House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying (St. Martin's True Crime Library)

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Although exuberant, Likens always kept her mouth closed when smiling due to a missing front tooth, which she had lost while roughhousing with one of her brothers during a childhood game. [17] She was also fond of music, particularly The Beatles, and was notably protective of her markedly more timid and insecure younger sister. [18] On several occasions, the two sisters would visit a local skating rink, where Sylvia would help Jenny skate by holding her hand, while Jenny skated on her unaffected foot. [19] July 1965 [ edit ] James Nedder began his closing argument in defense of Richard Hobbs by referring to the loss of Likens, stating: "She had a right to live. In my own heart I cannot remember a girl so much sinned against and abused." He then referred to Hobbs' courage in opting to testify in his own defense and the "savage and relentless cross-examination" to which he had been subjected by Leroy New. Nedder attempted to portray his client as a follower-type personality who had acted under the control of Gertrude Baniszewski, suggesting that had he not carved part of the obscene insult into Likens's abdomen at Gertrude's request, Hobbs could well have been a state's witness as opposed to Stephanie Baniszewski. He then referred to Jenny's overall failure to notify authorities of her sister's abuse until she had already died, describing her as "a sister who could limp three-and-a-half miles to a park but couldn't take two or three steps out into New York Street to beg for help!" [142]

The 1965 Torture and Murder of Sylvia Likens". The Indianapolis Star. October 26, 2018 . Retrieved April 22, 2019. John Dean was born June 16, 1940, in Rushville, Indiana. He is a graduate of Indiana University and the Northwestern University School of Law. Her children, Paula Baniszewski, 17; Stephaine Baniszewski,15; and Johnny Baniszewski,12, all charged with murder , Initial jury selection began on this date and continued for several days. The prosecution consisted of Leroy K. New and Marjorie Wessner, who announced their intention to seek the death penalty for all five defendants on April 16. They also successfully argued before Judge Rabb that all the defendants should be tried together as they were ultimately charged with acting "in concert" [113] in their collective crimes against Likens and that as such, if each were tried separately, neither judge nor jury could hear testimony relating to a "total picture" of the accumulation of offenses committed. [112] [114] [n 10] Every myth explains too much, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t truths to be found in the story. Girard’s grandiose explanation for human violence unearths part of the truth. Sylvia Likens was a scapegoat.Noe, Denise. "The Torturing Death of Sylvia Marie Likens — In Memoriam — Crime Library on". Trutv.com. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012 . Retrieved September 22, 2012. Oates, Joyce Carol (September 9, 1979). "To Be Female Is to Die". The New York Times . Retrieved April 17, 2019. Noe, Denise. "The Torturing Death of Sylvia Marie Likens". TruTV. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013 . Retrieved September 27, 2016. McNary, Dave (March 2, 2007). "First Look's Winterstern resigns". Variety . Retrieved April 29, 2023.

I was ten years old when Sylvia Likens died, the same age as Marie, the girl who lit the match to heat the poker they used to brand the naked Sylvia, who was tied up, gagged, and held down by Marie’s brother John and her sister, either Stephanie or Shirley. Marie lied stub Testimony delivered at trial clearly illustrated Paula Baniszewski and her mother as being the most enthusiastic participants in Likens's abuse and torture. [133]Because of internal problems with the film's original distributor, First Look International, the film was not released theatrically. [2] The Showtime television network officially premiered An American Crime on May 10, 2008. [3] The film was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Primetime Emmy (both for Keener's performance), and a Writers Guild of America Award. In his eulogy, the Reverend Gibson stated: "We all have our time (of passing), but we won't suffer like our little sister suffered during the last days of her life." [9] The Reverend Gibson then strode towards Likens's casket before adding, "She has gone to eternity." [107] Primitive emotional contagion: “The tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize facial expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another’s and, consequently to converge emotionally.” (E. Hatfield, J. Cacioppo, and R. L. Rapson, Emotional Contagion, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1993.)

Ammeson, Jane Simon (2017). Murders that Made Headlines: Crimes of Indiana. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-02983-6. Now, this Gertrude was a powerful witch. When the money she had been promised didn’t arrive, she beat Sylvia and Jenny. When the money came in the post the next day, she beat them anyway. But as time went on, the witch turned all her wrath on Sylvia because she could not bear the sight of her youth and beauty. The witch cast a spell over the house so that everyone inside its rooms felt the same hatred she did for Sylvia, everyone, except Jenny, on whom the magic did not work. But when the children from the neighborhood entered the house, they too fell under the charm. The witch and the hexed children hit Sylvia. They laughed at her. They called her a slut, gave her crumbs to eat, and made her sleep in the basement on the floor. And Jenny with her lame foot was too afraid to say or do anything. On another occasion, as the family ate supper, Gertrude, Paula, and a neighborhood boy named Randy Gordon Lepper, force-fed Likens a hot dog overloaded with condiments, including mustard, ketchup and spices. Likens vomited as a result, and was later forced to consume what she had regurgitated. [33] [34] Gertrude was not the only Baniszewski to be charged with homicide. Every one of Officer and Mrs. B.’s children hurt Sylvia Likens but only two of them were tried for murder: Paula and John. Paula, the oldest, pregnant after a misadventure with a married man, assaulted Sylvia with such ferocity on one occasion that Paula broke her hand. While on trial for her life, Paula pushed a new life into the world, a girl she belligerently named Gertrude. John Jr., twelve years old when Sylvia died, and two neighbor boys, Richard Hobbs and Coy Hubbard, were also tried for Sylvia’s murder. The three Baniszewskis, Hobbs, and Hubbard were all convicted, but none of them was executed. Gertrude served the longest sentence, twenty years. She became a model prisoner and was known to her fellow inmates as “Mom.” After the three Baniszewskis were released from prison, they all changed their names, as did Officer Baniszewski, who had not taken part in any of the household torture. Section of Deputy Prosecutor Marjorie Wessner's closing argument at the trial of Gertrude Baniszewski. [138]Boone County Child Advocacy Center to be Renamed in Honor of Sylvia Likens". WTHR. November 2, 2016 . Retrieved December 7, 2020. Dean, John (January 1999). The Indiana Torture Slaying: Sylvia Likens' Ordeal and Death. Borf Books. ISBN 978-0-960-48947-3. Bovsun, Mara (April 6, 2013). "Teen Girl Fatally Bullied in Indiana House of Horrors". New York Daily News . Retrieved August 4, 2017. Noe, Denise. "The Torturing Death of Sylvia Marie Likens: The Slow Descent Into Horror". TruTV Crime Library. Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Gertrude called [Sylvia] upstairs to the kitchen. Somehow, the conversation got around to tattooing. Gertrude asked Sylvia whether she knew what a tattoo was ... she said: 'You branded my children so now I'm going to brand you.' "