True Crime S3 Episode 16: The Murder of Sylvia Likens

True Crime S3 Episode 16: The Murder of Sylvia Likens

From The Housewife Did It by Mary and Katie

May 5, 2026 · 59 min · Season 3 · Episode 16

About this episode

The episode discusses the tragic murder of Sylvia Likens and the circumstances surrounding her death.

At around 6:30 PM on October 26th, 1965, police entered the home of Gertrude Baniszweski, after she had sent one of her children to call them from a nearby payphone. She led the officers to a makeshift bedroom in her basement, where the emaciated, beaten, and mutilated body of a teenage girl was lying on a soiled mattress. The girl was Sylvia Likens, a 16-year-old girl under Gertrude’s care. Gertrude handed the police a letter Sylvia had written to her parents, detailing her plan to run away, and explained that Sylvia had left with several teenage boys before returning naked from the waist up, and holding this note. She also showed them that she had been attempting, albeit unsuccessfully, to treat Sylvia’s wounds with rubbing alcohol. After showing investigators Sylvia’s body, Gertrude’s daughter, Paula, held tight to her Bible and announced to the room that Sylvia’s death was meant to happen, and that if Sylvia’s sister, Jenny, would like to continue living with them, they would eagerly treat her as their own sister. Police wanted to speak to Jenny, but when they did, they found her answers to be rigid, and almost rehearsed. She repeated almost exactly Gertrude’s version of…

People in this episode

Hosts: Mary, Katie

Topics covered

  • murder
  • true crime
  • abuse
  • investigation
  • 1960s
  • family dynamics

Keywords

  • Sylvia Likens
  • Gertrude Baniszewski
  • murder
  • true crime
  • abuse
  • 1965
  • investigation

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