I was doing a little mental spring cleaning and had this little talk with myself. You are welcome to listen in. Transcript below the image on my website.

From frogs to humans, selecting a mate is complicated. Females of many species judge suitors based on many indicators of health or parenting potential. But it can be difficult for males to produce multiple signals that demonstrate these qualities simultaneously.

In a study of gray tree frogs, a team of University of Minnesota researchers discovered that females prefer males whose calls reflect the ability to multitask effectively. In this species (Hyla chrysoscelis) males produce “trilled” mating calls that consist of a string of pulses.

Typical calls can range in duration from 20-40 pulses per call and occur between 5-15 calls per minute. Males face a trade-off between call duration and call rate, but females preferred calls that are longer andmore frequent, which is no simple task.

The findings were published in August issue of Animal Behavior.

“It’s kind of like singing and dancing at the same time,” says Jessica Ward, a postdoctoral researcher who is lead author for the study. Ward works in the laboratory of Mark Bee, a professor in the College of Biological Sciences’ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior.

The study supports the multitasking hypothesis, which suggests that females prefer males who can do two or more hard-to-do things at the same time because these are especially good quality males, Ward says. The hypothesis, which explores how multiple signals produced by males influence female behavior, is a new area of interest in animal behavior research.

By listening to recordings of 1,000 calls, Ward and colleagues learned that males are indeed forced to trade off call duration and call rate. That is, males that produce relatively longer calls only do so at relatively slower rates.

“It’s easy to imagine that we humans might also prefer multitasking partners, such as someone who can successfully earn a good income, cook dinner, manage the finances and get the kids to soccer practice on time.”

The study was carried out in connection with Bee’s research goal, which is understanding how female frogs are able to distinguish individual mating calls from a large chorus of males. By comparison, humans, especially as we age, lose the ability to distinguish individual voices in a crowd. This phenomenon, called the “cocktail party” problem, is often the first sign of a diminishing ability to hear. Understanding how frogs hear could lead to improved hearing aids.

Source:marcela.draws

Source:abigail.linn.art

When you’re anxiety is doing the thing and you just want off the f*$king swing…

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

[Originally published on my Medium page: link here]

Siddhartha is introduced as a Brahmin, which speaks towards how his life is supposed to go; he’s a natural, and his position in life is already laid out for him. However, his thirst for knowledge and constant questioning pulls him into a journey of self-discovery. While I thought Siddhartha came out as arrogant, specifically when speaking to The Buddha, I think everything placed in the book (from events to characters) was entirely purposeful towards the point of enlightenment. His journey takes him far from his life as a Brahmin, turning him into a business partner, a lover, a father, and many other roles (some not as admirable). While I’ve read many stories that introduce an array of characters along the way, this novel is refreshing; turning the main character into a variety of persons throughout his lifetime.

A review cannot do this book justice, it goes down as a “must-read” to fully understand the work properly. Hermann Hesse has an amazing mind which can create a fluent storyline that not only entertains the reader but turns the gears of the brain.

Nearing the end of the novel, I cried at Siddhartha’s last words. I think the rush of emotions was partly due to how long it took to reach this point of enlightenment. It’s not a very long read, but it seems like an entire lifetime spent beside the character. Not only that, but every word was filled with the air of unreachable depth and peacefulness — the final bearing of this process. Maybe my emotions got the best of me, or this book truly sneaked up on me. Either way, it’s one of my favorites of Hesse.

Read this book if you want a tale worth contemplating over or maybe you’ve been into self-discovery lately.

• Rate: 4.5/5
• Time: Can be read in less than a day
• Book-Shelve Worthy: Buy it right now!

Quoteworthy

The opposite of every truth is just as true.

I was afraid of myself, I was fleeing from myself. I was seeking Atman, I was seeking Brahman, I was determined to dismember myself and tear away its layers of husk in order to find in its unknown innermost recess the kernel at the heart of those layers, the Atman, life, the divine principle, the ultimate. But in so doing, I was losing myself

Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. One can find it, live it, do wonders through it, but one cannot communicate and teach it.

They both listened silently to the water, which to them was not just water, but the voice of life, the voice of Being, the voice of perpetual Becoming.

He has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value … he has given to me myself

I will no longer mutilate and destroy myself in order to find a secret behind the ruins.

We are not going in circles, we are going upwards. The path is a spiral; we have already climbed many steps

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse

[Originally published in my Medium page: link here]

This book can be easily envisioned as a psychological movie, which (if directed correctly) could win an Oscar. Journey to the East blurs the lines between reality and heightened “reality” (what most would call imaginary).

