"We tried to give her food but she refused to eat it" This INFURIATES me so much! She didn't refuse to eat it, it's that she physically COULDN'T EAT IT because these fucking monsters abused her so much!
Her mouth was damaged and she was very sick. She was given a bowl of soup and told to eat it with her fingers. She was so hungry she tried and then the bowl was grabbed away from her.
They WERE proud of it. They often bragged about the torture to people in the neighborhood and she was an object of ridicule to almost everyone who came in contact with her. It’s one of the most sickening things I’ve ever come across.
And how he tried to sound compassionate with the “we tried to give her food and she wouldn’t eat it”, as if she was making a choice. She couldn’t eat the food because she was so malnourished and couldn’t actually digest food. This is one of the most bizarre and stomach turning cases I’ve ever come across. All of these people were absolute monsters.
it hurts to hear their voice. am i the only one? i just kept imagining them saying horrible things to sylvia in that god awful voice of theirs... i just cant STAND these people. hope they're burning in hell right now. just like they burned sylvia. may that poor little girl rest in peace.
I feel the same. Their obviously lying and its so clear it makes my ear ring and fill me with dread. I can easily hear how down right evil they'd have sounded to that poor girl!
Obviously she was lying, no criminal ever admit of what they did or prison will be full of them. Just like criminals, she tried to blame someone else (her kids) to save herself. They're all demon in human skin. And it's their turn to be burned in hell.. FOREVER.
Gertrude sacrificed her own children to save herself... trying to blame her own kids for everything. What an embarrasing excuse for a parent and a human being in general.
"Well mostly because Gerty told me to", Yup this guy did not give a damn how Sylvia was tortured. He said it like he would do it even if "Gerty" didn't say so.
“MOSTLY because Gerty told me to.” 🙄 Bullshit. He’s lying. If she had actually told him to do that, then he would be putting ALL the blame on her. Not just “most” of the blame.
The thing that makes me cry the most is the fact that a lot of people knew about it and did nothing!!!! She had to feel no hope like the whole world was against her parents didn't even call or anything!! It's just so sad how many kids was involved kids are sooo cruel!
Vaishali - Other versions of the story (I think I read the one at True Crime) say that the adult sister did show up to see her sisters but was turned away by Gertrude. A city/county nurse also showed up at the house for a welfare check and she was turned away as well. If that happened today the police would be called and they would have the legal right to enter the house without a search warrant based on imminent danger. This girl was failed by everyone in her life. Her parents failed her, her sister who lived in the house with her failed her, her adult sister who attempted to visit failed her, and the system that was set up to protect kids like her failed her.
It was a different time when it wasn't easy to contact people long distance I think it was expensive to call long distance they were traveling on the carnival circuit working to earn money for their family. They wrote letters and sent money. They had no idea. The girls collected some coke bottles to sell to get the money to use a pay phone to call their 18 year old sister, but she just told them to stop complaining and be good. She thought they were exaggerating. That's before they started locking Sylvia in the basement.
Divya Aaloori The kid on this radio program that carved the words into her with a hot needle when he was 16 died at 21 of cancer. Gertrude also died of lung cancer but she was quite old when she died and had been free for 4 years and remarried before her death.
I agree with you, Nicely. The so-called parents &/ or adults in those years, usually chose to acknowledge this abuse of pure hell yet they wouldn't reach out to us, at least, to protect us as the children of those 60's. Surviving through my own torturous childhood, I had simply never forgave my own Aunts for not reaching out to protect even myself. I cut my life off from them instead. My dad was the only son & was raised with 5 sisters. They knew of his short fuse & violent nature. I never attend any of their funerals, starting with my dad's in 2012. Hell awaits each one of them.
@@Drummerchick2003 She got a retrial and was sentenced to 18years - life, Paula got her charge/sentence reduced as well I think. Mind you Gertie got lung cancer and was terminally ill I think so the prison decided to just let her go instead of trying to treat her.
What this girl went through was so horrible that it's hard not to wonder yourself" why would someone do something like that???" I'm sure Gertrude, Paula, Ricky Hoobs and the others who participated on this crime were all jealous of Sylvia. She had everything Gertie wanted: she was young, pretty, pure, basically everything she wanted to be so they used the " oh your parents don't sent the money this week." As an excuse to start the horror against Sylvia. and when they were saying all those bad things about her as she was getting beaten day and day out she lost the ability to think for herself. it was like Ellen Page said in an Interview about this movie;" when there's constant abuse day and day out you lose the ability to be relative. it becomes normal and you starts justifying it because other people are justifying it." so she was believing it and justifying it and while she was screaming for help and hoping someone would come and save her, the whole neighborhood ignored and treated this case as" something we don't want to get involved. it's none of our business." i wonder how they lived knowing somehow they helped to kill a teenage girl when they could easily call the police. the whole society failed Sylvia, she was asking for help but nobody listened and neither cared about her.
The neighbors who heard the daily screaming and chose to do nothing should have been arrested also. Screaming like that means you are being tortured. Any human knows that.
I watched The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum a long time ago and it haunted me so bad and I cried terribly. Later I was watching a tutorial and she was telling a story that sounded just like thar movie. So I looked it up and found out it was the movie I saw was made about Sylvia Likens. Then I watched a movie about it again after hearing it was about Sylvia called American Crime you're talking about. They made about it as well and it is sooo sad!! So incredibly heartbreaking.
@@claracompoete9049 here: www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/18519-keener-page-on-an-american-crime It's an Interview with him and Katherine keener in 2007.
Is anyone else weirded out that he says all of this just so casually... like he had just come back from summer camp and the interviewer asked him how his weekend was going.
Belle Clementi yes & also how Gertrude says “ well my own daughter hit her so there you go” ... just like matter of fact & no big deal “.. like it’s an everyday occurrence. SMH 🤦♀️... 😞.
Yes it the thing that gets me also, that these people were so un-remorseful and after prison they got to go on get married/partners and breed, i just hope their kids were brought up alright and they have not breed this mentality and behvaiour into their own children, personaly i think they should have never have been let out of prison until they understood what they did to slyvie, no matter how many years it took, RIP Sweet Slyvie xxxx It also strikes me and always will, their attitude about hitting slyvie in jaw, breaking wrists, branding etc is so matter of fact and said so normal that it hides BIGGER abuse and somthing worse, i believe sexual abuse, that they are avoiding. When they put slyvie in the bath, it was a COLD bath which started her breathing. It would be foolish to believe that after they sexual abused slyvie by making her use a bottle in front o fthose boys that they didnt do alot worse to her.
From what I heard that the young kid John he took responsibility for what he did while Hobbs what he did finally dawned on him became a heavy smoker that’s why he got & died of cancer at a young age the justice system may have failed Sylvia but karma did the rest
@@specialwave3521 everyone dies , not everyone is tortured so idk how you see that as equal .Even if she was alive today , I'm sure she would have a lot of psychological trauma if untreated at psychiatric rehabilitation facilities .
@@x00x53 The person who directly started it , in the end felt very bad and ended up being compassionate to Sylvia in her last days , she even tried helping her escape unfortunately Sylvia only got as far the the front door from the underground basement.
I was only 5 when it happened. I Have NEVER Forgotten Her .... I Still Shed Tears for Her. Just Unbelievable. It was Then and still is Now. The Horror of It All ........ (No One Could Escape This Horrible Tragedy ... Not Even a Child. It Consumed Indianapolis!)
@@blackglasses356 You know something? I do too!! I think that the EXACT same thing should be done to her! I wasn't around when this happened but if she had been my sister or daughter & I found out what they were doing to her, I WOULD'VE HIRED & PAID SOMEBODY TO BURN & TORTURE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, from Gertrude & Paula all the way down to 8 year old Marie/Shirley Ann or whoever was the fucking youngest & took part in it!! And THEN I would shell out more money to have somebody go after & torture ALL of the neighborhood kids who had ALSO participated in this!! The 3rd step taken would be for me to pay to have some hits done on the neighborhood ADULTS who HEARD Sylvia's screams & cries on a daily basis, but DID NOTHING about it ! The last step would be for me to then pay to have somebody go after the PARENTS of the neighborhood kids who tortured Sylvia, explain to them about WHY they no longer have a son/daughter, & then have somebody beat & torture the living shit of them for NOT RASING their kids right!!
