CRIME: Ed Gein: Two Murders, Three Horror Films

Nov 2, 2026 · 41m

In November 1957, police in Plainfield, Wisconsin went looking for a missing hardware store owner, Bernice Worden, and found her body in a shed behind Ed Gein's farmhouse. Inside the house, they found furniture, clothing and keepsakes made from human remains. Gein admitted killing Worden and a tavern owner named Mary Hogan, and to robbing more than 40 graves. He was found unfit to stand trial; when he was tried in 1968, a judge convicted him of a single murder and found him legally insane. He died in a state hospital in 1984. In the meantime, his farmhouse had reshaped American horror three times over, in the films Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. In this episode of Conspiracy Theories, Cults, & Crimes, Vanessa Richardson examines the two women Ed Gein admitted killing, the farmhouse that made him a legend, and how a case with one conviction became the template for half a century of American horror. Please note, this episode contains descriptions of extreme violence and may not be suitable for all audiences. Head over to our YouTube channel to WATCH our video episodes: https://www.youtube.com/@crimehousestudios If you’re new here, don’t forget to f…

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