Tortured Over $20: The Murder of Sylvia Likens
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Indianapolis is a unique place, to say the least. As the capital and most densely populated city of the state of Indiana, you'd expect the high crime rates and chaotic nightlife metropolises are known for, not in Indy. The big city has a small-town feel and Midwest charm that has persisted since the 60s. It was known as Nap Town back then,

Opportunities for entertainment were few and far between. With the Indiana State Fair being its most anticipated event, families and farmers alike would flock to the fairgrounds to get a glimpse of prized pigs and the latest farming equipment. Aside from the fair, drive-in movies and diners were about as good as it would get for years. Simply put, Indianapolis was ordinary, uneventful, and innocent until 1965, that is.

The city was catapulted into national headlines after the most horrific crime in its history came to light. Its residents had only just recovered from the Colosseum disaster that took 81 lives on Halloween night, two years earlier. Now, they were faced with a new tragedy, one that took place inside a quaint suburban home housing what neighbors thought was a God-fearing family. This tragedy had far fewer casualties, only one, in fact,

But the deliberate, unbridled cruelty that caused it sent waves of shock and nausea throughout Hindi. Evening news reports were rife with beatings, sexual abuse, mutilation, and torture. The atrocious details brought tears to the eyes of those brave enough to listen, especially when they heard that children had participated in the merciless assaults, some as young as 10.

The story proved that seemingly safe, ordinary suburbias are often home to the most despicable secrets. With that in mind, before we delve into the story of Sylvia Likens and the monster who orchestrated her nightmarish end, be warned. What you are about to hear is deeply triggering and not for the faint of heart. Let's begin. Part one, get me out of here and I'll tell you everything.

At around 6:30 p.m. on October 26th, 1965, police responded to a 911 call at a modest middle-class home on 3850 East New York Street. It looked like any other in the quiet residential community, from the outside, at least. Its white, wooden walls and dark finishes were reminiscent of those found in the humble countryside, and its lush green lawn welcomed the officers inside.

They were greeted by a haggard woman with dark bags drooping under her equally dark eyes. She ushered the men inside and introduced herself as Gertrude Baniszewski. Gertrude led them through her home and upstairs into a small bedroom, clutching a Bible tightly to her chest as she went. It was clear that something dreadful had happened in that house, but the officers weren't prepared for the horrors that tiny room held. It was painfully bare.

devoid of toys, furniture, and decorations. The officers were stunned, but not because of the shocking condition of what was supposedly a child's bedroom. It was the filthy mattress wedged into the far corner of the room that left them speechless, or more specifically, the body that lay on top. It was a little girl. Her emaciated corpse lay stiff on the makeshift bed,

which had been soiled by what looked like weeks of blood, urine, feces, and who knows what else. All manner of injuries covered every visible inch of the girl's skin, several of which were weeping from what looked like the beginnings of sepsis. Her body was mottled with angry welts, blisters, burns, scabs, lacerations, and bruising.

The rest of her wounds were concealed under strikingly clean pajamas and a mop of greasy, unwashed hair. The police turned to Gertrude for answers. She explained that the girl was Sylvia Likens, a friend of her children who had been living with the Baniszewskis family for the last three months. The woman frowned with worry as she revealed that Sylvia had run away from some unsavory boys two days before.

Gertrude searched the neighborhood day and night for the girl to no avail, until she was discovered on their doorstep earlier that day. Apparently, Sylvia was found bare-breasted and barely alive, her body already battered and mutilated. Gertrude brought her inside to tend to her wounds, but Sylvia died within the hour. The police found this incredibly suspicious.

Anyone could see that the teenager needed far more than bandages and a splash of iodine. She needed urgent medical care. But, for some reason, Gertrude never took her to the hospital. The officers' disbelief only deepened when they found out that Sylvia was no child. She was a 16-year-old teenager. She was so malnourished that her near-skeletal frame resembled that of a little girl.

It was impossible that a two-day stint with local thugs would leave her in such a state. Aside from obvious signs of prolonged starvation, Sylvia's injuries also told a harrowing tale that began far earlier. Some bruises were a deep purple, while others had faded to yellow over time. Fresh wounds were layered over old scars, and her lips were cracked and bleeding from dehydration.