@@kelleyannethomas5372 yeah i agree, im not sure about the little kids, but pretty sure everyone from them that was teen or older should have known what they were doing, and should be punished. That said im not trying to excuse even the kids for what they did. Also there is a similar case to this, junko furuta case, check it out if you want
Well our school just found out that after Paula got sentenced to 3 years in prison. Afterwards she changed her name and came to Iowa. She was our counselors aid but now that the school district knows she has been suspended. Nobody knows if she's coming back or not. She has worked at our school for 14 years and nobody has known till this week.
I was 16 when I read this story and it wasn’t easy reading about a girl my age who was tortured and killed mercilessly and never got to live to see 17. I’m glad she’s no longer suffering and can enjoy a peaceful afterlife with her family
@@wack8697 jenny had polio she was 15 what would you expect from a defenseless 15 year old I'm pretty sure they told her if she told anyone she would get that treatment don't blame her she was scared
Ricky Hobbs had remorse afterwards to. He just didn’t go public about it. Hobbs suffered a nervous breakdown after his release from in 1968. It was because he realized the weight and pain of his crimes. And because of the guilt of what he did to Sylvia and the nervous breakdown, he began chain-smoking. He was diagnosed with lung cancer by aged 20 (1970-1971). He then died of it on Jan 2, 1972 at the age of 21. And I do firmly believe it was karma from the universe since justice couldn’t be served. It’s sad but he deserved it and I hope he’s rotting in hell for what he did whether he felt guilt or not.
It's very difficult for me to feel forgiveness and/or sympathy for Gertrude and these other youngsters that tortured this angel girl to death. I'm a Christian but even I find that very hard to do. I'm also mad as hell that it's taxpayers that pay for criminals like Gertrude to live after they're convicted. There should be no death row, only a death march from the courthouse to the chamber. Our society is overrun with vermin like this. We kill rats for less.
Lately remembered the movie "An american crime" and started looking up the real incident after which it was inspired and holy. Mind you this is not like middle ages but an age where most young adult's parents were alive. And they were a bunch of kids who went to school and church and none, not a single one, did anything against it. Clear lack of empathy and none deserved to walk any amount of length outside of a prison.
It he first movie made about it was The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. I watched it a long ago time ago and it haunted me so bad and I cried terribly. The next movie I saw about it was what you're talking about American Crime and it is sooo sad!! So incredibly heartbreaking.
At least the kids admitted to what they did, unlike Gertrude. The gall she had to place blame on everyone but herself - none of this would probably have happened if she hadn't instigated,encouraged and manipulated the situation. Gertrude, being the adult, was the most responsible. Apparently, a lot has not become public knowledge of this case at trial, so the kids may have gotten the blame for what Gertrude did. Also, at the time "abuse" was not talked about or reported. Sad.
Are you for real??? AT LEAST THE KIDS ADMITTED WHAT THEY DID ?? WOW !! The evil little bastards like the young MAN ! in this , says all I did was punch her 15 times , all I did was ? All I DID WAS ?? he sees no wrong in what he did and how sick and evil he was to do it . If I am not mistaken he was 15 or 17 !!! Anyone that shows this kind of behavior at that age is a psychopath . Any one of them kids could have run away or told someone what was happening. They didn’t get beat into doing it , infact ! the daughter Paula was the one who started it all !! BORN EVIL!! TO AN EVIL WOMAN !! THERE WAS NO JUSTICE FOR THAT POOR GIRL !!! THE MOTHER SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM PRISON!! AND THE DAUGHTER ONLY DONE 1 year 😤 just disgusting😡
"Gerty's" voice you can tell she is trying really hard to explain it away almost flippantly as to appear innocence, and her quiver in her voice she's terrified. They're both full of lies and evil, pure evil.
Davi jones she kinda sounds like she’s been inconvenienced.... like Sylvia was a burden. Her voice doesn’t even sound evil... she’s just a liar. That Ricky Hobbs sounds very stoic & cold like he doesn’t care what he did to her like he’s under Gerdy’s spell & would do anything she wanted.
@@beaky3178 Individuals suffering through brainwash or psychopathic tendency often times show lack of empathy. 1 in five people are said to be a psychopath and some of which are entrepreneurs, and are very successful. This is proven by University study and fact. I am saying that these people show classic signs of what we classify as "character profiling" She is trying to sound inconvenienced as a front as if this whole affair had nothing to do with her. Yet, the people saw through her. Her ability to play that off to some may work but, when you've worked around it as long as I have you see through it. The boy can be showing early traits as well, and was easily manipulated due to the brain still in stage of cerebral and frontal cortex development. Which is why cases now amongst teen-age to young adult individuals has been undergoing study and changes in the way cases and charges are handled against individuals, respectively. IF he had been within the court system today perhaps he would've been given different sentencing. Anyway food for thought.
@Lord Frieza have to say first love the name tag! eh it was #s for the average psycho neighbor not killer, lol though we should consider being armed now with how things are going! Lol jk
It's one thing for an abusive parent to abuse a kid. It's a whole other level when the kids willingly decide to join their abusive parent in the abuse for fun. Utterly sadistic and hellish.
When I heard that Gertrude was literally charging the neighborhood kids 5 cents to abuse Sylvia I did not think it could be real. Oh but it is real. Sickening.
this case infuriates me to no end, just knowing the horrendous torture of Sylvia by that pack of demons, how preventable it was in hindsight. She was failed by so many... and justice wasn't even duly served in my opinion. with something like this, I wish time travel existed and we could go back and save her
John Baniszewski who was 12 at the time is the ONLY person involved out of everyone who ever expressed remorse for his part in the crime and made a public statement admitting his part and expressing remorse.,
@@ButterflyQueene07 I wouldn't say that bc many of them had either very short sentences or got no jail time at all and still had no remorse. He could have to feel bad for what happened, he is the only one who never hid his action and was out and opened about his involvement. However, for me it doesn't really matter if he felt bad at what happened or not. I believe rape and murder are the most inhumane things a person can ever do. John enjoyed brutally beaten and assaulting Sylvia till death and encourage other ppl to do. So for me, his apologies are bullshit even if he feels bad for what happened. He killed an innocent girl and no remorse or apology would bring her back to life.
@@sailorsister211 EXACTLY. I don't fucking give two shits about whether those monsters are feeling remorse or something. What they did will never be accepted
The actor they had play Johnny looked like a little boy. When watching the movie I would think “wow he looks so little and young to be doing that kind of harm” but the actual Johnny looked older than 12 and he looked really evil.
Incorrect. Prior to his death, he had also 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".
this is hands down the worst case i have come across and i am a true crime fanatic.. the level of evil in this makes me so angry because if only ONE person had bothered to actually react like a human she would have avoided so much i hope the sister managed to recover despite what she saw her sister go through.
No one deserves to be put thru this no one deserves this it was said once by Candice Long /delong? on Deadly Women that she believed that Sylvia took the beating and everything else to make sure that her sister Jenny didn't get hurt Jenny had polio and i am thinking it effected her one leg and Sylvia gave her life to save her sister
I read the book and cried through most of it. Couldn’t figure out why her parents left her and her sister with someone they didn’t know. No back ground check, references nothing. They should have work somewhere their girls could be with them.
Yeah the parents don't get enough blame. I'm sorry but their one job was to protect their children. The parents came into town a couple weeks before her murder and the girls didn't tell them anything. Why? They knew their parents wouldn't protect them.
This was not 2020s… times were very different. What we consider neglect or abuse now was not societally recognized as so. Regardless of their “neglect”. They worked to provide $$$ to the caretakers. And they wrote letters. They were carnival workers and could not stop in nor did they have Skype or facetime. They did not condone this and did not deserve this blame. There was no registry - and a background check would not have mattered - she had no priors
This is complete BS. Gertrude knew Sylvia was going to die and expected it. She wanted to dump her in the woods before she died so they wouldn't get blamed
After hearing about this case, it doesn't completely shock me about how all this went unreported, in those times people had a strange mindset of "minding their own business" and keeping things hush, but I do wonder why the poor girl never ran away or told the police herself, didn't tell her school teacher or a friends parents etc. She just endured it all. Poor soul.
