Indiana vs Baniszewski

How it happened

• Gertrude ordered some of the kids to help her get Sylvia upstairs to help bathe her.
• Gertrude was the only person in the bathroom.
• Some of the kids heard some noises and went inside the bathroom to find out what it was.

"He that will live in peace and at ease must not speak all he knows or all he sees."

-Benjamin Franklin-

everything

Jenny stated...

When the cops got there

"get me out of here and I will tell you "

returned home and saw that Sylvia wasn't breathing

She ordered someone to call the cops

Stephanie

The girls moved into the Baniszewski household

The first few weeks, went fine...

Paula and Sylvia become great friends

Paula confided in Sylvia

Once Gertrude heard of the news, she let Paula "punish" Sylvia

Back when Sylvia and

Paula were good friends

Her punishment for the crime was to stick a bottle inside her

She burned Sylvia

The girls find a note from their parents

A few weeks later....

Sylvia was deemed a

"bad influence"

Gertrude ordered Coy (Stephanie's boyfriend) and Ricky (a neighbor kid) to throw Sylvia into the basement

The

Basement

• The kids were instructed to tell everyone that Sylvia was sent to juvenile
• The neighborhood kids began coming over to help aid in Sylvia's "punishment"
• They would burn her, kick her, throw scorching hot water on her.

It became a

"game"

First Children

First set of fraternal twins

Born 1947

Diana and

Daniel

Lived with their father Lester Likens

Benny

Lived with their

mother Betty Likens

In all, 10 people were being charged with the torture and death of Sylvia Likens

Jenny

Born 1951

One of the youngest

Fraternal Twin is Benny

• Born September 19th, 1929
• She was born 3rd out of 6 children
• At the age of 10, Gertrude witnessed her father dying from a heart attack.

Gertrude

and

Baniszewski

• At the age of 16, Gertrude dropped out of high school to marry Deputy John Baniszewski.
• Together, they had 6 children
• John had a violent and abusive temper. After 10 years of marriage, the 2 decided to divorce.

Sylvia

abandoning

Shortly after moving in, they had a son together.

At the age of 34, and with 6 children, Gertrude moved into a house with Dennis Lee Wright

As soon as the baby was born, Dennis disappeared, Gertrude with her 6 children and new infant son.

The oldest Baniszewski kids

Born January 3rd, 1949

The middle child

Used to work as a babysitter and ironer

Paula

The oldest Baniszewski child

The Likens

In of

JULY

1965

Jenny and Sylvia Likens met a couple of girls and became friends very quickly.

Stephanie

Mr. Likens was in town visiting and when he went looking for his girls, someone told him they saw the girls at the Baniszewski house.

first

This is the time Mr.Likens met Gertrude Baniszewski

The second oldest

Mr. and Mrs. Likens' job were requiring them to travel again.

After meeting Gertrude, for the first time, Mr. Likens asked Gertrude to watch the girls for only a couple months.

Gertrude agreed, for $20 dollars a month.

John "Johnny"

The third oldest

The Baniszewski's

The Baby Baniszewski's

Marie

Betty and Lester

Shirley

Together they had 5 children

Although still married, the two were separated and the kids were split up between the 2 households.

They worked with a carnival and spend a lot of time traveling

Likens

James

Dennis Lee jr.

Gertrude, Paula, Stephanie, and Johnny Baniszewski

as well as Richard "Ricky" Hobbs (neighbor) and Coy Hubbard

They were all facing life in prison without parole

Sylvia Likens Story

State of Indiana

vs. Baniszewski

Stephanie Baniszewski was later released

on part because she testified against her mother

and never actually hurt Sylvia and tried to help her

Sentenced Unknown

Mike Monroe

speak up."

Sentenced Unknown

Anna Siscoe

Now is the time to

"Don't bite your tongue any longer.

"Had someone of said something, anything, things could have been different for Sylvia"

-Betty Likens-

Sentenced Unknown

Judy Duke

Sentenced Unknown

Randy Lepper

Speak Up

Released

Stephanie

Baniszewski

for "good behavior"

Served 14 years

Gertrude

Baniszewski

She was sentenced to life in prison

Served 2 years

Paula

Baniszewski

Served 2 years

Richard Hobbs

She was released after only spending 14 years behind bars

After filing for a re-trail, Paula was sentenced to 21 years in prison.

She served only 2 years before being released

Paula gave birth to a baby girl, while behind bars

While in prison, Gertrude became known as the house "mom"

After filing for a re-trail, Gertrude was found guilty

Severed 2 years

Johnny

Baniszewski

Served 2 years

Coy Hubbard

Johnny, Coy and Ricky were sentenced to

21 years in prison. They all only served 2

and were released.