Gertrude sensed the officer's skepticism and quickly produced a note that had allegedly been written by Sylvia herself. The contents of the letter corroborated her story conveniently. So did the eight other children living in her home, seven of which were her own. Once the adults had finished talking, Gertrude's oldest daughter, Paula, took the opportunity to have her say.

She was gripping a Bible like her mother, as if preparing to offer some kind of solace through sermon. "Sylvia's death was meant to happen," she announced. Paula then turned to another girl and promised that, if the girl wanted to live with the Baniszewskis, they'd treat her as their own sister. The girl was Sylvia's younger sister, Jenny Likens. She was in far better shape than her deceased sibling.

However, compared to the rest of Gertrude's brood, she was clearly neglected. The police turned their attention to Jenny to hear her side of the story, but the girls simply nodded and repeated what Gertrude had already told them. What did they expect? They never separated Jenny from her potential abusers. She was surrounded on all sides. The officers took notes for their report and began making the necessary calls.

An ambulance arrived to officially pronounce Sylvia dead, followed by the forensics team who examined the scene for any nefarious evidence. The house was suddenly bustling with activity. Strangers were coming and going, and the Banaszewskis were distracted. This was Jenny's chance. She quietly approached one of the police officers and whispered, "Get me out of here, and I'll tell you everything." Part 2: A Gap-Toothed Smile

On January 3, 1949, Lester Cecil Likens and Elizabeth "Betty" Francis welcomed their second baby girl into the world. They named their cooing newborn Sylvia. She was the third of what would become five children. Sylvia's older siblings, Daniel and Diana, were twins who'd been born two years earlier.

One year later, the Likenses welcomed another set of twins, Benny and Jenny. The family of seven lived in poverty despite Lester and Betty's best efforts. The cash-strapped couple was forced to work multiple jobs to pay for their children's schooling with just a little leftover for the occasional family outing. Although their hard work kept their family afloat, the price they paid was high. Lester and Betty were barely ever home.

Their money troubles inevitably spilled over into their marriage and caused it to become unstable. Even so, the couple made sure to keep their marital troubles from their kids. In spite of their financial difficulties, Silvia and her siblings had a fairly happy childhood. The Lycans' children found ways to entertain themselves without spending money and were often seen playing together. Still,

Growing up on the breadline wasn't easy, especially for Sylvia and Jenny. Jenny was struck with polio as an infant, which left her left leg partially paralyzed. Her parents were able to scrape together enough savings to buy Jenny a basic steel brace, but it wasn't enough to spare her from a lifelong limb. Sylvia also felt the brunt of being too poor to afford proper medical care.

One day, she was roughhousing with her older brother, Daniel, when he accidentally elbowed her in the mouth and knocked out her front tooth. Sylvia was seven at the time and largely unaffected by her gap-toothed smile. However, when she hit puberty, it became a constant source of embarrassment. The teenager was popular amongst her peers, who admired her for her friendliness, confidence, and spunk.

but her smile rarely captured her vivacious nature. Sylvia never let it grow big enough to reveal her missing front tooth. Once most of the Lykins' children were in high school, their parents began working at carnival stands across Indiana selling candy, beer, and other funfair treats. Lester and Betty worked throughout the summer months and often brought their sons with them as helping hands. As Sylvia and Jenny were the youngest of the litter,

Their parents preferred to leave the girls with their grandparents so they could concentrate on finishing school. Sylvia and Jenny developed an unbreakable bond during this time. Their difficulties brought them closer together and Sylvia became particularly protective over her frail little sister. She often joined Jenny and her friends at the local skate rink where she would hold Jenny's hand and act as her stronger right leg.

Remarkably, Silvia's benevolence was not restricted to her little sister. Instead of going to the movies or the local diner like other teens her age, she spent her free time working. Silvia would babysit, run errands, and do chores for neighbors to earn some extra cash. She gave most of her earnings to her parents to help feed the family. But her hard work did little to ease their financial woes. Sadly,

Their desperation ended in despair when Betty was arrested for shoplifting on July 3rd, 1965. She committed the crime out of necessity but was sent to jail regardless. Sylvia was 16 at the time and attending Arsenal Tech, a local public school where she made many friends. She'd blossomed into a beautiful, kind, and intelligent young woman. The boys at school noticed her transformation

though Sylvia paid them little mind. She focused on getting good grades instead. It seemed like she had a bright future ahead of her, but everything came crashing down when her mother went to prison, forcing her father to make a tough decision. It was peak carnival season, and they needed the money now more than ever. However, Lester had to ensure his children would be taken care of before he left. Diana, Sylvia's older sister, was married and living elsewhere with her husband.

and the boys had moved in with their grandparents. That left Sylvia and Jenny. With few options left, Lester turned to Gertrude Baniszewski. She was a single church-going mother whose children also went to Arsenal Tech. His girls had already befriended two of Gertrude's daughters at school, making her the ideal candidate. Lester offered Gertrude $20 a week to look after Sylvia and Jenny over the summer, and she eagerly agreed.

