Everything the real Adeline Watkins has said about her twisted relationship with Ed Gein
‘We discussed every murder we ever heard about’
A huge part of Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix is showing his relationship with Adeline Watkins. In the series, she is portrayed as having shown Gein images from the war, igniting his macabre interest in death – which Adeline shared.
Adeline Watkins is based on a real life person. And there’s lots out there about their relationship in the real world. Adeline Watkins has spoken publicly a couple of times about her relationship with Ed Gein.
In one interview she said she dated him for 20 years, and that he was a gentle man. She said he proposed to her during this time. Then, just weeks later, in another interview she took it all back. She said they knew each other for 20 years, but were actually only in a relationship for seven months on and off. Her story has conveniently changed back and forth.
So here’s what Adeline Watkins has said, when she’s been asked about Ed Gein.
via Netflix
Did Adeline Watkins and Ed Gein actually date?
Yes, it would appear Adeline Watkins and Ed Gein did date. After he was arrested, Adeline described Gein as “good and kind” and said they had been together for 20 years. Later, she redacted this statement.
Adeline told the Minneapolis Tribune Ed Gein was “good and sweet and kind.” She gave an interview, and the piece was titled “Plainfield Woman Nearly Wedded Gein”.
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She said, at this time, they dated for 20 years, and their dates typically consisted of going to see shows together. Sometimes they went to a local tavern for drinks, although Adeline said Gein 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.”
Adeline’s mother explained Ed always had her daughter home by 10pm after their dates. Her mother called him a “sweet, polite man”.
The couple discussed books and crime together
Opening up more about what she and Ed Gein got up to, Adeline said: “Eddie and I discussed books. We never read the same ones, but we liked to talk about them anyway.” She explained Gein enjoyed books about exotic animals, like lions and tigers, as well as Africa and India.
Adeline told reporters she and Ed would also talk about crime 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.”
She later added: “Eddie was so nice about doing things I wanted to do that sometimes I felt I was taking advantage of him.”
via Netflix
Adeline Watkins turned down a marriage proposal from Ed Gein
On their final date, that Adeline claimed took place two years before Gein’s eventual arrest, she said she turned down a marriage proposal from him. And not for the obvious reason you might expect. She said he proposed “not in so many words, but I knew what he meant.”
She explained to the Minneapolis Tribune: “I turned him down, but not because there was anything wrong with him. 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.”
Adeline then said she “loved him and I still do.”
Then, Adeline took it all back
After every newspaper started talking about her relationship with Gein, Adeline took all of her comments back. She said it had all been “blown out of proportion”. She contacted the Plainfield Sun, and denied she was ever Gein’s “sweetheart”, and said they merely had a friendship. This piece was titled “Woman Declares Gein ‘Romance’ Was Exaggerated”.
“There was no 20-year romance,” she said, adding everything was platonic. Adeline told the paper Ed Gein would visit her home on occasion, and they would just sometimes go to the movies or the theatre. She remained that Ed Gein was “quiet and polite” but took back that she ever called him “sweet”.
She was also clear in saying she never said she “practically dragged him into a tavern, as was reported.”
The report added: “Actually, Miss Watkins declared, Gein had called on her for only seven months, and then only intermittently. She said Gein during this short period stopped at the Watkins home on some afternoons or evenings and that the couple had attended shows at the Plainfield Theatre ‘a few times.’”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.
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