1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: All right, Hey, before we start, I gotta tell you 2 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:06,600 Speaker 1: this episode gets a little gory, but it's actually the 3 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:09,640 Speaker 1: only way to tell the story. So I'm just saying, Okay. 4 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: A lot of us love a good horror flick, especially 5 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:17,560 Speaker 1: some of the classics like Psycho, Texas, Chainsaw Massacre in 6 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,799 Speaker 1: Silence of the Lambs. Well, these and a number of 7 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:24,959 Speaker 1: other terrifying flicks were all inspired by one guy, the 8 00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: so called Butcher of Plainfield. I'm Patty Steele. The horrifying 9 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: story of body snatcher and murderer. Ed guy, that's next 10 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: on the backstory. The backstory is back. There are certain 11 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,400 Speaker 1: characters in really and I mean really great horror film 12 00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: that just imprint on your brain, am I right? Guys 13 00:00:49,120 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: like Norman Bates and Psycho, Hannibal Lecter and the almost 14 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:56,040 Speaker 1: unseen Buffalo Bill both in Silence of the Lambs, And 15 00:00:56,120 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: of course leather Face in Texas, Chainsaw Massacre. Oh, who 16 00:01:00,400 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: can forget Frank Townsend in the Tour de Force three 17 00:01:03,800 --> 00:01:06,960 Speaker 1: on a meat Hook. Wow, Thankfully I missed that one 18 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: for sure. But all these flicks and a lot of 19 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: others were inspired by one terrifying individual. Ed Geine amazingly 20 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 1: saw himself less as a killer and more as an artist, 21 00:01:19,760 --> 00:01:23,039 Speaker 1: and he focused on creating his works of art by 22 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: using parts of the human body. So how did he 23 00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:30,679 Speaker 1: start out as a quiet, reclusive little Wisconsin farmboy and 24 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,640 Speaker 1: become one of America's most infamous murderers, Plus how did 25 00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: they eventually nab him? Edward Theodore Gine was born in 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 1: nineteen oh six in Lacrosse County, Wisconsin. His parents, Augusta 27 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: and George Gin, were the master chefs in this recipe 28 00:01:47,640 --> 00:01:52,800 Speaker 1: for psychological disaster. Ed's mom was a fanatically religious woman 29 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 1: who totally believed that the world was full of sin, 30 00:01:56,280 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: and especially thought that women were corrupting influences instruments of 31 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: the devil. I wonder if she thought that about herself. 32 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 1: Augusta also thought that drinking was a huge sin, which 33 00:02:07,720 --> 00:02:12,760 Speaker 1: was ironic seeing as how her husband and Ed's dad, George, 34 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 1: was a severe alcoholic who could barely hold a job. 35 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: Augusta ran the house with an iron fist, and she 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: made sure to isolate Ed and his older brother Henry 37 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: from the outside world. Augusta drilled into Ed in probably 38 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: Henry's head, that women were evil, sex was sinful, and 39 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: that they could only rely on their mama, and Ed 40 00:02:34,160 --> 00:02:37,640 Speaker 1: worshiped her. In fact, he was totally obsessed with his mother. 41 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: Other than that, he wasn't much of an attention grabber. 42 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:44,480 Speaker 1: As a little kid, he was quiet, awkward, and pretty 43 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: much kept to himself. He never much left the family 44 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:50,679 Speaker 1: farm except to go to school, where he didn't socialize 45 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: very much. But as he got older, his fascination with 46 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:57,960 Speaker 1: death began to unfold. Ed was a big reader, but 47 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,640 Speaker 1: it was his choice of books that became a problem. 48 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:04,120 Speaker 1: In his spare time, He'd read books about anatomy and 49 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: Nazi experiments. He'd obsess over stories about grave robbers, and 50 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,760 Speaker 1: even started to hang out at the local butcher shop 51 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:15,640 Speaker 1: just to watch the animals get slaughtered. But then disaster 52 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,480 Speaker 1: struck for Ed. His mother died in nineteen forty five, 53 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: when he was thirty nine years old and still living 54 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: at home, and that was kind of the final crack 55 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,800 Speaker 1: in his fragile psyche. With Augusta gone, Ed was alone 56 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: for the first time in his life, and instead of 57 00:03:32,639 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: reaching out trying to make friends, he started visiting local 58 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: cemeteries to dig up bodies. He'd steal the corpses bring 59 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:44,880 Speaker 1: them to his isolated farmhouse, and then repurpose their remains. 60 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: I'm giving myself chills here. By repurpose, I mean in 61 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:52,560 Speaker 1: the most grotesque way. For years it was Ed's secret, 62 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: but then his obsession escalated. On November sixteenth, nineteen fifty seven, 63 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: his hometown of plain Field, Wisconsin, was terrified by the 64 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: disappearance of Bernice Warden, the owner of the local hardware store. 65 00:04:07,400 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: The store had been turned upside down, but a sales 66 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,720 Speaker 1: receipt showed that the last person she'd served was Ed Guine. 