Sylvia Likens: The Harrowing Case of Abuse, Torture, and Murder at the Hands of Gertrude Baniszewski
The horrific torture and murder of Sylvia Likens in 1965 stands as one of the darkest cases of abuse in American history. Sylvia, a 16-year-old girl left in the care of Gertrude Baniszewski, endured unspeakable torture and neglect that ultimately led to her death. This case exposed the failures of the community and judicial system, as well as the unimaginable cruelty inflicted by Baniszewski, her children, and several neighbourhood children.
Sylvia Likens and the Baniszewski Household: A Fragile Arrangement
Sylvia Likens, born on January 3, 1949, was one of five children in a family of carnival workers. Her parents, Lester and Elizabeth Likens, left Sylvia and her sister Jenny in the care of Gertrude Baniszewski for $20 per week while they travelled with the carnival. Baniszewski, a single mother of seven, initially agreed to care for the Likens sisters as if they were her own children. However, when the payments became irregular, Baniszewski turned her frustration into brutal abuse, which escalated rapidly over the summer of 1965.
Escalation of Abuse: Physical and Emotional Torment
Baniszewski's initial annoyance with delayed payments escalated into a methodical pattern of mistreatment focused mainly on Sylvia. Baniszewski beat Sylvia with a heavy paddle, forced her to eat spoiled food from rubbish bins, and subjected her to humiliations. Accusations against Sylvia, often baseless, were used to justify further violence. At one point, Baniszewski branded Sylvia’s abdomen with the words “I’M A PROSTITUTE AND PROUD OF IT,” finishing the branding with the help of 14-year-old Richard Hobbs.
Neighbourhood children, including Michael Monroe, Randy Lepper, Darlene McGuire, Judy Duke, and Anna Siscoe, were urged by Baniszewski to join in Sylvia’s beatings and humiliation. Coy Hubbard, Stephanie Baniszewski’s boyfriend, also assaulted Sylvia, beating her, slamming her into walls, and using her as a target for violent judo practice.
On another occasion, as the family ate supper, Gertrude, Paula, and a neighborhood boy named Randy Gordon Lepper force-fed Sylvia a hot dog overloaded with chilli sauce and mustard, Sylvia vomited as a result and was later forced to consume what she had vomited.
To entertain Gertrude and her teenage accomplices, Sylvia was forced at one point to strip naked in the family living room and penetrate herself with a glass Pepsi bottle in their presence, with Gertrude stating to all present that this act of humiliation was for Sylvia to "prove what kind of a girl you are."
In September, Sylvia and Jenny met their older sister Dianna Shoemaker in a local park and let her know about the abuse they were enduring, noting Sylvia was targeted specifically for things she hadn’t done. Without giving their address, they left Dianna skeptical, thinking they were exaggerating. A few weeks earlier, Dianna had given Sylvia a sandwich in the same park, a gesture later discovered by Gertrude, who accused Sylvia of gluttony and subjected her to a scalding bath to "cleanse her of her sin"
Soon after, the father of a neighbourhood boy anonymously reported to Sylvia’s school that she had visible sores. When a school nurse visited, Gertrude falsely claimed Sylvia had run away and had poor hygiene, which had caused the sores. No further action was taken by the school.
Raymond and Phyllis Vermillion, Baniszewski’s neighbours, had visited the household twice, witnessing Paula abuse Sylvia and boast about it, they noted Sylvia’s withdrawn demeanour, yet they decided against reporting the abuse.
Around October 1, Dianna learned her sisters were staying with Baniszewski and attempted a visit, but Gertrude denied her entry, claiming parental permission. Two weeks later, Dianna encountered Jenny nearby and asked about Sylvia’s well-being, but Jenny responded, “I can’t tell you or I’ll get into trouble.”
As a result of the escalating frequency and severity of the torture and abuse inflicted upon Sylvia, she gradually lost control of her bladder and bowel movements. She was prohibited from using the bathroom, leading her to involuntarily urinate. In retaliation for her incontinence, on October 6, Gertrude confined Sylvia to the basement, where she was restrained. In this grim setting, Sylvia was frequently naked, inadequately nourished, and deprived of water. At times, she was tethered to the basement staircase railing with her feet barely able to touch the ground.
