One of the most terrible and bloody films of the last 30 years is the American film "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Few people know that this terrible story of a crazy killer, a movie hero, had a prototype in real life. We are talking about the monster Ed Heine, one of the most inappropriate and brutal serial killers in the United States.
Biography
The future maniac was born in 1906 in an ordinary American family. His parents, George Heine and the mother of Augustine Lerke, met and married in 1899. In a young family, frustration began immediately. The husband abused alcohol heavily, earned almost nothing, and soon lost his permanent job. Only a small food store of the mother saved the financial situation. But the woman did not want to dissolve the marriage, as she was convinced that it was possible to get married only once.
In the story of Ed Gain, an excessive religiousness of the mother became an important factor in the formation of his personality. Augustine was disgusted with sexual relations and generally considered all the women of the city, except herself, prostitutes. Moreover, she actively imposed her position on her two sons. She forbade them to communicate with their peers and neighbors, actively tried to convey to them how sinful the relationship with a woman is.
Family Relationship History
Ed Gain grew up in the most unhealthy atmosphere. Father drank pretty, insulted his mother, and she fiercely hated others. In the evenings, she read the Bible and made the children memorize entire chapters of Scripture. Augusta soon decided to move to another, more secluded, place, away from other people. First, the family acquired a farm near La Crosse, but soon Hein's parents sold it and bought another, near Plainfield.
In a new place, Ed Gein and his brother attended only school. For attempts to make friends with children, the mother severely punished and scolded the children. But, despite this attitude, the sons considered the mother a saint and obeyed everything, therefore they very rarely left the farm and were shy in school.
In 1940, his father died: against the background of pneumonia, his heart disease worsened, his long-term alcohol consumption also affected his poor health. Already matured, Edward and Henry were now often forced to leave the farm in search of work. In particular, Ed Gein often moonlighted as a nanny with young children from his closest neighbors. Then everyone considered him an eccentric simpleton, but no one was afraid.
In 1944, under strange circumstances, Edward's brother Henry died, after which his mother had a stroke. Everyone was amazed and admired by the dedication of Ed, who, with attention and tenderness, looked after his mother. When the woman seemed to have recovered, an inadvertently spied sexual scene between the neighbor's husband and wife was a new blow for Augusta. Soon after, she passed away.
Behavioral abnormalities
Unusual and paranormal desires in Ed Gain began to manifest themselves in childhood, but no one noticed this and did not attach importance to such things. So, at school, peers avoided him because of the strange manner of laughing at the wrong time. He might have laughed during class or just standing alone in the hallway. His classmates often joked and scoffed at him because of a small defect in the form of a skin growth on his face, for the same reason he did not join the army.
Even more serious deviations in behavior manifested themselves at home, but the mother tried not to notice the perverted addictions of her son and struggled with them physically. So, back in 10 years, when his parents cut and gutted a pig, the boy experienced a real orgasm. Once, as a teenager, her mother caught Edward masturbating, which for her, as for the Lutheran, was a terrible sin. Without thinking twice, the mother doused the boy with boiling water.
Case with brother
Perhaps his first crime, Ed Gein, a monster from Wisconsin, committed May 16, 1944. On this day, he and his brother Henry decided to burn grass in a swamp on their farm. For unknown reasons, the fire got out of control and spread to a significant territory. The fire was reported to the local rescue service, they left for the place and not without effort extinguished the fire. However, in the evening, Edward said that he could not find his brother anywhere.
After several hours of searching, the body of Henry was found face down in the swamp. There were bruises on his head, but no other signs of violent death were found. The version of the murder was not confirmed, and in conclusion, the fact of suffocation was indicated as the cause of death.
Then everyone believed in an accident and did not suspect Edward. It is still not known whether he was involved in his death. However, from the evidence of the criminal it follows that shortly before this incident Henry met some woman with whom he decided to live together. In addition, he spoke critically about his mother, blamed her in his bleak childhood. Perhaps all of this outraged Ed and he killed his brother on purpose, in revenge for his mother.
Horrible Trophies
Edward was left on the farm alone, no one went to him. The neighbors did not shun, but did not make friends with him: he was considered a guy with minor mental disabilities. Meanwhile, Ed Gaine, a butcher from Plainfield, was engaged in simply terrifying things. For several years now, his favorite hobby was reading books and stories about Nazi atrocities during World War II. He read out stories of torture, perverted adventures of German doctors. He also loved the local press, especially the obituaries section, which described dead people.
Soon, his obsession was reflected in practice. After reading a lot about anatomy, burial rules, Edward began to visit local cemeteries and dig up graves. He cut off heads and other parts of the body, brought home and hung on the walls. In addition, he made a suit in a makeshift way from human skin, which he liked to wear at home.
Later, during the investigation, the butcher Ed Gein claimed that he had not committed any sexual acts against the corpses. They did not attract him because of the bad smell. The neighbors did not know about such a hobby for the silent guy, only the children who looked through the windows of Edward's house told adults about the skulls on the wall. But few believed them.
