Here’s what we know about Adeline Watkins, the woman who claimed to have loved serial killer Ed Gein.
Nearly 70 years after Gein's gruesome crimes shocked the nation, the third season of Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology has unearthed a lesser-known mystery: the woman who claimed to love him.
Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story, which follows critically acclaimed takes on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez brothers, dives into the life of the so-called “Butcher of Plainfield,” whose horrific acts of murder and grave robbing inspired Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
But beyond the twisted headlines and infamous farmhouse, the series explores Gein’s link to his alleged partner, who was played by The Idol actress Suzanna Son.
Watkins once claimed a 20-year romance with Gein
Just days after the killer's 1957 arrest for the murder of hardware store owner Bernice Worden, 50-year-old 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".
“I would almost have to drag Eddie into a tavern,” she said.
“He would much rather have gone to a drugstore for a milkshake.”
They also shared a love of reading, and she recalled 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.”
She claimed he proposed, and she turned him down
According to Watkins, their last date was in February 1955 - over two years before he was apprehended by police.
That night, Gein allegedly proposed.
“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.”
A retraction raises new doubts
As media attention swelled, Watkins quickly backtracked on her claims about a 20-year relationship.
Days later, she told the Plainfield Sun there was no romantic relationship and that her original comments had been exaggerated.
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.
In reality, Gein’s crimes were anything but gentle, as after he was locked up, police found his farmhouse littered with human remains: skulls used as bowls, a chair upholstered in human skin, and clothing made from body parts.
He confessed to murdering two women, but evidence suggested he had exhumed multiple corpses from local cemeteries.
Playing the infamous killer in the new season of Monster is Charlie Hunnam, who previously starred in Sons of Anarchy.
The 45-year-old revealed in a recent interview that he lost nearly 30 pounds, studied Gein’s rare voice recordings, and remained in character for up to 16 hours a day on set - ultimately visiting Gein’s grave after production wrapped.
“There was an enormous amount of trepidation and fear initially,” Hunnam said.
“And then it was just trying to understand him, trying not to judge him, trying to find the truth and find the man behind the monster.”
Series creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, along with Hunnam, were clear that the show was not designed to glorify the man's actions.
“What we did over and over throughout was ask ourselves why Ed did what he did,” Hunnam said.
“We definitely didn’t want to sensationalize this or make a show that was gratuitous.
"It was really about, in the tradition of storytelling, trying to understand ourselves and say, like, ‘What makes a monster?”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming on Netflix.