Gertrude Couldn't Get Off On Insanity

By Lynn A. Granata

Mother of Sadism

After her arrest, Gertrude wanted to wipe her hands completely free of the crime.

On an old newscast broad casted from Radio Indy from 1965,

Gertrude blamed some of her minions for what happened to Sylvia Likens.

She was quoted as vehemently denying all charges of assault and battery, which later lead to Sylvia's murder.

She vigorously stated that:

 "I ain't never done anything to that girl, never!"

"I was too sick to know what was going on!"

"My children were the ones beating up on Sylvia."

"One girl from the neighborhood came over and bloodied her nose, I think."

"It was just getting too much for me to handle all the kids plus I have asthma."

"I told these girls it's just getting too much for me to handle, and that they were going to have to call their daddy to come pick them up."

Gertrude obviously didn't have no great command of the English language. She was pure trailer white trash.  Illiterate as well, plus the statements were all orchestrated or fabricated.  Her asthma apparently didn't keep her from exerting paddle and belt punishments on Sylvia, as well as hard kicks to the most delicate parts of her body, which we won't get into.

Gertrude was not declared insane.  She was given a battery of tests while she was awaiting trial. Her psychological evaluation results were that she was suffering from dependent personality disorder, hysterical personality disorder, with psychotic features, and finally anti-social personality disorder with sadistic tendencies. She was asked to draw a self-portrait of herself, as well, it was a very telling image of herself as a large woman with large claw-like hands, it must have been how she perceived herself quite accurately after her conviction for the torture and murder of young Sylvia Likens.