First kill
The first victim of Ed Gain, whose killing was proved, was Mary Hogan, the owner of a small pub in a nearby town. The woman went missing on December 8, 1954. On the floor in the tavern lay a 22-gauge sleeve, and bloody traces of dragging the body along the floor were also visible. Blood was also found in the parking lot, but nothing else could be found. It seemed strange that nothing was stolen: neither money nor alcohol was touched. It was clear that the only target of the offender was Mary herself.
The whole district was discouraged, there were a wide variety of rumors. And Ed Gain joked that Mary was visiting him. But people did not believe the strange man and did not take his words seriously. Edward admitted to this murder later and reluctantly, only after his interrogation at the lie detector.
Second kill
Another terrifying incident related to the name of maniac Ed Gain occurred three years later, in November 1957. An elderly widow and owner of a small hardware store, Bernis Warden, disappeared right from the front of her tavern. Her son discovered a bloody trail of dragging from the counter to the exit. Upon examination, the man also found a receipt named Heine.
The police immediately left to inspect the house. What was discovered there shocked everyone. In the rooms there was a terrifying stench of a decaying body, all the walls were hung with severed heads, hands, parts of the body, terrible products from human organs. The body of Bernice Worden herself was gutted and suspended in a barn. The police were even more shocked when they looked into the refrigerator: it was literally packed with human remains. This suggested that Gein was not only a necrophilia and a murderer, but also a cannibal.
Court
The criminal confessed everything after several hours of interrogation, after just a few minutes of talking with him, the police realized that they were dealing with an insane person. A photo of Ed Gain and the story of his atrocities soon appeared on the front pages of newspapers and quickly became central news.
The court found Edvarad insane and ordered compulsory treatment. At first he was held in prison for the same criminals with various mental disorders. But a few years later he was transferred to a specialized psychiatric clinic. 12 years after the verdict, the authorities decided that the maniac had recovered enough to appear again in court.
Forced treatment
The hearing lasted a week. As a result, Gain was convicted of premeditated killings. But since doctors confirmed his insanity, he spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital. He died at the age of 78 from cancer. He was buried next to his mother and brother near his farm, but the tombstone was subjected to desecration and vandalism several times. Gravestone literally pulled away for souvenirs. In 2001, the slab was restored, but now the place of burial of Hein is once again without identification marks.
Possible crimes
In addition to the two proven killings, there are three more cases that are also attributed to Ed Gain. All of them occurred at some distance from the maniac’s farm, but according to what the police discovered, we can talk about the connection of these cases.
So, in 1947, an 8-year-old girl disappeared near the city of Jefferson. She came from school and asked her mother for a walk near the house. The family lived away from other houses, all the neighbors knew each other in person, and the appearance of an outsider would not have gone unnoticed. Mother watched the girl through the window and, not seeing her daughter, raised the alarm. Fingerprints of wheels were found in Georgia’s missing place; forensics suggested they belonged to a Ford pickup truck, a very common car among farmers. No trace of the girl was found.
The second case occurred two years later. A 15-year-old girl from the small town of La Crosse often nursed a child from her neighbors. On this day, she went to work as usual. A few hours later, when her working day was over and she was supposed to be home already, her father called her, but no one answered. The worried man drove home himself and was very surprised that the house was empty and also closed from the inside. The only way out was through the basement. It was there that the girl’s father discovered traces of blood and struggle, and in the back yard, on one of the doors, a bloody handprint was left. The girl could not be found: only three days later, rags of her clothes were discovered near the road.
Police officers suggested that the victim knew the killer and therefore was not immediately afraid. This credulity and took advantage of the criminal. The case remained unsolved, as well as the story of two hunters. In 1952, two men drove into the bar for a beer and no one else saw them or their car. They also disappeared without a trace.
One can only guess who is guilty of these crimes. Edward Gain did not acknowledge his participation and did not admit that these disappearances were his work.
Society reaction
All local residents were horrified that the maniac was always in their sight, and they did not notice anything. The serial killer Ed Gain was stoned, defiled in every possible way, but no one dared to go very close or go in. This place has become cursed. Therefore, the news that local authorities put up a terrible house at auction was a strong protest among residents. Despite this confrontation, the administration set a bid date. It is noteworthy that the day before the official auction, the house was burned to the ground. The perpetrators of the arson were never found.
The vacated plot was still bought by a local real estate dealer. He demolished the remains of the burnt building, completely leveled the territory and even demolished part of the nearby forest.
Amazing facts
An interesting story happened with the carnival machine from Plainfield, Ed Gain, on which he allegedly carried his victims. A Ford car was put up for auction and bought for a pretty decent amount by the owner of the fair. He planned to create a show so that everyone could sit in a hellish car for a few cents. True, after a few hours the attraction was closed by police. Authorities have banned the demonstration of cars to the public. The further fate of the Ford is unknown.