Ed Gein’s horrifying crimes have been shocking and disturbing the world since they came to light some seven decades ago, and now, even more so with the release of Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

In the new Netflix show, produced by Ryan Murphy and written by Ian Brennan, Charlie Hunnam takes over the role of the infamous “Butcher of Plainfield,” who was known for skinning his victims and turning the organs into household items. Also involved in the latest installment are major names like Laurie Metcalf as Augusta Gein, Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock, Vicky Krieps as Ilse Noch, and Suzanna Son as Adeline Watkins.

**Spoilers ahead for Monster: The Ed Gein Story**

Son, whose previous works include Fear Street: Prom Queen and HBO’s The Idol, plays a woman romantically linked to Gein prior to his arrest in 1957. Given that the show is historical fiction, however, many are wondering if she really is someone who knew and associated with Gein, or if she is just an added element for dramatic effect. No fear, we’ve got the answers for you.

Keep reading to find out everything we know about Adeline Watkins.

Was Adeline Watkins a Real Person? What We Know:

Yes, Adeline Watkins was a real person and claimed to have had a 20-year relationship with Gein, making public statements about a connection just days after his arrest in the late 1950s. According to an article published by the Minneapolis Tribune and reshared by the Wisconsin State Journal in November 1957, Watkins shared that she at one point considered marrying the murderer, even describing him as “good and kind and sweet.”

In the same interview, Watkins told reporters that Gein was not much of a drinker, saying he would prefer to go “to a drugstore for a milkshake.” This could be the inspiration for an early scene from the Netflix horror-drama, as Episode 1 (“Mother!”) sees Hunnam and Son, as their characters, splitting a shake at a local store. This comes after Gein attempts to talk to two other women at the counter, scaring them away with his off-putting demeanor and being reprimanded by the clerk.

According to the interview, Watkins dated Gein for “20 years” before ultimately breaking things off in February 1955 when he proposed. At the time, Watkins was quoted as having said that she didn’t reject his proposal because of anything he did, but because she didn’t feel that she was up for marrying him.

“I turned him down but not because there was nothing 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,” the Wisconsin resident said in the interview. Watkins’ mother, whom she lived with, also went on the record and told reporters that Gein was a “sweet, polite man,” and that he would always have her home by 10 p.m.

The woman — who later retracted her statements about their relationship and his proposal — also said in the original interview that she and Gein discussed “every murder we ever heard about” and that he would dissect them for her, explaining the mistakes killers had made.

As noted above, Watkins later came out and said that she had made up the statements about their 20-year relationship. In a follow-up interview with the Stevens Point Journal, she did claim to have a friendship with Gein and maintained that he was always “quiet and polite,” but said there was nothing more between them.

She told the outlet that their connection had been “exaggerated…blown up out of proportion to its importance and containing untrue statements.” Having been plastered in newspapers and having her story shared by outlets around the country, she took back many of her statements but said that he had “called on her for only seven months” and that he had visited the family home. After that, the real Adeline Watkins distanced herself from the situation.

It’s worth noting that while quoted in the original Tribune story as having thought of Gein as “good and kind and sweet,” she later said that neither she nor her mother would say he was “sweet.”

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now on Netflix.