Neighborhood children were also occasionally charged five cents apiece to see the "display" of Sylvia's body and to humiliate, beat, scald, burn, and—ultimately—mutilate her. Throughout Sylvia's captivity in the basement, Gertrude frequently, with the assistance of her children and neighborhood children, restrained and gagged Likens before placing her in a bathtub filled with scalding water and proceeding to rub salt into her wounds.
And still the abuse continued, Gertrude and her twelve-year-old son, John Jr., rubbed urine and feces from Gertrude's one-year-old son's nappy into Sylvia's mouth before giving her a cup half-filled with water and stating the water was all she would receive for the remainder of the day.
On October 22, John Baniszewski Jr. tormented Sylvia by offering to allow her to eat a bowl of soup with her fingers and then quickly taking away the bowl when Sylvia—by this stage suffering from extreme malnourishment—attempted to eat the food. Gertrude Baniszewski eventually allowed Sylvia to sleep upstairs, on the condition that she learned not to wet herself.
The following morning, Gertrude discovered that Likens had urinated on herself. As a punishment, Sylvia was forced to insert an empty glass Coca-Cola bottle into her vagina in the presence of the Baniszewski children before Gertrude ordered her into the basement.
The following day, Gertrude Baniszewski woke Sylvia, then forced her to write a letter as she dictated the contents, which were intended to mislead her parents into believing their daughter had run away from the Baniszewski residence. The content of this letter was intended to frame a group of anonymous local boys for extensively abusing and mutilating Sylvia after she had initially agreed to engage in sexual relations with them before they inflicted the extreme abuse and torture upon her body.
After Sylvia had written this letter, Gertrude finished formulating her plan to have John Jr. and Jenny blindfold Sylvia, then take her to a nearby wooded area known as Jimmy's Forest and leave her there to die.
Sylvia was then again tied to the stair railing and offered crackers to eat, although she refused them, saying: "Give it to the dog, I don't want it." In response, Gertrude forced the crackers into Likens's mouth before she and John Baniszewski beat her—particularly around the stomach.
That night, Sylvia confided to her sister:
"Jenny, I know you don't want me to die, but I'm going to die. I can tell it."
Sylvia’s Final Days and Desperate Attempts to Escape
On October 25, Sylvia attempted to escape from the basement after overhearing a conversation between Gertrude and John Baniszewski Jr. where they were discussing the plan to abandon her to die. She attempted to flee to the front door; however, due to her extensive injuries and general weakness, Gertrude caught her before she could escape. Sylvia was then given crackers to eat but was unable to consume the food due to her extreme state of dehydration. Gertrude forced the crackers into her mouth before repeatedly striking her face with a curtain rod until sections of the instrument were bent into right angles. Coy Hubbard then took the curtain rod from Gertrude and struck Sylvia one further time, knocking her out. Gertrude then dragged Sylvia into the basement.
That evening, Sylvia desperately attempted to alert neighbours by screaming for help and hitting the walls of the basement with a spade. One neighbour of the Baniszewskis would later inform police she had heard a commotion coming from the basement of Gertrude's house, but that as the noise had suddenly ceased at approximately 3:00 a.m., she decided not to inform police about the disturbance.
By the morning of October 26, Sylvia was unable to either speak intelligibly or correctly coordinate the movement of her limbs. Gertrude moved Sylvia into the kitchen and, having propped her back against a wall, attempted to feed her a doughnut and a glass of milk. She threw Sylvia to the floor in frustration when she was unable to drink from the glass. She was then returned to the basement.
Shortly thereafter, Sylvia became delirious, repeatedly moaning and mumbling. When Paula asked her to recite the English alphabet, Likens was unable to recite anything beyond the first four letters or to raise herself off the ground. In response, Paula verbally threatened her to either stand up or she would inflict a long jump upon her. Gertrude then ordered Sylvia, who had defecated, to clean herself.
That afternoon, several of the neighbourhood tormentors gathered in the basement. Sylvia jerkingly moved her arms in an apparent attempt to point at the faces of the tormentors she could recognise, making statements such as, "You're ... Ricky" and "You're Gertie" before Gertrude tersely shouted, "Shut up! You know who I am!" Minutes later, Sylvia unsuccessfully attempted to bite into a rotten pear she had been given to eat, stating she could feel the looseness in her teeth.
In an attempt to wash Sylvia, a laughing John Baniszewski Jr. sprayed her with a garden hose brought to the house that afternoon by Randy Lepper at Gertrude's request. Sylvia again desperately attempted to exit the basement but collapsed before she could reach the stairs. In response to this effort, Gertrude stamped on her head before standing and staring at her for several moments.