Our main character, H.H, describes his spiritual travels with a group, The League, determined to find the ultimate truth. While everything seems to be going well, the disappearance of Leo marks the disintegration of the group (this small scene can inspire essays on topics such as groupthink, flow, scapegoat, etc.)

The description of the time spend travel to the east, reminded me of a cult; not the scary representation that the media has cultivated, but a more peaceful community of individuals. H.H tries to recount his experience in his novel, but fails to successfully put it into words or even recall his time within the League.

I grew a bit frustrated from how simple the novel seemed; It addressed and brought forth deep/complex topics, but didn’t venture further than that. It almost teased the reader as a “you should have been there” joke. I feel I got the bare minimum of the novel and that is exactly what Hesse wanted.

***Start of spoiler

H.H meets Leo again. Leo turns out to be the president of the league and the ultimate test of faith towards the league commenced when it disbanded. I felt bad for H.H when the League officials told him he strayed away from the league, even if he was desperately trying to find it all this time. In his search, he lost the basic practices and thoughts so he could never find his way back.

To remain faithful to a belief despite not being monitored, regulated, or in a community must be the only way to really instill a pure set of beliefs. It really brings to light who a person is or rather what they are made of without the help/influence of others.

Interesting ending — it can get confusing if you overthink it.

***End of spoiler

All in all it’s a very short novel, but when carefully dissected it becomes gigantic in terms of themes, symbolism, etc. Margin-writers must have.

Read this book if secret society with the upmost respect for knowledge is your thing or want a short story that makes your eyebrows pull together.

• Rate: 4/5
• Time: Can be read in less than a day
• Book-Shelve Worthy: Might have to dedicate a whole space just for Hermann Hesse

Quoteworthy

Everything becomes questionable as soon as I consider it closely, everything slips away and dissolves.

Faith is stronger than so-called reason.

Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse

Book Club: Demian by Hermann Hesse

[Originally published on my Medium page: link here]

• Rate: 4/5
• Time: Can be read in less than a day
• Length: Smidge over 100 pages (short)

Demian is a coming-of-age novel of the protagonist and narrator Emil Sinclair. The reader is pulled into Sinclair’s psychological labyrinth as it grows desire, fear, confusion, and frustrations with the world and his own being. The underlying themes of the book bringing up age-old discussion and interpretations that reads differently towards every reader. I’d like to say that the first half reads as an autobiography of an ordinary person. The last bit of the novel does venture deep into Carl Jung’s’ theory of the collective unconscious, embedding archetypes and symbolisms that would make Jung proud.

I planned to take my time, reading only two chapters a sitting. However, it became impossible to want to put it down. Didn’t love Sinclair nor felt particularly any hate for him, I was curious to see where Sinclair ended up; Hesse has a way of introducing a character and wrapping you into them, as opposed to their world or relationships. I will say that I had to double-take when trying to figure out the Emil/Demian/Eva scenes.

Would you need to know psychology to enjoy the book? Nope, it’s a good story for readers that love classics and take pride in discussion (either alone or with a book club!)

Would it help to know a little psychology? Yes, and it’ll take you on a margin scribbling joyride.

Final sayings? Totally PG should be in the school curriculum, and the egg/bird quote is phenomenal

If you’ve already read it or don’t care for spoilers keep reading below.

Concept Spoilers:

