Ed Gein Did Not Like Being in a Mental Institution — Did He Actually Kill a Nurse While He Was There?

Ryan Murphy is often criticized for some of the liberties he takes with his biographical crime drama anthology series, Monster. Season 1 covered the crimes of Jeffrey Dahmer while artfully weaving in the systemic failings that allowed him to kill for so long: homophobia and racism. Many people took issue with the casting of conventionally attractive actor Evan Peters as the serial killer.

In Season 2, Murphy focused on the Mendendez brothers and also touched on the rumors that swirled around their high-profile court case. Ed Gein and his macabre actions are the subject of Season 3. In the show, Gein kills a nurse at an asylum where he was committed. Did that happen? Here's what we know.

In the series, the first indication we get that Gein is mentally unwell occurs when he murders his own brother. In reality, Gein's brother Henry died by asphyxiation while they were burning marsh on their land. In his book Deviant, author Harold Schechter theorized that Gein killed his brother due to strange bruising on the back of Henry's head. This was never confirmed. In the show, after killing his brother, Gein hallucinates that he gets right back up and is fine.

The same Hollywood trick is used in the asylum when actor Charlie Hunnam, as Gein, kills a nurse using a chainsaw. When he sees her walking down a hallway after the fact, the audience understands that this was yet another hallucination. The real Gein underwent nine psychological tests following his arrest in November 1957, per the Wisconsin State Journal. Dr. Edward Schubert of the Central State hospital said Gein was "very cooperative."

In January 1958, Dr. Schubert testified at a hearing that Gein was legally insane and had been for about 12 years, since his mother died, reported The Post-Crescent. He went on to say that Gein was a schizophrenic living in a "rather expansive fantasy world." In Dr. Schubert's opinion, Gein had very little chance of ever being cured.

In February 1973, Gein decided he was feeling well enough to leave the mental hospital he had been in since his arrest. The Wasau Daily Herald reported that Gein petitioned the Waushara County Circuit Court for a re-examination and release. Evaluations of Gein led to the petition being denied.

Dr. Thomas J. Malueg wrote in a letter dated May 16, 1974, that Gein had "little insight concerning the possibility that society will remember him and his notoriety, and may continue to respond to him in ways that could be anxiety-provoking." Dr. Malueg added that Gein was making unrealistic plans surrounding his release, such as going to Australia, but wasn't sure how to make travel arrangements.

The following month, Gein arrived for his hearing, where he smiled and waved at television cameramen, per the Wasau Daily Herald. Dr. Lee M. Roberts, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, cautioned the judge against transferring Gein to a different hospital that would have more access to women. Dr. Malueg said Gein had the capacity to "revert to his psychosis under stress," while Dr. Schubert said he would be out of place in society.