Ed Gein's hometown is not Plainfield, Wisconsin.
Edward Theodore Gein -LRB- -LSB- ˈɡiːn -RSB- August 27 , 1906 -- July 26 , 1984 -RRB- , also known as The Butcher of Plainfield , was an American murderer and body snatcher .. body snatcher. Body snatching. His crimes , committed around his hometown of Plainfield , Wisconsin , gathered widespread notoriety after authorities discovered that Gein had exhumed corpses from local graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin .. Wisconsin. Wisconsin. exhumed. Exhumation. Gein confessed to killing two women -- tavern owner Mary Hogan on December 8 , 1954 , and a Plainfield hardware store owner , Bernice Worden , on November 16 , 1957 .. Gein was initially found unfit to stand trial and confined to a mental health facility .. In 1968 , Gein was found guilty but legally insane of the murder of Worden and was remanded to psychiatric institutions .. He died at Mendota Mental Health Institute of cancer-induced liver and respiratory failure at age 77 on July 26 , 1984 .. Mendota Mental Health Institute. Mendota Mental Health Institute. He is buried next to his family in the Plainfield Cemetery , in a now-unmarked grave .