1. TWO WORLDS: At first glance, this concept seems to reflect heavily on religious upbringing that a vast majority of individuals experience. The notion of growing up with preconceived ideologies attach Sinclair to dogmatic judgements of everything from the world, his peers, and even towards himself. While this concept and system of rights and wrongs does hold some foundation, it doesn’t encompass the complexity of the real world. The black and white perspective gets ultimately defeated and rendered useless when the argument of what is forbidden and permitted come up. The individual is in control of the rights and wrongs through their own boundaries, the external enforcement (be it laws or religion) deters back the Lawrence Kohlberg’s first level of cognitive development.
2. DEMIAN: Theres an interesting push and pull throughout the novel, as Demian, this enigmatic characters is a key figure in the development of Sinclair, allows Sinclair to do as he pleases only acting and speaking in pivotal scenes. Arriving with a district interpretation of the biblical Cain and Abel, he embodies the conflict and the temptation of breaking out of the two worlds view. He lets Emil retreat into his safe heaven after rescuing him from Franz’ tormenting, withdrawing his thoughts when going too far, and not interfering when seeing him at his lowest point. Guidance is the main word that comes up when thinking of Demian and he plays the role flawlessly.
3. ABRAXAS: I think the presence of the bird/egg painting and Abraxas is the major turning point in the novel where Emil goes from going through life to seeking a purpose and venturing into and outside of himself. Can write a 10 page essay on just how much I love the quote. The processes of Emil being introduced to his passion and his life goal and desires depends desperately on him breaking free from his past self and world. To be reborn into something new there must be the destruction of the old self/way. Abraxas also has strong attachment towards mysticism, mystery, and exclusivity of acquired knowledge - it is something that is not found by accident, but by intention.
4. PSYCHOLOGY: The concepts are there and this book provides great points of psychological discussion involving Freuds’ Oedipus complex and the majority of archetypes and symbols in Jung’s Collective unconscious. This shifts a lot of the relationships between the characters to be treated more like symbolic events/theories and personas. It’s would be simple to say Emil love Eva, but it wouldn’t do the novel justice by dismissing many other references that fit into this; such as the great mother, the dual mothers, and the animus-anima. Pick your poison, explore, and discuss.

Noteworthy Quotes:

• When poets write novels they are apt to behave as if they were gods, with the power to look beyond and comprehend any human story and serve it up as if the almighty himself, omnipresent, were relating it in all its naked truth. (Prologue, Demian)
• When I pictured the devil to myself, I found no difficulty in visualizing him in the streets below, disguised or undisguised, or at the fair or at the taverns but never at home. (Chapter 1, Demian)
• He too was a ‘temper’ and moreover my link with the second, evil world with which I never wanted anything more to do. (Chapter 2, Demian)
• Therefore each one of us must discover for himself what is permitted and what is forbidden as far as he himself is concerned. It is possible never to do a forbidden thing yet be the real villain. (Chapter 3, Demian)
• It was the pattern of my life and death; It expressed the tone and rhythm of my fate. (Chapter 4, Demian)
• The bird is struggling out of the egg. The egg is the world. Whoever wants to be born must first destroy a world. The bird id flying to god. The name of the god is called Abraxas. (Chapter 5, Demian)
• When we hate someone we are hating something that is within ourselves, in his image. We are never stirred up by something which does not already exist within us. (Chapter 6, Demian)
• I have grown accustomed to my inner life, resigned to the fact that I had lost my feeling for the outside world and that the loss of its bright colors was an inseparable part of the loss of childhood and that one must to some extent pay for the freedom and maturity of the soul with the renunciation of those pure gleams of light. (Chapter 6, Demian)

Demian by Hermann Hesse

podencos:

“In a 1994 Harvard study that examined people who had radically changed their lives, for instance, researchers found that some people had remade their habits after a personal tragedy, such as a divorce or a life-threatening illness. Others changed after they saw a friend go through something awful, the same way that Dungy’s players watched him struggle.

Just as frequently, however, there was no tragedy that preceded people’s transformations. Rather, they changed because they were embedded in social groups that made change easier. One woman said her entire life shifted when she signed up for a psychology class and met a wonderful group. “It opened a Pandora’s box,” the woman told researchers. “I could not tolerate the status quo any longer. I had changed in my core.” Another man said that he found new friends among whom he could practice being gregarious. “When I do make the effort to overcome my shyness, I feel that it is not really me acting, that it’s someone else,” he said. But by practicing with his new group, it stopped feeling like acting. He started to believe he wasn’t shy, and then, eventually, he wasn’t anymore. When people join groups where change seems possible, the potential for that change to occur becomes more real. For most people who overhaul their lives, there are no seminal moments or life-altering disasters. There are simply communities⏤sometimes of just one other person⏤who make change believable.

One woman told researchers her life transformed after a day spent cleaning toilets⏤and after weeks of discussing with the rest of the cleaning crew whether she should leave her husband.

“Change occurs among other people,” one of the psychologists involved in the study, Todd Heatherton, told me. “It seems real when we can see it in other people’s eyes.”

The precise mechanisms of belief are little understood. No one is certain why a group encountered in a psychology class can convince a woman that everything is different, or why Dungy’s team came together after their coach’s son passed away. Plenty of people talk to friends about unhappy marriages and never leave their spouse; lots of teams watch their coaches experience adversity and never gel. 

