Who Did Ed Gein Kill? Confirmed Victims, Dates, and Facts

Ed Gein is officially linked to two murders in Wisconsin. The confirmed victims are tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954 and hardware store owner Bernice Worden in 1957. Their cases anchor the true timeline behind Monster: The Ed Gein Story and decades of horror lore.

Officials recovered Worden’s body at Gein’s farm after her disappearance on November 16, 1957. Investigators then tied Gein to Hogan’s 1954 disappearance using remains found at his home. No other homicides were legally proven against him, despite widespread rumors.

Who Did Ed Gein Kill: The Confirmed Record

Mary Hogan vanished from her tavern in Pine Grove on December 8, 1954. Evidence later recovered at Gein’s property linked him to her killing. Hogan’s case went unsolved for years until the 1957 search of Gein’s farm provided confirmation.

Bernice Worden, a respected shopkeeper in Plainfield, disappeared on November 16, 1957. Investigators traced a sales slip for antifreeze to Gein. Deputies searched his farm the same day and found Worden’s body along with extensive items fashioned from human remains.

Gein confessed to both murders. Authorities also uncovered evidence of grave robbery across local cemeteries. That activity fueled myths about additional victims. However, law enforcement did not prove any further homicides in court. The official homicide count remains two: Hogan and Worden.

Legal proceedings unfolded in two stages. In 1958, Gein was found not guilty by reason of insanity and committed to a state hospital. In 1968, after being deemed competent, he was found guilty of first-degree murder in Worden’s death in a bench trial, then ruled legally insane at the time and recommitted. Contemporary reporting and later summaries from trusted outlets (AP, Britannica, History.com) align on this outcome.

Gein died in 1984 in state custody from natural causes associated with illness. His crimes, the investigation, and the courtroom findings shaped the modern template for true-crime coverage and influenced many films. That influence does not change the official homicide tally: two confirmed victims.

How the Record Shaped Culture and Why Precision Matters

The details of Hogan’s and Worden’s murders seeded iconic characters like Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill. Media retellings often blur the line between confirmed facts and sensational rumor. Clear sourcing protects victims’ histories and keeps the public record straight.

For families and communities, precision matters. It keeps focus on verified victims and preserves investigative accuracy. It also avoids inflating a killer’s mythology and prevents misinformation from becoming accepted history.

Bottom line: When people ask “who did Ed Gein kill,” the verified answer is Mary Hogan (1954) and Bernice Worden (1957). Everything else—grave robbing, macabre artifacts, and film mythmaking—surrounds those two confirmed homicides.

FYI (keeping you in the loop)-

Q1: Did Ed Gein kill his brother Henry?

No. Henry Gein died in 1944 during a brush fire incident. Some observers raised suspicions later, but officials did not charge Ed in Henry’s death.

Q2: Why wasn’t there a trial for Mary Hogan’s murder?

Authorities had Gein’s confession and physical evidence, but after the Worden verdict and insanity ruling, prosecutors did not pursue a separate Hogan trial for cost and redundancy reasons.

Q3: How many victims are confirmed?

Two: Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden. Claims beyond those two were never proven as homicides attributed to Gein.

Q4: What happened legally after the 1968 ruling?

Gein was found guilty in Worden’s case, then ruled legally insane at the time of the crime and recommitted to a mental health institution.

Q5: Which films drew from the case?

Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs borrowed elements. These films are cultural responses, not records of fact.

References

Encyclopaedia Britannica. (n.d.). Ed Gein | Biography, Victims, Movie Inspiration & Facts. Accessed October 4, 2025.

History.com. (n.d.). Ed Gein. Accessed October 4, 2025.