Ed Gein had exhumed corpses.
Edward Theodore Gein ( [ ˈɡiːn ] August 27 , 1906 -- July 26 , 1984 ) , also known as The Butcher of Plainfield , was an American murderer and body snatcher . 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 . 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 . He is buried next to his family in the Plainfield Cemetery , in a now-unmarked grave .