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The Murder of Sylvia Likens: Pt. 2: The Trial

TW: Talk of severe child abuse and torture

One of the first witnesses was called on April 29th, a man by the name of Charles Ellis. Ellis was the Deputy Coroner that conducted her autopsy. He testified to the pain she must have been in days before her death. He testified that her nails were broken backward, there were multiple deep cuts and slashes on her body, and her lips were bloody and torn from incessant biting and chewing. He also testified that Sylvia was in a state of shock for the last three days of her life, which would have rendered her unable to give up much of a fight as she was beaten however, he did emphasize that apart from some swelling in her genital area, there was no sign of sexual abuse.

Jenny Likens's testimony took two days, on May 2nd and 3rd. She testified against all five defendants, telling the jury that all five had physically and mentally abused her sister. She said that Sylvia never did anything to provoke the beatings, and the rumors and slurs she'd been called, never had any truth to them. She stated that the abuse her sister received started roughly 2 weeks into their stay in the Baniszewski household. She recalled how at some point, Sylvia became unable to produce tears due to her severe dehydration. Jenny broke down on the stand, sobbing, telling the jury that just days before her death, Sylvia said, "Jenny, I know you don't want me to die, but I'm going to. I know it."

Several key points of her testimony were corroborated by other witnesses.

For example, Randy Lepper testified that he had once seen Sylvia crying but never saw any tears. He also testified to seeing Stephanie hit Sylvia "real hard" after she refused to take her clothes off in front of him. Afterward, he confessed to having hit her as well.

On May 10th, a Baptist minister by the name of Roy Julian testified to having known about Sylvia's abuse. He claimed that he hadn't reported any of it as he had been told by Baniszewski that it was punishment for solicitation.

On the same day, Judy Duke, a 13-year-old girl, was put on the stand. She testified to seeing Sylvia have salt being rubbed into open wounds on her legs until she screamed. She also said she saw Stephanie Baniszewski, Gertrude's 10-year-old daughter, rip open her shirt. This was followed by a remark by the remark "Everyone's having fun with Sylvia," said by Hobbs.

The following day, on May 11th, Gertrude Baniszewski took to stand herself in her own defense. She claimed that she did not have anything to do with her abuse, torture, or resulting death. She alleged that anything inside her home happened without her knowledge. That both her children and the neighborhood children took advantage of her "madhouse" and did it themselves.

When asked if she had ever abused the Likens sisters, she said that while she had spanked the girls on one or two occasions, she hadn't been able to "finish the job" and never hit them again. She also said that she was unaware of any branding, burnings, or beatings inflicted on Sylvia while in her home.

A couple days later, Richard Hobbs took the stand. He described an incident that happened on October 23rd, in which Gertrude called Sylvia to the kitchen. She said, "You have branded my children, so now I am going to brand you." He claimed that she started to etch the insults on her body before asking him to finish it. He said that even though the branding that he finished bought blood to the surface and Sylvia was begging him to stop, the area of flesh he'd branded had been light. He also claimed that he didn't believe that Sylvia would still be in the house on October 26th, as Gertrude had been talking about "getting rid of her" the day prior. He also said after her death, he simply went home to watch the end of "the Loyd Thaxton Show"

When Marie finally took the stand and broke down. She claimed that she had been the one who heated the needles used to brand Sylvia. She also noted her mother's apparent indifference to the suffering and pain being inflicted on Sylvia. She said her mother had full knowledge of what was happening, alleging that she'd seen her mother sit on a kitchen chair and watch as a young neighborhood girl beat on Sylvia. She also said that while she had seen all five of the defendants repeatedly beat and torture Sylvia, most of the violence bestowed on Sylvia had been inflicted by both her mother and older sister.

Another witness stated that, while sitting near Paula on a church bus, she overheard her bragging about breaking her wrist after hitting Sylvia too hard. Following that, she said, "I tried to kill her."

