Sylvia Likens
Encyclopedia
Sylvia Marie Likens was an American murder victim from Indiana
. She was tortured to death
by Gertrude Baniszewski
(née Van Fossan), Gertrude's children, and other young people from their neighborhood. Her parents, who were carnies, had left Likens and her sister Jenny in the care of the Baniszewski family three months before her death in exchange for $20 a week. Baniszewski, two of her children, Paula and John, and two neighborhood youths, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs, were charged and convicted of the crime. Her torture and murder were described by the prosecutor in Baniszewski's trial as "the most terrible crime ever committed in the state of Indiana".
Sylvia baby-sat
and did ironing; these were, coincidentally, the same jobs Gertrude Baniszewski held. Sylvia's favorite rock group was The Beatles
. During her early time with the Baniszewski family, she would sing back and forth with Stephanie Baniszewski, one of Gertrude's daughters.
Sylvia and Jenny had known no fewer than 14 addresses because the family moved so frequently. In the past, they had been left at a grandmother's house or boarded out when their parents were traveling with a carnival, in hopes that the girls' education would not suffer.
In 1965, Sylvia and her sister Jenny, who was disabled from polio
, were living with their mother in Indianapolis
when Betty was arrested and jailed for shoplifting
. Lester Likens, who had recently separated from his wife, arranged for his daughters to board with Gertrude Baniszewski, the mother of Paula, a girl with whom the Likens girls had recently become acquainted. Although Gertrude and her seven children were poor, Lester, as he reported at the trial, "didn't pry" into the condition of the house, and encouraged Baniszewski to "straighten his daughters out". He agreed to pay her twenty dollars a week.
as a "haggard, underweight asthma
tic" suffering from depression and the stress of several failed marriages, began taking her anger out on the Likens girls, beating them with paddles
, after payments from their parents failed to arrive on time.
Soon, Baniszewski focused her abuse
on Sylvia, accusing her of stealing candy that she had bought from a grocery store, and humiliating her when she admitted that she had once had a boyfriend. She kicked Likens in the genitals and accused her of being pregnant
. Paula Baniszewski, who actually was pregnant at the time, became enraged and knocked Likens onto the floor, although medical examination proved that Sylvia was not and could not have been.
Likens was then accused of spreading rumors through Arsenal Technical High School
that Stephanie and Paula were prostitute
s. That supposedly provoked Stephanie's boyfriend, Coy Hubbard, to physically attack Likens. Mrs. Baniszewski encouraged Hubbard and other neighborhood children to torment Likens, including, among other things, putting cigarette
s out on her skin and forcing her to remove her clothes and insert a glass Coca-Cola
bottle into her vagina
on at least two occasions.
After beating Sylvia to force her to confess to stealing a gym suit from school which Baniszewski would not buy for her (and without which she was unable to attend gym class) Baniszewski kept her out of school and did not allow her to leave the house. When Likens urinated in her bed, she was locked in the cellar and forbidden to use the toilet
. Later, she was forced to consume feces
and urine
. Shortly before Sylvia died, Baniszewski began to carve the words "I'm a prostitute and proud of it!" into Sylvia's stomach with a heated needle, although Richard Hobbs finished the carving when Baniszewski was unable to do so. Hobbs, with the help of 10-year old Shirley Baniszewski, also used a heated eye bolt
to burn the number "3" into Sylvia's chest.
Likens attempted to escape a few days before her death after overhearing Baniszewski's plan to have her dumped in a wooded area nearby, but was caught by Baniszewski as she reached the front door. As punishment, she was tied in the basement
and given only crackers to eat. On October 26, 1965, after multiple beatings, burnings, and scalding baths, she died of a brain hemorrhage, shock and malnutrition
.
When Stephanie Baniszewski and Richard Hobbs realized that Sylvia was not breathing, Stephanie attempted to give Sylvia mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
before realizing that it was hopeless and that Sylvia was dead.
