PLAINFIELD, Wis. – Land that was once home to a murderer whose story inspired the movie "Psycho" was pulled from an online auction, the owner said Monday.
The bidding was stopped by eBay on Saturday, five days after it was first listed, said Mike Fisher. In an e-mail to Fisher, eBay said the listing violated its policy against murder memorabilia.
"It was bound to be controversial," Fisher said. He inherited the land from his grandfather, who bought it at an auction.
Fisher said he received one offer that was far lower than his $250,000 asking price for the 40-acre property, which once contained Ed Gein's home and part of his farm.
The property in central Wisconsin where Gein was arrested — and where body parts and clothing made from human skin were found in 1957 — remains for sale, he said.
Gein was arrested when the headless body of a hardware store owner was found at his farm home. Investigators also found parts of other bodies. They concluded Gein had robbed graves and may have killed other people.
A fictionalized account of Gein by writer Robert Bloch inspired the Norman Bates character in Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 classic "Psycho."
Gein, eventually ruled guilty but criminally insane, died in a mental hospital in 1984 at age 77.
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