Finally, on May 16th, a doctor by the name of Dwight Shuester took the stand and was questioned by Leroy New. When questioned, Dr. Shuester said that she had been evasive and uncooperative throughout his interviews with Gertrude Baniszewski. He added that he believed Gertrude was entirely sane and had never been otherwise insane. Even after an excruciatingly long two-hour cross-examination by Gertrude's lawyer, William Erlbacher, he stayed steadfast in his assessment of Gertrude's sanity throughout October 1965.

It took 17 days for the entire trial to finish, and the jury retired for deliberations. The panel of eight men and four women took 8 hours to come back with a verdict. Gertrude was found guilty of 1st-degree murder, Paula was found guilty of second-degree murder, and Hos and John Jr. were found guilty of manslaughter.

On May 25th Gertrude and Paula were sentenced to life imprisonment, and Hobbs and John Jr. were sentenced to 2-21 years.

It didn't end there, however, as in September 1970, it was discovered that Judge Saul Isacc Rabb had denied repeatedly submitted motions by the defense for both a venue change and separate trials. It also stated that due to the immense amount of social media coverage of the crime and trial, there was no way for the women to have a fair trial.

Because of this, the women were retried in September 1971. This time around, Paula pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter. Her mother, once again, pleaded not guilty. Paula was sentenced to serve 2-21 years for her part in the crime, and Gertrude was sentenced to life imprisonment for a second time.

Over a course of 14 years, Gertrude established the title of a model inmate in the Indiana Womens Prison. She acted somewhat as a den mother and became the "mother hen" to many new inmates. She eventually earned herself the nickname "mom" among the population.

Her parole hearing came up in 1985, and Gertrude described herself as a devout Christian and had changed her name to Nadine Van Fossen. During the parole hearing, Gertrude said she wished Sylvia's death could "be undone," While she showed remorse for said death, she greatly minimized her role in it, saying, "I'm not sure what role had in her death because I was on drugs. I never really knew her... I take full responsibility for whatever happened to Sylvia."

With her behavior and remorse in the hearing and her model behavior in prison, Gertrude was granted parole and released from prison on December 4th, 1985.

After her release, Gertrude relocated to Laurel, Iowa. There she lived a relatively obscure life before dying of lung cancer in 1990 at the age of 61. She never fully took responsibility for what happened to Sylvia.

After Paula's parole hearing, she worked as a counselor's aide in an elementary school for 14 years using the name Paula Pace, which helped conceal her true crime history from the school. She was fired when the school found out who she really was. She later married and had two children. The child she had while awaiting trial the first time around had been adopted.

Stephanie Baniszewski's own charges had been dropped when she agreed to turn against the other defendants as a witness for the prosecution.

During a media interview, Stephanie stated she was just there to "Help anyone she can," to which Gertrude's lawyer replied, "Even yourself?" She went on to get married and have several children.

The youngest children were sent to foster families after the arrests were made.

Richard Hobbs, Coy Hubbard, and John Jr. each served less than 2 years.

Hobbs died of lung cancer after only 4 years of being released at the get of 21.

Hubbard stayed in Indiana, racking up quite the rap sheet, and on one occasion, was put on trial for the murder of two young men. He was acquitted on the grounds that the main witness was a charged and incarcerated career criminal who frequently worked with Hubbard in committing crimes. He died of a heart attack in Shelbyville, Indiana, at the age of 56.

John Baniszewski Jr lived a relatively obscure life under the name of John Blake. He became a Lay Minister, frequently hosting counseling sessions for children of divorce. Decades after his release, he released a public statement stating he knew that he and his co-defendants should have been sentenced to more time, but that young criminals are not beyond rehabilitation. He died in 2005 due to complications with diabetes.

Jenny Likens married, and she and her husband had two children together. 14 years before her death, she saw Gertrude's obituary in the paper and sent a clipping of t to her mother with a note alongside reading, "Good News finally, Good old Gertrude finally died. Ha Ha Ha, happy about that." She was also adamant that no blame should be placed on her parents, as it was not their fault they were placed in Gertrude's home. They simply trusted someone they thought they known well, who had promised to look after them while they were gone.

She died in Beechgrove, Indiana, at the age of 54.

