TRIGGER WARNING: This story contains graphic content, including mentions of murder and necrophilia.
Netflix has become known for its shocking true crime dramas, and Monster: The Ed Gein Story has become its latest hit on the platform.
Following in the footsteps of its Monster predecessors about Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, it debuted at number two on the Netflix top 10 with 12.2 million views.
The show delves into the life and crimes of infamous serial killer Ed Gein, played by Charlie Hunnam, but it has come under criticism from fans for “exploiting” the victims’ stories and “romanticising” the real-life violence that occurred.
Gein’s gruesome killings also became fodder for numerous horror films, including Psycho and The Silence of the Lambs, and now, viewers have been left wondering how much of the Netflix series is accurate as to what really happened.
So, who is Ed Gein, and what crimes did he commit?
Read on to find out the horrific true story that inspired the series.
Who is Ed Gein?
Ed Gein was an American serial killer and body snatcher whose gruesome crimes gained worldwide notoriety.
He also became known as the Butcher of Plainfield and the Plainfield Ghoul, and his crimes have inspired fictional characters, including Psycho‘s Norman Bates and Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
But before he rose to notoriety, Gein was raised on an isolated farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin, by his parents, Augusta Wilhelmine Gein and George Philip Gein.
Gein, who was born on August 27, 1906, also had a brother, Henry George Gein, who died in 1944.
According to reports, Gein rarely left his family’s farm as a child, except to attend school, and was cautioned against making friends by his mother, Augusta.
In the 2001 film Ed Gein, based closely on his life, Augusta is shown as being a highly religious woman who taught her sons that all other women were promiscuous and immoral.
Gein’s father, Henry, was an abusive alcoholic, and he died from heart failure in 1940.
After Henry’s death, Gein solely cared for his mother until she eventually died from a stroke in 1945.
Gein idolised his mother and sealed off her quarters from the rest of the farm, leaving her room in a museum-like state, preserving it exactly as it was prior to her death.
“When you look at the crime scene photos, his house was an absolute disaster,” Louis Schlesinger, a psychology professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, told A&E Crime + Investigation.
“But his mother’s room was immaculate, just as it was when she died.”
Gein’s crime streak began in the aftermath of Augusta’s death and saw him turn the farmhouse into a gruesome “house of horrors”.
What crimes did Ed Gein commit?
On November 16, 1957, Frank Worden returned to his family’s hardware store to find his mother, Bernice Worden, missing.
He noticed a pool of blood on the floor and a trail leading to the store’s back door and immediately informed the Waushara County Sheriff.
Police discovered that the last receipt Bernice issued was addressed to Gein for antifreeze, leading to his arrest.
In the Netflix series, Gein is portrayed as having a romantic relationship with Bernice, but in real life, there was no evidence to suggest such a thing.
Upon his arrest, his home was searched, and Bernice’s dead body was found decapitated in a woodshed adjoining Gein’s house.
Authorities also found another skull in Gein’s home, which belonged to Mary Hogan.
Mary was last seen alive in the tavern she owned in Plainfield on December 8, 1954. A neighbour found bloodstains throughout the property.
Recordings published in Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein revealed how Gein told authorities he had been in Mary’s tavern “probably three times” before murdering her.
Gein admitted to killing both Bernice and Mary, who were both described as resembling Gein’s mother, Augusta.
Authorities tried to connect Gein to other recent murders and disappearances in the area, but he did not admit to any further killings.
However, he did admit to digging up numerous corpses to harvest body parts.
He reportedly used human skin and other body parts to make clothing, masks, and other objects.
Gein reportedly told doctors that he’d never had a sexual experience and explicitly denied practicing necrophilia.
Did Ed Gein have any other victims?
In the Netflix series, Gein accidentally kills his brother, Henry, when he hits him over the head. He then covers his actions with a fire to avoid blame.
However, in reality, it has never been proven that Gein was involved in his brother’s death.
Henry was found dead after a fire got out of control while the brothers were out burning brush on their property.
There has been conjecture that Gein might have been responsible, but this has never been proven.
The Netflix show also shows Gein brutally killing two men with a chainsaw after they interrupt his murder of Bernice Worden.
However, this is pure conjecture, and there was no evidence to tie him to any missing hunters.
Gein is also depicted as murdering Evelyn Hartley in the Netflix series, but in reality, her case remains unsolved. Gein was questioned about her disappearance following his arrest, but he denied any involvement, and no evidence was found.
Was Ed Gein convicted?
After confessing to the murders of Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan, Gein’s lawyers entered a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity”.
Gein was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and Gein was found unfit to stand trial in January 1958.
He spent nearly a decade in hospital before he was deemed fit to stand trial in 1968.
During the trial, Gein was found guilty of Worden’s murder, but was found to have been insane at the time the crime took place.
He was institutionalised in Central State Hospital in Waupun, Wisconsin, before he was transferred to the Mendote Mental Health Institute in Madison in the late 1970s.
He remained there until he died from lung cancer complications in 1984.
