She said the men had tried to rape her. The jury believed her only once, for the first man. For the other six killings, they didn't.
An Early Life Marked by Trauma
Aileen Carol Pittman, later known as Aileen Wuornos, was born February 29, 1956, to teenage parents who divorced before her birth. Her father was incarcerated for crimes against children at the time of her birth and later died by suicide in prison. Raised by her maternal grandparents after her mother left when Aileen was four, she has said she was repeatedly sexually abused and beaten by her grandfather throughout her childhood. At 14, she gave birth to a son after being raped by an acquaintance of her grandfather; the child was placed for adoption. After her grandmother's death and dropping out of school, Wuornos began working as a sex worker to support herself.
The Murders
Between 1989 and 1990, Wuornos killed seven men in Florida, most of them shot at close range with a small-caliber firearm along or near Florida highways, including Richard Mallory, David Spears, Charles Carskaddon, Troy Burgess, and Walter Antonio, among others. She was connected to the crimes after being linked to a car belonging to one victim, Peter Siems, whose body was never found. Wuornos maintained that each killing was an act of self-defense against attempted or completed sexual assault by the men involved.
Arrest and Confession
Wuornos was arrested in January 1991. Her partner, Tyria Moore, cooperated with investigators in exchange for immunity, helping obtain a confession from Wuornos, who admitted to the killings but continued to maintain she had acted in self-defense.
Trial
At her first trial, for the murder of Richard Mallory, evidence of Mallory's prior conviction for attempted rape was not admitted, and Wuornos was convicted and sentenced to death. She was later convicted in five additional murders, receiving five more death sentences; she was not tried for the murder of Peter Siems, whose body was never located. After her trials concluded, Wuornos stated that Mallory had, in fact, raped her, but claimed the other men had not gone as far, saying they had only "begun to start" before she killed them -- a statement at odds with her earlier claims of self-defense in all seven cases.
Execution
In 2001, Wuornos asked the Florida Supreme Court to dismiss her legal counsel and end her appeals, a request granted after psychiatrists found her competent to make the decision. In her final years and interviews, she displayed signs of significant paranoia, including claims that prison staff were trying to poison her and that the government was using sonic technology against her. She was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002, becoming the first woman executed in Florida since the state resumed capital punishment in 1976.
FAQ
Did Aileen Wuornos claim self-defense for all her killings?
Yes, initially, though she later gave a more limited account, saying only her first victim had actually raped her.
How many men did Aileen Wuornos kill?
She was connected to seven deaths and convicted in six of them; she was not tried for a seventh victim whose body was never found.
When was Aileen Wuornos executed?
October 9, 2002, by lethal injection in Florida.