Truth behind whether Ed Gein helped catch Ted Bundy as new Monsters series leaves people confused
Topics: Netflix, Crime, True Crime, Ted Bundy
Jen Thomas
Featured Image Credit: Netflix/Bettmann / Contributor
Topics: Netflix, Crime, True Crime, Ted Bundy
Fans have been left confused by events depicted in the latest instalment of Ryan Murphy's Monsters series.
The new series, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, is based on the real-life killings and grave robbing committed by Ed Gein, dubbed the 'Butcher of Plainfield'.
However, while much of it has been exaggerated or fabricated for the TV show, some fans are struggling to distinguish between fact and fiction.
Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam takes on the role of the murderous Gein, who was eventually apprehended following the disappearance and murder of hardware store worker Bernice Worden.
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Horrified detectives discovered the remains of Worden strung up in his 'house of horrors', as well as multiple 'souvenirs' from other victims, including a corset and leggings made of skin, masks made out of female faces, and numerous body parts and skin made into furniture.
Sadly, that was all true, but the final scenes of the show featured another serial killer, the notorious Ted Bundy.
Gein was deemed 'insane' and was institutionalised in a psychiatric hospital for the rest of his life following the horrendous crimes, after he confessed to the murders of Worden and tavern owner Mary Hogan in 1954.
In the show, he is seen finding 'purpose' in life by helping the FBI to apprehend Bundy, who shot to fame for a series of killings between 1974 and 1978.
The Netflix series depicts FBI agents John Douglas and Robert Ressler (based on real individuals) visiting Gein in the unit, attempting to delve deeper into Bundy's psyche to understand his actions.
Gein helps out the officers by telling them what kind of saw Bundy would be using to decapitate victims, and then shares a letter which reveals Bundy’s first name and the type of car he drives, leading to them making an arrest.
Except that none of this happened.
In reality, Bundy was first arrested after fleeing a patrol car before escaping custody twice. He was eventually convicted for the murders of three women, though it is believed to have been more, and executed in 1989.
There is also no record of the FBI visiting Gein for help with the Bundy case or for any other reason, and it is portrayed in the show as a delusion that the nurses in the hospital don't discourage him from.
Gein is also shown using a ham radio to communicate with a Nazi war prisoner; however, this is also more shown as a storytelling liberty as a result of his schizophrenia.
Series creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan told Tudum that they wanted to show the 'dark legacy' that Gein left behind, as the show's creators had initially planned a different ending; however, they 'quickly abandoned it'.
Murphy said that originally Gein's mother (played by Laurie Metcalf) was only going to visit him in the institution, but as he is dying, he sees the likes of Bundy, Charles Manson, and Ed Kemper welcoming him down a hallway.
"And also we wanted to talk about, yeah, it was a dark legacy. There were many, many dark creatures in our world — Richard Speck, Ted Bundy — who were influenced and obsessed with Ed for all the wrong reasons," he said.
Meanwhile, Brennan added: "It’s the most tonally challenging part of the show to me in that he’s not horrified by it. He sort of loves the fact that he made a mark."