I didn't know much of the real history other than the fact that he was known as a handsome smooth-talker and that he had eventually confessed to many of his murders before his execution.

With that in mind, i was really confused by the portrayal of him throughout the film. He seemed too smooth and too normal. Maybe they were trying to portray him in such a way that the viewer would feel a little bit of sympathy for Elizabeth but that was hard to do knowing that he was guilty the whole time. I guess if you never knew anything about him then his character might have been more believable.

What made it worse was that i looked up more of the history after i finished the show and there were so many signs that he was a creep and/or guilty. Elizabeth and Carole had to have both known that the dude was a sociopath even if they had love blinders on. It was also frustrating to watch because it sure seemed like there was plenty of evidence all along the way to keep the guy off the streets. Especially after he'd escaped from incarceration twice.