. When they arrived, Gertrude handed them a letter she had forced Sylvia to write a few days previously, addressed to her parents. This letter stated that she had agreed to have sexual relations with a group of boys in exchange for money, they had dragged her away in their car, beaten her up, burned her multiple times, and carved the inscription into her skin. Before the police left, however, Jenny Likens approached them, saying: "Get me out of here and I'll tell you everything".
During the highly publicized trial, Baniszewski denied responsibility for the death, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. She claimed that she was too distracted by her ill health and depression
to control her children. Attorneys for the young people on trial (Paula and John Baniszewski, Richard Hobbs and Coy Hubbard) claimed that they had been pressured by Baniszewski. When Marie Baniszewski, Gertrude's 11-year-old daughter, was called to the stand as a witness for the defense, she broke down and admitted that she had been forced to heat the needle with which Hobbs had carved Likens' skin, and that she had seen her mother beating and forcing Sylvia into the basement. In his closing statement, Baniszewski's lawyer said: "I condemn her for being a murderess... but I say she's not responsible because she's not all here!" and tapped his head.
On May 19, 1966, Gertrude Baniszewski was convicted of first-degree murder, but was spared the death penalty
and sentenced to life imprisonment
due to her gender. Her daughter Paula, who had given birth to a daughter named Gertrude during the trial, was convicted of second-degree murder and also given a life term. Hobbs, Hubbard and John Baniszewski were convicted of manslaughter
and sentenced to 2-to-21-year terms.
and was released two years later. Gertrude, however, was again convicted of first-degree murder. She came up for parole in 1985, and despite a public outcry and petitions against her release, the parole
board took her good behavior in prison into account, and she was set free.
Gertrude Baniszewski changed her name to Nadine van Fossan and moved to Iowa
, where she died of lung cancer
on June 16, 1990. When Jenny Likens, who was then married and living in Beech Grove, Indiana
, saw her obituary
in the newspaper, she clipped it out and mailed it to her mother with the note: "Some good news. Damn old Gertrude died. Ha ha ha! I am happy about that." Jenny Likens Wade died of a heart attack
on June 23, 2004, at the age of 54. The house at 3850 East New York Street in which Sylvia Likens was tortured and murdered stood vacant and run-down for much of the 44 years since the murder, and was finally demolished on April 23, 2009. The property will become a church parking lot.
Richard Hobbs died of lung cancer
at the age of 21, four years after being released from the reformatory.
After the Westside Middle School massacre
, John Baniszewski, by then calling himself John Blake, made a statement claiming that young criminals are not beyond help and describing how he had turned his life around. He died at the General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
, following a lengthy illness with diabetes
on May 19, 2005, at the age of 52. He had a wife and three children
Coy Hubbard, Stephanie Baniszewski’s boyfriend who beat Sylvia and practiced his judo
flips on her, had been in and out of prison since his release and was later charged and acquitted of the murder of two men. He died of a heart attack
on June 23, 2007, at the age of 56 in Shelbyville, Indiana
. He had a wife and five children, seventeen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Paula Baniszewski, at seventeen the oldest of the Baniszewski children, received a sentence of twenty years to life for her part in Sylvia’s death. While incarcerated, she bore a baby girl (initially named Gertrude) who was later adopted
. She unsuccessfully attempted to escape
twice from prison in 1971. In 1972, she was paroled and assumed a new identity. She eventually married and has two children; reportedly she lives on a small farm in Iowa today.
The murder charge against Gertrude’s second-oldest daughter, Stephanie Baniszewski, was dropped after she turned State's evidence against the others. She became a school teacher
and assumed a new name. She also married and had several children.
The injury to person charges against the younger juveniles Anna Ruth Siscoe, Judy Darlene Duke, Michael John (Mike) Monroe, and Randy Gordon Lepper were dropped as well. Randy Lepper died November 14, 2010 in Indianapolis
at the age of 56.
Similar cases:
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
. She was tortured to death
Torture murder
Torture murder is a loosely defined term to describe a murder where death has been preceded by the torture of the victim. In many legal jurisdictions a murder involving "exceptional brutality or cruelty" will involve a harsher sentence.-Punishment:...
by Gertrude Baniszewski
Gertrude Baniszewski
Gertrude Nadine Baniszewski , also known as Gertrude Wright and Nadine van Fossan, was an Indiana divorcée who, with the aid of most of her own children and neighborhood children, such as Ricky Hobbs and Coy Hubbard, oversaw and facilitated the prolonged torture, mutilation, and eventual murder of...
