Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Carol Wuornos (February 29 1956 – October 9 2002) was an American serial killer who was sentenced to death by the state of Florida in 1992 for five counts of murder. Wuornos admitted to killing seven men, in separate incidents, all of whom she claimed raped her while she was working as a prostitute. She was put to death by lethal injection in 2002.

Early life

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Wuornos as a child.

Born in Rochester, Michigan, Wuornos had what was by most accounts a traumatic childhood. Her father, a psychopathic child molester, left her mother before Aileen was born and later committed suicide in prison when she was thirteen (1969). Her mother abandoned her and her brother, Keith in 1960, leaving them in the care of their Finnish-born grandparents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos.

Wuornos later said that Lauri physically and sexually abused her as a child, that Britta was an abusive alcoholic, and that they both claimed to be her actual parents until she was twelve. She also claimed to have had sex with multiple partners, including her brother, at a young age.

Murders and arrest

A storeowner in Palm Harbor, Florida named Richard Mallory took a ride with Wuornos on November 30, 1989 and became her first victim. Over the next two years, five subsequent victims were found; one of the other men is still missing. Her identified victims and the date the bodies were found (excluding Mallory) are listed below:

• David Spears, June 1, 1990

• Charles Carskaddon, June 6, 1990

• Peter Siems, July 4, 1990 (car found, body was never found)

• Troy Burress, August 4, 1990

• Dick Humphreys, September 12, 1990

• Walter Jeno (Gino) Antonio, November 19, 1990

Wuornos was eventually identified when she and her girlfriend Tyria Moore had an accident while driving a victim's car. She was apprehended a few months later.

Wuornos cited self defense for Mallory's murder, maintaining that he had attempted to rape her. She was convicted for his murder in January 1992 with help from Moore's testimony. In November of the same year, Dateline NBC reporter Michele Gillens uncovered that Mallory had served 10 years for violent rape in another state. Despite this, Wuornos was never given a re-trial.

On March 31, 1992 Wournos pleaded no contest to the murders of Dick Humphreys, Troy Burress and David Spears, saying she wanted to "get right with God". In June of 1992, she pleaded guilty to the murder of Charles Carskaddon. In February of 1993, she plead guilty to the murder of Walter Gino Antonio. No charges were brought against her for the murder of Peter Siems since his body was never found. In all, she received five death sentences.

Trials and appeals

During the trial, she was adopted by Arlene Pralle and her husband after Pralle had a dream in which she was told to take care of Wuornos. Despite Pralle's help, her appeal to the Supreme Court was denied in 1996.

Execution and last words

After her first death sentence, Wuornos often said she wanted it all to be over. In 2001 she began fighting to be executed as soon as possible. She petitioned the Florida Supreme Court for the right to fire her legal counsel and stop all appeals, wording her request so as to forestall any objection: "I'm one who seriously hates human life and would kill again". Some have argued that she was in no state for them to honor such a request. During an interview with Nick Broomfield, Wuornos, believing that the cameras were off, whispered to him that she actually killed in self defense but that she could no longer stand being on death row and had to die (Aileen Wuornos had been on death row for twelve years).

Florida governor Jeb Bush had three psychiatrists give Wuornos a fifteen-minute interview from which they judged her mentally fit to be executed, despite her claims that her mind was being controlled by radio waves and that she would be taken away by angels on a space ship [1].

Wuornos declined the traditional last meal, which could have been anything she wanted for under $20 and instead, was given a cup of coffee.

Wuornos was executed by lethal injection (which she requested instead of the electric chair) at 9:47 a.m., Wednesday, 9 October 2002. Her last words were:

I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the Rock and I'll be back like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mothership and all. I'll be back.

After her execution, she was cremated, and her ashes were taken to her native Michigan and spread around a tree.

She had requested that Natalie Merchant's (from the group 10,000 Maniacs) song "Carnival" be played at her funeral. Natalie Merchant commented on this when asked why her song was run during the credits of the documentary Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer.

"When director Nick Broomfield sent a working edit of the film, I was so disturbed by the subject matter that I couldn't even watch it. Aileen Wuornos led a tortured, torturing life that is beyond my worst nightmares. It wasn't until I was told that Aileen spent many hours listening to my album Tigerlily while on death row and requested 'Carnival' be played at her funeral that I gave permission for the use of the song. It's very odd to think of the places my music can go once it leaves my hands. If it gave her some solace, I have to be grateful".

Wuornos was the tenth woman in the U.S. to be executed since the reintroduction of the death penalty in 1976 and the second woman in Florida's history to be executed.

Publicity

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Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in Monster

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Within weeks of her arrest, Wuornos had engaged agents to sell the rights to her story as well as three of the law enforcement agents who were tracking her down. Touted as "the first female serial killer" (which she was not), Wuornos' life has been documented in numerous books and portrayed in several films and television shows.

• Books: Lethal Intent (2002), ISBN 0786015187, by Sue Russell

• Documentaries: Nick Broomfield directed two documentaries about her: Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1992), and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003). Broomfield conducted the last media interview with Wuornos on the day before her execution.

• Movies: The 2003 movie Monster, starring Charlize Theron, tells Wuornos' story from the moment she met Selby Wall, the first person in her life who showed some kindness towards her (the Wall character was based on Wuornos' lover and four-year companion, Tyria Moore) until her first conviction for murder. For her performance as Wuornos, Theron received the Academy Award for Best Actress. This award was given on what would have been Wuornos' forty-eighth birthday, although this was not mentioned in Theron's acceptance speech. Theron doned prosthetic teeth, wore spray-on freckles and gained thirty pounds to play Wuornos.

• Television: 1992 made-for-television movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story, starring Jean Smart as Wuornos, was first broadcast in 1992. Wuornos has also been featured on 60 Minutes, A&E, and Court TV.

• Music: Diamanda Galás, who calls Wuornos "a huge hero" [2], dedicated to her the song Iron Lady on the album Malediction and Prayer.

External links

• The Crime Library: Aileen Wuornos, includes extensive details on Aileen's younger years.

• About Lethal Intent

• Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer Official Website

• FAQ about Wuornos's life and the 2003 film.

• CourtTV.Com In-depth: Aileen Wuornos

• Biography of Aileen Wuornos. Site by Andrea Aherns, who has done extensive work on serial killers.

• CTV-The death of a serial killer

• Aileen: The Early Years WTPARNELL.com