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Did Ed Gein dig up his mother? Chilling truth explored as Monster Season 3 hits Netflix showed - Ed Gein

Ed Gein shared a troubling relationship with his mother, which is explored in Netflix’s Monster season 3.
posted by Sudipta Sinha
Friday 10/3/2025 at 12:52PM EDT
  • A scene from Monster season 3 (Image via X/@Netflix)
    A scene from Monster season 3 (Image via X/@Netflix)

    The infamous murderer and grave robber Ed Gein is the subject of the third season of the Netflix series Monster, which releases on October 3, 2025. Created by Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, the episodes chronicle the life and crimes of Ed, who is known to have been deeply influenced by the relationship he shared with his mother. 

    According to crime writer Harold Schechter, the defining aspect of Gein’s upbringing was the overwhelming control of his mother, Augusta. She was a deeply religious, domineering figure who continually preached to him about the immorality and corruption of the outside world. Her influence was so suffocating that Gein grew up emotionally stifled, bound to her both psychologically and socially, leaving him isolated and unable to form normal connections.

    Schechter and many others believed that Gein's acts were motivated by his complex relationship with his mother, who passed away in 1945. “He wanted to resurrect his mother, in effect, and he apparently tried to dig up her corpse,” he explained. Since her coffin was sealed within a concrete vault, he couldn’t access it, which led him to seek out other women to fill her void.

    What was Ed Gein's childhood and family life like

    Ed Gein was born in 1906 in La Crosse, Wisconsin, as the younger of two sons to George and Augusta Gein. During his childhood, the family relocated to a remote farm in Plainfield, Waushara County, in central Wisconsin. Ed Gein’s mother, Augusta, was a fervently religious woman who believed the devil lurked everywhere and most people were sinful, while his father, George, held various unsuccessful jobs, leaving Augusta in charge at home.

    The Gein household was strict, with Augusta determined to shield her sons from temptation by keeping the family isolated; Ed could only leave for school and was punished for trying to befriend classmates, yet he idolized his mother, while he viewed his father as a disappointment who abused him and his older brother, according to jailhouse interviews. George died in 1940 at the age of 60, while Ed’s older brother Henry died in 1944 at the age of 43. The cause of both deaths is apparently heart failure. 

    Ed Gein and his mother were left alone after Henry passed away. Schechter observed about the period: 

    “I don’t think there was anything like physical incest going on, but there was definitely a natural relationship between the two of them where Gein, consciously, at least, worshiped her. In all his remarks about her in his confessions, he talks about her as a saint and the best woman who ever lived and his only friend. But clearly there was some kind of deep ambivalence towards her, because I think that his atrocities were motivated both by his desire to bring her back into his life and a suppressed hatred of her.”

    Augusta suffered two strokes in 1945, the latter of which killed her and left her son to his own devices. 

    Ed Gein's killings and his arrest

    Ed Gein ever admitted to two killings. The first victim was Mary Hogan, a 51-year-old tavern owner whom he apparently shot dead. She was reportedly missing for three years before her remains were discovered in Ed’s house following his arrest over the second admitted killing. 

    Bernice Worden was last seen alive at her Plainfield hardware store on the morning of November 16, 1957. Gein had visited the store the night before and was expected to return to buy antifreeze—the receipt for which was the last she wrote. Later, Worden’s son found a pool of blood, alerted police, and noted Gein’s prior visits and advances toward her.

    On November 16, 1957, Gein was arrested, and deputies found Bernice Worden’s body and numerous human remains at his farm, including skulls, skin-crafted items, and masks. After 30 hours, he confessed to Worden’s murder, said that he “might” have killed others, and exhumed multiple graves.

    What was the motive of Ed Gein

    Gein admitted to bringing exhumed bodies home to dismember, using women's skin for masks, belts, a drum, and a vest, and turning skulls into bowls, while storing smaller parts in boxes; he denied consuming human flesh, with no evidence found.

    Gein told investigators that his conflicted relationship with his mother drove his desire to become more like a woman. He exhumed corpses to wear their skin and reportedly killed two victims because winter made digging graves difficult. During questioning, he noted that Bernice Worden reminded him of his mother.

    Ultimate fate of Ed Gein

    Ed Gein was arraigned for Bernice Worden’s murder, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity and initially deemed unfit for trial, leading to his confinement at Wisconsin mental institutions. In a 1968 trial, he was found guilty but again ruled insane. He was never tried for Mary Hogan’s murder or grave-robbing. Gein remained institutionalized at Mendota Mental Health Institute until his death from lung cancer-related respiratory failure in 1984 at age 77.


     

    TOPICS: Monster season 3, Ed Gein mother


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