(née Van Fossan), Gertrude's children, and other young people from their neighborhood. Her parents, who were carnies, had left Likens and her sister Jenny in the care of the Baniszewski family three months before her death in exchange for $20 a week. Baniszewski, two of her children, Paula and John, and two neighborhood youths, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs, were charged and convicted of the crime. Her torture and murder were described by the prosecutor in Baniszewski's trial as "the most terrible crime ever committed in the state of Indiana".
Background
Sylvia Likens was the third child of carnival workers Betty and Lester Likens. She was born between two sets of fraternal twins, Diana and Danny (two years older), and Jenny and Benny (one year younger). The Likens' marriage was unstable and the family moved many times. Sylvia was often boarded out or forced to live with relatives while her parents were working.Sylvia baby-sat
Babysitting
Babysitting is the practice of temporarily caring for a child on behalf of the child's parents. Babysitting is commonly performed as an odd job by teenagers for extra money.-General:...
and did ironing; these were, coincidentally, the same jobs Gertrude Baniszewski held. Sylvia's favorite rock group was The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
. During her early time with the Baniszewski family, she would sing back and forth with Stephanie Baniszewski, one of Gertrude's daughters.
Sylvia and Jenny had known no fewer than 14 addresses because the family moved so frequently. In the past, they had been left at a grandmother's house or boarded out when their parents were traveling with a carnival, in hopes that the girls' education would not suffer.
In 1965, Sylvia and her sister Jenny, who was disabled from polio
Poliomyelitis
Poliomyelitis, often called polio or infantile paralysis, is an acute viral infectious disease spread from person to person, primarily via the fecal-oral route...
, were living with their mother in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
when Betty was arrested and jailed for shoplifting
Shoplifting
Shoplifting is theft of goods from a retail establishment. It is one of the most common property crimes dealt with by police and courts....
. Lester Likens, who had recently separated from his wife, arranged for his daughters to board with Gertrude Baniszewski, the mother of Paula, a girl with whom the Likens girls had recently become acquainted. Although Gertrude and her seven children were poor, Lester, as he reported at the trial, "didn't pry" into the condition of the house, and encouraged Baniszewski to "straighten his daughters out". He agreed to pay her twenty dollars a week.
Abuse and death
Baniszewski, described by The Indianapolis StarThe Indianapolis Star
The Indianapolis Star is a morning daily newspaper that began publishing on June 6, 1903. It has won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting twice, in 1975 and 1991. It is currently owned by the Gannett Company.-History:...
as a "haggard, underweight asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
tic" suffering from depression and the stress of several failed marriages, began taking her anger out on the Likens girls, beating them with paddles
Paddle (spanking)
A spanking paddle is an implement used to strike a person on the buttocks. The act of striking a person with a paddle is known as "paddling". A paddling may be for punishment , or as an initiation or hazing ritual, or for erotic purposes.A paddle has two parts: a handle and a blade...
, after payments from their parents failed to arrive on time.
Soon, Baniszewski focused her abuse
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
on Sylvia, accusing her of stealing candy that she had bought from a grocery store, and humiliating her when she admitted that she had once had a boyfriend. She kicked Likens in the genitals and accused her of being pregnant
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Paula Baniszewski, who actually was pregnant at the time, became enraged and knocked Likens onto the floor, although medical examination proved that Sylvia was not and could not have been.
Likens was then accused of spreading rumors through Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School
Arsenal Technical High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States which is run by the Indianapolis Public Schools school system. Established in 1912, the school consists of a , multiple building campus east of downtown Indianapolis and is the only such type school in...
that Stephanie and Paula were prostitute
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
s. That supposedly provoked Stephanie's boyfriend, Coy Hubbard, to physically attack Likens. Mrs. Baniszewski encouraged Hubbard and other neighborhood children to torment Likens, including, among other things, putting cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s out on her skin and forcing her to remove her clothes and insert a glass Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
bottle into her vagina
Vagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
on at least two occasions.