But we do know that for habits to permanently change, people must believe that change is feasible. The same process that makes AA so effective⏤the power of a group to teach individuals how to believe⏤happens whenever people come together to help one another change. Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.”

⏤ The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg

Now living in the basement of the home, Sylvia’s lack of access to a toilet, or even to a bucket, leading her to have to urinate and defecate on the floor of the basement. Gertrude created a ‘bathing regime’ for Sylvia, which consisted of tying the girls hands and feet, dunking her into scalding hot water and then rubbing handfuls of rock salt onto her skin.

It was around this time that Gertrude got herself a ‘personal assistant’ for dealing with Sylvia, this assistance came from Ricky Hobbs, a 14 year old honor student from a middle class family nearby, who had never gotten in trouble with the law prior to this. Reportedly, Ricky’s personality changed almost as soon as he met Gertrude and the family, and it was actually rumoured that Gertrude was molesting the young boy, and using this is a way to ‘seduce’ the boy into taking the ‘job’.

It was also around this time that the neighbourhood kids really began to get involved, with the Baniszewski children overseeing and actually profiting off of their involvement. The kids would charge the kids in the neighbourhood in order to get involved, from simply seeing Sylvia naked, since she was forced to remain naked while in the basement, to pushing the young girl down the basement stairs.

As well as being kept naked, Sylvia was very rarely fed, and when she was, it was in strange almost torturous ways, such as having to eat a bowl of soup with her fingers. In place of actual food, Sylvia was fed disgusting things, she was forced by Gertrude and usually by Gertrude’s 12 year old son John Jr to ‘clean’ the basement, which entailed her collecting and being forced to eat her own feces. She would also be forced to urinate in containers and drink it in place of water.

Seeing how severe the abuse was growing by this point, Jenny managed to overcome her fear of Gertrude and actually managed to sneak a letter to the girls older sister Diana, telling her everything that was happening in the home. However, Diana didn’t take the letter seriously, believing Jenny to be exaggerating because she wasn’t happy, and instead wanted to be allowed to live with Diana and her family, and so she was in no rush to go and check on the girls. When she did go to check on the girls however, she was not permitted to enter the home, which naturally made her very suspicious and very concerned, and when Gertrude threatened to call the police, Diana hid just around the corner, hoping that Jenny or Sylvia would leave the home and walk by her. At some point she found Jenny, but the young girl was terrified and shaking and told her older sister that she wasn’t ‘allowed to talk’, before running back to the home. Diana did all she could, contacting social services and expressing her concern about the Baniszewski home. It is not known for sure whether Diana told them or showed them the letter which Jenny had sent her previously. However, when social services paid the family a visit, Gertrude claimed that Sylvia no longer lived in the home. She claimed that Sylvia had been thrown out for being a prostitute, and a bad influence on her own children, and Jenny had already been told that if she told the social worker the truth she would be thrown into the basement to love with Sylvia. Clearly a check of the home either didn’t take place or wasn’t done very thoroughly, since the social worker left the home with no concerns, and wrote a report claiming that no further visits were needed.

This is probably one of the most saddening parts of this case, is the amount of times someone or something could have put an end to this horrific abuse before it was too late.

Besides the Vermillion’s, and this social worker, there were several other people who knew and did nothing. When Judy Duke, who was 12 years old saw the treatment which Sylvia was enduring, she returned home and actually told her mother that “they were beating and kicking Sylvia”. Apparently not concerned, her mother reportedly responded that they were punishing the girl and that it was her own fault for misbehaving.

Another person who spent time in the home and expressed no concern, was Reverend Roy Julian, who visited the home more than once during this time. The first time that he visited, he drank coffee with Gertrude, who complained about Sylvia to him, claiming that she was a prostitute and that she was pregnant despite the fact that it was actually her own daughter, Paula who was pregnant. Gertrude and Reverend Roy Julian reportedly prayed for Sylvia before he left. When he returned to the home a few weeks later, he actually spoke with Paula, who admitted to having hatred in her heart for Sylvia, with Gertrude rushing to try and assure him of the opposite. The unusual behaviour and the state of the home was apparently not enough for him to think anything was wrong, and he said nothing, and reportedly never even spoke to Sylvia.

