On this day, Oct. 26, in 1965, Sylvia Likens was tortured to death in a case that was later described by a prosecutor as “the most terrible crime ever committed in the state of Indiana.”
Sylvia, 16, the daughter of circus workers, was left for several months in the care of neighbor Gertrude Baniszewski, who took out her anger on Likens.
Baniszewski kept Sylvia hostage and tortured her in the basement. She encouraged her two teenage children and two neighbor youths to also participate in the abuse.
Sylvia was forced to consume feces and urine. Baniszewski used a hot needle to carve “I’m a prostitute” into Sylvia’s stomach.
Eventually Sylvia died.
Gertrude was sentenced to life in prison, but was paroled in 1985. The teenagers were sentenced to two years in prison.
– Scott McCabe
