A Morbid Obsession

The story of a man who loved his mother. Too much.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to American Shadows, a production of iHeartRadio and
Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
In late nineteen fifty three, four senators convened in Washington,
d C. They had formed a bipartisan subcommittee with the
purpose of trying to understand the causes of the nation's
juvenile delinquency problems, and at the center of their concerns
were comic books. Less than two decades before, comics were

(00:40):
forever changed. When the world met Superman Clark Kent spawned
an entire genre, and his arrival marked the beginning of
what's now known as the Golden Age of comics. Throughout
World War II, Captain America, Wonder Woman, and many others
joined the heroic ranks. Together they provided a hopeful, pace,
priotic distraction to readers. These were the good guys. After

(01:04):
the war, superheroes continued to dominate the market, but there
were challengers on the horizon. Nostalgic westerns competed with science fiction.
Archie and his Riverdale friends lived out the teenage experience,
and of course, Whalt Disney entered the fray with Mickey Mouse.

Speaker 3 (01:22):
It may seem.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Silly to us today that paper bound illustrations could cause
such a moral panic, but by the nineteen fifties, comic
books were the single most popular form of reading material
for young people. The dramas of good and evil played
out between their pages. The nation was captivated, and some
parents were worried. What worried the most were the stories

(01:45):
that also had a wildly popular reception, those about crime
and horror. For a single dime, America's children ravenously consumed
titles such as Tales from the Crypt and Seduction of
the Innocent. In the night mares of these parents, comics
were leading their children down a dark path. By nineteen

(02:05):
fifty four, the State Subcommittee convened two hearings on comic
books and what to do about them. In response, the
industry adopted a voluntary code of conduct that outlined but
could and could not be published. For example, it said
that all lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated, and
no comic magazine shall use the words horror or terror

(02:28):
in its title. Scenes of excessive violence were also prohibited,
as were of any storylines that suggested any kind of
sympathy for those convicted of a crime. Horror had no
place in society. They thought, even with tales from the imagination,
there was always a chance it could leap from the
pages into real life, and sometimes it did. I'm Lorn Vogelbaum,

(02:54):
Welcome to American Shadows. Eddie wasn't even seven years old,
but his mother entrusted him with an important task. She
sent him to the nearby German bakery for a fresh

(03:14):
loaf of bread. She gave him some coins and told
him to come right home. When little Eddie arrived at
the store, he realized something awful. The coins had fallen
out of his pocket. His mother was going to be furious.
He slunk back home to face the consequences. If only
he could atone for his sins, then maybe he would

(03:35):
learn how to be responsible. But any hopes he might
have had were dashed as soon as his mother saw
his empty hands. In a tone more cutting than angry,
Augusta admonished her son, you, dreadful child, Only a mother
could love you. And it was just that the potential
to be loved that Eddie longed for. To be worthy

(03:58):
of the love of his mother, the most or a
woman in the world, was the dream. As he grew up,
his mother's words seemed to be true. His father abused
him and his older brother, Henry. Their father, George, had
been orphaned by a flash flood and raised by his
loveless grandparents. It was a rough, demanding environment for a child.

Speaker 3 (04:20):
As a young.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
Adult, George met Augusta Lurk, who seemed to have everything
he lacked. A big, loud family, steely conviction, and a
mind for business. Augusta had been born in Lacrosse, Wisconsin,
and herself grown up in a volatile world of abuse. Traumatized,
Augusta looked for a way out, and George Geene seemed

(04:42):
like a promising option. George was twenty four and Augusta
nineteen when the two married on December fourth of eighteen
ninety nine. You can't help but wonder what their first
Christmas was like, if they had any hopes or dreams
for not just a new life together, but a new year,
a new century. But if there was a spark, it

(05:04):
fizzled as quickly as it came.

Speaker 3 (05:07):
Soon.