Though the house where Sylvia died is now a women's shelter, there is a 6 ft granite memorial for Sylvia Likens in Willard Park, Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana. The dedication was attended by upwards of 700 people. It is inscribed with the words, "This memorial is in memory of a young child who died a tragic death. As a result, laws changed, and awareness increased. This is a commitment to our children that the Indianapolis Police Department is working to make this a safe city for our children."

Her death is credited with the adoption of Indiana's mandated reporter law. This law states that any citizen who suspects child abuse is responsible for reporting that suspected abuse to the proper authorities.

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The Murder of Sylvia Likens Pt. One: The Crime

TW: Talk of severe child abuse and torture.

Sylvia Likens was a 16-year-old girl who lived with her four siblings and her parents, Betty and Lester. Lester only made it through 8th grade and worked many jobs to support his family. These jobs included several factories, a laundry route, at one point, a small restaurant (which was unsuccessful), and even traveling in a circus selling food out of a concessions cart.

This job was what Lester and his wife decided to go back to in the summer of 1965. Because of this and the travel schedule, Sylvia's parents had to find someone to take care of their four children. The two boys went to stay with their grandparents, and that left the two girls, Jenny and Sylvia.

Betty and Lester heard about Gertrude Baniszewski through a mutual friend. They contacted her, and she agreed to take the girls for 20 dollars a week. The families agreed, and the girls went to live with Gertrude.

Gertrude Baniszweski was a frail, underweight woman with a laundry list of health issues and asthma. She had seven children of her own at the time. Seventeen-year-old Paula, fifteen-year-old Stephanie, twelve-year-old John, eleven-year-old Marie, ten-year-old Shirley, and 18-month-olds James and Dennis.

The minute Sylvia and Jenny entered the home, Sylvia and Paula were having difficulty getting along, and this is where it's believed the initial problems started, lasting from July to October 1965.

The turning point was when one week, the 20-dollar money order didn't come on the day Gertrude expected it to. Jenny said that Gertrude took her and Sylvia upstairs and slapped Jenny, saying, " I took care of you two bitches for a week and for nothing." This was when the abuse began taking place.

There were two weapons Gertrude used regularly. A fraternity-style, two-inch-thick paddle, and a thick leather belt belonged to her ex-husband. She would hit the girls for anything she deemed punishable. This includes simply exchanging soda bottles for change at the grocery store near the home.

She once burned Sylvia's fingers because she had stolen a gym uniform from the school she went to because Gertrude refused to buy her clothing.

When Gertrude felt too weak to carry out the punishment herself, she would get her children or even other neighborhood children to do it for her.

The girls did not have a perfect life with the Baniszewski's. The girls went to the same high school as the rest of Gertrude's children. At one point, there was a rumor spreading around the school about Stephanie, Gertrude's second-oldest daughter, and someone told her that Sylvia had started it. When Stephanie found out, she asked her if she'd started it, and Sylvia confirmed this. Stephanie punched her in the face and then proceeded to cry with Sylvia.

However, Stephanie's boyfriend Coy Hubbard heard the same thing and brutally attacked her for saying anything about his girlfriend. After this, he would regularly invite his friends to the house, and they would practice Judo on Sylvia, throwing her into walls repeatedly.

Eventually, Sylvia was thrown into the cellar. She was denied access to the bathroom and was only given crackers as food. Sometimes, John would give her a bowl of soup and make her eat it with her hands. When she started to eat, as, by this time, she was extremely malnourished, he would pull the bowl away and laugh at her.

When it became apparent that Sylvia was going to die, Gertrude forced Sylvia to write a note saying she had been beaten by a group of teenage boys. The plan was to blindfold her and dump her in the woods, naked, with the note nearby. She passed away before this could happen, however. Gertrude called the police on October 26th, 1965, and told them she'd been beaten by a group of teenagers.

Jenny Likens told the police that this was not true and pushed for an investigation to be opened, and eventually, the police opened one.

Gertrude, her daughter Paula, her son John, Richard Hobbs, and Coy Hubbard were all arrested and charged. Gertrude with 1st-degree murder, Paula with second-degree murder, and the three boys with manslaughter.

The trial began in April 1966, and the first witness was called.