Gein, whose story was portrayed in Ryan Murphy's latest Monster anthology series installment, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, was arrested for murdering a woman in the small town of Plainfield, Wis., in 1957. However, after his arrest, police discovered the disturbing artifacts he created from real human remains.
After Gein confessed to killing Mary Hogan and hardware store owner Bernice Worden, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was diagnosed with schizophrenia, per A&E. Following his trial, Gein was institutionalized for the rest of his life.
During his time in psychiatric care, Gein died from respiratory failure caused by cancer in July 1984. After his death, Gein was buried in a family plot with his mother and brother. However, as his crimes grew in infamy, Gein's grave became a destination for true crime enthusiasts who visited and even took parts of the stone.
The headstone was stolen for good in 2000 and has not been returned or recovered.
Here's everything to know about where Ed Gein is buried and why his grave is unmarked.
Gein, who later became known as "The Butcher of Plainfield," was born and raised on a farm in the small town of Plainfield, Wis. His mother, Augusta Gein, was a strict religious woman who raised both Ed and his older brother, Henry Gein, to isolate themselves from others -- especially women.
His upbringing and mother's beliefs about the immorality of women seemed to have played a role in his later actions. Gein's crimes surfaced in 1957 after he was linked to the disappearance of Worden.
Authorities later searched Gein's farmhouse and discovered her dismembered body, along with several other disturbing items. Police uncovered several pieces of furniture, clothing, kitchen utensils, masks and even a "woman suit" that Gein had created from human remains.
Over the course of at least a decade, Gein revealed that he had been digging up several women's graves and collecting and repurposing parts of their bodies. Police eventually located at least 10 sets of remains in Gein's home.
After his arrest, he confessed to killing both Worden and local tavern owner Hogan. He also alleged that he exhumed the graves of women who reminded him of his mother.
Gein pleaded not guilty on grounds of insanity and initially didn't face a trial. However, he was later ruled competent and was convicted of Worden's murder during a 1968 trial. A judge later ruled that he was not guilty by reason of insanity and committed him to a psychiatric hospital.
Gein spent the rest of his life at various psychiatric institutes after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was initially sent to Central State Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Waupun, Wis., before he was committed to Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Wis.
He spent the rest of his life at Mendota, where he died as a result of respiratory failure caused by cancer on July 26, 1984. He was 77 years old.
After his death, Gein was buried in a family plot in the Plainfield Cemetery, according to Britannica. He was laid to rest between his brother Henry (who died in 1944) and mother Augusta (who died in 1945).
His father, George Gein, was the first to be buried after his 1940 death and is located next to Augusta.
After his death, Gein's crimes inspired several famous films -- including Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. As a result, several true crime enthusiasts visited his grave over the years and cracked away at the gray headstone to take a piece home with them.
Some of the thieves later allegedly sold pieces online with certificates of authenticity. In 2000, United Press International reported that someone paid nearly $28 for an alleged scoop of dirt from the grave on eBay.
After years of people taking pieces of Gein's gravestone, the entire 200-pound gray granite block was stolen in June 2000. Since the entire piece was stolen in the midst of people selling relics online, authorities initially monitored sites like eBay to see if it would show up, but it never did, the New York Post reported at the time.
The local police also theorized that if it didn't show up online, an occult group may have been involved in the theft.
As of 2023, Gein's grave is unmarked and lies in the grass between his mother and brother. Although his gravesite is headstone-less, there have occasionally been flowers or other mementos left there, per a Facebook video shared by Freyzel Productions.
After the headstone was stolen, cemetery caretaker Betty Petrusky told the New York Post that she had no plans on getting a replacement.
"That spot will be filled up with black dirt and we'll seed it with some grass. There will never be another stone put there," she said at the time.