The 36-year-old even went as far as promising to treat the girls as her own. Although Lester knew it wouldn't be easy, Gertrude was a mother of seven. Surely adding two more into the mix wouldn't hurt. He planned to collect his daughters once carnival season ended that November, but that day would never come. Part 3: It Began With A Beating The news of Sylvia's death came as a shock to those close to the two families, but none more than her father.

Lester thought his daughters would be safe and happy with Gertrude. Initially, they were. The girls were used to living on a tight budget with a large family and slotted in seamlessly. Sylvia, in particular, enjoyed the constant company of the Baniszewski siblings. She helped them with their household chores and often sang along to The Beatles with Stephanie, one of Gertrude's daughters. Sylvia and Jenny also joined the siblings at Sunday school.

where the pastor praised their devotion. The Banaszewskis treated the Likens sisters with kindness for the first two weeks, except for Gertrude's eldest daughter, Paula, who seemed to have a problem with the prettier, more popular Sylvia. However, everything changed by the third week, when Lester's $20 payment came a day late. It was a few days late the following week. One could understand how this might've been frustrating for Gertrude, who barely made ends meet.

but the way she expressed this frustration was incomprehensible. Rather than confronting Lester, Gertrude took it out on his daughters. "I took care of you two bitches for two weeks for nothing," Gertrude spat, her words laced with venom. She took the Lycan sisters upstairs, where she slapped Jenny across the face. Sylvia tried to protect her younger sister, but this only enraged their already livid caretaker.

Gertrude grabbed Sylvia by the arm and dragged her into a room before closing the door behind them. She then stripped the teenager naked and beat her with a thick fraternity-style paddle. Jenny couldn't help her sister. She was too meek and feeble. All she could do was sit outside and listen to Sylvia scream.

Lester could never have predicted that Gertrude would punish Sylvia and Jenny for his overdue payments. As a struggling parent herself, he thought she would understand, but she didn't, and her vicious outbursts would only intensify. Gertrude's situation was far more dire than he knew. Had Lester taken the time to visit her home before leaving his daughters there, he would have seen that the cupboards were mostly empty and there were more children than beds.

The divorcee was not only near destitute, but extremely mentally unstable and in no condition to take care of two more teenagers. Though she doesn't deserve a backstory, it may give us some insight into her unprovoked malevolence. Even so, we'll keep it concise. Gertrude was born in 1928 to a working class family of eight in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was dropped on her head as an infant, which may explain a few things.

but her parents were otherwise good to their children. When Gertrude was just 11, her father died from a heart attack while she watched. This undoubtedly traumatized her, but can't excuse the brutal crimes she would later commit. Six years after her father's death, Gertrude dropped out of high school and went on to endure three failed marriages, two of which were abusive.

Shortly after her third divorce, the then mother of six started dating a man 13 years her junior. He fathered Gertrude's final child and abandoned them not long after. For all intents and purposes, Gertrude's life was hard, but no harder than those of many other women her age. The cruel, sadistic violence she subjected Sylvia to wasn't learned behavior.

and there is no evidence of her being abused, deprived, or mistreated as a child. However, the domestic abuse she experienced as an adult certainly explained her sad state in 1965.