After beating Sylvia to force her to confess to stealing a gym suit from school which Baniszewski would not buy for her (and without which she was unable to attend gym class) Baniszewski kept her out of school and did not allow her to leave the house. When Likens urinated in her bed, she was locked in the cellar and forbidden to use the toilet
Toilet
A toilet is a sanitation fixture used primarily for the disposal of human excrement, often found in a small room referred to as a toilet/bathroom/lavatory...
. Later, she was forced to consume feces
Feces
Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...
and urine
Urine
Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...
. Shortly before Sylvia died, Baniszewski began to carve the words "I'm a prostitute and proud of it!" into Sylvia's stomach with a heated needle, although Richard Hobbs finished the carving when Baniszewski was unable to do so. Hobbs, with the help of 10-year old Shirley Baniszewski, also used a heated eye bolt
Eye bolt
An eye bolt is a screw with a loop on one end and threads on the other end. Eye bolts are commonly used to attach cables to objects, for instance attaching a string to the back of a painting to allow the painting to hang from a nail on a wall....
to burn the number "3" into Sylvia's chest.
Likens attempted to escape a few days before her death after overhearing Baniszewski's plan to have her dumped in a wooded area nearby, but was caught by Baniszewski as she reached the front door. As punishment, she was tied in the basement
Basement
__FORCETOC__A basement is one or more floors of a building that are either completely or partially below the ground floor. Basements are typically used as a utility space for a building where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system...
and given only crackers to eat. On October 26, 1965, after multiple beatings, burnings, and scalding baths, she died of a brain hemorrhage, shock and malnutrition
Malnutrition
Malnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
.
When Stephanie Baniszewski and Richard Hobbs realized that Sylvia was not breathing, Stephanie attempted to give Sylvia mouth-to-mouth resuscitation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation is an emergency procedure which is performed in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spontaneous blood circulation and breathing in a person in cardiac arrest. It is indicated in those who are unresponsive...
before realizing that it was hopeless and that Sylvia was dead.
Trial
Stephanie Baniszewski sent Hobbs to call the police from a nearby payphonePayphone
A payphone or pay phone is a public telephone, often located in a phone booth or a privacy hood, with pre-payment by inserting money , a credit or debit card, or a telephone card....
. When they arrived, Gertrude handed them a letter she had forced Sylvia to write a few days previously, addressed to her parents. This letter stated that she had agreed to have sexual relations with a group of boys in exchange for money, they had dragged her away in their car, beaten her up, burned her multiple times, and carved the inscription into her skin. Before the police left, however, Jenny Likens approached them, saying: "Get me out of here and I'll tell you everything".
During the highly publicized trial, Baniszewski denied responsibility for the death, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity. She claimed that she was too distracted by her ill health and depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
to control her children. Attorneys for the young people on trial (Paula and John Baniszewski, Richard Hobbs and Coy Hubbard) claimed that they had been pressured by Baniszewski. When Marie Baniszewski, Gertrude's 11-year-old daughter, was called to the stand as a witness for the defense, she broke down and admitted that she had been forced to heat the needle with which Hobbs had carved Likens' skin, and that she had seen her mother beating and forcing Sylvia into the basement. In his closing statement, Baniszewski's lawyer said: "I condemn her for being a murderess... but I say she's not responsible because she's not all here!" and tapped his head.
On May 19, 1966, Gertrude Baniszewski was convicted of first-degree murder, but was spared the death penalty
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
and sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
due to her gender. Her daughter Paula, who had given birth to a daughter named Gertrude during the trial, was convicted of second-degree murder and also given a life term. Hobbs, Hubbard and John Baniszewski were convicted of manslaughter
Manslaughter
Manslaughter is a legal term for the killing of a human being, in a manner considered by law as less culpable than murder. The distinction between murder and manslaughter is said to have first been made by the Ancient Athenian lawmaker Dracon in the 7th century BC.The law generally differentiates...
and sentenced to 2-to-21-year terms.
