Did Ed Gein have a girlfriend? Details explored

A compelling element of any serialized true-crime narrative is the window it opens into a killer’s personal life. Their relationships with romantic partners, friends and family often offer valuable insight into their psyche. Monster: The Ed Gein Story doesn’t fall short in this regard. Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix installment places Gein’s unsettling relationship with his neighbor, Adeline Watkin, at the forefront, using it to deepen the viewer’s understanding of the man behind the crimes.

Rising actress Suzanna Son portrays the serial killer’s alleged 20-year love interest in the true crime drama that was released on the streaming platform on October 3, 2025. Second-billed after lead Charlie Hunnam, who plays Gein, Son’s role is substantial as the series explores Gein’s life and lasting impact on the horror genre.

However, in real life, Gein and Watkins’s relationship was reportedly not as it initially appeared. Conflicting accounts and misinterpreted statements led the actual Watkins to deny the supposed 20-year romance.

Ed Gein was reportedly in a long-term relationship with Adeline Watkins 

In a 1957 interview with the Minneapolis Tribune, later republished by the Wisconsin State Journal, Adeline Watkins revealed that she had dated Ed Gein for more than 20 years. She described him as “good and kind and sweet,” adding that she often felt she was “taking advantage of him” whenever he agreed to activities she wanted to pursue.

Watkins shared that she and Gein often discussed books, although their interests differed. “Eddie liked books about lions and tigers and Africa and India,” she told the paper. The pair also spent time at movies and taverns, where Watkins drank beer while Gein favored milkshakes.

Chillingly, Watkins also revealed that she and Gein often discussed murders reported in the news. “Eddie told how the murderer did wrong, what mistakes he had made. I thought it was interesting,” she recounted.

When recalling their final meeting, Watkins said their last date took place in 1955, two years before the interview. “That night he proposed to me,” she explained, then added, “Not in so many words, but I knew what he meant.”

Watkins said she declined Gein’s proposal out of self-doubt, not because of him, admitting she still loved him even after his crimes. Her mother remembered Gein as a “sweet, polite man” who respected Watkins’s curfew.

Adeline Watkins disputed reports of her relationship with Ed Gein

About two weeks after the Wisconsin State Journal article, Watkins retracted her claims of a 20-year romance with Gein, telling the Stevens Point Journal that the story was “exaggerated…blown up out of proportion” and contained false statements.

Watkins clarified that although she and Gein had known each other for 20 years, their romantic involvement lasted less than a year. According to the Stevens Point Journal, Gein called on her intermittently for seven months, and they attended shows together only a few times. She also denied that she or her mother considered Gein “sweet.”

In the new report, Watkins stated she had never visited Gein’s home, which contained victim remains and a shrine to his mother. Though she described him as “quiet and polite,” she emphasized they were not close. Gein himself never publicly commented on Watkins.

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