Did Ed Gein really help police to find Ted Bundy? Shocking truth behind Netflix’s Monster Season 3

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Okay, so everyone’s been saying to take Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ with a grain of salt, which is fair. But I’m really curious – does that same warning apply to the parts about Ted Bundy? It turns out there’s a lot more to how they connected these two stories than I initially thought. It’s a surprisingly deep crossover!

Controversy is common with each new season of the ‘Monster’ series. The creators, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, faced criticism for ‘Dahmer’ – some felt it glorified a serial killer. Similarly, ‘The Erik and Lyle Menendez Story’ drew criticism for scenes that suggested incest.

Okay, so I’ve been digging into the Ed Gein case – you know, the guy who inspired all those scary movie villains like Norman Bates and Leatherface? Apparently, the creators of this show, Murphy and Brennan, took some liberties with the facts. They added stuff or changed things to make it more dramatic, and a lot of true crime fans aren’t happy about it. It feels like they prioritized entertainment over accuracy, and people are calling them out for it.

Despite some debate over its creative direction, ‘Monster’ starring Charlie Hunnam continues to be popular, currently ranking as one of the most-watched shows on Netflix in the US. Specifically, a scene attempting to connect the crimes of Ed Gein with those of Ted Bundy has sparked discussion.

Did Ed Gein really help police to find Ted Bundy?

Although Ed Gein was still alive and in a mental institution when Ted Bundy committed his crimes and was arrested, he didn’t offer any information to the FBI to help catch Bundy, and the two never communicated.

Episode 8 features a surprising connection to the show *Mindhunter*. Real-life FBI agents John Douglas and Robert Ressler – who inspired the characters of Holden Ford and Bill Tench in David Fincher’s series – appear in this episode, played by Caleb Ruminer and Sean Carrigan respectively.

The investigators also interview Jerry Brudos, the same actor, Happy Anderson, having previously played the killer in Mindhunter. Following their conversation with Brudos, they travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to speak with Gein at the Mendota Mental Health Institute.

He described how Bundy severed his victims’ heads. In a separate interview, Gein shared that Richard Speck, a fellow killer and Bundy admirer, told him they’d received a letter from Bundy identifying himself and mentioning he drove a Volkswagen Beetle.

Gein was listening to the radio when a news report claimed Bundy had been caught—but this was false.

Actually, Bundy’s first arrest happened in Utah in August 1975. A highway patrol officer pulled him over in his Volkswagen Beetle and found burglary tools. This was an important early lead, but wasn’t enough evidence to charge him with murder then.

After being connected to several disappearances, he escaped from custody on two occasions. He was finally caught in Florida in February 1978 during a traffic stop – the vehicle he was driving had been stolen. This led to his conviction and, ultimately, a death sentence.

Although officials tried to interview Gein to understand his motives, accounts indicate his mental condition prevented him from giving helpful details.

Former FBI profiler John Douglas explained to Schokkend Nieuws (as reported by The Flashback Files) that he began his FBI career in 1970, first in Detroit and then in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He first learned about the Gein case while working in Milwaukee.

While working as an FBI agent and attending graduate school, I learned about this case and became interested in studying it. One benefit of being an FBI agent is the easy access to prisons for interviews – you don’t have to provide any explanation for your visits.

I was particularly interested in interviewing Gein, and fortunately, everyone was very helpful. They even opened a sealed envelope of crime scene photos from the 1950s just for me.

I met Ed Gein once, but it wasn’t a real interview. He was deeply disturbed, unlike the other serial killers I spoke with later. It was a strange encounter – he was working with leather at the Mendota State Mental Institution where he was held.

Why did Monster Season 3 make this scene up?

Like many scenes in the true crime series, certain events are dramatized to better illustrate Ed Gein’s deteriorating mental state and increasingly irrational thoughts.

As Douglas pointed out, individuals like Gein don’t have multiple personalities, but rather a deeply fragmented one. They tend to be disorganized and their methods are often messy, which typically leads to them being caught relatively quickly.

Honestly, the way Gein managed to get away with everything for so long is kinda crazy when you think about it. He lived in this tiny town, Plainville, Wisconsin – barely 300 people – and there was next to no police presence. And from what I’ve read, he wasn’t some mastermind either. He wasn’t a super-smart, calculating type of killer; he just…did it, and got away with it for a long time because of where he lived.

Okay, so playing through this, it’s become pretty clear a lot of it isn’t real. Like, the whole Bundy scene felt totally fabricated, and that’s not a one-off. The stuff with Gein supposedly meeting Christine Jorgensen and even Ilse Koch? Yeah, that’s all made up too, according to the actresses playing them.

The show initially portrays Gein communicating with women over the radio, but it’s later revealed this never actually happened – it was a product of his imagination. Viewers might be confused about this and connect it to Bundy because the show doesn’t clarify that the radio conversations weren’t real.

People have also questioned whether Ed Gein’s only friend, Adeline Watkins (also known as Suzanna Son), was a real person. While Adeline was inspired by someone who actually lived in Plainfield, Wisconsin, the details of her connection with Gein haven’t been officially recorded.

Charlie Hunnam, Brennan Brown, and Rory Murphy discussed the character with Netflix’s Tudum, explaining how the show intentionally mixes fictional and real-life elements.

The truth about Adeline Watkins and Gein’s reality 

So, Brennan was telling me this story, and apparently, this girl started going around saying she and this guy were a couple and even planning to get married. But then, totally out of the blue, she admitted she’d made the whole thing up! It was a really weird situation, honestly.

Netflix pointed out that the show is heavily influenced by Ed’s perspective, leading viewers to question if the character Adeline is actually real, and the creators even considered addressing this ambiguity in the final episode.

Brennan said they had discussed it extensively and feels a genuine connection with her. Charlie Hunnam, though, sees things a little differently.

The way I see it, Adeline is mostly a figment of Ed’s imagination. He’s looking for someone – whether she’s real or not – who just *gets* him, someone who understands those deep, raw feelings and instincts he’s got inside. It’s like he created this perfect person to connect with on a really basic level.

Regarding the connection to *Mindhunter*, Brennan explained they wanted to emphasize how *The Silence of the Lambs* significantly impacted that show, too. They thought it would be a fitting conclusion to explore that connection and highlight his role in the beginnings of FBI profiling techniques, drawing on the visual style of the film.

Hunnam explained that Gein genuinely experienced his schizophrenia as reality. He described Gein’s manic episodes not as something separate from life, but as simply part of his lived experience – as real to him as anything else.

The film *Monster: The Ed Gein Story* is now available to watch on Netflix. You can also stay updated on new movie releases coming to Netflix this month and see what TV shows are planned for 2025 with our release calendar.

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2025-10-13 19:20