Apr. 2019, https://youtu.be/Q66Bmvw5x_4?si=2MJb1LZxAplPEAXF

Accessed 15 Sep. 2025

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Growing up in Plainfield Wisconsin, Ed Gein and his family lived on a very isolated farm. The family stayed closely in their 155-acre farm and did not venture far out into their town. Living so remotely, all he was surrounded by was farms, graveyards, and his alcoholic father and fanatically religious mother. These geographical features heavily contributed to his evil tendencies and future of grave robbing.

Biographics. “Ed Gein: The Real-Life Leatherface”. YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, 29 April 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q66Bmvw5x_4.

Accessed 15 Sept 2025.

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Ed Gein lived in a small town of Plainfield, Wisconsin. Because of this it was easy for him to not be caught with all of the human remains he had. The town was quiet during hunting season so he was able take the bodies without anyone noticing, until his last victim.

Biographics. “Ed Gein: The Real-Life Leatherface”. YouTube, Biographics, 29 Apr. 2019. https://youtu.be/Q66Bmvw5x_4?si=wmnEevbWkeqv_QG-. Accessed 15 Sept, 2025.

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Growing up, Ed and his brother were kept from the rest of society. The only time they left the farm was for school and they were banned from making friends. Their mother beileved the world was full of sin and that all women were evil, and their father was an alcoholic. He had an extremely isolated childhood which lead to many issues.

“Ed Gein: The Real-life Leatherface” YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, 29 Apr. 2019, https://youtu.be/Q66Bmvw5x_4?si=P882r3-nXtAxfaGQ

Accessed 15 Sept. 2025

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Ed’s mother’s behavior deeply affected ed, his mother would tell him he’s worthless and she would always verbally abuse her kids. This caused him to have a mindset on hating women. He also confessed to the police he wanted to become a woman. When in reality he just wanted to become his mother.

Biographics. "Ed Gein: The Real-Life Leatherface". YouTube, Biographics, 29 Apr. 2019.

https://youtu.be/Q66Bmvw5x_4?

si=wmnEevbWkeqv_QG-:

Accessed 15 Sept, 2025.

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Ed Gein’s mother preached how women are evil creatures that want to trap down men. Ed had no friends at school ,was very quiet and never socialized in public. After Gein’s mother had her first stroke they both stayed inside and talked to no one. After his mother had her second stroke and died Gein treated her room as a memorial and made sure to keep it all the same.

Morris M. “Ed Gein: The Real- Life Leatherface”, Biographics, 19 Apr 2019, https://www.youtube.com/c/biographics?sub_confirmation=1 . 15 Sept, 2025

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Ed Geins childhood was nothing but an environment of abuse and extreme religious delusion. Geins father was an unemployed alcoholic who was never present in him or his brother’s life. While his mother was an active part of both of their lives, Augusta often preached about the Bible stating that women (except herself) were prostitutes and and were apart of the devils plan. She was also known to regularly isolate both of her sons, only taking them out of the home for school as well as being known for verbally abusing her sons. Despite all of torment Geins mother put him through, he still remained loyal to her till the day she died.

Plum, Ashley and Ricky Plum. “The Butcher of Plainfield: Ed Gein” Crime Salad. 12 Aug, 2020.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-butcher-of-plainfield-ed-gein/id1457141569?i=1000613447423

Accessed: 15 Sept, 2025

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Podcast Episode · Crime Salad · 08/12/2020 · 23m

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Gein idolized his mother Augusta , who indoctrinated him and his brother with her strict views that sex was evil and all other women were “instruments of the devil” . Augusta also cultivated his dependence by isolating the family on a remote farm, When Augusta died in 1945 Gein was left devastated. He became lonely and his already fragile mental state deteriorated, which led him down a path of grave robbing and murder. After the death of his mother Gein preserved her bedroom and sitting room exactly as they were allowing the rest of the house to fall into squalor.

Simon,Whistler. Ed Gein: The Real Life Leather Face 09/15/25

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Due to Ed Gein’s geographical location he was able to stay under the radar with his gruesome interests. Gein moved away from the town to his rural farmhouse which allowed him to stay anonymous because there was no-one around to catch him and honestly no-one thought much of the Gein family. Gein also killed during hunting season because most of the town was going out to hunt which allowed Gein to get away with the killing of Hogan and to kill Worden without anyone catching him till later on. So this means his location allowed to do what he did while staying undetected

Whistler, Simon. “Ed Gein: The Real-Life Leatherface” YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, April 29, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q66Bmvw5x_4. Accessed September 15, 2025

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Ed Gein’s mother moved the family to La Crosse, WI, in 1915. It was a flat, empty, and anonymous part of Wisconsin, especially the farm he lived on because there was no one nearby. Making it easier for Ed Gein to get away with the murders. Another thing is, because he was so isolated in that town it drove him mad and insane, most likely causing him to commit those murders.

Silvia, Jennifer. “Ed Gein: The Real-life Leatherface.” YouTube, uploaded by Biographics, 29 Apr. 2019, https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q66Bmvw5x_4&si=LgHsgT1XB1Kcf9lg. 15 Sept. 2025.

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Growing up Edward Gein was socially outcasted as a kid and was subjected to ridicule due to his poor communication skills. Despite being polite, he found it difficult to navigate the world being a young boy. His mother, Augusta Gein’s brutal teachings about how evil the world was and how all women, excluding herself, were prostitutes were consistent in their household. During their upbringing, she would continuously verbally abuse young Ed and his brother, Henry. This abuse obscured the boy’s views on the world and the Gein brothers were “severely traumatized” (Plum 11:25-11:27), not just in a religious aspect. Ed, being a young impressionable kid, took his mother’s berating to heart, believing all of her teachings and applying them to the world as kid. Augusta was all Ed “had ever known and her control over his life was complete.” (Plum 12:19-12:24)

Plum Ashley and Plum Ricky, hosts. “The Butcher of Plainfield: Ed Gein.” Crime Salad, 12 Aug 2020, Crime Salad / The Butcher of Plainfield : Ed Gein. Accessed 15 Sept 2025.

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Ed Gein was a Wisconsin murderer and grave robber whose disturbing behaviors stemmed from an isolated and traumatic childhood dominated by his religiously fanatical and verbally abusive mother

. His crimes were defined by an obsessive and macabre fascination with the human body, particularly female corpses, which he exhumed and desecrated to create household items and clothing.

Biographics. “Ed gein :The real life Leather face.” YouTube,

Biographics, 29 Apr. 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/c/biographics?sub_confirmation=1

Acceded, September 15

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Due to living outside of town and away from people, it was very easy for him to commit all those crimes and get away with it. Nobody even realized that he was taking those bodies out of their graves and bringing them to his farmhouse, without getting caught.

Whistler, Simon, “Ed Gein, The Real Life - Leatherface” Biographics, April 29th, 2019. https://youtu.be/Q66Bmvw5x_4?si=X_8IjrK4luE_a1Py. Sep 15th, 2025.

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Ed Gein geographical location played a major role in helping cover up Ed Gein murders. Living on a small isolation farm, far from town isolated help shaped his disturbing behavior. Hunting season also worked well for avoiding being caught due to his secluded location.

Plum, Ashley and Plum Ricky, host. “The Butcher of Plainfield: Ed Gein.” Crime salad, 12 aug 2020, Crime Salad/ The butcher of Plainfield: Ed Gein. Accessed 15 sept 2025.