This Disturbing Murder In Indiana Was So Creepy It Inspired A Movie

Here in the Hoosier State, we’re more than happy to be considered a quiet place to live. Overall, crime in Indiana is just about average; small towns here are safe and cozy, and it’s not terribly often that a crime rocks our communities. However, when it does happen, it stuns not just everyone in Indiana, but people around the country as well; one particular case was so horrific and gruesome that to this day it’s considered one of the most disturbing murders in Indiana – if not the entire nation. It was later adapted into a true-crime drama/horror film starring Elliot Page (credited as Ellen Page) and Catherine Keener.

Wikimedia

In July 1965, Sylvia and her sister, Jenny, were sent to live with a woman by the name of Gertrude Baniszewski and her several children. Gertrude would charge the girls' father $20 per week for their care, and he agreed. The Likens parents would return in November to reunite with the girls. Until then, they were at the mercy of Baniszewski and her pack of vicious teenagers.

David Kessler/Flickr

However, one week, the promised payment from the girls' parents never came, and that was when the abuse began. Over the next several months, it would escalate until Sylvia was dead. When the abuse began, both girls were victims of Gertrude's wrath, but over time, it began to focus exclusively on Sylvia.

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Eventually, neighborhood children and friends of Gertrude's kids began visiting the house of horrors, and they were invited to participate in the torture of Sylvia Likens - which many of them most certainly did. In some cases, the neighborhood children even paid a small fee to Gertrude to inflict horrific abuse upon Likens.

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She died of what was later found by medical examiners to be more than 150 separate wounds in different stages of healing all over her body. She had been brutalized beyond comprehension over a span of months, and finally, it was over. Much of the brutality she had experienced was obvious, and Gertrude Baniszewski, along with several of her children.

Joe Young/The Indianapolis News/Wikimedia

They faced charges revolving around the torture, murder, and numerous sexual assaults of Sylvia Likens. Gertrude attempted to plead not guilty by reason of insanity; however, in May 1966, she was found guilty of first-degree murder. Her children were also found guilty. Gertrude was sentenced to life in prison. She was released, however, in 1985 on parole. She relocated to Iowa.

Sylvia Likens was just 16 years old at the time of her death.

In 2007, a film based upon the horrific torture and murder of Likens called An American Crime was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It starred Elliot Page and Catherine Keener and told the story of one of the most disturbing murders in Indiana. Though it was never released theatrically, it did see air time on the Showtime network in 2008. It found some success; it was nominated for a Golden Globe, a Primetime Emmy, and a Writer’s Guild of America Award.

Some cases are so scary that no movie could ever do them justice; this is certainly one of them. It’s immensely difficult to think about what Sylvia endured; she lives on in the memories of those who loved her, and in the hearts of those who hear her story.