E50 - Gary Heidnik: The Real Horror Behind The Silence of the Lambs

Was Gary Heidnik legally insane—or did he know exactly what he was doing?

The crimes committed inside Gary Heidnik’s North Philadelphia home became infamous for their brutality—and would later draw comparisons to The Silence of the Lambs. But beneath the mythology of the so-called “Monster Preacher” is a much more difficult question about mental illness, culpability, and the way the law defines sanity.

Heidnik had a documented history of severe mental illness stretching back decades. He experienced delusions, believed God had given him a mission, and constructed an elaborate fantasy that ultim...