Ed Gein, the infamous American murderer whose crimes shocked the world in the 1950s, is once again in the spotlight through Ryan Murphy’s Netflix anthology Monster: The Ed Gein Story. The series explores the life of the so-called “Butcher of Plainfield,” who killed two women and turned his Wisconsin farmhouse into a gruesome crime scene. Amid the darkness surrounding his name, one detail that caught public attention both in real life and in the show is his alleged romance with a woman named Adeline Watkins.
In the Netflix adaptation, actress Suzanna Son portrays Adeline Watkins, depicted as Ed Gein’s soft spot — the woman he loved despite his otherwise horrific life. Interestingly, Adeline Watkins wasn’t just a fictional addition. There was indeed a woman by that name who, shortly after Gein’s arrest in November 1957, came forward claiming to have been in a long-term relationship with him.
At the time, Adeline, who was 50 years old and living with her mother in a modest apartment, spoke to the Minneapolis Tribune. She described Gein as “good, sweet, and kind,” a stark contrast to the monstrous image painted by investigators. Her mother echoed her sentiments, calling him a “polite man” who always brought her daughter home by 10 p.m. Adeline claimed that she and Ed had been dating for around twenty years, spending most of their time together at movie theaters or occasionally at local taverns — though, she said, Gein wasn’t fond of drinking and preferred milkshakes over alcohol.
“I would almost have to drag Eddie into a tavern,” she said. “He would much rather have gone to a drugstore for a milkshake.”
Their relationship, she explained, was quiet and intellectual. Both shared a love for reading and would often discuss books and news stories. Adeline mentioned that Ed had a fascination with books about exotic animals and that they frequently discussed local crimes together. “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.”
Adeline also claimed that Ed proposed to her on February 6, 1955 — more than two years before his arrest. She turned him down, not because of anything he did, but because she felt she couldn’t meet his expectations. “I turned him down, but not because there was anything wrong with him. It was something wrong with me,” she admitted. “Eddie was so nice about doing things I wanted to do that sometimes I felt I was taking advantage of him.”
Despite rejecting his proposal, she maintained that she still loved him. However, her story quickly became national news, and the attention seemed to overwhelm her. Within days, Adeline retracted her earlier statements, contacting The Plainfield Sun to deny being Ed Gein’s sweetheart. She insisted their relationship had been purely platonic, saying they occasionally went to the movies together but were never romantically involved.
She clarified that while Gein was “quiet and polite,” she never called him “sweet” or “dragged him for drinks.” Instead, she expressed pity for him after learning about his crimes. “I just felt sorry for him,” she said.
Whether Adeline Watkins truly loved Ed Gein or exaggerated her story under media pressure remains uncertain. But her brief, contradictory public statements have continued to intrigue true-crime enthusiasts and now serve as one of the more haunting emotional threads in Netflix’s portrayal of the notorious killer.