It was to do with in earlier times(much earlier ,centuries earlier ) , when assassinations were much more common , that made the people gradually then pick up that trait .
You can hear Gertrude lying in her testamony. And even in Richard Hobbs voice as well. Karma is a bitch though because Richard died of cancer at 21 only a few years after this. And Gertrude died of cancer herself after she was unfortunately released from prison.
at 2:38 it sounds like Hobbs is about to admit that he carried Sylvia up from the basement. He stumbles over his words in order to get his story "straight". I'll bet you anything that Sylvia died in the basement and he carried her up and she was cold and dead and prolly had emptied bowels and bladder. I bet they tried to warm her up and clean her in a warm bath in a pathetic attempt to make it appear the as less horrific as they could.
They got off too easily. I hope they lived with the guilt and the nightmares. If they didn’t they are totally inhuman. They should’ve been put on death row or tortured way worst. This is by far the most horrific crime I have ever heard. It breaks my heart.
its awful it makes me feel sick just listening to them, Sylvia didn't deserve any of this, I hope she's at rest now and she can finally get away from the torture they put her through for so long.
Gertrude Baniszewski was 36 and 37 years old when she tortured, murdered the innocent, defenseless Sylvia Likens. Serial killers almost always start murdering before their mid-30s, so it’s unlikely that Sylvia Likens was her first victim, let alone her only victim. That means that she slaughtered more children both before meeting Sylvia Likens and after she was paroled in 1985, children who have never been recovered and/or identified.
This is fucking ridiculous. Everything is Gertrude's fault and you know what, I feel so bad for her kids. They come from a time where adults knew everything and you had to listen to them no matter what. Whatever their mother said, they did. It's so fucking sad those sick bastards. So many ways this could have been prevented. The face that she got a new identity, new home and new JOB after she got out after having 40,000 signatures protesting is outrageous. They did not do fucking justice.
stranger1234 , them kids were young adults you twat 👊🏼😤 he talks like what he did was no big deal !! Unfortunately for them they were born into being made into psychopaths!! In fact !! It was Paula who started it all because she was sleeping around and got pregnant and blamed the name calling she got on Sylvia!!! So they all took it out on her !!! They didn’t get beat into doing them sick things and could have told someone. They were 15 and 17 !!!! Old enough to run away or say FUCK U MOTHER!! I AINT DOIN THAT AS ITS SICK !! And as for a time we’re adults new everything??? My mother was one of 10 children back in them days and not one of those kids ever done anything to hurt anyone!!! AS FOR THE VERY YOUNG CHILDREN, well maybe they have had a narrow escape from being twisted into turning out like there older brother and sister!! NO JUSTICE WAS SERVED FOR THIS YOUNG GIRL !! HEART BREAKING FOR HER !!
Pauline started a lot of it though. It was because Pauline was sleeping with a married man and got pregnant and then they Gertrude and Pauline were being verbally nasty to Sylvia about the checks being late, so then Sylvia told another girl Pauline was a prostitute that was already pregnant. It was true Paula was pregnant but then Pauline was furious and broke Sylvia's arm and told her mother Sylvia had ruined her reputation so then Gertrude started the whole thing about Sylvia being the real prostitute and the one that was pregnant but the autopsy said Sylvia was a virgin.
My understanding is that Gertrude never expressed any empathy for Sylvia or any remorse for her own actions. She never said she was sorry. All she did was to ask for pity for herself.
I was haunted by the Sylvia Likens tragedy and read everything I could about it -- factual and fictional -- for the chapter about her in my book "The Bloodied and the Broken."
I know Richard has done wrong but at least he's got the balls to say what happened. Unlike Gertrude who lied. He came clean and admitted what he had done. Gertrude just sat there and was like this "and uh" "uh and" like c'mon its so obvious she's lying. Because if she didn't do all that to Sylvia she wouldn't be sitting there like "uh". I saw the movie a couple of days ago "the girl next door" which is based on this story by the way and it was horrible at the start when it said "based on a true story" I was like oh god. So I couldn't help to look it up. Poor Sylvia. RIP. And Meg who acted in the film....
Mary V lmao what guilt? when asked did he feel bad about what he done to Sylvia, he said “what difference does that make”? He literally said he didn’t care about her until she died.
That's a total lie Gertrude made right there. I mean how do you explain she was found guilty of everything including the testimonies every one of those people have said bout them and her?
I feel sick to hear that monsters voice in 2017 pure evil and the boys are horrible they raped her makes me ill to my belly rot in hell I blame her dad for being a fool and not paying attention to his own kids worried about a circus
Cherry Berry he’d done this thing all her life. I feel terrible for the parents, seeing all that was done. Hearing about it from their love daughter who witnessed it.
The influence a bad mother can have on her own children. Their ending from all this backfired on them. The mother died just 5 yrs after prison time. Her daughter Paula or whatever her name is got fired from a teaching job and no whereabouts from her. One of the son died at 21 of cancer. Im not sure of the rest. This is horrible what they did. Ugly people is what they are. All had black hearts thanks to their wicked mother
ive always wanted to set a voice on gertrude, you know i read so much about what she did to sylvia. ive read comments about gertrude and ive just always wanted to hear gertrude to set a voice on sylvias murder. its hard to explain.
They all died relatively young of diseases like lung cancer, cardiac arrest etc .. Good thing that karma takes good care of those kinds of monsters. Rot in hell...!!!
Ah, so not only was Baniszewski a hypocrite, a sadist and a murderer, she was also a coward! Putting ALL the blame on her kids and pleading insanity during the trial... My God, if you're gonna carry out such horrendous acts against another person, AT LEAST own up to it! It really makes me sick to hear the actual woman's voice. Thanks very much for the upload - somehow hearing the actual voices of the people involved makes what happened seem all the more real to me.
I feel so bad that even her sister's husband died ! RIP little girl, don't worry God will heal all your wounds in heaven and you will never feel pain again.
No remorse at all in their voices. They deserved to go through everything poor Sylvia had to endure. They talk about it so casually it's like their talking about what they had for dinner and not a horrific case of abuse. These people show why not everyone deserves mercy or forgiveness
How the fuck can he be so calm in admitting to all that? Like what the fuck was the world back in them days? I know they're still fucked up things happen in the world these days but there was so many people that knew about the torturing of the poor girl & did absolutely nothing? Even her sister didn't believe her when told about it.. Mind boggling
It's like this weirdo didn't think anything they did was wrong until he realised she was going to die then he decides the right thing to do is give her mouth to mouth and try to revive her and once she's dead to call the police. Bizare.
He's lying, it was Stephanie who tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and wanted to give her a warm bath, whilst that sadistic excuse for a human Gertrude was screeching in the background about Sylvia faking playing dead. He wasn't even present at the time of her death in the home. There's no sense of 'doing the right thing' for these people, they are pure evil.
TheEternalServant bs the police would of raided the place,rescued sylvia and arrested everyone in that house if she cared enough to call the police to save her sister.
Princess Pai The phone in the Baniszewski house didn't work and the neighbourhood kids would notice Jenny walking around near the payphone and would probably report to Gertrude. Sylvia didn't want Jenny to suffer the same torture she suffered from.
TheEternalServant Your slow af. Obviously she could use the school phone. Have the school call her parents and the cops. You probably defending her because you would do the same thing. Watch your family get tortured and act like it's nothing since its not you getting killed.
Princess Pai You clearly don't understand. You do realise that Gertrude's kids go to the same school as Jenny and can report on their mother at any moment right? If you really want to respect Sylvia, realise that Sylvia volunteered to take much of the abuse and torture to save her sister. (fyi she did tell someone. That person was Diana, her sister, who in turn called social services but evil Gertrude misled the social services).
Gertrude was the one that broke her nose with that brass pipe that was used for the curtains when she was trying to make her eat and Sylvia told her I can't I cannot eat anything
It makes me sick to listen to Hobbs. He sounds almost proud of what he did and definitely not remorseful. Gertrude sounds really young and not what I was expecting at all... except for her words. Ugh.
I read that John was the only one who didn’t change his name and the only one to ever apologize and take responsibility. I wish someone would have done an interview with him. Even though he was 12, he looked older in his picture I saw and he looked evil.
