The Case Of Aileen Wuornos

In a name that is now synonymous with the words “Female Serial Killer,” Aileen Wuornos stunned the world not only with the manner in which she executed seven men but also with her approach to the reason some women might snap and become killers. Between the years of 1989 and 1990, Aileen Carol Pittman (Later changed to Aileen Wuornos) murdered seven men by shooting them at point-blank range with a low-caliber firearm. During her trial, she claimed to have killed all of the men out of self-defense, as they had all either attempted to rape or successfully raped her.

Despite working as a prostitute at the time of the murders, the events of her traumatic past changed the world's perception of why someone might kill. Do you believe Aileen killed in self-defense? Take a look into her morbid past and decide for yourself.

On February 29, 1956, Aileen Carol Pittman was born to a Finnish-American mother by the name Diane Wuornos and her father, Leo Pittman. Diane was only seventeen at the time of Aileen’s birth and Leo was nineteen. At the time of Aileen’s birth, Leo and Diane already had one son, Keith, and were only married for two years before Diane filed for divorce.

Aileen never met her father due to his incarceration at the time of her birth and his charges for sex crimes against children. After being charged with multiple crimes against children, Leo committed suicide in his prison cell in 1969, ending any chances of Aileen meeting her father.

When Aileen was only four years old, her mother left her children under the care of their maternal grandparents. On March 18, 1960, Aileen and Keith were legally adopted by their grandparents in what seemed to be a miraculous second chance at a normal life- however, this is when Aileen’s true nightmarish life began.

Throughout her childhood, Aileen claimed to have been sexually assaulted and beaten by her alcoholic grandfather. During those beatings, she was forced to strip naked while accepting her punishment. By age 11, Aileen was trading sexual favors with her peers in return for cigarettes, food, and drugs.

On March 23, 1971, Aileen gave birth to a son in a home for unwed mothers after being raped and impregnated by an acquaintance of her grandfather; she was only 14 at the time of her son's birth. Shortly after, her son was given up for adoption. A few months after this traumatic experience, Aileen’s grandmother died from liver failure and she was kicked out of her childhood home after dropping out of school.

In order to provide for herself, she became a prostitute and began living in a wooded area near her old home. At age 18 she was arrested for driving under the influence and firing a 22-caliber pistol from a moving vehicle.

In 1976 Aileen hitchhiked to Florida where she met 69-year-old yacht club President, Lewis Gratz Fell; they married almost instantaneously. Their marriage was annulled only nine weeks after the duo said “I do” after Aileen assaulted him with his own cane. On July 17, 1976, her older brother Keith died from esophageal cancer; she inherited a $10,000 life insurance policy and blew through the entire amount within a month's time on drugs and partying.

In 1981 Aileen was charged with armed robbery and spent a short time in prison for this charge. After her release, she met local hotel maid Tyria Moore and began an intimate relationship with her. Shortly after their meeting, Aileen and Tyria moved in together and supported themselves using the money Aileen was still earning from working as a prostitute.

On November 30, 1989 electronics store owner Richard Mallory’s body was discovered in a wooded area near Marion County, Florida. He had been shot several times, with two of those bullets entering his left lung and causing his death; Mallory was a convicted rapist. When Aileen was finally connected to his murder, she claimed that he brutally raped her and she shot him as an act of self-defense.

On June 1, 1990, the body of construction worker David Spears was found along Florida State Road 19- he was naked and was shot a total of six times. On May 31, 1990, part-time rodeo worker Charles Carskaddon was shot nine times with a small caliber weapon.

On July 4, 1990, retired merchant Seaman Peter Siems’ abandoned car was located in Orange Springs. Despite his body not being located, Aileen was connected to the crime because of a full palm print she left on the inside door of Siems’ vehicle.

On August 4, 1990, the body of sausage salesman Troy Burgess was discovered in a wooded area along State Road 19- he was also shot twice with a small caliber weapon.

Aileen’s final victim was Walter Antonio, a police reservist and security guard. His naked body was found near a remote logging road in Dixie County; he was shot four times.

After Aileen and Tyria crashed Siems’ car and numerous witnesses provided details of their names and physical descriptions, authorities finally had their sights on the serial killer that was murdering men along State Road 19. On January 9, 1991 Wuornos was arrested at a biker bar in Volusia County and Tyria was located the following day in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

In exchange for immunity from the prosecution of any charges, Tyria agreed to extract a confession from Aileen for authorities. Tyria then purchased a hotel room with the help of authorities and spent an entire weekend speaking with Aileen in an attempt to get a full confession. Three days later, on January 16, 1991, Aileen condemned herself for the seven murders she committed- however, she claimed she did so in an act of self-defense when the men tried to rape her.

When Aileen was sent to a court-appointed psychiatrist she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and Antisocial Personality Disorder. However, she was deemed mentally competent to stand trial.

On January 14, 1992, Aileen stood trial was her first murder, the murder of Richard Mallory. Despite Mallory being sent to prison for intent to commit rape in the state of Maryland and being sentenced to a maximum security prison for eight years with a focus on sexual offenders, the judge refused to use this evidence in court. Aileen claimed that Mallory brutally raped her and she shot him to death in order to protect herself- for this crime, she was sentenced to death.

Aileen was later tried for the murders of David Spears, Charles “Dick” Humphreys, Troy Burgess, Charles Carskaddon, and Walter Antonio and was handed five additional death sentences for these crimes. She was not forced to stand trial for the murder of Peter Siems due to his body never being located. After being handed six death sentences, Aileen made a confession.

“I wanted to confess to you that Richard Mallory did violently rape me as I’ve told you, but these others did not. They only began to start to.”

Aileen was then sent to Florida State of Corrections Broward Correctional Institution on death before being sent to Florida State Prison for her execution. In 1996, she appealed her execution date to the United States Supreme Court but it was denied. In 2001, after a change of heart, Aileen made a request to Florida State Supreme Court to dismiss her legal counsel and terminate any pending appeals. After the court-appointed panel of psychiatrists agreed that she was mentally competent to make a decision of that magnitude, her execution date moved forward with no stopping.

In Aileen’s final years on earth, she became increasingly paranoid, often complaining of prison guards wanting to rape her, kitchen personnel spitting in her food and poisoning her, and the government using sonic pressure to “crush her head.” In Aileen’s final on-camera interview weeks before her execution, she seemed increasingly dissociated from reality with ramblings of society sabotaging her and the government torturing her. Her final on-camera words were:

“Thanks a lot, society, for railroading my ass.”

On October 9, 2002, Aileen Wuornos was executed at 9:47 a.m. In her final hours, she declined a final meal but did drink a cup of coffee. Her final words were:

“Yes, I would 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 mother ship and all, I’ll be back. I’ll be back.”

Aileen Wuornos was the first woman to be executed in the state of Florida since the Supreme Court’s 1976 ruling to legalize capital punishment. After a childhood of sexual abuse and emotional trauma, Aileen Wuornos snapped. In her wake, she left seven men dead; the question is, did she kill them out of self-defense or did she kill them because the hatred she felt for the human race ran so fluidly through her veins?

Cold Case Blogger