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Murder of Sylvia Likens

Also known as: Sylvia Likens case

Active

1965–1965

Region

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

State

IN

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

In July 1965, Sylvia Likens, 16, and her younger sister were left as paying boarders with Gertrude Baniszewski, a divorced mother of seven, at her house on East New York Street in Indianapolis while their parents worked the fair circuit. Over the next three months Baniszewski, several of her children and neighborhood teenagers abused Sylvia, and she died in the house on October 26, 1965. In 1966 a Marion County jury convicted Gertrude Baniszewski of first-degree murder and her daughter Paula of second-degree murder; three teenage boys were convicted of manslaughter. Gertrude was convicted again at a 1971 retrial and was paroled in 1985.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Sylvia Marie Likens, 16 · October 26, 1965

  Born in Lebanon, Indiana, the third of five children of carnival workers. Friends called her "Cookie", and she looked out for her younger sister.

Timeline of locations

1. July 1965
   Baniszewski house, East New York Street (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Sylvia and her sister boarded here from early July 1965. Sylvia died in the house on October 26, 1965, and police arrested the household that evening. The house was demolished in 2009.

2. October 1965
   Oak Hill Cemetery, Lebanon (Other)

   Sylvia is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Lebanon, Indiana, the town where she was born.

3. 1966
   Indiana Women's Prison, Indianapolis (Prison, approximate area)

   Gertrude Baniszewski served her sentence at the Indiana Women's Prison and was paroled on December 4, 1985, despite a petition with more than 40,000 signatures opposing her release.

4. April 18, 1966
   City-County Building, Indianapolis (Court / trial)

   The five defendants were tried together before Judge Saul Isaac Rabb. On May 19, 1966, the jury convicted Gertrude Baniszewski of first-degree murder and Paula Baniszewski of second-degree murder; John Baniszewski Jr., Richard Hobbs and Coy Hubbard were convicted of manslaughter.

5. June 2001
   Sylvia Likens memorial, Willard Park (Other)

   A six-foot granite memorial to Sylvia was dedicated in Willard Park on Washington Street in June 2001.

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Sources

• Murder of Sylvia Likens (Wikipedia)
• Sylvia Likens Murder Case (Encyclopedia of Indianapolis)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.