Speaker 2 (05:08):
Augusta and George were abusers and abused, which was the
only cycle they knew. George's dependence on alcohol aggravated his moods,
along with his wife's disgust Augusta's strength became an unwavering
stream of criticisms. Then George's reserve demeanor turned into stonewalling,
which was only broken by flashes of physical violence against

(05:31):
his wife. Into this household arrived Henry on January seventeenth
of nineteen oh one. Five years later, their second child, Edward,
was born on August twenty seventh of nineteen oh six.
It didn't take long for baby Eddie to become Augusta's favorite.
While in Lacrosse, the Guenes managed a grocery store. At first,

(05:52):
George was in charge as things were done, but whether
perceived or real, his ineptitude left Augusta no choice but
to take take over more and more responsibility. Eventually, she
owned and operated the store, and George became her employee.
The Green family moved to Plainsfield, Wisconsin in nineteen fourteen.

(06:13):
They settled on a farm outside of town. As business owner,
Augusta had penny pinched and now in her hands. She
held a deed to almost two hundred acres of land
and a two story farmhouse. It was in her name
and she was going to turn it into a safe
haven from the outside world. Eddie hoped that his mother
would finally be happy, that she could relax in the

(06:34):
isolation of their remote farm. But as the boys grew,
so did Augusta's fixation on carnal sin. Her boys were
coming into adolescence, and she feared for their souls. The
farmstead had once been a place of hope, but by
the end of the nineteen thirties what had been new
and promising had become decrepit and squandered, tarnished by time,

(06:57):
by failure by sin. They thought no matter what they did,
the farm just wouldn't yield. Augusta continued to pray, and
as the farm struggled, young Ed and Henry did as well.
Both received abuse from their parents, but Henry saw life
beyond the farm and ways other than his mother's. Ed, however,

(07:20):
adored her and bought in completely. He had no want
or need for any other perspective. To him, his mother
was as godlike as a person could be, and not
to be challenged. George died on April Fool's Day in
nineteen forty, an ironic end as far as Augusta was concerned.
He had been unable to work for years due to

(07:41):
the tolls of abuse, and addiction. Perhaps he found peace,
but grief only exacerbated Augusta's paranoia. As they tended the
failing farms dead together, Henry mustered up the nerve to
voice his concerns to Ed. He had worked odd jobs
away from the family and had seen a little bit
of the world beyond Augusta's clutches. But perhaps, he suggested

(08:05):
to Ed, their mother was judging people a little too harshly.
Maybe the world outside their house wasn't pure evil and
she was wrong. Day in day out, Henry had seen
firsthand just how deeply Ed admired their mother, how attached
he was, and how he clung to every word she said,

(08:25):
no matter how biting or cruel. But they were brothers
and had been through so much abuse together. Ed would
have to understand, or so he thought. Unfortunately, Ed did
not see reason in Henry's words. He was devastated, shocked
that his brother could question their divine mother. Augusta had

(08:46):
picked her favorite child well, and when tested, he proved
to be completely loyal. Soon thereafter, the farm caught fire.
According to Ed, the fire was started intentionally too clear
a field, but it got out of hand, and in
their efforts to contain it. Henry went one way while
Ed went another. Night came on quickly and the fire

(09:09):
was soon contained. But when Ed went looking for Henry,
he had disappeared. With no telephone, Ed drove into town
to get help. Once back at the farm, Ed allegedly
walked them directly to Henry's lifeless form in the field,
untouched by flame. Two days later, the County Corner filled
out Henry Gane's deaths.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
To fit it.

Speaker 2 (09:30):
Accidental death asphyxiation was the official cause. Ed's apparent harmlessness,
coupled with an acceptance that these things just happened, made
foul play seem next to impossible. Back at the farm,
Ed and Augusta were alone. It was nineteen forty four.
Ed was almost forty years old, and he finally had

(09:52):
his mother all to himself. Together they managed the remaining
crumbs of the farmstead and lived there, isolated lives, much
as they had before. Augusta read her Bible and Ed
read well comic books and horror stories. After experiencing two
strokes in quick succession, Augusta was bedridden and reliant on Ed.

