Who Was Ed Gein's Mother, Augusta? Her Religious Obsession That Fueled Her Son's Twisted Crimes

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is the third instalment in Netflix’s true-crime Monster anthology. After Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (2022) and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story (2024), the latest season delves into the dark and twisted tale of one of America’s most notorious killers. You may be familiar with the many fictional characters inspired by him, including the iconic ‘Leatherface’ from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. But the real Ed Gein’s story is far more chilling.

Ed’s story is different from most killers you may have come across, even the disturbing cases of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Mendez brothers explored in the earlier Monster seasons. His descent into darkness was shaped by years of isolation and the suffocating influence of his domineering mother, Augusta.

As Ed himself admitted, his mother was the central figure in his life, the one voice he followed, feared and worshipped. Here’s a closer look at Augusta, the strictly religious mother whose influence fuelled her son’s twisted obsession.

Who was Ed Gein’s mother, Augusta?

Augusta, born Augusta Wilhelmine Lehrke in Wisconsin, was raised in a deeply religious household and endured a strict, often harsh upbringing. Thanks to those experiences, she also grew into a domineering and fanatically religious Lutheran with strong views about sin, morality, and the dangers of women.

In 1899, Augusta married George Gein, a man who had long struggled with unemployment and alcoholism, which often left her feeling bitter and resentful. She used to openly criticise Georgem, which further solidified her role as the dominant force in the household.

Raising Ed and Henry Gein

Augusta and George had two sons, Henry in 1902 and Ed in 1906. Some reports suggest she was disappointed when Ed was born, as she had wished for a daughter. The Geins moved to an isolated farm in Plainfield, Wisconsin, where she tightly controlled her children’s lives. Both Ed and his older brother, Henry, grew up in seclusion, away from acquaintances, discouraged from forming friendships. 

Augusta, ever the strict mom, regularly warned her sons about the ‘immorality’ of women, telling them they should never be corrupted by outsiders. These preachings reinforced Ed’s dependence on her. Augusta reportedly read him passages from the Bible, including those about Noah’s Ark, insisting that another flood would come to wash away women’s sins and purify the world.

Augusta’s deep  influence on Ed Gein

When Ed’s father, George Gein, died in 1940, Augusta’s power and influence grew stronger. It became more intense after the mysterious death of his elder brother, Henry, in 1944. With Henry gone, Ed became his mom’s caretaker, being by her side day and night after she suffered a series of strokes. He read the Bible to her daily and doted on her, eventually developing an obsession that only grew after her death in 1945.

Ed found himself completely alone after losing his mother, and he couldn’t take it. After Augusta’s death, he preserved her bedroom like a shrine while the rest of the farmhouse fell into decay. Investigators later concluded that his crimes, from grave desecration to murdering two women, all stemmed from his attempt to ‘re-create’ his mother or even bring her back to life.

According to reports from Wisconsin’s Central State Hospital in 1987, Ed Gein was  “inordinately emotionally attached” to Augusta. Psychologists have long suggested that Gein’s mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, combined with years of isolation and trauma, drove him toward these macabre acts. He even admitted to hearing her voice years after her death. 

Ed Gein’s trail of crime after Augusta’s death

After his mother’s death, Ed Gein’s dark spiral began. He reportedly started robbing graves, bringing back corpses, and separating skulls, heads, and skin. Disturbingly, he crafted keepsakes from the remains. His gruesome activities went unnoticed until 1957, when shocking discoveries thrust him into the spotlight. Beyond grave robberies, Gein admitted to murdering two women, Bernice Worden, a sales clerk, and Mary Hogan, a tavern owner. His arrest revealed the terrifying extent of his crimes, cementing his legacy as one of history’s most disturbing figures.

According to a report by TIME, Ed Gein began grave robbing, collecting corpses to preserve and study, even taking an entire family’s remains home one time. When this wasn’t enough, he admitted to murdering two women, claiming he was in a daze during the killings. Psychiatrists later revealed that Gein believed he could bring his mother back by collecting bodies, keeping her close, and eventually destroying her, fueled by a mix of obsession and deep-seated frustration with her.

After his arrest in 1957, Ed Gein pleaded ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’. He was finally convicted of Bernice Worden’s murder in 1968, but still ruled legally insane and returned to psychiatric care. In 1984, he passed away at age 77 at the Mendota Mental Health Institute from complications of lung cancer and respiratory failure.

While Augusta Gein never committed any crimes herself, her teachings and preachings haunted Ed in such a twisted way that they left a lasting mark on his psyche. With Monster: The Ed Gein Story, Netflix has reopened one of the darkest chapters of American history.

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