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

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The following day, Gertrude Baniszewski testified in her own defense. She denied any responsibility for Likens's prolonged abuse, torment, and ultimate death, claiming her children, and other children within her neighborhood must have committed the acts within her home, which she described as being "such a madhouse". She also added that she had been too preoccupied with her own ill health and depression to control her children. [16] 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. In what was Likens's only act of retaliation, she is alleged to have spread a rumor at Arsenal Technical High School that Stephanie and Paula Baniszewski were prostitutes because she was upset with the household singling her out for similar accusations. [n 5] The formal statement provided by Jenny Likens prompted officers to arrest Gertrude, Paula, Stephanie, and John Baniszewski Jr. on suspicion of Likens's murder within hours of the discovery of her body. [96] The same day, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs were also arrested and charged with the same offenses. [97] The three eldest Baniszewski children, plus Coy Hubbard, were placed in the custody of a nearby juvenile detention center; the younger Baniszewski children and Richard Hobbs were detained at the Indianapolis Children's Guardians Home. All were held without bail pending trial. [12] Baniszewski v. State: Details of Gertrude Banieszewski's 1970 formal appeal against her first degree murder conviction.

She was so angelic to look at. Taken with her mother. Articles with Silvia's parents. Oh look at the heartache in their faces. And now look at these The house of evil. The five-week trial of the divorcee and four children - two of them her own - on charges of first degree murder gave complacent Indiana citizens their most searing courtroom drama in years. The murder of Sylvia Likens became an item of daily conversation as people read how she was beaten, burned, starved, scalded, tattooed and branded until death mercifully stepped in. And the name of the divorcee, Gertrude Baniszewski, alias Gertrude Wright, came to rank alongside that of the Marquis de Sade. The trial of the five defendants lasted 17 days before the jury retired to consider its verdict. [112] On May 19, 1966, after deliberating for eight hours, the panel of eight men and four women found Gertrude Baniszewski guilty of first-degree murder, [149] recommending a sentence of life imprisonment. Paula Baniszewski was found guilty of second-degree murder, [112] and Hobbs, Hubbard, and John Baniszewski Jr. were found guilty of manslaughter. [150] Upon hearing Judge Rabb pronounce the verdicts, Gertrude and her children burst into tears and attempted to console each other, as Hobbs and Hubbard remained impassive. [24] Gertrude Baniszewski and her son, John Baniszewski Jr., following their conviction for Likens's murder, May 19, 1966The Baniszewskis beat, belted and burned her. They dropped her into a tub of scalding water, then rubbed salt into her raw skin. They burned her skin with their cigarette butts. (An autopsy revealed burns across her body -- " Everyone but the baby" burned Sylvia, 12-year-old John told police, according to the Indianapolis Star). George Rice began his closing argument by decrying the fact Paula and the other defendants had been tried jointly. Sidestepping the multiple instances of testimony delivered at trial describing Paula and her mother as by far the most enthusiastic participants in Likens's physical abuse, Rice claimed the evidence presented against his client did not equate to her actual guilt of murder. He then ended his closing argument with a plea for the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on a girl who had "gone through the indignity of being tried in an open court". [36]

Long ago in the city of I., there lived a poor man and his wife and their five children. Try as they might, the man and woman could not make a living in town, and when only a few coins remained in the family purse, they decided their only choice was to leave the children behind and try to make their fortune with a traveling carnival. Their oldest girl had married and lived with her husband, and their boys had a home with their grandparents, but the two youngest daughters, Sylvia and Jenny, had nowhere to stay. Sylvia was a pretty, obedient girl, who liked music and dancing. She helped her mother keep house and watched over her little sister, Jenny, who wore a brace on her leg and walked with a limp. The man and woman watched their money dwindle and prayed they would find lodging for their girls.

How Sylvia Likens Came Under The Care Of Gertrude Baniszewski

a b c "The 1965 Torture and Murder of Sylvia Likens". The Indianapolis Star. October 26, 2018 . Retrieved April 24, 2019.

Police Told of Tortured Girl's Last Days". The Indianapolis Star. October 28, 1965 . Retrieved June 4, 2022. 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 Shortly after their mother's arrest, the Marion County Department of Public Welfare placed Marie, Shirley, and James Baniszewski in the care of separate foster families. The surname of all three children was legally changed to Blake in the late 1960s after their father regained their custody. Marie later married. Marie Shelton died of natural causes on June 8, 2017, at the age of 62. [173] Dennis Lee Wright Jr. was later adopted. His adoptive mother named him Denny Lee White. He died on February 5, 2012, at the age of 47. [108] [174] Initially, Gertrude denied any involvement in Likens's death, although by October 27 she had confessed to having known "the kids," particularly her daughter Paula and Coy Hubbard, had physically and emotionally abused Likens, stating: "Paula did most of the damage," and "Coy Hubbard did a lot of the beating." [98] Gertrude further admitted to having forced the girl to sleep in the basement on approximately three occasions when she had wet the bed. She became evasive when one officer stated the likely reasons Likens had become incontinent were her mental distress and injury to her kidneys. [99] According to Jenny Likens's later trial testimony, Sylvia did not spread any rumors of this nature. Jenny insisted the rumors were false accusations spread against Sylvia. [24]Paula Baniszewski was 17 years old in the summer of 1965 when a 16-year-old girl names Sylvia Likens and her sister came to stay with Baniszewski's family. In the months that followed, Likens was beaten, burned, malnourished and branded with a hot needle. Her body was found in the basement of the home in October of that year. Dean, John (January 1999). The Indiana Torture Slaying: Sylvia Likens' Ordeal and Death. Borf Books. ISBN 978-0-960-48947-3.

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