(10:15):
It was thankless work, but his mother needed him. She
always knew to look out for signs of sin and
evil that she was aware of, but Augusta hadn't modernized
her fears enough. It was then, and the backbone of
the family incapacitated, that she finally took note of the
materials ed loved to read. He devoured dark stories, and

(10:38):
she who knew him best, was uneasy. For a brief moment,
ed had everything he dreamed of and his pure mother
all to himself, but before he could settle in, she
was gone. Augusta died in December of nineteen forty five.
For the first time in his life, Edward Theodore Gheen

(10:59):
was completely alone. Bernice Warden had worked at Warden Hardware
and implement Company since the nineteen twenties, and she worked
it well. Widowed, young, she wound up expanding the original
offerings and pushing the boundaries of what women business owners achieved.

(11:23):
She was beloved by the Plainsfield community. The year that
the local paper started running a column honoring a citizen
of the Week, Bernice was the first to receive the title.
She was close to her family in every way, particularly
doting on her grandkids. Although she was busy, she often
made time for her favorite hobby fishing, But on one

(11:44):
dreary morning in November of nineteen fifty seven, Bernice probably
didn't mind staying at the shop. It was the first
day of hunting season, and someone was bound to have
forgotten something if they pulled up to the store only
to find it closed. While that would be a real disappointment,
the days had been getting shorter. Back on his farm,
Ed didn't have electricity, heating, or any living company. A

(12:08):
winter was coming and it would be nice to get
out before the cold made it terribly unpleasant to do.
So he left the farm that morning with a short
to do list in hand.

Speaker 3 (12:18):
Ed liked going into town.

Speaker 2 (12:20):
No one could come close to replacing his mother, but
he was a social creature. In spite of Augusta's best efforts,
Ed had found that not all human connection was as
bad as his mother had preached. For a while, had
enjoyed drinks and the company of Mary Hogan, the proprietor
of a local watering hole. However, she had disappeared in

(12:41):
nineteen fifty four and it seemed that he was out
a friend. Ed found the trek and town easily managed
no matter the season. The plainsfield had essentials that he didn't,
specially since he had completely given up on the farm
after his mother died. That had been twelve years ago,
and he was dependent on the modern meanses that only
the town could offer. Warden's Store was the place for

(13:05):
just about everything, and by some accounts, Ed had taken
a liking to Bernice. Later that evening, Bernice's son, Frank,
returned from his hunt, empty handed and somewhat confused. He
had heard through a friend that the Warden's Store had
been closed all day, which was strange. He couldn't think
the reason why his mother would leave the shop on

(13:25):
such an important day of the season. When Frank arrived
at the store, he immediately knew something was wrong. There
was blood on the floor, and he saw that the
cash register was missing, and next to the empty space
was the receipt book. He glanced down at the last line,
where his mother had made a note of the last
sale anti freeze to one ed Gean. It all came

(13:49):
back to Frank in a rush. The night before, he
and his mother had been in the shop when Ed
walked through the door. Ed had inquired about the price
of anti freeze and had casually asked.

Speaker 3 (13:59):
Frank if he was going out to hunt the next day.

Speaker 2 (14:02):
At the time, it had barely registered as more than
small talk. Now leaning against the counter where his mother
should have stood, Frank feared the worst. He worried that
strange Ed was responsible for all of this, whatever this was. Meanwhile,
Ed was wrapping up dinner at a neighbor's house. Earlier

(14:24):
that day, sixteen year old Bobby Hill had arrived at
Ed's farm to ask a favor. This was something his
family did often, paying Ed to help with odd jobs.
When he and his sister got there, they found Ed
covered in blood, but it was hunting season, and Ed
said that he was dressing a deer to Bobby, who
had gone hunting with Ed a number of times, this

(14:46):
made sense.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
Ed cleaned up.

Speaker 2 (14:48):
Before giving Bobby and his sister a ride back at
their home. Their mother, Irene, did the polite thing and
invited him to stay for supper. As they were finishing up,
Irene's son in law turned home. He mentioned the commotion
down at the Warden store. Bobby wanted to go see
for himself, and Ed offered to drive him, so he

(15:08):
went out to start the truck. Frank had alerted the
police that Ed was the last sale registered at the shop.
He was known to the cops and they went to
look for him. They knew he had a history of
helping around the Hills farm, so they started their investigation
on Irene's doorstep.

Speaker 3 (15:26):
They knocked and asked if she knew where Ed was.