Gertrude was a depressed, severely underweight, chain-smoking asthmatic who lived alone with her seven children: 17-year-old Paula, 15-year-old Stephanie, 12-year-old John, 11-year-old Marie, 10-year-old Shirley, 8-year-old James, and 1-year-old Dennis. Gertrude survived on the occasional child support check sent by her first husband, which she supplemented with odd jobs she did for neighbors.

unbeknownst to Lester. The God-fearing divorcee was one overdue bill away from snapping. Although his weekly $20 payments were mostly paid on time, or within a few days, Gertrude didn't care. She had fallen into a blind rage she would never crawl out of, one she would unleash on his daughters daily. Part Four: Jealousy Makes You Nasty The first beating was the catalyst for many more. Each time Lester's $20 payments were even a day late,

Gertrude would beat Sylvia and Jenna without mercy. Soon, the abuse extended beyond their father's tardy dues. It seemed as though the divorcee beat them simply because she could. Gertrude even assaulted the Lykins sisters for recycling empty soda bottles in exchange for spare change at the local grocery store. It didn't take long before her children joined in. One night,

Paula accused Jenny and Sylvia of eating too much food at a church supper they attended earlier that evening. Gertrude retaliated with a savage beating, even using her first husband's thick leather belt to whip her heads and backs until they bled. Paula eventually transitioned from instigating the abuse to participating in it. When Gertrude became weakened and exhausted from her asthma, Paula would take over. By mid-August 1965,

Sylvia became the target of Gertrude's violent outbursts. One may think that the woman took pity on Jenny due to her weak body. However, pity was a virtue she didn't have. Gertrude spared Jenny from the savage beatings, but forced her to join in on the abuse, lest she took her older sister's place. Jenny only obeyed after Sylvia begged her to, insisting that she stay on the evil woman's good side.

In truth, it was Sylvia's outstanding character, fortitude of mind, and integrity that provoked her tormentor. Gertrude singled Sylvia out because she was jealous. The 16-year-old symbolized everything she wasn't: young, beautiful, intelligent, popular, and full of potential. Although Gertrude was only 36 years old, she looked about 60.

and her life was riddled with failed relationships, bad decisions, and sickness. Now, Gertrude was expected to dote on a teenager who'd been born just as poor as she'd been, but was somehow blessed with far greater prospects. The divorcee was slighted by the world and decided it was Sylvia's fault. Gertrude soon grew tired of simply beating Sylvia. She wanted to make the girl suffer.

When Gertrude ran out of reasons for tormenting her, she simply made them up. She'd accuse her of various wrongdoings and punish her accordingly. Once, Gertrude accused her of stealing and burned the teenager's fingertips as punishment. At one point in late August, Gertrude discovered that Sylvia had a boyfriend in Long Beach, California. She grilled the 16-year-old about the relationship.

hoping to shatter the imagined halo of purity and perfection that fueled her jealousy. It didn't work. As a devout Christian, Sylvia had little experience with boys. When Gertrude asked if she'd ever done anything with a boy, the teenager became confused. She replied that she'd gone to the beach and roller skated with boys, unsatisfied.

Gertrude pressed Sylvia further until she revealed that she'd once lain under the covers with her boyfriend, but nothing more. Three days later, Gertrude tried again. The Lykins sisters and a few of the Baniszewski siblings were sitting at the kitchen table when the divorcee attempted to humiliate Sylvia. You're certainly getting big in the stomach, Sylvia. It looks like you're going to have a baby, she sneered.

The idea was so outlandish that Sylvia assumed Gertrude was joking. The teenager retorted that it sure was getting big, and she should probably go on a diet, which garnered a few snickers from the table. Gertrude didn't find it funny. She screamed at the girls, warning them that they'd fall pregnant if they did something with a boy.

Gertrude then kicked Sylvia in the vagina to get her point across. Paula, who was also jealous of Sylvia, laid into the bewildered girl and shouted, "You ain't fit to sit in a chair!" before knocking her to the ground. Ironically, Paula was three months pregnant from an affair with a married man, and Gertrude knew it. This didn't stop the pair from beating Sylvia senseless. At this point, Gertrude stopped justifying her abuse altogether.

Sylvia simply existing was reason enough. The vile woman refused to feed her, saying it was a waste of food, and forced the teenager to watch as leftovers were scraped into the trash. Gertrude told her that, if she wanted food, she'd have to dig through the garbage to find it. The divorcee soon tired of Sylvia complaining that she was hungry. One evening during supper, Gertrude, Paula, and a local boy called Randy Lepper

Force-fed the teenager a hot dog dripping with spices and sauces until she threw up. Scared and disadmissioned by threats of violence, Sylvia was forced to eat her own vomit. The 16-year-old suffered in silence. She only retaliated once and instantly regretted it. Sylvia started a rumor at school that Paula and Stephanie were prostitutes. Stephanie found out when a fellow student propositioned her as a joke.

