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

I have mixed feelings about this book. It is undoubtedly interesting and well researched and explores, sometimes in horrifying detail, the lengthy torture and eventual death of 16 year old Sylvia Likens in 1965. However, as other reviews of this manuscript have commented, there is little psychological exploration of the motives of 37 year old Gertrude Banisweski to orchestrate and encourage the kind physical pain both she and her children inflicted upon Sylvia in the short months that Sylvia was a boarder at the Baniszewski home. Then again, I am not certain there could be or that certain forms of sociopathic behavior really need explaining.During the time that Sylvia Likens and her sister, Jenny, lived with Gertrude Baniszewski, both were subjected to repeated verbal, emotional, and physical abuse. Soon, however, Gertrude focussed her rage upon Sylvia. What is most horrifying is that this wicked woman encouraged and incited additional violence using her own children and other children from the neighborhood as pawns in her vicious game. I must say, it is REALLY unclear as to why Gertrude did focus so much hatred and rage upon a child she hardly knew. The theory cited by the prosecuting attorneys is that Gertrude was jealous of Sylvia's beauty and the promise her life held. Perhaps this is true, but if one is hoping for a clear motive that meets the criteria for basic understanding (i.e. money, love, or revenge), there simply is not one.While the court did find it necessary to evaluate Gertrude and her 17 year old daughter for legal sanity, Gertrude was never fully psychologically evaluated. Her 17 year old daughter, Paula, was. The psychologist noted that Paula's mental functioning, emotional immaturity, and violent behavior were consistent with that of children reared in homes where "emotional neglect" is the norm. It is known that Gertrude, as a single mother, could not afford to feed her 7 children. The children regularly fought over food and Sylvia was once severely beaten for eating a sandwich given to her by her oldest sister during a visit. It is also known that Gertrude was heavily addicted to prescription pain medication and regularly spent her days in bed. The children had little superivision and Paula was expected to perform many of the duties that Gertrude avoided.When Gertrude turned her deadly rage upon Sylvia, I do not find it difficult to believe that several of her children also found Sylvia a convenient target for their own unexpressed rage born of a childhood rife with abuse and neglect. The most basic needs of the Baniszewski children were never met with any consistency and they, in turn, were angry and hurt. These feelings were unleashed upon the only person available to them to hurt in return. Still, it is shocking that children as young as 10 could gleefully watch and participate in the kind of extended torture to which young Sylvia was subjected.There is some powerful evidence that Gertrude was also having a sexual relationship with a neighborhood boy, 14 year old Richard Hobbs. Though neither admitted they were sexually involved, Richard did state that he was a "good friend" of Gertrude's and regularly visited her home after school. He also told police investigators that Gertrude had once "danced" for him in the living room of her home. (To see photographs of Gertrude, who appeared at least 10 years older than her chronological age of 37, this image is both laughable and repulsive.) If Gertrude manipulated or exercised any psychological power over Richard, it was manifisted in his unflinching willingness to carve into the flesh of Sylvia's stomach, at Gertrude's direction, the words "I am a prostitute and proud of it." (There is horrifying photograph of Sylvia Likens battered body in which these words are clearly visible.)In short, Gertrude and 3 of her children, along with Richard Hobbs and another neighborhood boy, were all conivicted of murder. Eventually paroled, Getrude changed her name and lived in solitude until her death in 1990 from lung cancer, the result of years of habitual chain-smoking. The parole of Gertrude leaves one cold and feeling as though justice was not served. Richard Hobbs, however, was not so fortunate. At trail, Richard admitted to the jury during questioning that he had "no feeling" at the time he carved words into Sylvia's flesh with a hot wire. While Richard attempted to later soften the blow of this admission by stating that he now felt remorse for his actions, I find this difficult to believe. He died at the age of 21 in prison from cancer. (I suppose Richard got what was coming to him from a higher court. Sometimes justice is swift and harsh.)There was considerable discussion among the public about why Sylvia and her sister never ran away from the Baniszewski home. Effectively abandoned by their own parents who were, by all accounts, poverty stricken and shiftless, where exactly were the girls supposed to run? While their parents worked for a travelng carnival, the girls were left in the care of a woman their father hardly knew and never felt it necessary to know better. There was nowhere to go and no one to run to.In short, I do recomend HOUSE OF EVIL to those who appreciate True Crime. But there are many questions that will never be answered.