Shortly after 5:30 p.m., Richard Hobbs returned to the Baniszewski residence and immediately proceeded to the basement. He slipped on the wet basement stairs and fell heavily to the floor of the basement to be confronted with the sight of Stephanie crying and cuddling Sylvia's emaciated and lacerated body after she had been ordered by her mother to clean Sylvia.
Stephanie and Richard then decided to give Sylvia a warm, soapy bath and dress her in new clothes. They then laid her upon a mattress in one of the bedrooms as Sylvia muttered her final wish that her "daddy was here" and that Stephanie would take her home. Stephanie then turned to her younger sister, Shirley, exclaiming, "Oh! She'll be alright!"
When Stephanie realized that Sylvia wasn't breathing, she attempted first aid as Gertrude repeatedly shouted to the children in the house that Sylvia was faking her death.
Sylvia was 16 years old when she finally succumbed to her injuries.
Discovery of Sylvia’s Body and Immediate Arrests
Gertrude initially beat Sylvia's corpse with a book, shouting "Faker! Faker!" in an attempt to rouse her. However, she soon panicked and instructed Richard Hobbs to call the police from a nearby payphone. When police arrived at her address at approximately 6:30 p.m., Gertrude led the officers to Sylvia's emaciated, extensively bludgeoned, and mutilated body lying upon a soiled mattress in the bedroom
Baniszewski then attempted to cover her tracks, presenting the fabricated letter she had forced Sylvia to write, framing the group of boys for the abuse. Jenny, Sylvia’s sister, took her chance and informed the police, saying, “You get me out of here and I’ll tell you everything.” This statement led to the arrests of Gertrude Baniszewski, her children Paula and John Jr., and neighbourhood participants Richard Hobbs and Coy Hubbard.
An autopsy confirmed the extensive abuse Sylvia endured, revealing over 150 wounds, severe bruising, and muscle and nerve damage. Her vaginal cavity was nearly swollen shut, and her fingernails were broken backwards. Dr. Arthur Kebel listed her official cause of death as a subdural hematoma due to a severe blow to her temple, worsened by shock and malnutrition.
The Trial of Gertrude Baniszewski and Her Accomplices
On April 18, 1966, Gertrude Baniszewski, her children, and the neighbourhood boys were tried jointly for Sylvia’s murder. The prosecution sought the death penalty, describing the defendants’ “concerted” acts of cruelty toward Sylvia. The defence claimed that the other participants were coerced into the abuse by Baniszewski’s manipulation.
The trial brought chilling testimonies to light. Deputy coroner Charles Ellis described Sylvia’s injuries, stating she had likely been in acute pain for days before her death. Jenny Likens testified about her sister’s torture, confirming that Sylvia’s suffering began within weeks of moving into the Baniszewski household.
Gertrude Baniszewski testified, denying responsibility and claiming she was too ill to control the children. Her statements failed to convince the jury, and on May 19, 1966, she was found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. Paula was convicted of second-degree murder, and the others, including Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard, and John Jr., were convicted of manslaughter.
Retrial, Parole, and Legacy of the Sylvia Likens Case
The Indiana Supreme Court later reversed the Baniszewskis’ convictions in 1970 due to media bias, resulting in a retrial. Paula Baniszewski pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter, receiving a reduced sentence, and Gertrude was again convicted and sentenced to life.
Gertrude never accepted full responsibility for Sylvia's prolonged torment and death, insisting she was unable to precisely recall any of her actions. She blamed her actions upon the medication she had been prescribed to treat her asthma.
Gertrude was ultimately paroled in 1985, despite public protest, and relocated to Iowa, where she lived until her death from lung cancer in 1990.
After her 1972 parole, Paula Baniszewski assumed a new identity, working as an aide to a school counselor for 14 years, having changed her name to Paula Pace and concealing the truth regarding her criminal history when applying for the position. She was fired in 2012 when the school discovered her true identity. Paula married and had two children.The baby daughter to whom she had given birth while awaiting trial in 1966, and whom she named after her mother, was later adopted.
The murder charges initially filed against Gertrude Baniszewski's second-eldest daughter, 15-year-old Stephanie, were ultimately dropped after she agreed to turn state's evidence against the other defendants. Stephanie later assumed a new name and became a school teacher marrying and having several children.