Speaker 2 (15:29):
Irene pointed to the driveway where Ed sat in his
idling truck.

Speaker 3 (15:34):
The officers walked over.

Speaker 2 (15:36):
At rolled down the window and gave the officers a
small smile. They asked him to come with them. They
had some questions. Ed agreed, turned off the truck and
got into the back of their cruiser. While Ed had

(15:56):
dinner at the Hills, dark settled over the countryside. The
Green's farmhouse had never been wired for electricity, so Art's
sly was Shura County Sheriff and Captain Lloyd Shopboyster of
the Green Lake County Sheriff's Department, grabbed their flashlights and
began their search. They had a lead for a missing woman,

(16:18):
and it took them into Ed's most private world for
the first time in years. Outsiders freely moved about the
interior of the green property. While Ed was away, Art
pointed his light into the outdoor summer kitchen and discovered
a sight that would haunt him to the end of
his days. There hung the headless corpse of Bernice Warden, carved,

(16:39):
empty skinned, and suspended from the ceiling. Art somehow made
it out before vomiting. That wasn't the worst of it.
In their search, they discovered evidence of macab crafting a
box of genitalia, a full suit made of human skin.
Inside the house, they peered around at masks made from

(17:02):
human faces, a bowl fashioned out of a skull cap,
and chairs upholstered with flesh. Art and Lloyd went about
the gruesome task of finding the rest of Bernice inside
the home. Her heart was found wrapped in a plastic
bag by the stove. Other organs were found wrapped in
newspaper and stuffed into an old suit. Her head was

(17:24):
found in the corner of a room and threaded with
string as if to hang it up too. Though they
felt they could take no more, they entered one last room,
behind a closed door. It had an air of reverence
and quiet dust sat undisturbed. It was his mother's room,

(17:45):
which he had kept as nothing short of a shrine.
Ed's compliance at the squad car was just the beginning
of his amenability with law enforcement officials. He proved to
be forthcoming and confessed to having murdered Bernice Warden as
well as Mary Hogan years earlier, but when asked about
the other remains, he denied having killed more than twice.

(18:09):
He was adamant, so where did the other body parts
come from? Who did they come from, and how did
Ed get them? To everyone's horror, Ed finally admitted that
perhaps he had a habit of grave robbing.

Speaker 3 (18:25):
In fact, he could provide them with a.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
List of graves he had robbed, all from three local graveyards,
with all of the deceased victims bearing an uncanny resemblance
to his mother. Once Ed was finished with his confession,
he asked Art's live they could return to the farmstead.
At the time, reporters swarmed the property like flies, day
in and day out, but Ed wanted to show the

(18:49):
sheriff something, so Art did what he could. It was
his last visit home, and there he brought Art over
to a remote area of his father. There sat an
ash heap, the rest of Mary Hogan burned up. After
he had harvested what he wanted from her. Ed Gean

(19:10):
was escorted to wapon Wisconsin, where he was admitted to
the Central State Hospital for the criminally Insane. Once there,
the month long evaluation period began. Meanwhile, with lightning speed,
sensational headlines appeared in local Sunday editions. Soon national papers
caught on, and one could argue they never really stopped.

(19:34):
Many details emerged from this period of intense pressure, paranoia
banned anticipation. Ed himself cited memory issues to a doctor
in the hospital. A professional noted Ed's abnormal attachment to
AUGUSTA Life magazine published a juicy detail that Ed had
always wanted to be a woman fanning the selacious flames.

(19:57):
In the meantime, Plainsfield was left to reckon with the
nature of Gene's confession. The townsfolk were reluctant to believe it.
The neighbors had accepted gifts of venison from him, and
now they weren't sure whether it had been venison at all.
The rug had been pulled out from under their feet
and hidden beneath it, heard the desecrated corpses of their neighbors,

(20:19):
their loved ones, their friends. Plainsfield Cemetery had more visitors
than usual on November twenty fifth of nineteen fifty seven.
Of the nine graves that had named as his targets,
authorities had picked three to exum. The grave of Eleanor
Adams was chosen as the starting point, so they got
to work. When the shovel hit something more solid than dirt,

