Sylvia Likens Death: Who Put A Glass Of Soda In Her Vagina?

This article goes into sometimes gruesome detail on murder, sexual violence, humiliation, and child abuse. Everything you need to know about Sylvia Likens Death.

The third child of Lester and Elizabeth Likens was born on January 3, 1949, and her name was Sylvia Marie. She had two sets of twins who were older, Dianna and Daniel, and two sets of twins who were younger, Jenny and Benny.

In 1965, Sylvia had just turned sixteen. She adored the Beatles and roller skating. Sylvia, who lost her front teeth in an accident with her brother, had long, wavy brown hair and a cheerful smile. She was known as “Cookie” by her relatives.

Jenny, Sylvia’s younger sister, had a lame leg from polio, and Sylvia took care of her. She adored taking Jenny to the skating rink with the cash she earned from babysitting. Jenny was able to skate with the other children because Sylvia secured one skate to her hardworking foot and held her hand.

Paula and Stephanie Baniszewski were introduced to Sylvia in 1965 at Arsenal Technical High School. The mother of Sylvia was detained for shoplifting on June 3, 1965. Lester would typically bring the boys and sell concessions at fairs, but he was unable to bring his daughters. Lester made the choice to send Sylvia and Jenny to live with Gertrude because the Likens and Baniszewski girls got along. He agreed to provide them with board and care for $20 a week. Gertrude pledged to treat the girls like her own children.

On September 19, 1928, Gertrude Baniszewski (née Von Fossan) was born. At the age of 16, she wed John Stephan Baniszewski. Together, the couple has four kids. After John started hitting Gertrude, she filed for divorce ten years later.

She married Edward Guthrie a few weeks later. He also proved to be abusive, and they got divorced shortly after. After divorcing once more, Gertrude remarried her first husband, had two more children, and so on.

After that, Gertrude met Dennis Lee Wright, then 22 years old, and the two were unmarried when they had Dennis Jr. in 1965. Dennis left Gertrude and the child behind. Despite never seeing a dime, she sued him for paternity.

By 1965, Gertrude was a frail, chain-smoking single mother of seven who was paying $55 a month to live in squalor at 3850 East New York Street in Indianapolis, Indiana.

As promised, the Baniszewski family initially showed Sylvia and Jenny kindness. The females from Likens and Baniszewski passed their time singing hit songs and talking about boys.

Children from the neighbourhood would come and go as they pleased from the Baniszewski home. They were able to get away with doing things that their parents wouldn’t. Before Gertrude’s eyes, smoking, drinking, and bawdy sex chat took place.

Her sixth miscarriage had just occurred during Gertrude’s 13th pregnancy. She looked older than her 31 years and was exhausted. In addition to already having a lot on her plate, the 17-year-old was also pregnant.

Shirley, 10, Sylvia, 11, and Jimmy Baniszewski, 8, all shared a bedroom with Sylvia and Jenny. Marie, 11, and Shirley were also present. Five kids took turns sleeping on the floor-mounted mattress in the room.

Lester Likens regrettably never entered the home of the woman they hired to look after their girls. They would have realised there weren’t enough beds if they had. Where the stove should have been, there was a hotplate in the home. Gertrude had no capacity to care for children.

Punishment For Her Murder

Gertrude was struggling to pay her bills. She would not have been able to feed all nine of her children while also making rent payments without the $20 she received every week. She appreciated that Mr Likens gave a $20 deposit. However, she lost her cool when the subsequent instalments came in late or not at all.

Gertrude started to disapprove of the Likens sisters. She pulled Jenny up the stairs after the first overdue payment and beat Jenny with a leather belt. She snarled, “Well, I took care of you two bitches for a week for nothing!

The day following the initial spanking, the money showed up in the mail. A few days later, Sylvia and Jenny’s parents showed up and gave another advance payment. The beating was not brought up by the sisters.

Gertrude attacked Sylvia with a quarter-inch wooden paddle after finding out that she was recycling pop bottles for money. She repeatedly struck her across the back and head. Gertrude gave the paddle to Paula when her severe bronchitis made her feel weak.

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Sylvia Likens Beatings

Both the frequency and the severity of the abuse grew. Because of Sylvia’s vulnerability, Gertrude may have felt sorry for Jenny because of her frailty by August 1965.

Sylvia acknowledged having a Californian boyfriend. Both Gertrude and her daughter Paula were disgusted, and Paula repeatedly kicked Sylvia in the vaginal region and claimed Sylvia was pregnant.

Sylvia was not only beaten, but Gertrude also started hitting her with food. Sylvia started rummaging through trash cans for food. When Sylvia was found, Gertrude, Paula, and a young youngster from the neighbourhood named Randy Lepper made her eat a hot dog covered in a thick layer of condiments and spices. The group forced Sylvia to consume her own vomit after she puked.

In the fall, the daughters went back to school, much to their father’s delight. Sylvia was accused by Gertrude of disseminating false information about Paula and Stephanie being prostitutes. In front of her own children and their friends, Gertrude reprimanded the females. Coy Hubbard, Stephanie’s 15-year-old boyfriend, then assaulted Sylvia in retaliation. Gertrude yelled obscenities at Sylvia, making Stephanie chuckle.

Sylvia was charged with stealing gym attire by Gertrude. She burned her fingertips with a lit match as a form of retaliation, yelling how much she despised Sylvia and how she was ruining her life.

The conversation somehow moved to Sylvia’s purported promiscuity. Gertrude advised against engaging in sexual activity with a boy before being married. Sylvia’s response that she hadn’t merely enraged Gertrude. “You ought never ever…” Gertrude kicked Sylvia’s genital region repeatedly while yelling.

Sylvia’s kick did not satisfy Gertrude. In front of her young collaborators, she made Sylvia strip naked and put a glass soda bottle into her vagina.

On October 5, Sylvia’s parents visited their daughters. Again, they didn’t tell anyone for fear of making things worse. Gertrude forbade them from seeing their neighbouring sister Dianna, as abusers do. They lost all goodwill toward them because of Gertrude. Sylvia was once chided by Paula to “Get away, and stay away” as she held the door open. Where could Sylvia go?