prompting her to punch Sylvia in the face when she got home. Sylvia then broke down into tears and apologized, which a remorseful Stephanie tearfully accepted. Regretfully, it wasn't enough for Stephanie's boyfriend, 15-year-old Coy Hubbard. He stormed into the Baniszewski's residence and attacked Sylvia,

Coy slapped her clean across the face with such force that her head slammed into the wall before throwing her to the floor. These incidents marked the moment today's twisted tale took a sickening turn. Sylvia was removed from school under the guise of having run away and, since officials never checked in to confirm this, she became the Baniszewskis' captive.

Gertrude's abuse escalated into humiliation, degradation, and starvation, and neighborhood kids were joining in. From here on out, Sylvia's story will be rife with disgusting acts of violence and unimaginable suffering. Don't say I didn't warn you. Part 5. Tortured Over $20 Gertrude now viewed poor Sylvia as her plaything.

and encouraged her children, their classmates, and neighborhood kids to do the same. Gertrude regularly invited them over and urged them to go wild. The teenagers eagerly obliged. They beat, burned, belittled, mocked, cut, and whipped Sylvia simply for the sadistic sake of it. Some even used her body as a practice dummy for judo. When the group grew bored of smacking Sylvia around, Gertrude would liven things up.

The divorcee offered the teenagers cigarettes on the condition that they stubbed them out on Sylvia's skin, which they did well over 100 times. To keep them entertained, Gertrude would force Sylvia to get naked and masturbate with a glass Pepsi-Cola bottle in the living room while everyone watched. - Prove to Jenny what kind of girl you are. - She taunted. Emboldened by Gertrude's flagrant dehumanization of Sylvia, the group's abuse progressed to torture.

with a special focus on the 16-year-old's private parts. The teenagers beat, mutilated, and lacerated Sylvia so frequently that she never got the chance to fully heal. Her body quickly became damaged beyond repair. By early October, the injuries inflicted upon Sylvia's kidneys and vagina were so severe that she became incontinent. Gertrude forbade the poor girl from using the bathroom, causing her to inevitably wet herself.

The depraved woman relished in the humiliation Sylvia suffered and used it as an opportunity for punishment. Gertrude exiled the teenager to the basement, where she was stripped naked and denied food and water. Sylvia was often tied to the railings of the stairs and left overnight, her wound-riddled feet barely touching the ground. Unbelievably, Gertrude saw the teenager's sorry state as a golden opportunity to make some extra cash.

She started charging the neighborhood kids five cents to view Sylvia's naked, battered body like some morbid freak show. The fee also allowed the youths to poke, prod, ridicule, and maim the girl in any way they desired. Gertrude's own children tormented their captive for free. Her 12-year-old son, John, seemed to savor it. He taunted Sylvia with food as she wasted from starvation.

once offering her the chance to eat soup with her fingers before snatching the bowl away when she got close. On one occasion, John gleefully forced Sylvia to lick feces and urine from his one-year-old brother's diaper until it was spotless. Of course, this punishment never had the desired effect. Sylvia continued to wet herself. Each accident enraged Gertrude, prompting her to gather her children and their friends to help cleanse the teenager.

The group would restrain, gag, and scald Sylvia in baths of boiling water until her skin blistered. To top it off, they literally rubbed salt in her still raw wounds while she screamed in agony. Eventually, Gertrude allowed Sylvia to sleep upstairs. There was one condition though. She couldn't wet the bed. Obviously, she did.

When Gertrude found out the following morning, she committed an act so barbaric, it's a wonder she wasn't tried for crimes against humanity. The monster forced Sylvia to insert an empty Pepsi-Cola bottle into her vagina while her teenage tormentors watched. Gertrude then dragged the humiliated girl into the kitchen where she randomly revisited the rumors Sylvia had spread about her daughters at school. As revenge, Gertrude heated a needle and used it to etch

I'm a prostitute and proud of it, into the 16-year-old's emaciated stomach. Exhausted from manhandling Sylvia, she instructed 14-year-old Richard Hobbs, a local boy, to finish the revolting carving. Satisfied with his handiwork, Richard and 10-year-old Shirley Banaszewski then dragged Sylvia down to the basement, where they attempted to brand the letter S between her breasts.

