Did Ed Gein Kill His Brother in Real Life? Some Say Netflix's Biopic Got It Wrong — Here's Why His Crime Feels So 'Familiar'

In the gripping Netflix anthology series 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story', premiered on 1 October 2025, a pivotal scene shows Ed Gein striking his brother Henry dead in a fit of rage, fuelling viewer outrage over its departure from verified history.

This dramatisation has sparked heated discussions among true crime enthusiasts, questioning whether the real Ed Gein, infamous for grave-robbing and murders in 1950s Wisconsin, truly killed his sibling during a 1944 brush fire.

The Enigma of Henry Gein's Death in 1944

Ed Gein and his older brother Henry shared a troubled upbringing under their domineering mother Augusta in rural Plainfield, Wisconsin, where religious zeal and isolation bred deep resentments. On 16 May 1944, while combating a marsh fire near their farm, Henry, aged 43, perished under mysterious circumstances, his body discovered the next day face-down with forehead soot suggesting possible asphyxiation rather than smoke inhalation.

Ed, then 38, led searchers to the corpse but offered no explanation for the delay, prompting suspicions of fratricide amid whispers of Henry's criticism of Augusta's fanaticism. Coroner's inquest ruled accidental death by heart failure, yet locals noted Ed's calm demeanour and lack of grief, fuelling rumours he struck Henry unconscious during an argument.

Gein never confessed to the act, even during 1957 interrogations after his arrests for murders of Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan. Historians like Harold Schechter, in his 1989 biography 'Deviant', highlight circumstantial evidence such as Ed's history of resentment, but emphasise no forensic proof exists.

This unresolved mystery underscores Gein's psychological torment, shaped by maternal abuse that later manifested in necrophilic grave desecrations of over 40 women, eerily mirroring his mother's form.

Netflix's 'Monster' Under Scrutiny for Dramatic Liberties

Ryan Murphy's 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story', the third instalment in Netflix's biographical true crime series starring Charlie Hunnam as Gein, ambitiously weaves WWII flashbacks with his descent into madness, but critics decry its fictional flourishes. The show explicitly depicts Gein bludgeoning Henry during the fire, a choice showrunner Ian Brennan defends as 'narrative necessity' to illustrate early trauma, despite Gein's real-life silence on the matter.

Murphy's signature style – blending fact with queer undertones, as in portraying Gein's repressed desires – amplifies hypocrisy claims, per a Radio Times review labelling it 'clever'. In a X post from verified entertainment outlet @iwmbuzz , it notes: 'Monster: The Ed Gein Story Review: Strong Start, Sloppy Finish', echoing sentiments on tonal inconsistencies.

Despite a 50% Rotten Tomatoes score, the controversy highlights ethical dilemmas in dramatising unproven crimes, urging viewers to cross-reference with sources like the 2000 documentary 'Ed Gein: Psycho' for balance.

Gein's Gruesome Legacy in Horror Icons

Ed Gein's 1957 exposure – exhuming corpses to craft lampshades and a 'woman suit' – birthed archetypes that permeate cinema, making his atrocities feel intimately known despite their obscurity. Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 'Psycho' drew from Gein's mother fixation for Norman Bates, the cross-dressing motel proprietor who preserves his mum's corpse, mirroring Gein's necrophilia.

Another is Tobe Hooper's 1974 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' amplified the body-part horrors, with Leatherface donning human masks akin to Gein's facial adornments, grossing £20.1 million ($30.9 million) on a shoestring budget.

Jonathan Demme's 1991 'The Silence of the Lambs' echoed the skin suits in Buffalo Bill's tanning vats, earning £130 million ($272 million) and five Oscars, cementing Gein's influence on gendered terror tropes.

These adaptations sanitised yet sensationalised his psychosis, driven by Augusta's indoctrination that portrayed women as sinful, leading Gein to idealise her post-mortem.