Aftermath
The boys would spend two years in prison. In 1971, Paula and Gertrude Baniszewski were granted another trial. Paula pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughterVoluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
and was released two years later. Gertrude, however, was again convicted of first-degree murder. She came up for parole in 1985, and despite a public outcry and petitions against her release, the parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
board took her good behavior in prison into account, and she was set free.
Gertrude Baniszewski changed her name to Nadine van Fossan and moved to Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
, where she died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
on June 16, 1990. When Jenny Likens, who was then married and living in Beech Grove, Indiana
Beech Grove, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 14,880 people, 6,085 households, and 3,839 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,462.5 people per square mile . There were 6,506 housing units at an average density of 1,513.9 per square mile...
, saw her obituary
Obituary
An obituary is a news article that reports the recent death of a person, typically along with an account of the person's life and information about the upcoming funeral. In large cities and larger newspapers, obituaries are written only for people considered significant...
in the newspaper, she clipped it out and mailed it to her mother with the note: "Some good news. Damn old Gertrude died. Ha ha ha! I am happy about that." Jenny Likens Wade died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on June 23, 2004, at the age of 54. The house at 3850 East New York Street in which Sylvia Likens was tortured and murdered stood vacant and run-down for much of the 44 years since the murder, and was finally demolished on April 23, 2009. The property will become a church parking lot.
Richard Hobbs died of lung cancer
Lung cancer
Lung cancer is a disease characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung in a process called metastasis into nearby tissue and, eventually, into other parts of the body. Most cancers that start in lung, known as primary...
at the age of 21, four years after being released from the reformatory.
After the Westside Middle School massacre
Westside Middle School massacre
The Westside Middle School massacre was a school shooting that occurred on March 24, 1998 in Westside Middle School in unincorporated Craighead County, Arkansas, United States, near Jonesboro. A total of five people, four female students and a teacher, were killed. Ten people, nine students and...
, John Baniszewski, by then calling himself John Blake, made a statement claiming that young criminals are not beyond help and describing how he had turned his life around. He died at the General Hospital in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Lancaster is a city in the south-central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat of Lancaster County and one of the older inland cities in the United States, . With a population of 59,322, it ranks eighth in population among Pennsylvania's cities...
, following a lengthy illness with diabetes
Diabetes mellitus
Diabetes mellitus, often simply referred to as diabetes, is a group of metabolic diseases in which a person has high blood sugar, either because the body does not produce enough insulin, or because cells do not respond to the insulin that is produced...
on May 19, 2005, at the age of 52. He had a wife and three children
Coy Hubbard, Stephanie Baniszewski’s boyfriend who beat Sylvia and practiced his judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
flips on her, had been in and out of prison since his release and was later charged and acquitted of the murder of two men. He died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
on June 23, 2007, at the age of 56 in Shelbyville, Indiana
Shelbyville, Indiana
Shelbyville is a city in Addison Township, Shelby County, Indiana, United States. The population was 17,951 at the 2000 census. The city is the county seat of Shelby County...
. He had a wife and five children, seventeen grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Paula Baniszewski, at seventeen the oldest of the Baniszewski children, received a sentence of twenty years to life for her part in Sylvia’s death. While incarcerated, she bore a baby girl (initially named Gertrude) who was later adopted
Adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
. She unsuccessfully attempted to escape
Prison escape
A prison escape or prison break is the act of an inmate leaving prison through unofficial or illegal ways. Normally, when this occurs, an effort is made on the part of authorities to recapture them and return them to their original detainers...
twice from prison in 1971. In 1972, she was paroled and assumed a new identity. She eventually married and has two children; reportedly she lives on a small farm in Iowa today.
The murder charge against Gertrude’s second-oldest daughter, Stephanie Baniszewski, was dropped after she turned State's evidence against the others. She became a school teacher
Teacher
A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...
and assumed a new name. She also married and had several children.
The injury to person charges against the younger juveniles Anna Ruth Siscoe, Judy Darlene Duke, Michael John (Mike) Monroe, and Randy Gordon Lepper were dropped as well. Randy Lepper died November 14, 2010 in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
at the age of 56.