At this stage, Sylvia's spirit was long dead. On October 23rd, her body began to follow suit. She turned to her little sister and whispered, "Jenny, I know you don't want me, but I'm going to die." The following day, Gertrude shook Sylvia awake and instructed her to write a letter, the same letter that would later be given to the police. Gertrude told her to say that she'd run off with some local boys who she wanted to have sex with.

There was no longer any doubt in Sylvia's mind. She was dying and apparently everyone knew it. On the morning of October 25th, Sylvia, who was once again tied to the basement staircase, overheard a conversation between Gertrude and John. They were planning to take her into the forest, tie her to a tree and abandon her there to die. Gertrude was essentially discussing the teenager's murder with her 12-year-old son.

Sylvia knew that every passing second brought her closer to death. This was her last chance. She had to make a run for it. Despite her crippling injuries, Sylvia managed to break out of the basement. She got as far as the front door before Gertrude intervened and hauled her into the kitchen. Sylvia was too weak to struggle. Gertrude gave her a few stale crackers to keep her subdued, but she was too dehydrated to chew, let alone swallow. Perceiving this as disobedience,

Gertrude forcibly stuffed them into the girl's bone-dry mouth. When that didn't work, the witch went ballistic. She grabbed a curtain rod and repeatedly bludgeoned Sylvia in the head with such animalistic fury that the rod bent into right angles. Gertrude only stopped when she became winded from exertion. Coy Hubbard, Stephanie's boyfriend and one of Sylvia's most enthusiastic abusers,

took over, and cracked the curtain rod over the barely conscious teenager's skull. She went out cold before she even hit the floor. Part 6. Faker, Faker. Sylvia came to hours later in the now padlocked basement. Astonishingly, she managed to muster up the little strength she had left to try and save herself one last time. The teenager began slamming a spade against the walls and screaming for help, hoping someone...

Anyone would hear her. No one did. At least, that's what Sylvia thought. Tragically, one of Gertrude's neighbors had heard the desperate cries coming from the basement of 3850 East New York Street, but never called the police. Perhaps today's story would have had a happy ending if they had. When dawn broke on the morning of October 26th, Sylvia had fallen into delirium. She could no longer form coherent sentences or control her limbs.

She could only moan, mutter unintelligibly, and writhe around. Gertrude dragged the limp 16-year-old into the upstairs kitchen and propped her against the wall. She frantically tried to feed Sylvia a glass of milk and a donut, but it was no use. The poor girl's arms simply didn't work anymore, making lifting the glass to her lips impossible. Gertrude threw her to the floor in frustration before lugging her back down to the basement.

Several hours later, the Baniszewskis and their teenage accomplices gathered in the basement to assess the situation. Sylvia was given her final meal, a rotten pear, but she couldn't even bite through its decaying flesh. Her teeth were too loose. Paula found this amusing and mockingly asked her to recite the alphabet. Sylvia only got as far as D before she soiled herself. Outraged, Gertrude demanded that she clean up.

Of course, Sylvia couldn't. So 12-year-old John stepped in. The boy used a garden hose to spray her down with ice-cold water, sniggering as he did. Even in her delirious state, Sylvia knew her time was up. She moved towards the basement stairs, but her body lurched too violently to make it. Gertrude stomped on her head as punishment. Around 5.30 p.m. that afternoon...

Richard Hobbs, the boy who branded Sylvia, went down to the basement. He found Stephanie crying as she cradled the broken teenager. No one knows what the Baniszewski girl felt in that moment. Perhaps she was overcome with remorse at the sight of Sylvia's mutilated, cadaverous body. Whatever the reason, Stephanie gave Sylvia a warm bath, dressed her in a fresh set of pajamas, and carefully laid her on the foul mattress where her corpse would later be found.

Sylvia begged Stephanie to take her home and uttered her final words. "'I wish daddy was here,' she whispered. After 114 days of torture, 16-year-old Sylvia Likens perished on bedding soiled with her own excrement. Although she died in agony and far too soon, death was likely a welcome to comfort. Sylvia was finally free from the Baniszewski's sadistic clutches, left with a lifeless body they could no longer abuse for their own entertainment."