I feel bad for Gertrude's kids for the younger ones, but not for paula and stephanie they were older and they liked to tortured her, Stephanie not but she let that coward boyfriend to beat Sylvia
Because for them it was normal. Pretty the jackas talking is the kid who called the police and then went home to watch a popular TV show. Everyone of them belongs in prison for life.
I never knew about this until someone recommend 'the girl next door' movie and i came across sylvia's story. This is so heartbreaking i burst into tears after reading it 😭 May her soul rest in peace.
I'm 15 and even tho , I also have a little fear of some adults especially ugly intimidating looking ones like the one with a face like that . I would've held my ground, and reported this incident .
@@naifalruzog9135 (Firstly, I haven't watched the video in a while, and can't as I'm writing this, so sorry if I say anything that's in the interview.) As far as I know, there wasn't actually any physical evidence to prove that Gertrude specifically abused Sylvia (obviously Sylvia had been tortured, but how can you prove Gertrude was involved?). However, Jenny (Sylvia's sister) witnessed the majority, if not all, of the abuse and told the police about Gertrude's involvement. Other children who were involved also spoke about Gertrude's involvement. Marie, one of Gertrude's daughters, said that she had seen Gertrude and Paula abuse Sylvia the most. Also, Gertrude's story just never made sense. She changed it multiple times, but even the most plausible one about how she was depressed and couldn't control her kids is ridiculous. Even if I believed her (trust me, I don't), it wouldn't explain why she didn't try to stop them or get Sylvia proper medical help, so she's never innocent no matter which way you look at it. (Also, I just realized that what I've written sounds kind of condescending, it's not meant to be. At first I assumed that you were asking about evidence because you thought she wasn't guilty, but you're probably just asking because you're genuinely curious, sorry 😅)
Ohhh my god... My spine is shivering can't control my bladder.. I was unable to walk upto wash room... I am feeling pain in my whole body... My god what kind of brutality she had gone through...
I don’t know how you could stand by and not get help for your own sister. I don’t care what anyone threatened me with. What’s wrong with these people? And only 20 years for Gertrude? She should have died behind prison bars. All of them should. Anyone who knew or took part in her murder should never see the light of day. I can’t believe none of these people are still behind bars or only served the time they did. There’s black people in jail for life for selling drugs and then you have these people who got to walk free. I can’t understand any of it. And that daughter Paula had the audacity to go on to be a counselors assistant?! YOU MURDERED A GIRL! How dare you think you should be involved in the counseling of anyone!!
actually, as far as i saw, jenny really did try and get help. she escaped the torture and told the neighbours that her sister required medical intervention
Idk what's worse, Gertrude trying to lie and let the kids take the blame or the fact that those kids talk about hurting sylvia with absolutely no remorse. The justice system failed, all these monsters sshoulve rotted in prison
This story had always made me sad. The fact Gerty lied is disgusting. She is a foul evil woman. It is also sad how she almost got away. That is most heartbreaking.
Gertrude should of never been released from prison.. What a liar, saying she never did anything to Sylvia.. The fact that no one helped her disgusts me..
Actually if you read the story online you would have known that Jenny was threatened to not act smart otherwise she would receive the same treatment as Sylvia. Sylvia and Jenny met their older sister Diana in the park and Sylvia told her about the treatment she was receiving but unfortunately Diana brushed it off as Sylvia hated the idea of getting punished
@@arianacabello93 And I have read the story online already. I wasn't talking about her sisters. I read that Sylvia's screams and cries for help were heard but ignored. Many people also knew what was actually happening, but didn't do anything to help. What you had written in your reply is also something I already know.
@@yournightmare8630 ok I thought you didn't know. Ya the neighbours were aware about the abuse but they chose to ignore it because it's not "their problem"
"We tried to give her food but she refused to eat it" This INFURIATES me so much! She didn't refuse to eat it, it's that she physically COULDN'T EAT IT because these fucking monsters abused her so much!
Her mouth was damaged and she was very sick. She was given a bowl of soup and told to eat it with her fingers. She was so hungry she tried and then the bowl was grabbed away from her.
I hate how confident they are with what they say. Like they’re almost proud of it. There’s no pain in their voices
They WERE proud of it. They often bragged about the torture to people in the neighborhood and she was an object of ridicule to almost everyone who came in contact with her.
It’s one of the most sickening things I’ve ever come across.
And how he tried to sound compassionate with the “we tried to give her food and she wouldn’t eat it”, as if she was making a choice. She couldn’t eat the food because she was so malnourished and couldn’t actually digest food. This is one of the most bizarre and stomach turning cases I’ve ever come across. All of these people were absolute monsters.
Cheap sensationalism.
That alone should have locked them permanently in a psych ward until they died...
It's easy for ppl to be brainwashed
it hurts to hear their voice. am i the only one? i just kept imagining them saying horrible things to sylvia in that god awful voice of theirs... i just cant STAND these people. hope they're burning in hell right now. just like they burned sylvia. may that poor little girl rest in peace.
I feel the same. Their obviously lying and its so clear it makes my ear ring and fill me with dread. I can easily hear how down right evil they'd have sounded to that poor girl!
Same I can’t believe anyone would do this to such a sweet young girl
She was lying
Obviously she was lying, no criminal ever admit of what they did or prison will be full of them. Just like criminals, she tried to blame someone else (her kids) to save herself. They're all demon in human skin. And it's their turn to be burned in hell.. FOREVER.
No remorse what so ever in their voices if I had come across this happening I'd shoot everyone of them they wouldn't have gone to court
Gertrude sacrificed her own children to save herself... trying to blame her own kids for everything. What an embarrasing excuse for a parent and a human being in general.
Gertrude Baniszewski tried to claim that she was insane and too sick to commit the unspeakable acts of violence upon Sylvia Likens.
They are all trash.
The kids won't worry about momma doing that. They're used to it and then some.
She's no human. She's a demon
"Well mostly because Gerty told me to", Yup this guy did not give a damn how Sylvia was tortured. He said it like he would do it even if "Gerty" didn't say so.
If Gerty told him to kill his mom, would he do that too?
@@it_is_thatboy he is selfish son of a bish
And didn’t that guy in this interview have a crush on Sylvia? and didn’t she turn him down?
“MOSTLY because Gerty told me to.” 🙄 Bullshit. He’s lying. If she had actually told him to do that, then he would be putting ALL the blame on her. Not just “most” of the blame.
Exactly
The thing that makes me cry the most is the fact that a lot of people knew about it and did nothing!!!! She had to feel no hope like the whole world was against her parents didn't even call or anything!! It's just so sad how many kids was involved kids are sooo cruel!
in wikipedia it is written that her parents knew and their 18 year old married sister also visited baniszewski house but did not call the police
Vaishali - Other versions of the story (I think I read the one at True Crime) say that the adult sister did show up to see her sisters but was turned away by Gertrude. A city/county nurse also showed up at the house for a welfare check and she was turned away as well. If that happened today the police would be called and they would have the legal right to enter the house without a search warrant based on imminent danger. This girl was failed by everyone in her life. Her parents failed her, her sister who lived in the house with her failed her, her adult sister who attempted to visit failed her, and the system that was set up to protect kids like her failed her.
It was a different time when it wasn't easy to contact people long distance I think it was expensive to call long distance they were traveling on the carnival circuit working to earn money for their family. They wrote letters and sent money. They had no idea. The girls collected some coke bottles to sell to get the money to use a pay phone to call their 18 year old sister, but she just told them to stop complaining and be good. She thought they were exaggerating. That's before they started locking Sylvia in the basement.
Divya Aaloori
The kid on this radio program that carved the words into her with a hot needle when he was 16 died at 21 of cancer. Gertrude also died of lung cancer but she was quite old when she died and had been free for 4 years and remarried before her death.
I agree with you, Nicely. The so-called parents &/ or adults in those years, usually chose to acknowledge this abuse of pure hell yet they wouldn't reach out to us, at least, to protect us as the children of those 60's. Surviving through my own torturous childhood, I had simply never forgave my own Aunts for not reaching out to protect even myself. I cut my life off from them instead. My dad was the only son & was raised with 5 sisters. They knew of his short fuse & violent nature. I never attend any of their funerals, starting with my dad's in 2012. Hell awaits each one of them.
