Surely many people watched the horrors of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Leather Face", the first film adaptation of the film was in 1974. The original film was very stunned by the viewers also because the credits stated "based on true events." But these were rumors, since the events of the film took place in reality on August 18, 1973, and the shooting of the film ended 4 days before that date.
A still from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
However, unfortunately, there really was a maniac described in the film who loved to wear a mask made of human skin on his face, and his story partially inspired the creators of many films and books.
So this famous American maniac was called Ed Gein.
Ed Gein.
He was born on August 27, 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin. He also had an older brother, Henry, who later died in a fire.
Ed Gein baby photo.
The family was dysfunctional and led a reclusive lifestyle. His father (Droj) was an unemployed alcoholic, and his mother (Augusta) owned a small grocery store and was obsessed with religion. She was a real tyrant: she only let children go to school, did not allow them to make friends with other children, bring guests, forced them to do hard work around the house. She read the Bible to them every day, and taught the children that the world was all dirty and lustful, and all women except her were fallen.
Promotional video:
House of Hein.
When Ed was 33 years old, his father died. To support the farm, the brothers began to go outside the farm more often to earn money.
One day in 1944, the brothers were burning weeds on the farm, the fire quickly began to flare up and went out of control. When the firefighters finished putting out the fire, Henry was found lying face down. The official cause of death was asphyxiation; no autopsy was performed. Some neighbors consider the elder brother's death suspicious.
The death of her eldest son was a blow to Augusta and she fell ill. Despite the fact that Ed spent all the time near her, fulfilling any of her wishes, she was constantly unhappy with him, screamed and called him a loser.
Ed's mother is August.
A year later, Ed's mother felt better and one day they went to a neighbor to fetch straw. Upon learning that a neighbor was cohabitating with a woman, Augusta experienced a shock, and a new psychological blow led to her death in December 1945.
Despite the fact that Augusta was despotic about raising her son, he was strongly attached to her and was very worried about being left alone. He began to live in her room in order to keep everything as it was during her lifetime.
It was not a house, but some sort of dump.
Ed became addicted to reading books on anatomy, bullying and torture by the Nazis, exhumation and cannibalism. Neighbors considered him strange but harmless. But in vain …
He began to often go to the cemetery: he dug up and dismembered the corpses of the dead. As he later said, he liked freshly buried women. He later told the police that he did not commit any sexual manipulations, as "they smelled too bad."
Mask and belt made by Ed.
He brought some parts of the corpses into the house. Thus, he gathered a whole collection of skulls and heads with which he decorated the house.
Rumors began to circulate in the city that in his house there were things made of real human skin, as well as products from body parts. Ed also made himself a suit of women's leather and wore it at home. Ed easily agreed with all these rumors and nodded without malice at everything that was attributed to him. After all, when you tell the truth, for some reason they don't believe you.
Mary Hogan.
In 1954, in a very strange way, Ed Gein killed and quietly carried the body of the owner of a local tavern Mary Hogan to his farm across the city. There he dismembered the victim and preserved its remains. Mary was reported missing from a motel where police found a lot of blood.
Bernice Warden.
Three years later, the owner of the shop, Bernice Warden, disappeared without a trace. Her son discovered a trail of blood stretching from the storefront to the emergency exit. While inspecting the premises, he found a crumpled receipt in the name of Edward Gein. This served as the main evidence. The police immediately searched Ed's house and found Bernice's disfigured and gutted body, suspended in a barn like an animal.
A still from the movie "Madness", also based on the story of Ed Gein.
Some police officers became ill. There was a terrible smell in the house. In one of the rooms, they found a whole collection of clothes made in a handicraft way from processed human skin. The police also discovered a vase-like or plate-like product made from a human skull. The refrigerator was completely filled with human organs, and there was a heart in the pot.
Awful Ed Gein product.
During interrogations, Gein said that he dug up the corpses of middle-aged women, similar to his mother. And he confessed to killing Bernice and Mary.
Ed Gein was found insane, diagnosed with schizophrenia, and sent to compulsory treatment. However, in 1968, Ed was judged adequate by the doctors, and he was again brought to trial. The trial began in November of the same year and lasted a week. As a result, the judge found Hein guilty of premeditated murder and sent him to serve his sentence in a psychiatric clinic.
Even handcuffed, he smiled.
When the first trial was held, the locals bypassed Ed's farm and called it "the house of horror." He became a symbol of evil, and the authorities decided to auction the farm. The residents were against it, but their opinion was not taken into account. And one night the killer's house burned down, and the land was bought by a realtor. The maniac's car was sold at an auction.
An article in the newspaper about Ed Gain.
On July 26, 1984, Ed died in a mental hospital from cardiac arrest caused by cancer. He was buried next to his parents and older brother.
Tombstone.
For a very long time, the tombstone was spoiled by vandals; in 2000, most of the tombstone was stolen. In 2001, a memorial plaque was installed near Seattle, and the actual burial remained in its original place without identification marks. The maniac and his family rest in peace, unlike those whose graves and bodies of the dead he mutilated. Perhaps an ordinary boy would not turn into a terrible maniac if his parents gave him a little love and freedom.
