MURDER OF SYLVIA LIKENS: SHE WAS AN AMERICAN TEENAGER WHO WAS TORTURED AND MURDERED BY HER CAREGIVER.

Murder of Sylvia Likens

Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends.

The abuse lasted for three months, occurring incrementally, before Likens died from her extensive injuries and malnourishment on October 26, 1965, in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Likens was increasingly tormented, neglected, belittled, sexually humiliated, beaten, starved, lacerated, burned, and dehydrated by her tormentors.

Her autopsy showed 150 wounds across her body, including several burns, scald marks and eroded skin.

Through intimidation, her younger sister, Jenny, was occasionally forced to participate in her mistreatment.

The official cause of her death was determined to be a homicide caused by a combination of subdural hematoma and shock, complicated by severe malnutrition.

Gertrude Baniszewski; her oldest daughter, Paula; her son, John; and two neighborhood youths, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs, were all tried and convicted in May 1966 of neglecting, torturing, and murdering Likens.

At the defendants' trial, Deputy Prosecutor Leroy New described the case as "the most diabolical case to ever come before a court or jury" and Gertrude's defense attorney, William C. Erbecker, described Likens as having been subjected to acts of "degradation that you wouldn't commit on a dog" before her death.

After eight hours of deliberation, the jury found Gertrude Baniszewski guilty of first-degree murder. She was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released on parole in 1985.

Paula was found guilty of second-degree murder and was released in 1972; Hobbs, Hubbard, and John were found guilty of manslaughter and served less than two years in the Indiana Reformatory before being granted parole on February 27, 1968.

The torture and murder of Sylvia Likens is widely regarded by Indiana citizens as the worst crime ever committed in their state and has been described by a senior investigator in the Indianapolis Police Department as the "most sadistic" case he had ever investigated in the 35 years he served with the Indianapolis Police.

Comments

A MAN CONVICTED OF RAPING AND MURDERING A 3-YEAR-OLD GIRL WAS EXECUTED IN SANA'A.

A man convicted of raping and murdering a 3-year-old girl was executed in Sanaa on Monday in front of hundreds of onlookers, the first public execution there since 2009. "Security was very tight, because authorities were fearing a revenge attack by armed men from the Bani Matar tribe to which the girl's family belong," said Reuters photographer Khaled Abdullah, who witnessed the scene. The police van transporting Muhammad al-Maghrabi, 41, to Sanaa's Tahrir Square was escorted by five police patrol vehicles. The execution drew a large number of onlookers, some perched up telegraph poles and many watching from rooftops. The crowd started to shout "Allah is the greatest" when Maghrabi arrived. "The man was escorted from the van to the middle of the square, and then the place turned to a complete chaos and I fought for a position to take pictures," Abdullah said. "He tried to talk to the executioner, a police officer who was calmly smoking a ciga...

My Dad Who Left 20 Years Ago Called from His Deathbed for a Final Wish — What He Asked Broke My Heart.

My Dad Who Left 20 Years Ago Called from His Deathbed for a Final Wish — What He Asked Broke My Heart When my estranged father, who left 20 years ago, called from his deathbed, I was torn between anger and curiosity. His final wish was something I never expected, and what he revealed about his disappearance shattered everything I thought I knew. I was getting ready for bed when my phone buzzed on the nightstand. The number was unfamiliar, so I let it go to voicemail. Not even a minute later, a text came through: “ALICE, THIS IS YOUR DAD. PLEASE CALL, I AM IN THE HOSPITAL.” My heart stopped. Dad? After twenty years? I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the message. Part of me wanted to delete it and forget, but curiosity won. I called the number back. “Alice, it’s me. I… I don’t have much time.” “Why are you calling now?” My voice was harsher than I intended. There it was, the same secrecy that defined my childhood. “What do you want?” He took a shaky breath. “I left because your gra...

HEADS WILL ROLL! GEORGE EADS TAKES ON A CRAZED MAN DECAPITATED HEAD WHILE FILMING NEW SCENES FOR....

Heads will roll! George Eads takes on a crazed man brandishing a decapitated head while filming new scenes for CSI As a show set in the world of criminal forensics, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is a series with its fair share of gruesome scenes. But during filming for a new episode on Wednesday, the hit U.S. drama outdid itself in the gory stakes. An bloodied actor playing a crazed man was spotted standing on a Las Vegas street, holding onto a decapitated head by the hair The man was even surrounded by gory onlookers taking photographs of him proudly brandishing the head Luckily, George Eads, who lplays CSI investigator Nick Stokes wasn't on hand to stop the mad man, with the help of a uniformed police officer. According to VegasPremieres.com, onlookers saw a man 'running around holding the head, shouting: 'I want you all to meet my Dad! Eades, 45, sported a black shirt and jeans for filming, and looked deep in though while relaxing between takes. The crew were filming i...

FLASH BACK TO THE WORLD OF HISTORY AND EVENTS.

Search This Blog