July 13, 2026

The House on New York Street: The Sylvia Likens Case, Part Two

Show Notes

Part 2 of the Sylvia Likens case examines the heartbreaking final hours of Sylvia Likens, one of the most horrific child abuse and murder cases in American history.

On October 26, 1965, after months of unimaginable torture inside a home in Indianapolis, Indiana, 16-year-old Sylvia was carried upstairs for a bath before she was discovered unresponsive. As Gertrude Baniszewski scrambled to cover up the abuse with a fabricated confession letter, investigators immediately recognized the devastating evidence of prolonged torture. Including severe burns, starvation, countless injuries, a fatal subdural hematoma, and the chilling message carved into Sylvia's abdomen.

The investigation took a dramatic turn when Sylvia's younger sister, Jenny, courageously told police, "Get me out of here, and I'll tell you everything." Her testimony unraveled Gertrude Baniszewski's lies and led to the arrests of Gertrude, several of her children, and neighborhood teenagers who participated in or witnessed the abuse.

Sources:

https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/longform/likens-looking-back-indianas-infamous-crime-50-years-later

https://www.indystar.com/story/news/history/retroindy/2013/10/24/sylvia-likens/3178393/

House of Evil: The Indiana Torture Slaying - John Dean

Torture Mom: A Chilling True Story of Confinement, Mutilation, and Murder - Ryan Green, 2018.

The House from Hell: The True Story of Gertrude Baniszewski, Genoveva Ortiz, Sea Vision Publishing, 2024.

https://www.history101.com/sylvia-likens-the-family-she-left-behind/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Sylvia_Likens#Gertrude_Baniszewski

https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/baniszewski.htm

https://www.history101.com/sylvia-likens-the-family-she-left-behind/

https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/35446-lawyers-book-retraces-indys-infamous-sylvia-likens-murder-case

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