67 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,359 Speaker 1: Sheriff's deputies took a ride out to Ed's farm to 68 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: have a little front porch chat right, but what they 69 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: found was beyond anything they could have imagined. Inside the 70 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: Gune farmhouse, they found human skulls, masks, and lampshades made 71 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: from human skin, and then they found the mutilated body 72 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:37,279 Speaker 1: of Bernice Warden hung up in the shed like a 73 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: hunting trophy on a meat hook. Inside the house, they 74 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,919 Speaker 1: found that Ed had made masks out of human skin, 75 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: furniture with human flesh, and so many other household items 76 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: out of repurposed body parts. There was a belt he'd 77 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 1: made for himself by sewing together dozens of women's nipples, 78 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:58,920 Speaker 1: and he had made pulls for his window shades from 79 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: women's lips. He even tried to build what was described 80 00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: as a woman suit for himself in order to dress 81 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: himself up and recreate his mother so as he said 82 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: he could crawl into her skin. Gin was immediately arrested 83 00:05:13,720 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 1: and the more police searched the farmhouse. The worst thing 84 00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: Scott more of Ed's artwork using human beings as his medium. 85 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:24,800 Speaker 1: It was so disturbing to investigators that one of them, 86 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 1: the local sheriff, physically attacked Ed. Not long after that, 87 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:31,480 Speaker 1: forty two year old sheriff died of a heart attack, 88 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: which friends blamed on the trauma of the investigation. They 89 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: were only ever able to pin two murders on Ed, 90 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:42,599 Speaker 1: hardware store owner Bernice Warden and Mary Hogan, a tavern 91 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: owner who had gone missing three years earlier. He was 92 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: suspected in other killings, but it was clear he was 93 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: totally insane, So why spend the money, said the local prosecutor. 94 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:58,039 Speaker 1: During his interrogation, Ed was disturbingly calm. He confessed to 95 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:02,000 Speaker 1: his crimes in a flat, emotionless tone. It was clear 96 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,560 Speaker 1: that in his world the dead could be reanimated and 97 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: possibly his mother could be still with him. Psychiatrist said 98 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: he mainly was a grave robber and as for murder, 99 00:06:12,839 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: only targeted women who looked like his mom, and he 100 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: actually managed to pass a lie detector test because he 101 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:24,200 Speaker 1: believed his own lies. Eventually, ed Guin was declared legally 102 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:28,160 Speaker 1: insane and sent to a hospital for the criminally insane, where, 103 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,159 Speaker 1: despite some other trials, he remained for the rest of 104 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,800 Speaker 1: his life and was actually a model patient. He died 105 00:06:34,839 --> 00:06:37,599 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty four at the age of seventy seven 106 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:42,200 Speaker 1: from respiratory failure. His grave became a target for vandals 107 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: who would chip away pieces of his tombstone for souvenirs. 108 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:49,920 Speaker 1: And what about the Guine farmhouse, Well, it caught fire 109 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,120 Speaker 1: not long after his arrest. Arson was suspected, but the 110 00:06:54,120 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: investigation just wasn't a priority to the fire chief since 111 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,479 Speaker 1: he was the son of victim number one hardware store 112 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 1: owner Bernice Warden. In the Happy Go Go nineteen fifties, 113 00:07:06,400 --> 00:07:10,120 Speaker 1: ed Gein's story chilled folks to the bone. His crimes 114 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,680 Speaker 1: were unimaginable, and they inspired some of the most terrifying 115 00:07:13,760 --> 00:07:17,800 Speaker 1: villains in movie history. Just three years after his last murder, 116 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:22,200 Speaker 1: America was terrified by Alfred Hitchcock's thriller Psycho, in which 117 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: Norman Bates was a killer obsessed with his dead mother, 118 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:28,640 Speaker 1: and the genre grew over the decades, with so many 119 00:07:28,760 --> 00:07:31,720 Speaker 1: based at least in some part on what happened in 120 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: the Guine Farmhouse. In fact, the Netflix anthology series Monster 121 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: is going to take a deep dive into Guine's story 122 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: when it's released late this year or early next. Edgin's 123 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,239 Speaker 1: story isn't just about murder. It's about the perfect storm 124 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: that's created when a mentally ill child is raised by 125 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: abusive parents and no one's there to stop his psychological decay. 126 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 1: I hope you're enjoying the Backstory with Patty Steele and 127 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,320 Speaker 1: not too frightened by this one. Follow or subscribe for 128 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: free to get new episodes delivered automatically, and feel free 129 00:08:08,040 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: to dm me if you have a story you'd like 130 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty Steele and on 131 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:19,240 Speaker 1: Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstories a 132 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,520 Speaker 1: production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, the Elvis Durand Group, and 133 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:27,480 Speaker 1: Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our writer 134 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:31,320 Speaker 1: Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. 135 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and 136 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at real Patty Steele and 137 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:41,000 Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the 138 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele, the pieces of history you didn't 139 00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:45,960 Speaker 1: know you needed to know.