This is a straightforward account of a twisted crime. Written in plain police blotter style, it details the torturous killing of a girl who'd been left, along with her sister, in the temporary care of an Indiana woman with a handful of her own children to tend to.The sisters' stay in Gertrude Baniszewski's house started out, not auspiciously, but not exactly ominously. There were certain signs that the sisters' real parents had chosen a poor place to deposit them, but nothing that could have predicted the horrific outcome of this arrangement. It's immediately obvious that there'll be no real caring on the part of this caretaker mom. She soon reveals a very cold and mercenary nature. She was given to fits of swearing when she thought the girls' parents might be late paying her for this extra babysitting task she'd assumed. It was obvious she considered these additional children put in her care a burden rather than a joy. But she desperately needed the money.Then there was never enough food in the house, nor any facilities for cooking decent meals. All the kids - Gertrude's own, plus the two foster girls - subsisted on pieces of bread and watered-down bowls of soup. Despite the bleakness of these arrangements, the household was a hang-out for a steady stream of neighbor youngsters. Everyone could find at least one age-mate to play with in this haphazard household.That's how a malicious brood was formed. The torture crime that resulted would have been almost incomprehensible to me if I hadn't seen certain baby chicks fall prey to the same sort of treatment. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, one chick out of a whole clutch of fledglings will become the target of abuse. Its brothers and sisters will peck, peck, peck it to death. That's what happened here, only with the added twist of having the pack pecking instigated, encouraged, and spearheaded by Mrs. Baniszewski herself.I suggest you watch the movie "An American Crime" based on this book, in order to get more of the emotional impact of the crime. This book's report of the escalating sequence of assaults is written in such a matter-of-fact style, it's difficult to fully feel what must have been Sylvia Likens' anguish. But the excellent portrayal of the crime in the movie brings home the gathering evil of the deed.However, this book is worth reading because it goes farther than the movie. It goes on to give a detailed account of the trial of Mrs. Baniszewski and several of her children and their neighborhood pals. The chronicle of the trial and the endless, repetitious maneuverings of the various lawyers involved in the joint prosecution can be tedious to read sometimes, but it's worth wading through, because it stands as such a rich example of how difficult it often is to convict even the most palpably guilty.Reading about the wrangling that the trial devolved into, you will probably conclude that no one individual was to blame for all the delay and misdirection. But overall, the system failed to allow for a full, coherent presentation of the evidence. In the end, no one really knew what happened or why. The sum total of all the disputation was a mishmash and a minimization of what the victim really suffered.So this book will first give you one of the best available accounts of the accumulation of assaults committed against Sylvia Likens - and then it will challenge you to consider how our legal system might be improved in a hundred little ways in order to see that justice is better served.For an account of another deadly pecking order, you can read "Cruel Sacrifice," by Aphrodite Jones. This tells about the more recent murder of Shandra Sharer in Indiana as the result of the bizarre development of a vicious brood mentality.

If you buy this book looking for more on Sylvia Likens, don't bother. Watch the movies, they're structured better - or read the trial transcripts, they're available for free online. This is very poorly written and contains nothing new - although it does significantly predate the movies so was probably worth a read at one time. To the people who say read the book if you want more - the crime was much worse than than the movies portray; I have no idea to which book they may be referring but it's not this one. I think if you want an in depth study of the detail and dynamics of the case then you may have write one yourself - definitely a gap in the true-crime market.

Item as described and prompt delivery!

Too many spelling mistakes awful grammar book is written as tho author was there which is not the case lol still interesting to read but is a struggle not to cringe at awful writing

Can't believe what I've just read,poor Silvia,what a way to die, and every one else standing watching,most anyway,again it shows people frightened to report things they know are wrong,Joy Page England

I found this book very sad but a gripping read. Ive always enjoyed true crime books and this was one of the best i have read. It was in good condition and delivery was prompt I would buy from this seller again.