The Amish Killer- Ed Gingrich - Forgive Me

Edward Gingerich

Edward Gingerich was the first Amish person to ever be convicted of murder after he murdered his wife, Katie, in 1993. Edward was known in the community to be a rule breaker that didn’t seem to adapt to the Amish lifestyle. The couple married and had a son. Following his birth, Edward appeared to become increasingly depressed and his mental health deteriorated - he began to hallucinate and had a complete breakdown.

Eventually the Amish community allowed him to get mental help and he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and given medication which seemed to alleviate his hallucinations. Edward stopped taking his medication and again, his mental health began to deteriorate and soon after, he met a non-Amish man - a Christian called Dave Lindsey, who lectured him about renouncing his faith and leading him to believe that his wife was the devil.

On 18 March, 1993, Edward entered the kitchen where his wife was working and punched her in the face. Katie called their son, who was 6-years-old at the time, and told him o get help. By the time he arrived back with his uncle, Katie was dead - she had been beaten to death by Edward before he disembowelled her and left her organs in a pile beside her bloody body. Edward was found guilty of “involuntary manslaughter but mentally ill” and was sentenced to a minimum term of two and a half years.

He was denied parole in 1995 and was released in 1998. He had received the proper care and treatment while incarcerated and carried this on after his release, but seemingly unable to deal with the guilt of what he had done, he committed suicide by hanging himself in a barn. “Forgive me please” was discovered written in dust on the top of a bucket beside his body.