Police were actually called to the Baniszewski home on the evening of October 20th, but it was not for the crimes against Sylvia, but because a young boy from the neighbourhood, Robert Bruce Hanlon was attempting to break into the home, wanting to take back something that he believed the Baniszewski children had taken from his basement. The police did not check the home, and none of the children said anything about what was happening to Sylvia, likely partially due to how scared they were of Gertrude, especially in Jenny’s case. While the police were parked outside of the home, Phyllis Vermillion came outside and actually spoke to the officers, trying to speak on the young boys behalf, and despite having witnessed some pretty severe abuse against Sylvia and already being in a conversation with the police, she said nothing.

After her time in the basement, Stephanie and John Jr, brought Sylvia upstairs, tying her to one of the beds in the home at Gertrude’s request, The young girl was told that if she made it through the night without wetting the bed, she would once again be allowed to sleep upstairs. However upon waking, Gertrude quickly realised that the mattress was damp, and once again forced the young girl to strip for her sons and neighbourhood boys, forcing her to once again masturbate with a glass bottle, afterwards being allowed to dress once again.

There was reportedly an eerie silence from Gertrude after this, where it seemed as though she was desperately trying to find something else to be angry about. A few moments passed before she began to scream at the young girl, shouting “you have branded my daughters so i will brand you!” 

Sylvia was then stripped, tied down and gagged while one of the Baniszewski children, under Gertrude’s orders used matches to heat up a sewing needle until the metal glowed a bi=right orange. Once it was hot enough, Gertrude used the needle to carve and burn the letter I and part of an m on the young girls stomach as the kids held her down. Gertrude then handed the needle to Ricky Hobbs, telling him to carve “I’m a prostitute and proud of it” into her stomach. The young boy carved 23 and a half letters into the stomach of a screaming and sobbing young girl, while all the kids held her down and watched. Part way through the torture, Ricky had to stop, but not because he felt bad, or because he was disgusted, but because he didn’t know how to spell the word prostitution. Gertrude had to actually write out the spelling on a scrap of paper so he could complete the cruel message. The burns and wounds caused to the young girls stomach were reportedly so severe that even modern day plastic surgery would not have been able to correct it and remove the scars. 

Gertrude then reportedly left the room, but some of the children, Ricky, Paula, and Shirley, who as just 10 years old, weren’t done with her, deciding that they wanted to brand another message into her skin. Ricky drew the lower half of an ‘S’, which was believed to stand for slave, on her chest, before ordering Jenny to do the rest. However, dispute the threats she endured, Jenny refused, and the needle was instead handed to 10 year old Shirley, but she messed it up, and it ended up saying ‘3’ instead.

After this happened, Gertrude returned to the room, reportedly mocking the girl and saying, “What are you going to do now Sylvia? You can’t get married now, you can’t undress in front of anyone…what are you going to do now?”. Now un-gagged, the string young girl reportedly responded “I guess there’s nothing i can do. It’s on there.”

It was at this point that Ricky, apparently not content with burning and carving 24 letters into he young girl, took Sylvia back down to the basement, and practiced his judo on the young injured girl for a while before leaving her wounded, naked and alone in the basement. When Jenny visited her sister in secret, she recalled Sylvia telling her that “I’m going to die, I can tell”.

Reportedly realising how severe Sylvia’s new wounds were, Gertrude collected Sylvia, allowing her to sleep in one of the beds upstairs instead of the basement, and she was allowed to sleep util noon of October 23rd, at which point she was woken up by Gertrude and Stephanie, who for the first time in quite a while, gave Sylvia a warm soapy bath, and then dressed the young girl in clean clothes, before they sat the young girl down to write a letter to her parents, which was dictated entirely by Gertrude. The letter read:

Dear Mr and Mrs Likens,

I went with a gang of boys in the middle of the night. And they said that they would pay me if i would give them something so I got in the car and they all got what they wanted…and when they got finished they beat me up and left sores on my face and all over my body. 

And they also put on my stomach, I am a prostitute and proud of it.

I have done just about everything I could do just to make Gertie mad and cause Gertie more money than she’s got. I’ve tore up a new mattress and peed on it. I have also cost Gertie doctor bills that she can’t really pay and made Gertie a nervous wreck and all her kids.

She was told to not sign the letter.

It was after this that Gertrude, within earshot of Sylvia began to plan what to do with her. She planned to have John Jr and Jenny take Sylvia over to the dump, where she would be left to die. Upon hearing this, Sylvia plucked up the courage to make a run for the door, but in her ill and wounded state, she moved so slowly that Gertrude managed to catch Sylvia  as she reached the door, taking her back to the kitchen. For the first time in quite some time, Gertrude made Sylvia some food, cooking her a slice of toast which was laid in front of her. Sadly, Sylvia was unable to swallow by this point, she had grown too weak, leading Gertrude to grab the curtain pole in the kitchen, hitting her right in the mouth with the pole.

