Nicknamed "The Mad Butcher', he was an American bodysnatcher who would exhume corpses from local graveyards and make crafts from their skin and bones, such as lampshade made from a human face. He served to inspiring many fictional series killers, such as Norman Bates in the Psycho movies or Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Ed died in 1984 in a mental asylum, aged 77.