Reality set in for her killers. Stephanie tried to resuscitate Sylvia, but her efforts were futile. Gertrude wasn't convinced. The abominable woman beat Sylvia's dead body with a Bible screaming, "Fake her! Fake her!" until it became painfully obvious that she wasn't pretending. Panic set in. Gertrude frantically set her plan in motion and instructed Richard to call the police from a nearby payphone while she and her children got their fabricated story straight.

Although well rehearsed, Gertrude's feeble attempt at blaming Sylvia for her own death failed miserably. It was clear to the responding officers that the teen had perished after severe, prolonged abuse and neglect. However, after speaking with Jenny Likens, they realized that even that was sugarcoating what happened to the 16-year-old.

Several hours later, the police returned to the Baniszewski residence armed with a warrant for the arrest of Gertrude, Paula, Stephanie, and John. Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs were arrested later that day. As Sylvia's story unfolded in the news, people began to wonder how the Baniszewskis got away with it for so long. How could nobody have noticed the obviously abused teenager? Did no one nearby hear the horrors she endured?

The sad reality is that people did. Neighbors heard Sylvia's screams. Community members saw her scars. Children at school listened to her abusers gloat about their ghastly crimes. Paula even told her fellow students that they planned on killing Sylvia eventually. And when their pastor saw the poor girl's bruising, he did nothing after Gertrude explained that she was being disciplined for promiscuous behavior.

Worse, the Lycan sisters had told their older sister, Diana, about the abuse, but she simply assumed the girls were exaggerating. People knew something sinister was going on at the Baniszewski residence, but chose to remain silent. Many felt it wasn't their business. Others wanted to join in. Part 7: The Blame Game After her arrest, Gertrude denied having any involvement in Sylvia's murder.

Instead, she blamed her own children and the neighborhood kids they hung out with. She complained that they were out of control and had taken advantage of her as she struggled with mental health issues. Gertrude accused Paula and Stephanie's boyfriend, Coy in particular, claiming that they'd inflicted most of the abuse.

After playing the victim, the decrepit 36-year-old then insisted that her medication made it difficult for her to realize the full extent of the atrocities being committed under her roof. What medication, you ask? An asthma pump. Apparently, Gertrude's inhaler had blinded her to the torture of a child under her care. Eventually, she confessed to forcing Sylvia to sleep in the basement, but that was all she was willing to admit to.

She needn't say more though. The autopsy said it all. Sylvia was covered with over 150 different injuries old and new. Based on the scars found across her bony body, that number was likely much higher. Sylvia had suffered catastrophic muscle and nerve damage. All her fingernails had been broken backward and her vagina was so severely damaged that it was almost swollen shut.

She was so dehydrated and malnourished that the skin on her face, breasts, and neck, the areas her abusers targeted, had peeled or receded, tragically. The post-mortem also revealed that Sylvia's death throes were so violent that she'd bitten through her lips, almost completely severing them from her face. The coroner determined that Sylvia's official cause of death was a massive brain bleed or subdural hematoma.

caused by a devastating blow to her right temple. He did, however, note that the brutal, prolonged torture, starvation, and dehydration she endured contributed significantly to her death. The results proved to investigators that it was impossible that Gertrude hadn't noticed Sylvia's deplorable condition in the weeks prior to her final breath. The autopsy, coupled with the statements of Jenny Likens and Gertrude's own children,

confirmed that she was not only the ringleader behind Sylvia's torture, but also the girl's executioner. On December 30th, 1965, Gertrude, Paula, and John Banaszewski, as well as Richard Hobbs and Coy Hubbard, were indicted for first-degree murder by a Marion County grand jury. All were charged with inflicting a culmination of grievous fatal injuries on Sylvia Likens with premeditated malice.

Stephanie managed to avoid indictment after agreeing to testify against her mother, siblings, and friends in exchange for a plea deal. However, despite her attorney proving there wasn't enough evidence to support the charges against her, Stephanie waived her immunity from any potential prosecution. Several other participants and witnesses also agreed to testify against the defendants, not to help bring about justice for Sylvia, but to secure lesser sentences themselves.

Even so, their testimonies provided more than enough evidence for prosecutors to seek the death penalty for all five of the accused. The only thing standing between the prosecution and a conviction was the insanity plea. A pre-trial hearing was held in March, during which several psychiatrists testified that all the defendants were mentally competent to stand trial.

