While there are plenty of reasons to love Wisconsin, we have unfortunately been home to some of the most gruesome killers the United States has ever known. In the 1950s, Ed Gein was found to have committed atrocities in Waushara County. Though he confessed to just two murders and multiple grave robbings, authorities suspect that he may have been involved with other disappearances in the area. His demented terrorizing of women in the area made Waushara County one of the most dangerous places to be.
Located in the south central part of the state, Waushara County is home to Plainfield, a small town surrounded by farms.
Wikimedia
Gein grew up there and never left the family farmstead. As family members passed away, his mother became possessive and obsessed. She kept Gein and his brothers on the farm and away from others.
Kinquest
By the time she passed away, leaving Gein all alone, his mental state had devolved. He was adrift without his mother, as she’d set herself up as the only person in his life. When a local shopkeeper went missing and police started investigating, they found Gein to have been the last person to have seen her alive and blood within the shop.
Flickr/Bradley Gordon
When they arrived at the Gein farmstead, they found unfathomable atrocities.
Flickr/Bibliogrrl
In his unstable mental state, Gein had been visiting local graveyards and stealing bodies.
Facebook/DeathWishDuo
He said he’d visited at least 40 times and had removed nine different bodies. The house was full of human parts, including masks made of human skin that Gein had tanned and sewn together. He was so traumatized and obsessed with his mother that he was trying to recreate her and bring her back. He wanted to literally crawl into her skin through the bodies of these deceased women.
Flickr/Eli Duke
Members of the police who found Gein’s demented collection were horrified and traumatized by it later in life.
Wikimedia
Gein was only tried for a single murder - that of the shopkeeper. He was committed to a mental hospital where he later died of natural causes years later. The story of his demented life has so fascinated people that he’s the inspiration for multiple horror films.
Wikimedia
People have been so fascinated by Gein and the unfathomable things that he did that his gravestone was stolen. Though it has been recovered, the local authorities leave his as an unmarked grave between the members of his family.
Flickr/Al
Were you alive when Ed Gein was caught? Tell us about it in the comments.
Wikimedia
Kinquest
Flickr/Bradley Gordon
Flickr/Bibliogrrl
Facebook/DeathWishDuo
Flickr/Eli Duke
Flickr/Al
You can read about more terrifying things that have happened in Wisconsin here.
OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.
