Gein's stolen gravestone could fetch high priceBy Meg Jones
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.jpg) Photo/www.findagrave.com A photo of Ed Gein's gravestone appears on the Web site www.findagrave.com |
Tough to say, because the stolen item is still missing and hasn't yet shown up on the Internet, as some officials expect it will.
But among dealers of serial killer memorabilia, Gein is king.
"Owning Gein, for some, is to own a Rembrandt for other collectors," said Andy Kahan, crime victims' director for the Houston mayor's office and leader of a national campaign against sales of serial killer memorabilia.
A search of the eBay Internet auction site Tuesday turned up 31 Ed Gein items for sale, including small vials said to be filled with wood from the bachelor's farmhouse, which burned down 42 years ago, and a copy of an FBI sheet of Gein's fingerprints.
Waushara County Sheriff Patrick Fox has no leads on the missing 150-pound gravestone, which disappeared from the Plainfield Cemetery last week, but he said it's possible someone stole it to sell to memorabilia collectors.
"It's either some kids that went out and took it or somebody who really wanted it," Fox said Tuesday. "I suppose you could find somebody out there who would pay something for it."
Betty Petrusky, cemetery caretaker from 1969 to 1996, noticed the marker was missing Saturday when she stopped by her husband's grave. Petrusky is familiar with Gein's grave - she helped dig it - and was one of 10 people who attended the graveside service in July 1984, one day after Gein died of cancer at Mendota Mental Health Institute.
"Everybody says he was buried at midnight," Petrusky said Tuesday. "That wasn't true because I buried him. It was 4 in the afternoon."
Over the years, vandals have scarred the rough-hewn gray stone of Gein's final resting place, between his mother and brother, Petrusky said. Profanity and satanic symbols were written in marker, and pieces of the stone were chipped off.
"A lot of people knew he was buried there. When I was out there as caretaker, I had people from every state" stop to ask about his grave, Petrusky said. "I had motorcycle gangs who were stopping and asking about Eddie, they were pretty rough-looking characters. I answered them as best as I could but I said 'No pictures' because we didn't want a lot of publicity."
While investigating the 1957 disappearance of Bernice Worden, owner of the local hardware store, stunned officers discovered body parts and Worden's headless remains at Gein's farmhouse. Authorities say he probably murdered others and also robbed graves.
The man who inspired the Alfred Hitchcock film "Psycho" is buried in the same cemetery that he once plundered, not far from Worden. The sheriff said any mention of Gein in the news is painful for the families of his victims.
"We have a lot of family up there like the Wordens who are still sensitive about it. They just hope he goes away," Fox said.
Kahan, the Houston city official, said it's just as horrific for other victims' families to see items glorifying Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy or Jeffrey Dahmer. Surf Internet auction sites, and you can buy what is purported to be some of Bundy's hair or dirt from the crawl space where Gacy buried 27 young men and boys.
"From a victim's perspective, it's probably the most nauseating, disgusting display of free enterprise," Kahan said.
Many of the Gein items on eBay are manufactured products such as T-shirts, shorts, snow globes, books, videos and light switches that feature his likeness and the words "Kill the lights." Among original memorabilia that Kahan has seen up for auction are copies of Gein's parole petition, letters written by Gein, photos of Gein and a painting of Gein byGacy.
Serial killer memorabilia can be sold on eBay as long as it is legally owned by the seller, said Kevin Pursglove, senior director of communications for eBay.
But, eBay draws the line at gravestones and human remains. If Gein's grave marker were put up for sale on the popular Internet auction site, it would be removed, Pursglove said.
"The other side of the issue is that most items on eBay that are associated with killers are pieces of property or merchandise that are owned by private citizens, and they are well within their right to sell it," Pursglove said.
Terry Svejda, who was selling a sliver of wood from Gein's farmhouse on eBay on Tuesday afternoon, said Gein memorabilia is highly sought after. The wood was collected a few years ago by another dealer who plucked it from the remains of the farmhouse's foundation, according to Svejda, whose eBay name is plan9space.
Does he consider the feelings of the families of Gein's victims when selling knickknacks?
"I feel sorry for the families," Svejda said. But "it's America and everybody has to make a buck."
Svejda, a Plano, Ill., memorabilia dealer, doubted the gravestone would end up on the Internet, but he said there's a thriving underground market of collectors of serial killer trinkets who deal among themselves.
Gein's gravestone is worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for it, said Svejda, who figured it could go for $2,000 to $3,000.
"For a little vial of wood I just got $53 so, yeah, I would say Gein is popular," said Svejda. "People have a fascination with serial killers, and Ed was definitely one of the weirdest."