The way Gertrude and Hobbs talk about this case sickens me. They talk about it like it's the the most normal thing you could do to a young girl!
Yeah I sense no feelings in their tone. It's like talking about some daily routine
She didn't deserve parole!!!!
she died 4 years after parole due to lung cancer
i am a cold hearted person but this thing and junko furuta torture haunts me
gertrude, if you ask me, deserved death penalty
I thought her og sentence was life wout parole? Sick thing is she was known as mom in prison
@@Drummerchick2003 She got a retrial and was sentenced to 18years - life, Paula got her charge/sentence reduced as well I think. Mind you Gertie got lung cancer and was terminally ill I think so the prison decided to just let her go instead of trying to treat her.
false! her parents were sending letters and Gertrude wasn't telling them!
What this girl went through was so horrible that it's hard not to wonder yourself" why would someone do something like that???" I'm sure Gertrude, Paula, Ricky Hoobs and the others who participated on this crime were all jealous of Sylvia. She had everything Gertie wanted: she was young, pretty, pure, basically everything she wanted to be so they used the " oh your parents don't sent the money this week." As an excuse to start the horror against Sylvia.
and when they were saying all those bad things about her as she was getting beaten day and day out she lost the ability to think for herself. it was like Ellen Page said in an Interview about this movie;" when there's constant abuse day and day out you lose the ability to be relative. it becomes normal and you starts justifying it because other people are justifying it." so she was believing it and justifying it and while she was screaming for help and hoping someone would come and save her, the whole neighborhood ignored and treated this case as" something we don't want to get involved. it's none of our business." i wonder how they lived knowing somehow they helped to kill a teenage girl when they could easily call the police. the whole society failed Sylvia, she was asking for help but nobody listened and neither cared about her.
The neighbors who heard the daily screaming and chose to do nothing should have been arrested also. Screaming like that means you are being tortured. Any human knows that.
@@priscillacagle4206 i agree
I watched The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum a long time ago and it haunted me so bad and I cried terribly. Later I was watching a tutorial and she was telling a story that sounded just like thar movie. So I looked it up and found out it was the movie I saw was made about Sylvia Likens. Then I watched a movie about it again after hearing it was about Sylvia called American Crime you're talking about. They made about it as well and it is sooo sad!! So incredibly heartbreaking.
Where can I find the interview where Elliot is talking about the case? I can’t find it on UA-cam
@@claracompoete9049 here: www.comingsoon.net/movies/features/18519-keener-page-on-an-american-crime
It's an Interview with him and Katherine keener in 2007.
Is anyone else weirded out that he says all of this just so casually... like he had just come back from summer camp and the interviewer asked him how his weekend was going.
Because he was a psychopath
Belle Clementi yes & also how Gertrude says “ well my own daughter hit her so there you go” ... just like matter of fact & no big deal “.. like it’s an everyday occurrence. SMH 🤦♀️... 😞.
Yes it the thing that gets me also, that these people were so un-remorseful and after prison they got to go on get married/partners and breed, i just hope their kids were brought up alright and they have not breed this mentality and behvaiour into their own children, personaly i think they should have never have been let out of prison until they understood what they did to slyvie, no matter how many years it took, RIP Sweet Slyvie xxxx
It also strikes me and always will, their attitude about hitting slyvie in jaw, breaking wrists, branding etc is so matter of fact and said so normal that it hides BIGGER abuse and somthing worse, i believe sexual abuse, that they are avoiding.
When they put slyvie in the bath, it was a COLD bath which started her breathing.
It would be foolish to believe that after they sexual abused slyvie by making her use a bottle in front o fthose boys that they didnt do alot worse to her.
Exactly, I just read the case on murderpedia, this guy is cool and calm like telling a night time fairy tale to a baby.
That's what psychopath doin
I wonder how any of them could live with themselves, knowing that they murdered that sweet and innocent child. They are sick!
They literally all got karma in the end
From what I heard that the young kid John he took responsibility for what he did while Hobbs what he did finally dawned on him became a heavy smoker that’s why he got & died of cancer at a young age the justice system may have failed Sylvia but karma did the rest
Most of them don’t have a consciences
@@specialwave3521 everyone dies , not everyone is tortured so idk how you see that as equal .Even if she was alive today , I'm sure she would have a lot of psychological trauma if untreated at psychiatric rehabilitation facilities .
@@x00x53 The person who directly started it , in the end felt very bad and ended up being compassionate to Sylvia in her last days , she even tried helping her escape unfortunately Sylvia only got as far the the front door from the underground basement.
I was only 5 when it happened. I Have NEVER Forgotten Her .... I Still Shed Tears for Her. Just Unbelievable. It was Then and still is Now. The Horror of It All ........ (No One Could Escape This Horrible Tragedy ... Not Even a Child. It Consumed Indianapolis!)
You know paula is still alive, i really hope someone captures her and tortures her.
@@blackglasses356 You know something? I do too!! I think that the EXACT same thing should be done to her! I wasn't around when this happened but if she had been my sister or daughter & I found out what they were doing to her, I WOULD'VE HIRED & PAID SOMEBODY TO BURN & TORTURE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM, from Gertrude & Paula all the way down to 8 year old Marie/Shirley Ann or whoever was the fucking youngest & took part in it!! And THEN I would shell out more money to have somebody go after & torture ALL of the neighborhood kids who had ALSO participated in this!! The 3rd step taken would be for me to pay to have some hits done on the neighborhood ADULTS who HEARD Sylvia's screams & cries on a daily basis, but DID NOTHING about it ! The last step would be for me to then pay to have somebody go after the PARENTS of the neighborhood kids who tortured Sylvia, explain to them about WHY they no longer have a son/daughter, & then have somebody beat & torture the living shit of them for NOT RASING their kids right!!
@@kelleyannethomas5372 yeah i agree, im not sure about the little kids, but pretty sure everyone from them that was teen or older should have known what they were doing, and should be punished. That said im not trying to excuse even the kids for what they did. Also there is a similar case to this, junko furuta case, check it out if you want
@@blackglasses356She actually got fired from her teaching job when people found out who she was. Karma DOES come back around.
Did you know them
Well our school just found out that after Paula got sentenced to 3 years in prison. Afterwards she changed her name and came to Iowa. She was our counselors aid but now that the school district knows she has been suspended. Nobody knows if she's coming back or not. She has worked at our school for 14 years and nobody has known till this week.
Faeries_Xylia 923 what did she do?
Did you meet her? I would've said so many nasty things to her.
14 years omg 😥😥😔😔
@@naifalruzog9135 She tortured an Innocent girl along with letting the neighborhood kids and her family join in
When tf did you go to school? bc she died in 1990?
I was 16 when I read this story and it wasn’t easy reading about a girl my age who was tortured and killed mercilessly and never got to live to see 17. I’m glad she’s no longer suffering and can enjoy a peaceful afterlife with her family
I was too
Same
@empty In a way she only didn't but Jenny tried her best, Idk what more you'd expect from Jenny as she was 15, limped and wasn't the bravest girl .
@@wack8697 jenny had polio she was 15 what would you expect from a defenseless 15 year old I'm pretty sure they told her if she told anyone she would get that treatment don't blame her she was scared
@@wack8697 ohh I mean who wouldn't they were all jealous of Silvia she was pretty young and pure and those Fuckers deserve what she got but 100x worse
Ricky Hobbs had remorse afterwards to. He just didn’t go public about it. Hobbs suffered a nervous breakdown after his release from in 1968. It was because he realized the weight and pain of his crimes. And because of the guilt of what he did to Sylvia and the nervous breakdown, he began chain-smoking. He was diagnosed with lung cancer by aged 20 (1970-1971). He then died of it on Jan 2, 1972 at the age of 21. And I do firmly believe it was karma from the universe since justice couldn’t be served. It’s sad but he deserved it and I hope he’s rotting in hell for what he did whether he felt guilt or not.
Absolutely disgusting!!! RIP Sylvia Likens.
