Following the release of Netflix's latest true crime series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, viewers have been left with many questions about one particular character.
Charting the life and crimes of killer Ed Gein, the latest Monster series by Ryan Murphy follows those on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers.
Gein gained notoriety in the 1950s for his heinous crimes, which included two murders and desecrating several graves, often stealing the bones and skin of the deceased to create macabre artifacts in his remote home.
Known as the “Butcher of Plainfield,” Gein's horrific acts inspired movies including Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
After the release of Monster: The Ed Gein Story, viewers have been left wondering what happened to Adeline Watkins, the woman who claimed to have loved Gein.
Depicted by Suzanna Son in the new Netflix series alongside Charlie Hunnam as Gein, viewers were able to get a glimpse into Watkins' complex relationship with Gein as it developed.
Watkins' alleged 20-year romance with Gein
Just days after the killer's 1957 arrest for the murder of hardware store owner Bernice Worden, Watkins told the Minneapolis Tribune she had been dating him for two decades.
She called Gein “sweet,” “kind,” and “good,” describing a relationship filled with quiet nights out at the movies and milkshakes because “Eddie wasn’t much of a drinker."
She alleged at the time: "I would almost have to drag Eddie into a tavern. He would much rather have gone to a drugstore for a milkshake.”
Watkins recalled a shared love of reading and the fact they would have long conversations about books and news - particularly crime stories.
“I guess we discussed every murder we ever heard about,” she said. "Eddie told [me] how the murderer did wrong, what mistakes he had made. I thought it was interesting.”
Were Adeline Watkins and Ed Gein ever engaged?
While the Netflix series claims Gein proposed in a graveyard with a ring stolen from a corpse and Watkins accepted, the real Adeline remembers it differently.
According to Watkins, Gein proposed on their last date in February 1955 - over two years before he was apprehended by police - and says she declined his offer of marriage.
“I turned him down, but not because there was anything wrong with him,” she said at the time. “It was something wrong with me. I guess I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to live up to what he expected of me.”
Despite the rejection, she said: “I loved him and I still do.”
Adeline Watkins retracts her previous claims
As media attention swelled, Watkins quickly backtracked on her claims about a 20-year relationship, telling the Plainfield Sun just days later that her original comments had been exaggerated and there was no romantic relationship between them.
She denied being his “sweetheart,” though she admitted they occasionally went to the theater together and that he visited her home from time to time.
“There was no 20-year romance,” she said, firmly disputing previous quotes and saying she never referred to Gein as “sweet,” nor did she “practically drag him into taverns," per PEOPLE.
Still, she maintained that Gein was polite and quiet and admitted to feeling sorry for him.
What happened to Adeline Watkins?
Though Watkins later claimed she and Gein had only dated for a year, rather than a 20-year romance, the killer - who died in 1984 - never publicly acknowledged her.
Following the series airing, viewers have been left wondering what happened to Adeline after Gein's arrest.
Little is known about her life after the events of the series, and what happened to her, but as she was born in 1907 it is believed she is likely no longer alive.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming on Netflix.