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On July 26, 1984, Ed Gein, a serial killer infamous for
skinning human corpses, dies of complications from cancer in a Wisconsin
prison at age 77. Gein served as the inspiration for writer Robert
Bloch's character Norman Bates in the 1959 novel "Psycho," which in 1960
was turned into a film starring Anthony Perkins and directed by Alfred
Hitchcock.
Edward Theodore Gein was born in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, on July 27,
1906, to an alcoholic father and domineering mother, who taught her son
that women and sex were evil. Gein was raised, along with an older
brother, on an isolated farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin. After Gein's
father died in 1940, the future killer's brother died under mysterious
circumstances during a fire in 1944 and his beloved mother passed away
from health problems in 1945. Gein remained on the farm by himself.
In November 1957, police found the headless, gutted body of a missing
store clerk, Bernice Worden, at Gein's farmhouse. Upon further
investigation, authorities discovered a collection of human skulls along
with furniture and clothing, including a suit, made from human body
parts and skin. Gein told police he had dug up the graves of recently
buried women who reminded him of his mother.
Investigators found the
remains of 10 women in Gein's home, but he was ultimately linked to just
two murders: Bernice Worden and another local woman, Mary Hogan.Gein was declared mentally unfit to stand trial and was sent to a state hospital in Wisconsin. His farm attracted crowds of curiosity seekers before it burned down in 1958, most likely in a blaze set by an arsonist. In 1968, Gein was deemed sane enough to stand trial, but a judge ultimately found him guilty by reason of insanity and he spent the rest of his days in a state facility.
In addition to "Psycho," films including "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Silence of the Lambs" were said to be loosely based on Gein's crimes.
Taken from: http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/real-life-psycho-ed-gein-dies [26.07.2012]
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