Sylvia likens autopsy

Sylvia Likens died at the hands of Getrude Baniszewski, a woman who was supposed to take care of her.

Sylvia Likens. John Jr Baniszewski and Gertrude Baniszewski. Via Wikimedia Commons. The autopsy of the sixteen-year-old girl from Indiana read like that of a horror movie. Her skin had receded, and she had open wounds nearly down to the bone. Sylvia and her sister Jenny were sent to live with Gertrude Baniszewski in July

Sylvia likens autopsy

Reader discretion is advised. In October , year-old Sylvia Likens died after being held captive for nearly three months. Her death sparked action across police departments, prosecution, and the halls of the Indiana General Assembly, plus movies and books. As a teenager, Sylvia babysat, hung out with friends, did chores and small jobs, loved the Beatles, and lived an otherwise typical life. They continued to live as teenagers do, singing, skating, earning modest incomes during the summer break, and doing housework. Angry, Baniszewski began beating the children in the home across their buttocks. By August, the beatings exceeded a dozen a week, often for benign issues like eating too much food. Soon, Baniszewski was focusing on Sylvia. Later testimony would reveal Sylvia was beaten and abused regularly after school and on weekends. She was deprived of food, and later still resorted to eating food out of garbage cans. Her sisters and Baniszewski began turning on Sylvia, becoming bitter at her appearance and having claimed to have a boyfriend. She was accused of spreading rumors about Baniszewski, which was unfounded. The boyfriends of her sisters also began to turn on Sylvia. By the end of the summer, Sylvia was being raped, verbally tormented, assaulted with objects physically and sexually, starved, beaten, burned, and forced to commit humiliating or heinous acts. Baniszewski eventually forbade her from attending school and she was held captive in the home.

Neighbors reported to police they sometimes heard her screams, or someone asking for help.

Sylvia Marie Likens January 3, — October 26, was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. The abuse lasted for three months, occurring incrementally, before Likens died from her extensive injuries and malnourishment on October 26, , in Indianapolis , Indiana. Likens was increasingly tormented , neglected , belittled, sexually humiliated , beaten, starved , lacerated, burned, and dehydrated by her tormentors. Her autopsy showed wounds across her body, including several burns, scald marks and eroded skin. Through intimidation, her younger sister, Jenny, was occasionally forced to participate in her mistreatment. The official cause of her death was determined to be a homicide caused by a combination of subdural hematoma and shock , complicated by severe malnutrition. Gertrude Baniszewski; her oldest daughter, Paula; her son, John; and two neighborhood youths, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs, were all tried and convicted in May of neglecting, torturing, and murdering Likens.

It was called the most terrible crime ever committed in Indiana, and half a century later, that title still holds. The details of her demise, revealed at the trial, defy belief. But when one of their checks arrived late, Baniszewski took out her frustration by beating the girls. Weeks of escalating horror followed. The attacks, focused almost exclusively on Sylvia, grew ever more violent and sadistic. None reported what they saw.

Sylvia likens autopsy

Sylvia Marie Likens January 3, — October 26, was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. The abuse lasted for three months, occurring incrementally, before Likens died from her extensive injuries and malnourishment on October 26, , in Indianapolis , Indiana. Likens was increasingly tormented , neglected , belittled, sexually humiliated , beaten, starved , lacerated, burned, and dehydrated by her tormentors. Her autopsy showed wounds across her body, including several burns, scald marks and eroded skin. Through intimidation, her younger sister, Jenny, was occasionally forced to participate in her mistreatment.

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On October 22, John Baniszewski Jr. Fear is probably the real reason though. The pair then subjected Likens to a scalding bath in order to "cleanse her of sin," with Gertrude grabbing Likens's hair and repeatedly banging her head against the bath to revive her whenever she fainted. She also told Jenny that she was welcome to continue living with the family. January 29, Following her divorce, Baniszewski married a man named Edward Guthrie. Jenny Likens approached the investigating officers and offered to make a statement, provided she was immediately removed from the home. Shortly after their mother's arrest, the Marion County Department of Public Welfare placed Marie, Shirley, and James Baniszewski in the care of separate foster families. Samantha Lewes: Tom Hanks' divorce story and her cause of death. Email Required Name Required Website. She was afflicted with a notable limp and had to wear a steel brace on one leg. Jenny Likens suffered from polio , causing one of her legs to be weaker than the other. What I think this was ultimately about was jealousy. Neighborhood children began to crowd the home to participate in the torture. Others extinguished their cigarettes on her skin.

Paula Pace, the caller said, was actually Paula Baniszewski, who was 17 at the time of the killings and the eldest of seven children.

Sylvia's Child Advocacy Centre. The official cause of Likens's death was listed by coroner Dr. October 26, aged 16 Indianapolis , Indiana , U. She was accused of spreading rumors about Baniszewski, which was unfounded. I think she did not believe these people would do this and continue to do it. TruTV Crime Library. Read also Samantha Lewes: Tom Hanks' divorce story and her cause of death. Soon after, Gertrude began encouraging them to beat the girl and use her as a dummy to practise their martial arts. That same year, Starz Home Entertainment released The Girl Next Door , adapted from the horror novel of that name by Jack Ketcham which also is loosely based on the notorious murder. If you go below the death penalty in your verdicts in this case, you will lower the value of human life by that much for each defendant. June 20, at am. He'd had a laundry route, worked in factories and had even owned a small restaurant, though unsuccessfully. October 27, at am. Retrieved April 14,