The Baniszewski's House of Torture Never Foreclosed

By Lynn A. Granata

After researching the Sylvia Likens case now for 41/2 years, I have noticed something very odd and peculiar about the house that they all lived in at 3850 East New York Avenue in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The house stood vacant there until 2009! In 2009, it was demolished after it was bought from a church pastor across the street from it. They wrecked the house down and leveled it off to use as an extra parking lot space for their congregation.

But since 1965, nobody has lived in this rather large looming spooky looking Victorian ramshackle. Imagine, I never could tell if Gertrude rented it or if she owned it? Some say she rented it. Which seems far more logical than her ever owning it.

But whoever owned it must have been in no doubt traumatized from all the misbehavior that went on in there. I have read accounts that a young couple with a few pennies to spare, bought it really cheap, must have been through a bank foreclosure, but even that wasn't disclosed. Anyway they bought it back in the late 1980's early 90's and with good intentions, tried to renovate it and then had hoped to convert it into a shelter for battered women. That plan fell through and it didn't work out, probably because of zoning issues or because of back tax liens owed on it since 1965! Then it just continued to stay vacant, it had had so many building code violations and was thus ordered a condemned property.