When questioned at trial as to her motive for turning state's evidence, Stephanie stated: "I'm just here in the hope I can help anybody!" In response, her mother's attorney, William Erbecker replied, "Including yourself?"
Shortly after their mother's arrest, Marie, Shirley, and James Baniszewski were all put in the care of separate foster families. The surname of all three children was legally changed to Blake in the late 1960s after their father regained their custody. Marie later married. Marie Shelton died of natural causes on June 8, 2017, at the age of 62. Dennis Lee Wright Jr. was later adopted. His adoptive mother named him Denny Lee White. He died on February 5, 2012, at the age of 47.
Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard, and John Baniszewski Jr. all served less than two years in the Indiana Reformatory before being granted parole on February 27, 1968.
Richard Hobbs died of lung cancer on January 2, 1972, at the age of 21 — less than four years after his release from the Indiana Reformatory.
Following his 1968 release from the Indiana Reformatory, Coy Hubbard remained in Indiana, and never attempted to change his name. Throughout his adult life, Hubbard was repeatedly imprisoned for various criminal offenses, on one occasion being charged with the 1977 murders of two young men, although, largely due to the fact that the chief witness to testify at his trial had been a convicted criminal acquaintance of Hubbard who admitted to having been in his company at the time of the murders, he was acquitted of this charge. He died of a heart attack on June 23 of that year at the age of 56
John Baniszewski Jr. lived in relative obscurity under the alias John Blake. He became a lay minister, frequently hosting counseling sessions for the children of divorced parents. Several decades after his release from the Indiana Reformatory, John Baniszewski Jr. issued a statement in which he acknowledged the fact he and his co-defendants should have been sentenced to a more severe term of punishment, adding that young criminals are not beyond rehabilitation and describing how he had become a productive citizen. He died of complications related to diabetes in 2005, at the age of 52. Before he died, he had occasionally spoken publicly about his past, readily admitting he had enjoyed the attention Likens's murder brought upon him and also claiming to have "only ever hit Sylvia once".
The injury-to-person charges brought against the other juveniles known to have actively physically, mentally, and emotionally tormented Likens (Anna Ruth Siscoe, Judy Darlene Duke, Michael John Monroe, Darlene McGuire, and Randy Gordon Lepper), were later dropped. Siscoe died on October 23, 1996, at the age of 44, already a grandmother. Lepper—who had visibly smirked as he testified to having hit Likens on up to 40 separate occasions—died at the age of 56 on November 14, 2010. Monroe died on February 16, 2023, at the age of 68.
Jenny Likens later married an Indianapolis native named Leonard Rece Wade. The couple had two children, although she remained traumatized by the abuse she had been forced to watch her sister endure. For the remainder of her life, Jenny was dependent upon anxiety medication. She died of a heart attack on June 23, 2004, at the age of 54
Fourteen years before her own death, Jenny Likens Wade had viewed Gertrude Baniszewski's obituary in a newspaper; she clipped the section from the newspaper, then mailed it to her mother with an accompanying note reading:
"Some good news. Damn old Gertrude died. Ha ha ha! I am happy about that."
Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center is dedicated to her memory and the cause of protecting children from abuse in every corner of our community.
Sources:
“House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying” by John Dean
Indianapolis Star Archives (1965-1966) – The Indianapolis Star published extensive day-to-day coverage of the Sylvia Likens case, particularly during the trial. Key articles include:
• “Sylvia’s Agony Ends in Death” (Indianapolis Star, October 27, 1965) – Details the discovery of Sylvia’s body and initial police response.
• “Day by Day of Horror Told in Court” (Indianapolis Star, April-May 1966) – A trial series documenting the harrowing testimonies, including that of Jenny Likens.
Autopsy Report – Details of Sylvia Likens’ autopsy, documented by Dr. Arthur Kebel, include comprehensive medical findings that corroborate the abuse.
Indiana Supreme Court Case, 1970 – Baniszewski v. State, 256 Ind. 1, 1970. This ruling overturned the original 1966 convictions for Gertrude and Paula Baniszewski, citing issues of media influence. The case also documents court arguments, including Baniszewski’s mental competence assessments.
Eyewitness Testimonies and Books – Various books, articles, and interviews with family members, journalists, and former neighbours provide firsthand accounts and retrospective analysis.