Serial Killer Gary Heidnik Inspiration for Movie “Silence of the Lambs”

Gary Heidnik, one of the most brutal and sadistic serial killers inspired the character Buffalo Bill in the movie Silence of the Lambs.

Gary Heidnik is one of the lesser-known serial killers but one of the most sadistic and brutal to walk the earth. He inspired the evil character, Buffalo Bill, in the movie “Silence of the Lambs.” However, truth is much worse than fiction.

Heidnik kidnapped, raped, and tortured six women, killing two, while holding them captive in a basement pit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Early Life

Heidnik was born on November 22, 1943, to Michael and Ellen Heidnik, and raised in the Eastlake suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. Both parents were alcoholics. He had a younger brother named Terry. Heidnik’s parents divorced in 1946 and his mother raised the two children for four years, before placing them with their father and his new wife.

Heidnik claimed he was emotionally abused as a child as his father was very dictatorial. A lifelong “bedwetter,” Heidnik was forced to hang his soiled sheets outside his window so the neighborhood could see.

Gary Heidnik’s father would paint a bullseye on his Heidnik and his brother’s pants and kick them, making them wear their jeans to school.

Heidnik’s father would paint a bullseye on the seat of both of his son’s pants and kick them in the behind at home. He would also send…