When the police pushed through the back door of a run-down farmhouse in Plainfield, Wisconsin, on a freezing November night in 1957, they weren’t looking for a horror movie set. They were looking for Bernice Worden. She’d vanished from her hardware store earlier that day. What they found instead was a literal charnel house that would fundamentally break the American psyche.
People talk about ed gein murder pictures like they’re some kind of lost holy grail of the macabre. You've probably seen the grainy, black-and-white shots of the "shambling" farmhouse or the photos of Ed himself in his plaid cap. But there’s a massive gap between the internet rumors and the actual historical archive. Most of the truly "ghoulish" artifacts—the items that inspired Psycho and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre—were photographed for the state crime lab and then, according to official records, "decently disposed of."
It's a weird kind of digital folklore. You search for the real evidence, but you mostly find recreations from movies or "tribute" art.
The Reality of the Plainfield Crime Scene
If you were to look at the genuine ed gein murder pictures from the initial investigation, the first thing that would hit you isn't the gore. It’s the junk. The house was a hoarding nightmare. Layers of old newspapers, rusted tools, and general refuse coated every surface.
Then, there was the contrast.
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While the rest of the house was a mess, the rooms Ed’s mother, Augusta, had occupied were sealed off. They were pristine. They were like a museum to a woman who had been dead for over a decade. Investigators found this duality—the filth of the son vs. the shrine of the mother—to be one of the most disturbing aspects of the whole case.
When they found Bernice Worden, it wasn't in the house. She was in the summer kitchen/shed, hanging from the rafters. The police photos of this scene are the ones most often discussed in hushed tones, but they are rarely, if ever, published in full, uncensored form in mainstream historical archives. They remain under tight control by the Wisconsin state authorities.
The "Artifacts" and the State Crime Lab
Once the search began in earnest, the sheer volume of human remains was staggering. We aren't just talking about the two murders Gein confessed to (Worden and Mary Hogan). We’re talking about the results of years of grave robbing.
- Skulls on bedposts: These weren't movie props. They were real.
- The "Skin Suit": Gein had crafted leggings and a torso covering from human skin.
- Household items: Wastebaskets and chair seats covered in skin.
- The masks: Gein had preserved the faces of several women, keeping them in bags or hanging them on walls.
The photos taken at the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory are the definitive "ed gein murder pictures." They were used to document the sheer scale of the desecration. However, after the trial and Gein's commitment to the Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, many of these items were destroyed to prevent them from becoming ghoulish trophies.
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Why the Photos Still Haunt Us
Honestly, the fascination with these images says more about us than it does about Gein. He was a lonely, schizophrenic man who lived in a fractured reality. To him, these "artifacts" were a way to bridge the gap between his crushing isolation and his obsession with his late mother.
To the public, they represent the moment the "neighborly" facade of 1950s America cracked.
Before Gein, serial killers were often seen as "monsters" from elsewhere. Gein was the "odd but harmless" neighbor who helped with the harvest. He was the guy you'd see at the local tavern. When the pictures of his home hit the newspapers—even the sanitized versions—it changed how people looked at their own communities.
Misconceptions and Internet Hoaxes
You've got to be careful when looking for these images online today. Because the real photos are so rare and restricted, a lot of what circulates is fake.
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- Movie Stills: Photos from the 1974 Texas Chain Saw Massacre or various Ed Gein biopics are often passed off as "real" crime scene photos.
- Medical Oddities: Sometimes images from old medical textbooks or unrelated forensic cases are labeled as "Gein's house" for clickbait.
- The "Chainsaw" Myth: Despite the movie tie-ins, Gein never used a chainsaw. He used a .22 caliber rifle. Any photo showing a chainsaw at the "Gein scene" is an immediate red flag for fakery.
The Archive Today
If you want to see the real deal without the internet "creepypasta" filter, your best bet is looking at the Wisconsin Historical Society or the LIFE Magazine archives. They hold the photos taken by Frank Scherschel, who captured the exterior of the farm and the "clean" rooms of the house.
These photos are chilling precisely because they look so normal. You see a dusty chair, a wood-burning stove, a stack of old magazines. Knowing what was found just a few feet away in the shadows is what makes the historical ed gein murder pictures so much more effective than any Hollywood jump scare.
The Gein farm is gone now. It burned down in March 1958, shortly before the contents were to be auctioned off. Some say it was arson by locals who wanted to wipe the stain from their town. Others say it was just a "mysterious" fire. Either way, the physical site is just an empty lot now, overgrown and quiet.
The pictures are all that’s left.
Actionable Insights for True Crime Researchers:
- Verify the Source: If you are researching this case, always cross-reference images with the Wisconsin Historical Society's ID numbers (like Image ID 41777).
- Focus on the Trial Records: The most accurate descriptions of the crime scene come from the court testimony of Sheriff Art Schley and the state crime lab technicians, not from "horror" blogs.
- Respect the Victims: Remember that behind the "ghoulish" curiosity are real families. In Plainfield, the names Worden and Hogan still mean something, and the trauma of 1957 isn't just a "story" to them.
- Use Legitimate Archives: For high-resolution, verified historical photos of the Gein farm and the surrounding investigation, use Getty Images’ "In The News: Murderer Ed Gein" collection or the Library of Congress prints.