(20:42):
everyone at the grave side perked up. After a couple
more swipes, the lid of a casket came into view. However,
when the lid was opened, there was nothing inside except
for dust and the crowbar. Thirty yards away, Mabel Eversin's
grave was similarly disturbed, although her cast held an assortment
of bones, dental plates, and a golden wedding band. With

(21:05):
two of the three graves checked, Wisconsin, authorities decided that
Dean was telling the truth. He had killed Mary Hogan
and Bernice Warden, but the other remains had truly been
sourced from the grave. In January of nineteen fifty eight,
Ed's observation period at Central State was over. The Sanity
hearing brought all evidence to bear, and experts weighed in.

(21:29):
He was declared insane and therefore unable to stand trial
for his crimes. Disappointment spread through Plainsfield. It seemed there
was no justice in sight. As Ed got settled back
at the hospital, affairs were settled at the home that
he had never see again. In the first few months
of nineteen fifty eight, papers were still driving curious readers

(21:53):
to Plainsfield and that worn down farmhouse seven miles outside
of town. Just as Ed had delighted in tales of terror.
These tourists arrived in droves quickly, overwhelming Plainsfield's infrastructure, banned
its residence. Geiner's, as they were called, were criticized for
macabre voyeurism. But it didn't start with Edgyane's House of

(22:16):
Horrors in Plainsfield, and it certainly didn't end there. And
so when news spread that AD's property and belongings were
going to be auctioned off, and stomachs throughout Plainsfield churned
with dread. Then, in the pre dawn darkness of March
twentieth of nineteen fifty eight, when even the reporters were

(22:36):
in bed, the fire destroyed Ed's home. The Wisconsin Crime
Lab had already removed all necessary elements from the crime scene.
Just the day before, clean up crews had burned trash
in a heap seventy five feet away from the house.
The papers officially reported the deputy fire Marshal's opinion that
lingering flames or burning embers could have started the fire.

(23:07):
On March thirtieth of nineteen fifty eight, the auction of
what was left of the gue and homestead took place.
One of his vehicles was purchased by a sideshow manager,
Bunny Gibbons, but Midwestern audiences who turned up for his
other acts apparently felt this one cross the line. If
someone was behind the fire, they must have been pleased.

(23:28):
The tourism to Plainsfield and the tangible relics of ed
Geen were largely destroyed. They may have thought that if
the shrine of evil was gone, no one would want
to make the pilgrimage, and the town could put all
of this behind them. But it was too late. The
horror wasn't contained in the house. It lived in the

(23:49):
papers and in the minds of those who read them.
The rumors were in Plainsfield and they were beyond it.
Ed tucked away in his grim farmhouse, reading scary stories
by candle or Lamplight, was a perfect villain, a superb
creature in the night. He was a phantom haunting graveyards

(24:11):
and brought horrors from books and stories to life right
there in Plainsfield, USA. Desecration of the dead is a
taboo that transcends time and place, and to learn that
a small statured farm boy hid such a monster under
his checked hunting cap was something that no purification by

(24:32):
fire could undo. Ed finally did go to trial in
nineteen sixty eight, almost eleven years to the day that
he had killed Bernice Warden. He was found not guilty
by reason of insanity and institutionalized again. For everyone else,
it had been a decade of waiting for justice, and

(24:52):
after just one week, the ghoul of Plainsfield was back
inside the state hospital, guilty but not guilty, imprisoned but
not suffering from accountability. Ed's return to the public eye
was brief, but long enough to remind people why they
had been grossly fascinated all those years before. In early

(25:13):
nineteen seventy four, Ed wanted to leave the hospital a
citing of full mental recovery. His petition was filed and
he held out hope, but by the summer it was rejected.
In the eyes of the law, Ed was a risk
they were not willing to take. After this rejection, Ed
appeared content in the hospital once again. By all accounts,

(25:35):
he was a good patient, and that makes sense because
for the first time in his life, Ed was getting
used to receiving good, consistent care. Though Ed was confined
to the hospital, the world outside found its way in
filmmakers Errol Morris and Werner Herzog had been introduced by

