The house where a 16-year-old Indianapolis girl was tortured to death in what is widely considered the state's most horrific crime was demolished Thursday, more than 43 years after the murder.
The house at 3852 E. New York St. had fallen into disrepair over the past few years, becoming a haven for prostitutes and drug activity, 6News' Jack Rinehart reported.
It was in the fall of 1965, while Sylvia Likens was staying in the home with Gertrude Baniszewski and her children, that she was beaten, burned, humiliated, locked in a cellar and eventually starved to death at the hands of her caregiver and area teens.
Baniszewski and two of her children, Paula Baniszewski and John Baniszewski, and two neighbor youths, Coy Hubbard and Richard Hobbs, were charged and convicted of the crime. Gertrude Baniszewski served 19 years in prison for murder and later died of cancer in 1990.
For the neighborhood, Thursday's demolition partly put to rest ghosts of decades past.
"It's got a bad aura to it," said Mark Gray, who was taking pictures of the site. "After what happened in the house, it's just good to see it come down."
The only remaining link to Likens' murder in the neighborhood is now a memorial at nearby Willard Park, unveiled in 2001, which honors victimized children.
Lt. Tom Rodgers, now retired from the then-Indianapolis Police Department, was among several police officers who organized the effort. He grew up in the area and remembers Likens in happier times.
"I remember her as a very young, vivacious, playful young lady, intelligent," he said as he watched the house being torn down. "She could have contributed much to society."
A local church has bought the land and plans to put a parking lot where the house once stood. |
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