With that, the trial for the torture and murder of Sylvia Likens commenced on April 18th, 1966. Gertrude, John, Richard, Coy, and the then heavily pregnant Paula were tried together at the City County Building in Indianapolis. The children's attorneys advocated for their innocence, arguing that Gertrude had pressured them into tormenting, abusing, and torturing Sylvia. Astonishingly, Gertrude's attorney,

William Urbecker, pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. This was a bold move, considering she had already been deemed sane by a team of psychiatrists and only ended in disaster for the mother of seven. Urbecker attempted to sway the jury in Gertrude's favor, insisting that such depraved crimes could only have been committed by someone who was clinically disturbed.

He described Sylvia's injuries in graphic detail to illustrate his point and used an autopsy photo of her mangled body to drive it home. Urbecker even agreed that Gertrude was guilty of the teenager's murder, an offense he maintained deserved the electric chair, had she been sane. He hoped his dramatic defense would convince the jury of the divorcee's apparent diminished responsibility and earn their sympathy. Amusingly, it did the opposite.

Each agonizing detail only further implicated Gertrude and her co-accused, resulting in the jury quickly turning against them. As the trial proceeded, the defense lost all hope of changing the jurors' minds. Children as young as 10 were forced to recount the savagery they witnessed at the hands of the defendants, all of whom seemed gleefully aware of the sadistic abuse they unleashed on poor Sylvia. At this stage of the trial, the question was not whether the accused would be convicted or acquitted,

Their guilt was irrefutable. The question of the death penalty was the only one that remained. Part eight, the injustice of the justice system. Despite the youngest accused ranging in age from 16 to just 13, prosecutor Leroy knew was out for blood. He repeatedly requested the death penalty for each defendant, regardless of their age, citing their crimes as the most diabolical and hideous Indiana has ever seen.

While the latter is still true today, there can be no justification for the execution of a child, especially considering they were molded into monstrosities by an adult, with the exception of Paula, perhaps. Thankfully, the jury agreed. However, to the dismay of many, their mercy was also extended to Gertrude. The trial ended after just 17 days.

The jury spent most of that time listening to the mountains of evidence and testimonies detailing Sylvia's nightmarish ordeal. Only a small portion was taken up by the defense, whose closing arguments were nothing more than desperate attempts to paint Sylvia's abusers as the victims. Richard Hobbs' lawyer, James Netter, went as far as to blame Jenny for her older sister's eventual demise.

He lambasted her for staying silent while his client and the boy's co-defendants tortured Sylvia. Netter even vilified Jenny for being able to limp three and a half miles to the local park, but never using the same determination to get help, ignoring the fact that she was under duress at the time. The jury had heard enough. They only deliberated for a mere eight hours before returning their verdict on May 19th, 1966.

Gertrude Banaszewski was found guilty of first-degree murder for Sylvia Likens' slow, painful death. Paula Banaszewski, who had recently given birth to her own daughter, was found guilty of second-degree murder. Both were sentenced to life in prison. Finally, the jury found Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard, and John Banaszewski guilty of manslaughter. The trio was sentenced to two 21-year imprisonments in the Indiana Reformatory.

All three were paroled in 1968. One shudders to think that teenagers who committed such callous, violent acts could be freed after just two years of rehabilitation. Despite the boys' potentially light sentences, the Lykins family and those close to them were comforted by the idea that Gertrude would be imprisoned for the rest of her wretched life. They thought she would die in prison cold, alone, and hopefully riddled with bruises as Sylvia had been.

if only true justice existed in this world. After serving just 19 years in prison for the murder of an innocent teenager, 57-year-old Gertrude Banaszewski was released on parole on December 4th, 1985. The decision was made based on her good behavior while incarcerated at the Indiana Women's Prison, where she was ironically known as somewhat of a den mother.

Indiana was awash with public outrage leading up to Gertrude's parole hearing, with Jenny Likens and her family vehemently protesting her potential release. Two anti-crime groups joined the Likenses in their opposition and actively campaigned to keep Gertrude behind bars. In just two months, both organizations collected over 40,000 signatures from concerned citizens across the state.

Shockingly, their demands were drowned out by Gertrude's insincere attempt at taking responsibility for her crimes, if you could even call it that. The worthless woman then assumed a new name and relocated to Laurel, Iowa, where she died of lung cancer five years later. One can only hope that she felt even an ounce of the agony she caused Sylvia Likens.