(25:57):
a mutual friend when they found something else in a
shared interest in the story of Ed Geen. Of all
the rumors about Ed, from cannibalism to serial killing, one
seemed more plausible than the rest. Ed had confessed to
grave digging already, but he had denied desecrating the most
significant grave of all. So Errol and Werner formed a

(26:20):
plan to meet in Plainsfield and dig up the grave
of Augusta Geen. When they agreed, upon evening arrived. Werner
waited at the Plainsfield Cemetery shovel in hand, but Errol
never showed up. The film project never materialized, but Errol
eventually spent about a year in Plainsfield. What he found

(26:43):
was an uptick in murderers in the town. After Ed's
secret was discovered, some speculate that it was ed who
made the town murderous. In the late nineteen seventies, ed
was transferred from his longtime home in wapon to a
mental health institution in Madie, Wisconsin. On July twenty sixth

(27:03):
of nineteen eighty four. Ed Geen died from respiratory failure.
The next morning at six a m attendants buried his
remains in Plainsfield Cemetery, the place he had disturbed numerous
times before. They buried him in the designated plot between
his brother Henry and beloved mother Augusta. Ed's life and

(27:26):
crimes have been covered at nauseum, but they still make
for good media to this day, having inspired the likes
of Norman Bates and Leatherface. It's difficult to imagine a
world without ed Geen. He's given us nightmares beyond even
his wildest dreams, and that's really saying something. There's more

(27:51):
to this story. Stick around after this brief sponsor break
to hear all about it. In the fall of two
thousand and five, James Fallon had on his desk not

(28:11):
one but two major research projects. Before him sat a
stack of brain scans from serial killers and another for
Alzheimer's research. The latter pile included images of james brain
along with the brains of his loved ones. James had
been working with the University of California, Irvine to map
out patterns between psychopathic brains. He had spent hours with

(28:35):
scans from everyone from everyday depressives to prolific serial killers.
But what he didn't expect was to find clear signs
of psychopathy in one of the scans from the Alzheimer's pile.
There it was clear as day a brain that showed
the hallmarks of psychopaths diminished empathy, morality, and impulse control,

(28:58):
and it belonged to someone in his family. James backtracked,
but the machine that had taken the images was in
working order. He had to know who it was. Anonimity
be damned. James looked up the code from the image
and put a name to the brain, and there on
the screen he had his answer. He himself was a psychopath.

Speaker 3 (29:21):
How could it be?

Speaker 2 (29:22):
James took a look at his own life and behaviors.
He was very successful, having been motivated by power and
long having a knack for persuading others in his favor.
He opted in for genetic testing and the results were
indeed interesting. His DNA was coded with high risk aalieles
for aggression, violence, and low empathy, all psychopathic traits. James

(29:48):
marveled more than anything. He wasn't terribly upset, more so intrigued.
He had never done anything really wrong and certainly didn't
get the mold of.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Someone like Gee.

Speaker 2 (30:01):
What we know now to be true is that there
is a whole spectrum of psychopathy. The closest it comes
to inclusion in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental
disorders is antisocial personality disorder and dissocial personality disorder. James
might not be a serial killer, but he might be
the person you'd flip off in traffic for not letting

(30:24):
you merge. He attributes his pro social success in life
to steadfast, supportive familial support. A loving childhood enabled a
psychopath to find a fulfilling, beneficial career and build a
loving family of his own. It's undeniable that James was
dealt a good hand in life, and his nurturing likely

(30:46):
made a big difference for him. The same can't be
said for members of the rest of his family. Looking
back at his family tree, James noticed something striking in
his lineage. He counted seven convicted murderers, including Lizzie Borden.

(31:11):
American Shadows is hosted by Lauren Vogelbam. This episode was
written by Taylor Haggerdorn and Robin Minatter and researched by
Taylor Haggridorn, with fact checking by Jamie Vargas. It's produced
by Jesse Funk and Trevor Young, with executive producers Aaron Menke,
Alex Williams, and Matt Frederick. To learn more about the show,
visit grimminmild dot com, and for more podcasts from iHeartRadio,

(31:33):
visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen
to your favorite shows.