Sylvia was then taken back down to the basement and tied up while they essentially waited for her to waste away. While in the basement, Gertrude offered Sylvia a plate of crackers, to which Sylvia reportedly responded “Feed it to the dog. It’s hungrier than I am.” Before she left the basement, Gertrude pinched Sylvia in her wound covered stomach repeatedly before leaving her on her own in the basement.

Apparently tired of waiting for the young girl to simply withering away, and knowing that if Sylvia recovered somehow, that she and her entire families crimes against her would certainly be discovered,  On October 24th Gertrude attempted to bludgeon Sarah to death. She first attempted to hit the young girl with a chair, but she missed and ended up breaking the chair to pieces against the wall.  She then proceeded to attempt to hit her with the wooden paddle which she had beaten the young girl with so many times before, but somehow ended up hitting herself with the paddle instead, giving herself a black eye. Ricky then hit the girl unconscious and they left her in the basement once again. During the night, and into the early hours of the morning, Sylvia used every ounce of strength that she could muster and hit the floor over and over and over again with the metal part of a scoop that had been left in the basement.

Tragically the neighbour’s, who did hear this noise, decided against contacting the police, and once again no one came to rescue the young girl who was so desperate for help.

On October 26th, when Gertrude said she wanted to give the young girl a warm bath, Ricky and Stephanie went to collect her, carrying her upstairs and putting her in the empty bathtub fully clothed, at which point they realised that the young girl wasn’t breathing. The children removed her from the bath and Stephanie actually tried to give her CPR, but it was tragically too late, and Sylvia was already dead. 

The young girls body was taken back to the basement and stripped, at which point Ricky went to a nearby payphone to call the police, as there wasn’t a phone within the home, and upon their arrival. However, during the commotion, a terrified Jenny Likens plucked up the courage to whisper to one of the officers, “Get me out of here, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Gertrude, Paula, Stephanie, John Jr, Ricky and Roy were arrested for murder, while Mike Monroe, Randy Lepper, Judy Duke, and Siscoe were arrested for ‘injury to a person. The charges against Siscoe, Monroe, Duke and Lepper were quickly dismissed, but the Baniszewski’s, Roy and Ricky were held in jail without bail.

After some time, the murder charges against Stephanie were also dropped.

During the investigation, the autopsy into Sylvia’s murder revealed the sheer number and severity of the wounds that she had sustained during her time in the Baiszewski residence. It revealed:

Up to one hundred cigarette burns, various second and third degree burns, severe bruising, muscle and nerve damage, her lips were almost severed from biting through them, her vaginal cavity was almost swollen shut (though her hymen was intact, discrediting the ‘reasons’ that Gertrude had given for her abuse), and the official cause of death was discovered to be brain swelling, internal brain hemorrhaging and shock.

Paula was convicted of second degree murder, but after winning an appeal for a new trial, she plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter, for which she served just 3 years before moving to Iowa under a brand new identity.

John Jr, Roy and Ricky were found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and due to their young age they were sentenced to just 18 months. Upon his release at 17, Ricky, who had been very heavily involved in the case, suffered a nervous breakdown when coming to terms with what he had done, and he started to smoke so heavily that within for years, at just 21, he died of lung cancer.

Gertrude was sentenced to 18 years to life. During her sentence, she became a model prisoner who became a caring figure for her fellow inmates and sickeningly earned herself the nickname ‘Mom’. And she was put up for parole.

Jenny Likens actually appeared on TV with her family, begging for her release to be stopped, gaining the support of the Protect The Innocent movement and the League Against Molestation movement, who actually traveled to Indianna to start a sidewalk picket campaign, collecting at least 4500 signatures. However despite all of this, she was granted parole after being deemed not a threat. Her statement upon gaining her parole was “I’m not sure what role I had in it…because i was on drugs.” I never really knew her…I take full responsibility for whatever happened to Sylvia”. She was released on December 4th, 1985 and moved to Iowa under the name, Nadine Van Fossan, where she died of lung cancer in 1990.

Stephanie, who’s charges were dropped, took a new name and actually ended up working as a school teacher, which is completely terrifying to me, though reportedly she hasn’t re-offended since getting away from her mother.

