Murder of Sylvia Likens
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Sylvia Marie Likens was an American teenager who was tortured and murdered by her caregiver, Gertrude Baniszewski, many of Baniszewski's children, and several of their neighborhood friends. The abuse
Sylvia Likens, c. 1965
Sylvia (left) and Jenny (right), pictured with three friends in Long Beach, California, on Easter Sunday, 1965.
Richard Hobbs and Gertrude Baniszewski at a hearing before Marion County Judge Harry Zaklan, November 1, 1965. Both were formally charged with murder on this date.
Marie Baniszewski, pictured prior to her trial testimony on May 12, 1966
The Girl Next Door is a 1989 horror novel by American writer Jack Ketchum. It is loosely based on the 1965 murder of Sylvia Likens. In 2007, it was adapted into the film The Girl Next Door.
Murder of Sylvia Likens
…Blythe Auffarth as Meg Loughlin, based on Likens, and Blanche Baker as Ruth Chandler, based on Baniszewski, The Girl Next Door is an adaptation of a 1989 horror novel penned by author Jack Ketchum. The Investigation Discovery channel has commissioned a documentary focusing upon the abuse and murder of Sylvia Likens…
First edition