Murder of Sylvia Likens

Six years later, she dropped out of high school at age 16 to Marry 18-year-old John Stephan Baniszewski (1926–2007), who was originally from Youngsville, Pennsylvania, and was of Polish ancestry, and with whom she had four children.

Although John Baniszewski had a volatile temper and occasionally beat his wife, the two would remain together for ten years prior to their first divorce.

Following her divorce, Baniszewski married a man named Edward Guthrie.

This marriage lasted just three months before the couple divorced.

Shortly thereafter, Baniszewski remarried her first husband, with whom she had two more children.

Gertrude Nadine Baniszewski (Van Fossan; September 19, 1928 – June 16, 1990) was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, to Hugh Marcus Van Fossan Sr. and Molly Myrtle (née Oakley), both of whom were originally from Illinois and were of English and Dutch descent.

Baniszewski was the third of six children, and her family was working class.

On October 5, 1939, Baniszewski saw her 50-year-old father die from a sudden heart attack.

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.

Sylvia Marie Likens (January 3, 1949 – October 26, 1965) was the third of five children born to carnival workers Lester Cecil Likens (1926–2013) and his wife, Elizabeth "Betty" Frances (née Grimes; 1927–1998).

She was born between two sets of fraternal twins — Daniel and Dianna (two years older than her) and Benny and Jenny (one year younger).

Jenny Likens suffered from polio, causing one of her legs to be weaker than the other.

She was afflicted with a notable limp and had to wear a steel brace on one leg.

Lester and Elizabeth's marriage was unstable; they often sold candy, beer, and soda at carnival stands around Indiana throughout the summer, moving frequently, and regularly experiencing severe financial difficulties.

The Likenses' sons regularly traveled with them in order to assist with their job, but Sylvia and Jenny were discouraged from doing the same, out of concern for their safety and education.

As a result, both sisters frequently stayed with their relatives, often their grandmother.

In her teenage years, Sylvia Likens occasionally earned spending money by babysitting, running errands, or performing ironing chores for friends and neighbors, often giving her mother part of her earnings.

She has been described as a friendly, confident and lively girl, with long, wavy, light brown hair extending below her shoulders, and was known as "Cookie" to her friends.

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.

She was also fond of music, particularly The Beatles, and was notably protective of her markedly more timid and insecure younger sister.

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.

The couple divorced for the second time in 1963.

Weeks after her third divorce, Baniszewski began a relationship with a 20-year-old welder named Dennis Lee Wright, who also physically abused her.

She had one child with Wright, Dennis Lee Wright Jr. Shortly after the birth of their son in May 1964, Wright abandoned Baniszewski.

Shortly thereafter, Baniszewski filed a paternity suit against Wright for financial support of their child, although Wright seldom contributed to the care of their son.

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.

By 1965, Baniszewski lived alone with her seven children: Paula (17), Stephanie (15), John (12), Marie (11), Shirley (10), James (8), and Dennis Lee Wright Jr. (1).

Although 36 years old and 5 ft in height, she weighed only 100 lb and has been described as a "haggard, underweight asthmatic" chain smoker suffering from clinical depression due to the stress of three failed marriages, a failed relationship, and a recent miscarriage.

In addition to the sporadic checks she received from her first husband—a former Indianapolis policeman—upon whom she primarily relied financially to support her children, Baniszewski occasionally performed odd jobs for neighbors and acquaintances, such as sewing or cleaning in order to earn money.

Baniszewski resided in Indianapolis at 3850 East New York Street, where the monthly rent was $55.

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.

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.

She was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released on parole in 1985.