John Jr, changed his name to John Blake, and lived a quiet life, working as a truck driver, before finding work as a real estate agent and lay minister. He never offended again and ended up marrying and having 3 children of his own, living in anonymity until 98, after the ‘Jonesboro Massacre’ when he came forward for the first time to talk about Sylvia. John discussed how he took full responsibility for his heinous actions, expressed deep remorse, and said that he believed a harsher sentence for all those involved, including himself, would have been far more just.

Paula Baniszewski was introduced to 16 year old Sylvia Marie Likens and 15 year old Jenny Likens, who had to use braces when she walked due to surviving polio, by her friend Darlee McGuire in July of 1965. The girls were new in town, and after getting along with Paula, they were welcomed back to the Baniszewski home, 3850 East New York Street so that the girls could drink pop and listen to some records. The girls explained that their mother had left their father and ran away, bringing them with her, and that their mother had actually been arrested for shoplifting and she was being kept in the police station. The girls were invited to spend the night at the Baniszewski home so that they could meet up with their mother the following day, but this is not how this was going to go.

The next day Gertrude was paid a visit by Lester Likens, the girls father, who had been informed by the McGuire’s that his daughters were staying at her home after he traced his wife and children to town. Gertrude, as she was known to do, introduced herself as Mrs Wright, and not as Mrs Baniszewski, and Lester went on to explain the situation, and his an his wife’s new plan. They intended to take the girls and travel the US carnival circuit as Carnies. However, when Gertrude heard this, she saw an opportunity to make some cash, since her house was always so full of kids as it was, it was agreed that she would take in the girls, and allow them to stay with her for $20 a week, though it is not actually known who first suggested this.

Unfortunately, Lester didn’t feel the need to inspect the home, and if he had, he likely would not have agreed. The house had no stove or microwave, the only food kept in the pantry was stale bread and dry crackers, there were only enough plates and utensils for 3 people, not the 10 that would be living there, the home was filthy, and they had only half as many beds as they needed for the family.

Sadly, the girls were moved into the home, while their parents went off to work. The first week reportedly went by without issue, the girls attended school, school functions and church with the family, and were essentially treated just like she treated her own children. This would all change however, when Lester’s payment didn’t arrive on time. The late payment triggered an overwhelming temper tantrum, she screamed at the young girls that, “I took care of you two bitches for nothing,” and forced the girls to lie across their beds on their front with their skirts and underwear around around their ankles, and proceeded to beat the girls with a wooden paddle.

Lester and Betty Likens came to visit their children and give Gertrude the money which they owed her, but due to the fear that Gertrude had already instilled in the girls, they said nothing to their parents.

The following week, the girls decided that they wanted to get some sweets, and so in order to make a bit of cash for them, they went through rubbish and walked the streets to find bottle caps to sell for petty cash, this was quite a common thing to do for poorer families at the time, but that didn’t stop Gertrude from being angry about it and accusing the two young girls of stealing. Sylvia explained the bottle caps, but that seemingly changed nothing for Gertrude, and they were once again beaten by the woman.

After attending a church social with Sylvia and Jenny, the Baniszewski children reportedly returned home to their mother to complain about Sylvia, disgusted by how much food Sylvia had eaten while there. For some reason, this sent Gertrude into a rage, furious that Sylvia would do anything to risk damaging her appearance, and crafted a cruel and unusual punishment for the teenager. Sylvia was forced to eat a hot dog which was piled high with condiments, making the teenager throw up. The punishment would not end there however, as the young girl was then forced to eat her own vomit. By this time, Sylvia’s fear of Gertrude was heavily ingrained, and when her parents returned to visit them once again, Sylvia said nothing about Gertrude’s despicable behaviour towards her.

The violence against Sylvia really began to intensify in August 1965, when she was reportedly heard talking about the fact that she had once allowed a boy to feel her up, infuriating Gertrude. The older woman began to scream at the 16year old, calling her a prostitute and shouting to the entire house that the teen was pregnant. But it would not end there, as she began to repeatedly kick the young girl in the crotch, leaving her unable to stand, and in desperate need to get off of her shaky feet. When the kicking finally stopped, Sylvia moved to sit on a chair, only to be thrown onto the floor by Gertrude’s eldest daughter, who was actually pregnant at the time herself, shouting in her face that she “aint fit to sit in chairs”. This incident triggered a change in the house, and from this point on, Sylvia had to request the right to sit down every single time.