It's very difficult for me to feel forgiveness and/or sympathy for Gertrude and these other youngsters that tortured this angel girl to death. I'm a Christian but even I find that very hard to do. I'm also mad as hell that it's taxpayers that pay for criminals like Gertrude to live after they're convicted. There should be no death row, only a death march from the courthouse to the chamber. Our society is overrun with vermin like this. We kill rats for less.
"There should be no death row, only a death march from the courthouse to the chamber." i agree 100%
She was dying of cancer and the prison didn't want to spend the money to treat her for it.
So true. What an outstanding statement.
I AGREE with you.
Lately remembered the movie "An american crime" and started looking up the real incident after which it was inspired and holy.
Mind you this is not like middle ages but an age where most young adult's parents were alive.
And they were a bunch of kids who went to school and church and none, not a single one, did anything against it.
Clear lack of empathy and none deserved to walk any amount of length outside of a prison.
It he first movie made about it was The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum. I watched it a long ago time ago and it haunted me so bad and I cried terribly. The next movie I saw about it was what you're talking about American Crime and it is sooo sad!! So incredibly heartbreaking.
At least the kids admitted to what they did, unlike Gertrude. The gall she had to place blame on everyone but herself - none of this would probably have happened if she hadn't instigated,encouraged and manipulated the situation. Gertrude, being the adult, was the most responsible. Apparently, a lot has not become public knowledge of this case at trial, so the kids may have gotten the blame for what Gertrude did. Also, at the time "abuse" was not talked about or reported. Sad.
Are you for real??? AT LEAST THE KIDS ADMITTED WHAT THEY DID ??
WOW !! The evil little bastards like the young MAN ! in this , says all I did was punch her 15 times , all I did was ? All I DID WAS ?? he sees no wrong in what he did and how sick and evil he was to do it . If I am not mistaken he was 15 or 17 !!! Anyone that shows this kind of behavior at that age is a psychopath . Any one of them kids could have run away or told someone what was happening. They didn’t get beat into doing it , infact ! the daughter Paula was the one who started it all !! BORN EVIL!! TO AN EVIL WOMAN !! THERE WAS NO JUSTICE FOR THAT POOR GIRL !!! THE MOTHER SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN RELEASED FROM PRISON!! AND THE DAUGHTER ONLY DONE 1 year 😤 just disgusting😡
MC Stephanie did, Paula never has. Stephanie actually testified against her family during the trial.
"Gerty's" voice you can tell she is trying really hard to explain it away almost flippantly as to appear innocence, and her quiver in her voice she's terrified. They're both full of lies and evil, pure evil.
Davi jones she kinda sounds like she’s been inconvenienced.... like Sylvia was a burden. Her voice doesn’t even sound evil... she’s just a liar. That Ricky Hobbs sounds very stoic & cold like he doesn’t care what he did to her like he’s under Gerdy’s spell & would do anything she wanted.
@@beaky3178 Individuals suffering through brainwash or psychopathic tendency often times show lack of empathy. 1 in five people are said to be a psychopath and some of which are entrepreneurs, and are very successful. This is proven by University study and fact. I am saying that these people show classic signs of what we classify as "character profiling"
She is trying to sound inconvenienced as a front as if this whole affair had nothing to do with her. Yet, the people saw through her. Her ability to play that off to some may work but, when you've worked around it as long as I have you see through it. The boy can be showing early traits as well, and was easily manipulated due to the brain still in stage of cerebral and frontal cortex development. Which is why cases now amongst teen-age to young adult individuals has been undergoing study and changes in the way cases and charges are handled against individuals, respectively. IF he had been within the court system today perhaps he would've been given different sentencing. Anyway food for thought.
Davi jones True .... good info.
@Lord Frieza have to say first love the name tag!
eh it was #s for the average psycho neighbor not killer, lol though we should consider being armed now with how things are going! Lol jk
@@davijones2369 they were manipulated not brainwashed bro.
This crime has scarred me more than reading about Nazi experiments during WW2
Sweet Sylvia, I'm sorry sorry what happened to you.
No matter what Sylvia may have done, it could not have been bad enough to warrant such evil treatment. That poor child. May she rest in peace.
It's one thing for an abusive parent to abuse a kid. It's a whole other level when the kids willingly decide to join their abusive parent in the abuse for fun. Utterly sadistic and hellish.
When I heard that Gertrude was literally charging the neighborhood kids 5 cents to abuse Sylvia I did not think it could be real. Oh but it is real. Sickening.
Pure demonic energy
Unfortunately a lot of the kids thought they were punishing her since corporal punishment wasn’t uncommon back then
this case infuriates me to no end, just knowing the horrendous torture of Sylvia by that pack of demons, how preventable it was in hindsight. She was failed by so many... and justice wasn't even duly served in my opinion. with something like this, I wish time travel existed and we could go back and save her
John Baniszewski who was 12 at the time is the ONLY person involved out of everyone who ever expressed remorse for his part in the crime and made a public statement admitting his part and expressing remorse.,
Lisa G Conveniently because he got a short sentence.
@@ButterflyQueene07 I wouldn't say that bc many of them had either very short sentences or got no jail time at all and still had no remorse. He could have to feel bad for what happened, he is the only one who never hid his action and was out and opened about his involvement. However, for me it doesn't really matter if he felt bad at what happened or not. I believe rape and murder are the most inhumane things a person can ever do. John enjoyed brutally beaten and assaulting Sylvia till death and encourage other ppl to do. So for me, his apologies are bullshit even if he feels bad for what happened. He killed an innocent girl and no remorse or apology would bring her back to life.
@@sailorsister211 EXACTLY. I don't fucking give two shits about whether those monsters are feeling remorse or something. What they did will never be accepted
The actor they had play Johnny looked like a little boy. When watching the movie I would think “wow he looks so little and young to be doing that kind of harm” but the actual Johnny looked older than 12 and he looked really evil.
Incorrect. Prior to his death, he had also 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".
this is hands down the worst case i have come across and i am a true crime fanatic.. the level of evil in this makes me so angry because if only ONE person had bothered to actually react like a human she would have avoided so much i hope the sister managed to recover despite what she saw her sister go through.
Tell tale sign of a psychopath: they say ''uhhhh'' or ''ummm'' a lot. Because they're trying to conjure up ways to fool you.
No one deserves to be put thru this no one deserves this it was said once by Candice Long /delong? on Deadly Women that she believed that Sylvia took the beating and everything else to make sure that her sister Jenny didn't get hurt Jenny had polio and i am thinking it effected her one leg and Sylvia gave her life to save her sister
I wish this was an interview with Sylvia talking about her surviving. About how she's married with children now and she's healed.
I read the book and cried through most of it. Couldn’t figure out why her parents left her and her sister with someone they didn’t know. No back ground check, references nothing. They should have work somewhere their girls could be with them.
Yeah the parents don't get enough blame. I'm sorry but their one job was to protect their children. The parents came into town a couple weeks before her murder and the girls didn't tell them anything. Why? They knew their parents wouldn't protect them.
This was not 2020s… times were very different. What we consider neglect or abuse now was not societally recognized as so. Regardless of their “neglect”. They worked to provide $$$ to the caretakers. And they wrote letters. They were carnival workers and could not stop in nor did they have Skype or facetime. They did not condone this and did not deserve this blame. There was no registry - and a background check would not have mattered - she had no priors
Wow, at first she said "that girl" she couldn't even say her name unroll later in the interview
We love you Sylvia. No matter what they said we truly love you.
the way he said “all i did” as if it lightens his actions towards that poor girl, may these people rot and sylvia rest in peace
Hear Gertrude stutter and lie when asked why didnt she call the cops.....
This is complete BS. Gertrude knew Sylvia was going to die and expected it. She wanted to dump her in the woods before she died so they wouldn't get blamed
After hearing about this case, it doesn't completely shock me about how all this went unreported, in those times people had a strange mindset of "minding their own business" and keeping things hush, but I do wonder why the poor girl never ran away or told the police herself, didn't tell her school teacher or a friends parents etc. She just endured it all. Poor soul.
It was to do with in earlier times(much earlier ,centuries earlier ) , when assassinations were much more common , that made the people gradually then pick up that trait .
Sylvia did try to run away. From what I read somewhere, she did it a few days before she died, but Gertrude caught her.
