As a child, Benjamin Wiley lived with his abusive grandmother. She would lock him in the cellar for days at a time, with nothing to eat or drink but a faucet and stacks of canned goods. His grandmother also commonly read him the poem "The Raggedy Man" by James Whitcomb Riley.

As an adult, Wiley became a serial killer, targeting young children and taking souvenirs from their rooms after he killed them with a can opener to make a patchwork suit for himself. When he was caught, he was deemed mentally ill and sent to the newly improved Arkham Asylum. He began treatment with Jeremiah Arkham. At first, his treatment seemed promising. However, Alyce Sinner captured the Raggedy Man in an attempt to drive Jeremiah mad. Wiley was trapped in a sub level of Arkham modeled after a labyrinth with no food or water for three days. He later stumbled onto an exact replica of his grandmother's cellar, right down to the canned peaches.

In the walls of the replica was a tunnel out of the trap. It was lined with a rare Brazilian beetle that burrows into its prey's intestines. In an attempt to save himself, Wiley eviscerated himself with the same can opener he had killed children with.