Depictions
The case has since been the subject of numerous fictional and non-fictional adaptations.- Author John Dean (also known as Natty Bumppo) wrote an account of the murder, House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying.
- Patte Wheat's By Sanction of the Victim is a fictional story based on the incident, set in the 1970s.
- FeministFeminismFeminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
Kate MillettKate MillettKate Millett is an American lesbian feminist writer and activist. A seminal influence on second-wave feminism, Millet is best known for her 1970 book Sexual Politics.-Career:...
wrote a semi-fictional book relating to the incident, The Basement: Meditations on a Human Sacrifice. Millett later stated her belief that "Gertrude seems to have wanted to administer some terrible truthful justice to this girl: that this was what it was to be a woman". - Millett also created an art installation in 1978, The Trial of Sylvia Likens, that depicts a courtroom scene with the five defendants.
- Mendal Johnson's only novel, Let's Go Play at the Adams', was based on this case.
- Jack KetchumJack KetchumJack Ketchum is the pseudonym for American author Dallas Mayr . He is the recipient of four Bram Stoker Awards and three further nominations. Many of his novels have been adapted to film, including The Girl Next Door and Red...
's novel The Girl Next DoorThe Girl Next Door (novel)The Girl Next Door was written by author Jack Ketchum in 1989. It is loosely based on the true story of the murder of Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1965.-Synopsis:...
is loosely based on the murder; a movieThe Girl Next Door (2007 film)The Girl Next Door is a 2007 horror film adaptation of the 1989 novel of the same name by Jack Ketchum. The film is loosely based on true events surrounding the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Gertrude Baniszewski during the summer of 1965.-Plot:...
based on the book was released in 2007, with Blythe AuffarthBlythe AuffarthBlythe Auffarth is an American actress, perhaps best known for starring in The Girl Next Door.-Filmography:-TV Filmography:-Video Game Filmography:-External links:...
in the main role. - The film An American CrimeAn American CrimeAn American Crime is a 2007 American crime-drama film starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener. The film is based on the true story of the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis housewife Gertrude Baniszewski...
starring Catherine KeenerCatherine KeenerCatherine Ann Keener is an American actress. She has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Being John Malkovich and Capote...
as Baniszewski, Ellen PageEllen PageEllen Philpotts-Page , known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. Page received both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her role as the title character in the film Juno...
as Likens and Jeremy SumpterJeremy SumpterJeremy Robert Myron Sumpter is an American actor. His prominent roles include the title role in the 2003 live action film Peter Pan and the recurring role of J. D. McCoy in the NBC television series Friday Night Lights...
as Coy Hubbard premiered at the Sundance Film FestivalSundance Film FestivalThe Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, in 2007. - The Sylvia Likens case was documented on the “Born Bad” episode of Deadly WomenDeadly WomenDeadly Women is a television series first aired in 2005 on the Discovery Channel, focusing on female killers. It was originally a mini-series consisting of three episodes: "Obsession," "Greed" and "Revenge". After a 2 year hiatus, the show resumed production in 2008 and began airing on the...
on the Investigation Discovery channel. - A play called Hey, Rube written by Janet McReynolds, was produced but never published.
- The Pain TeensThe Pain TeensPain Teens was an experimental noise rock band formed in Houston, Texas in 1985 by Scott Ayers and Bliss Blood. The band used tape manipulation, digital delays, sampling, tape cut-ups and other effects in their music...
made a music video entitled "Basement" based on the torture of Sylvia Likens. - Author Paul Donnelly documented the case in his book 501 Most Notorious Crimes.
See also
- The Girl Next DoorThe Girl Next Door (novel)The Girl Next Door was written by author Jack Ketchum in 1989. It is loosely based on the true story of the murder of Sylvia Likens in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1965.-Synopsis:...
- An American CrimeAn American CrimeAn American Crime is a 2007 American crime-drama film starring Ellen Page and Catherine Keener. The film is based on the true story of the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens by Indianapolis housewife Gertrude Baniszewski...
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