It sends a chill down my spine how they can talk about it the way they do.
You can hear Gertrude lying in her testamony. And even in Richard Hobbs voice as well. Karma is a bitch though because Richard died of cancer at 21 only a few years after this. And Gertrude died of cancer herself after she was unfortunately released from prison.
their lack of remorse is fucking sick!!!
at 2:38 it sounds like Hobbs is about to admit that he carried Sylvia up from the basement. He stumbles over his words in order to get his story "straight". I'll bet you anything that Sylvia died in the basement and he carried her up and she was cold and dead and prolly had emptied bowels and bladder. I bet they tried to warm her up and clean her in a warm bath in a pathetic attempt to make it appear the as less horrific as they could.
I'm pretty sure that's what was done to Joseph August Zarelli in the Boy in the Box case too.
You are right! She was already dead 💔
I can't fathom the concept of doing all these horrible things to a kid, let alone a sweet, little girl like her !
I live across the street on New York. We still honor her on her bday. We love you Sylvia!
She didnt refuse to eat food, she literally couldn't eat it because she was that dehydrated a
and malnourished. RIP SYLVIA LIKENS
Incredible awesome quality But still so horrible what happened to poor Sylvia and it's sickening how they talk about it like it's no big deal.
1:14 dude automatically says “no”, hes basically trained himself to lie immediately when asked about what he did.
Am I the oy one who got chills listening to Gertrude's voice?Like damn,she did some horrinle stuff,it really disturbs me to listen to her voice.
Teodora Bonciu im with you bro. I panicked the first time, actually. Probably just a psychological thing.
stig16 omg me toooo! She sounds as sick as she looked!
Destina Cihan i hate the woman and don't even know her
4crazy1chick2 Her actions are beyond crazy.
Destina Cihan yeah she's a fat worthless piece of crap. She's the true definition of evil.
The fact that those pathetic creatures almost got away with it maybe sickens me the most.
They got off too easily. I hope they lived with the guilt and the nightmares. If they didn’t they are totally inhuman. They should’ve been put on death row or tortured way worst. This is by far the most horrific crime I have ever heard. It breaks my heart.
Read about what happened to Kelly Anne Bates. Just as bad, if not worse.
I hate, hate, HATE how none of them served their FULL sentences as they SHOULD HAVE. Complete BS.
its awful
it makes me feel sick just listening to them, Sylvia didn't deserve any
of this, I hope she's at rest now and she can finally get away from the
torture they put her through for so long.
Gertrude Baniszewski was 36 and 37 years old when she tortured, murdered the innocent, defenseless Sylvia Likens. Serial killers almost always start murdering before their mid-30s, so it’s unlikely that Sylvia Likens was her first victim, let alone her only victim. That means that she slaughtered more children both before meeting Sylvia Likens and after she was paroled in 1985, children who have never been recovered and/or identified.
This is fucking ridiculous. Everything is Gertrude's fault and you know what, I feel so bad for her kids. They come from a time where adults knew everything and you had to listen to them no matter what. Whatever their mother said, they did. It's so fucking sad those sick bastards. So many ways this could have been prevented. The face that she got a new identity, new home and new JOB after she got out after having 40,000 signatures protesting is outrageous. They did not do fucking justice.
stranger1234 , them kids were young adults you twat 👊🏼😤 he talks like what he did was no big deal !! Unfortunately for them they were born into being made into psychopaths!! In fact !! It was Paula who started it all because she was sleeping around and got pregnant and blamed the name calling she got on Sylvia!!! So they all took it out on her !!! They didn’t get beat into doing them sick things and could have told someone. They were 15 and 17 !!!! Old enough to run away or say FUCK U MOTHER!! I AINT DOIN THAT AS ITS SICK !! And as for a time we’re adults new everything??? My mother was one of 10 children back in them days and not one of those kids ever done anything to hurt anyone!!! AS FOR THE VERY YOUNG CHILDREN, well maybe they have had a narrow escape from being twisted into turning out like there older brother and sister!! NO JUSTICE WAS SERVED FOR THIS YOUNG GIRL !! HEART BREAKING FOR HER !!
Pauline started a lot of it though. It was because Pauline was sleeping with a married man and got pregnant and then they Gertrude and Pauline were being verbally nasty to Sylvia about the checks being late, so then Sylvia told another girl Pauline was a prostitute that was already pregnant. It was true Paula was pregnant but then Pauline was furious and broke Sylvia's arm and told her mother Sylvia had ruined her reputation so then Gertrude started the whole thing about Sylvia being the real prostitute and the one that was pregnant but the autopsy said Sylvia was a virgin.
stranger1234 I never knew that I saw this story few times in different program s but I assumed she got prison for long time and if not it a disgrace
@@clairebyrne4300 she only spent 20 years in prison.
No
My understanding is that Gertrude never expressed any empathy for Sylvia or any remorse for her own actions. She never said she was sorry. All she did was to ask for pity for herself.
Timberwolf128 She actually did say she was sorry during an interview when she asked for mercy but it's still doesn't do shit.
I was haunted by the Sylvia Likens tragedy and read everything I could about it -- factual and fictional -- for the chapter about her in my book "The Bloodied and the Broken."
I know Richard has done wrong but at least he's got the balls to say what happened. Unlike Gertrude who lied. He came clean and admitted what he had done. Gertrude just sat there and was like this "and uh" "uh and" like c'mon its so obvious she's lying. Because if she didn't do all that to Sylvia she wouldn't be sitting there like "uh". I saw the movie a couple of days ago "the girl next door" which is based on this story by the way and it was horrible at the start when it said "based on a true story" I was like oh god. So I couldn't help to look it up. Poor Sylvia. RIP. And Meg who acted in the film....
Impo Remix Still, he felt no remorse. He was only sorry he got caught and that his life was ruined.
@@ButterflyQueene07 well actually he did have a nervous breakdown after prison, and he lived with guilt for 7 years until his own death at age 21
Mary V lmao what guilt? when asked did he feel bad about what he done to Sylvia, he said “what difference does that make”? He literally said he didn’t care about her until she died.
There is no shame in their voice….at all 😳
That's a total lie Gertrude made right there. I mean how do you explain she was found guilty of everything including the testimonies every one of those people have said bout them and her?
And then she’s still guilty if her story was true because she was complicit in the pain and suffering of Sylvia.
I feel sick to hear that monsters voice in 2017 pure evil and the boys are horrible they raped her makes me ill to my belly rot in hell I blame her dad for being a fool and not paying attention to his own kids worried about a circus
Cherry Berry he’d done this thing all her life. I feel terrible for the parents, seeing all that was done. Hearing about it from their love daughter who witnessed it.
If you don't believe that there is pure evil in this world you're kidding yourself
I FEEL SO BAD FOR HER BUT SYLVIA IS IN HEAVEN NOW
yeah . and gertde and the other are on hell row
Just saw this terrible story from Lamont and how many of those people were ever allowed out of prison... I will never understand.
I'm shocked that women never got the death penalty for what she did to that poor innocent girl
I really doubt he gave Sylvia artificial respirations.😳
do you think
The influence a bad mother can have on her own children. Their ending from all this backfired on them. The mother died just 5 yrs after prison time. Her daughter Paula or whatever her name is got fired from a teaching job and no whereabouts from her. One of the son died at 21 of cancer. Im not sure of the rest. This is horrible what they did. Ugly people is what they are. All had black hearts thanks to their wicked mother
ive always wanted to set a voice on gertrude, you know i read so much about what she did to sylvia. ive read comments about gertrude and ive just always wanted to hear gertrude to set a voice on sylvias murder. its hard to explain.
They all died relatively young of diseases like lung cancer, cardiac arrest etc .. Good thing that karma takes good care of those kinds of monsters. Rot in hell...!!!
Ah, so not only was Baniszewski a hypocrite, a sadist and a murderer, she was also a coward! Putting ALL the blame on her kids and pleading insanity during the trial... My God, if you're gonna carry out such horrendous acts against another person, AT LEAST own up to it! It really makes me sick to hear the actual woman's voice.
Thanks very much for the upload - somehow hearing the actual voices of the people involved makes what happened seem all the more real to me.
I feel so bad that even her sister's husband died ! RIP little girl, don't worry God will heal all your wounds in heaven and you will never feel pain again.
Wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people because of her father 's negligence.
They sound like they don't care they have no heart R.I.P syl💗
At least she is remembered and cared about now.
Richard died of lung cancer 42 years ago
No remorse at all in their voices. They deserved to go through everything poor Sylvia had to endure. They talk about it so casually it's like their talking about what they had for dinner and not a horrific case of abuse. These people show why not everyone deserves mercy or forgiveness
How the fuck can he be so calm in admitting to all that? Like what the fuck was the world back in them days? I know they're still fucked up things happen in the world these days but there was so many people that knew about the torturing of the poor girl & did absolutely nothing? Even her sister didn't believe her when told about it.. Mind boggling
It's like this weirdo didn't think anything they did was wrong until he realised she was going to die then he decides the right thing to do is give her mouth to mouth and try to revive her and once she's dead to call the police. Bizare.
He's lying, it was Stephanie who tried to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and wanted to give her a warm bath, whilst that sadistic excuse for a human Gertrude was screeching in the background about Sylvia faking playing dead. He wasn't even present at the time of her death in the home. There's no sense of 'doing the right thing' for these people, they are pure evil.
The fact that she was dead for 8-12hr by the time the police came
Too bad Jenny decided to talk to the police the day Sylvia died. If she talked to them early on, poor Sylvia's death could have been prevented.
Jenny was threatened by Gertrude and would've been tortured next if she did.
TheEternalServant bs the police would of raided the place,rescued sylvia and arrested everyone in that house if she cared enough to call the police to save her sister.
Princess Pai The phone in the Baniszewski house didn't work and the neighbourhood kids would notice Jenny walking around near the payphone and would probably report to Gertrude. Sylvia didn't want Jenny to suffer the same torture she suffered from.
TheEternalServant Your slow af.
Obviously she could use the school phone.
Have the school call her parents and the cops.
You probably defending her because you would do the same thing.
Watch your family get tortured and act like it's nothing since its not you getting killed.
Princess Pai You clearly don't understand. You do realise that Gertrude's kids go to the same school as Jenny and can report on their mother at any moment right? If you really want to respect Sylvia, realise that Sylvia volunteered to take much of the abuse and torture to save her sister. (fyi she did tell someone. That person was Diana, her sister, who in turn called social services but evil Gertrude misled the social services).
Gertrude was the one that broke her nose with that brass pipe that was used for the curtains when she was trying to make her eat and Sylvia told her I can't I cannot eat anything
Amazing!
Far can the human mind?
I have amazed the coldness with speakers including two
even iceman would cry
It makes me sick to listen to Hobbs. He sounds almost proud of what he did and definitely not remorseful. Gertrude sounds really young and not what I was expecting at all... except for her words. Ugh.
Today is the 55 anniversary of her murder. Rip poor angle.
sylvia died in october not may
Zoe anne-That's correct! (I think maybe circa 10/16/65).
May was the month where she was boarded by the B's and when all of this tragic story started.
Kelley Anne Thomas October 26th
Yup
I read that John was the only one who didn’t change his name and the only one to ever apologize and take responsibility. I wish someone would have done an interview with him. Even though he was 12, he looked older in his picture I saw and he looked evil.
There is a 1998 interview with John that you can find online. It’s just the transcript no video.
@@LJ-hh9wk thank you! I will look it up
@@LJ-hh9wk are there any interviews with Shirley and Marie?
@@angelothehorrorfan5013 i got the same question
I feel bad for Gertrude's kids for the younger ones, but not for paula and stephanie they were older and they liked to tortured her, Stephanie not but she let that coward boyfriend to beat Sylvia
The way they’re talking about it like it’s normal and happens all the time makes me wanna THROW. UP.
Because for them it was normal. Pretty the jackas talking is the kid who called the police and then went home to watch a popular TV show. Everyone of them belongs in prison for life.
I never knew about this until someone recommend 'the girl next door' movie and i came across sylvia's story. This is so heartbreaking i burst into tears after reading it 😭 May her soul rest in peace.
Except that this movie was only inspired by the torments she faced , watch an American crime to know the real story
She was released because of good conduct! Why did they bother to put her in jail if she was going to be free? I guess justice doesn't exist
when i read this or hear about this i just cry, its so sad i dont understand how and one can hurt a child like this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm 15 and even tho , I also have a little fear of some adults especially ugly intimidating looking ones like the one with a face like that . I would've held my ground, and reported this incident .
And truth, what Gertruda and Richard were lovers?
Why was she even trying to deny it? The evidence was all there!
What’s the evidence
@@naifalruzog9135 (Firstly, I haven't watched the video in a while, and can't as I'm writing this, so sorry if I say anything that's in the interview.)
As far as I know, there wasn't actually any physical evidence to prove that Gertrude specifically abused Sylvia (obviously Sylvia had been tortured, but how can you prove Gertrude was involved?). However, Jenny (Sylvia's sister) witnessed the majority, if not all, of the abuse and told the police about Gertrude's involvement. Other children who were involved also spoke about Gertrude's involvement. Marie, one of Gertrude's daughters, said that she had seen Gertrude and Paula abuse Sylvia the most. Also, Gertrude's story just never made sense. She changed it multiple times, but even the most plausible one about how she was depressed and couldn't control her kids is ridiculous. Even if I believed her (trust me, I don't), it wouldn't explain why she didn't try to stop them or get Sylvia proper medical help, so she's never innocent no matter which way you look at it.
(Also, I just realized that what I've written sounds kind of condescending, it's not meant to be. At first I assumed that you were asking about evidence because you thought she wasn't guilty, but you're probably just asking because you're genuinely curious, sorry 😅)
Ohhh my god... My spine is shivering can't control my bladder.. I was unable to walk upto wash room... I am feeling pain in my whole body... My god what kind of brutality she had gone through...
@Joshua Haynes.. 😭😭😭😭😭
Does anyone know if Jenny Likens has ever given an interview?
Not to my knowledge
This interview gives me the chills sence it was a long time ago hearing the lady's name i don't remember how to spell
I don't believe she ever did I really can't be for sure but I don't think she ever did
I still think its shame what happened to Sylvia back then she never deserved that to happen to her
I don’t know how you could stand by and not get help for your own sister. I don’t care what anyone threatened me with. What’s wrong with these people? And only 20 years for Gertrude? She should have died behind prison bars. All of them should. Anyone who knew or took part in her murder should never see the light of day. I can’t believe none of these people are still behind bars or only served the time they did. There’s black people in jail for life for selling drugs and then you have these people who got to walk free. I can’t understand any of it. And that daughter Paula had the audacity to go on to be a counselors assistant?! YOU MURDERED A GIRL! How dare you think you should be involved in the counseling of anyone!!
You must think a little bit,if Jenny die,no one go know about the truth story because the police begin to believe in that when Jenny told the storie
actually, as far as i saw, jenny really did try and get help. she escaped the torture and told the neighbours that her sister required medical intervention
Idk what's worse, Gertrude trying to lie and let the kids take the blame or the fact that those kids talk about hurting sylvia with absolutely no remorse. The justice system failed, all these monsters sshoulve rotted in prison
Anyone know where Gertrude’s and Hobbs graves are? I gotta take a shit and piss and it would be nice to have some where to go
This story had always made me sad. The fact Gerty lied is disgusting. She is a foul evil woman. It is also sad how she almost got away. That is most heartbreaking.
Gertrude should of never been released from prison.. What a liar, saying she never did anything to Sylvia.. The fact that no one helped her disgusts me..
Actually if you read the story online you would have known that Jenny was threatened to not act smart otherwise she would receive the same treatment as Sylvia. Sylvia and Jenny met their older sister Diana in the park and Sylvia told her about the treatment she was receiving but unfortunately Diana brushed it off as Sylvia hated the idea of getting punished
@@arianacabello93 And I have read the story online already. I wasn't talking about her sisters. I read that Sylvia's screams and cries for help were heard but ignored. Many people also knew what was actually happening, but didn't do anything to help. What you had written in your reply is also something I already know.
@@yournightmare8630 ok I thought you didn't know. Ya the neighbours were aware about the abuse but they chose to ignore it because it's not "their problem"