It was here that the abuse against Sylvia became more and more frequent and more and more aggressive, with Sylvia now reportedly being used as a ‘plaything’ for the older children, she would be beaten and often pushed down the stairs. The young girl was constantly being accused of being a prostitute, mostly by Gertrude, who had begun delivering ‘sermons’ to the family claiming that prostitutes, and in the end that women in general, were filthy.

The day after the beating where she was first accused of being a prostitute, jenny would later claim, her and Sylvia decided to come up with a plan to get vengeance against Paula, deciding to tell their classmates that they had seen Paula and the second oldest Baniszewski child Stephanie, sleeping with boys in the school for money. However, this would soon turn out to be a mistake when 15 year old Roy Hubbard, who was dating Stephanie showed up to the home and proceeded to beat Sylvia up quite badly. From this point on, with Gertrude’s encouragement, Roy Hubbard would come to the home quite often, and he would actually practice his judo moves on the youngster.

In a petty retaliation against Sylvia’s rumours abut her daughters, Gertrude somehow managed to convince Sylvia’s best friend Anna that Sylvia had also been telling people at school that er mother was a whore also, culminating in another violent attack against Sylvia, orchestrated entirely by Gertrude. She did the same to Paula’s friend Judy Duke, also orchestrating her beating of Sylvia. She even forced Jenny to beat her own sister, beating the younger, sickly girl until she agreed.

Also during August of 1965, the house neighbouring the Baniszewskis was purchased by a middle aged couple, Phyllis and Raymond Vermillion and their two children, and when they moved in, they saw the large number of kids next door and thought that it would be a good idea to get to know the family, in the hopes that Gertrude could babysit their two children for them. The Vermillions arranged a barbecue with their neighbours, and the family weren’t exactly on their best behaviour, nor where they really were trying to hide the abuse. Sylvia was walking around the party with a strong black eye, and when questioned by Phyllis about the cause, Paula admitted to, and actually bragged about causing the wound. Not long after this conversation, under Gertrude’s observation, Paula actually walked over to Sylvia, throwing a glass of steaming water into the girl’s face. Phyllis and Raymond Vermillion never reported this to the police, and as far as is known, never told anyone about the concerning behaviour that they had witnessed.

Phyllis also didn’t report some even more concerning behaviour that she would witness two months later, when visiting the Baniszewskis in order to borrow something from Gertrude. Sylvia reportedly walked into the room where Phyllis was waiting, dazed and confused with swollen and cut up lips and a black eye that had swollen shut. Paula, like she had done previously, bragged about how she had been the one to cause the wounds, and even proceeded to remove her belt and begin beating the young girl with it, right in front of their neighbour, and she said and did nothing to stop it.

Not too long after this,Sylvia came home from school and told Gertrude that she had been told to buy a new sweat suit for gym class, and was told that that the family couldn’t afford it. Not wanting to get into trouble with the school, and not knowing what else to do, Sylvia decided to steal a sweat suit from the school. When Gertrude found out however, she was furious, and once again twisted the situation to be about prostitution, and proceeded to kick Sylvia in the crotch over and over just like she had before. But this time, the punishment went even further, with Gertrude taking a lit cigarette and burning each of her fingertips in order to ‘cure’ her ‘sticky fingers’, and beating the 16 year old with a belt. From this point on, smokers in the house started to put out their fags on Sylvia as a reminder of her misbehaviour.

Sometime later, Sylvia went out to try and find more bottle caps to sell so that she wouldn’t have to steal again and get hurt so badly, but of course in Gertrude’s mind, Sylvia had been out working as a prostitute. On her arrival home, Sylvia was told by Gertrude that Jenny her younger, more sickly sister, would be beaten if she failed to do as she was told. What she was told to do was the most twisted and severe punishment that Sylvia had been given since moving into the abusive home. She was forced to strip naked in front of Gertrude’s sons, and some of the neighbourhood boys,and was forced to masturbate with a glass coca cola bottle in front of them. Despite being humiliating and traumatising, the damage this caused led to Sylvia becoming pretty much completely incontinent, which is what caused Gertrude to first lock the young girl in the basement of the home, where the abuse would begin to worsen at an alarming rate.

Volevo solo farvi sapere che, se mai aveste bisogno di un aiuto, vi sentite particolarmente giù di morale, avete un problema, grave o meno che sia, io sono qui.
Mi piacerebbe aiutarvi o farvi sorridere almeno un pò.
Potete mandarmi un messaggio o, se è per timidezza, potete dirmelo in anonimo. a qualunque ora, sono disponibile.