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Quick Facts
- NAME: Aileen Wuornos
- OCCUPATION: Serial Killer
- BIRTH DATE: February 29, 1956
- DEATH DATE: October 09, 2002
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Rochester, Michigan
- PLACE OF DEATH: Florida State Prison, Florida
Best Known For
An abused child who later earned her living as a sex worker, Aileen Wuornos was found guilty of killing six men and was later executed in a Florida prison.
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Aileen Wuornos - Early Life (3:58)
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Aileen Wuornos - Conviction (1:48)
Aileen Wuornos - Meeting Tyria Moore
In the Spring of 1986, Aileen Wuornos met Tyria Moore while cruising Florida's biker bars. The pair soon became inseparable.
Aileen Wuornos - First Killing
On the night of November 30th, 1989, Aileen Wuornos would commit her first act of murder outside Tampa, Florida.
Aileen Wuornos - Early Life
Aileen Wuornos grew up in Rochester, Michigan and seemed destined for a life of turmoil.
Aileen Wuornos - Conviction
After deliberating for less than two hours, a Florida jury found Aileen Wuornos guilty of first degree murder.
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Play NowAileen Wuornos. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 06:28, May 21, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792.
Aileen Wuornos. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792 [Accessed 21 May 2013].
"Aileen Wuornos." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 21 2013, 06:28 http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792.
"Aileen Wuornos," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792 [accessed May 21, 2013].
"Aileen Wuornos," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792 (accessed May 21, 2013).
Aileen Wuornos [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 21] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792.
Aileen Wuornos, http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792 (last visited May 21, 2013).
Aileen Wuornos. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/aileen-wuornos-11735792. Accessed May 21, 2013.
Synopsis
Born on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan, Aileen Wuornos was sexually abused and thrown out of her home as a teen. She made a living as a sex worker on Florida's highways, and in 1989, she killed a man who'd picked her up. She went on to kill five other men and was eventually caught, convicted and placed on death row. Though her sanity was questioned, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in 2002.
Early Life
Aileen Carol Wuornos was born on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan. Wuornos's childhood was a troubled one. She and her brother were raised by their grandmother after her father, a child molester and a psychopath, hanged himself in prison and her mother abandoned them in 1960.
After Wuornos got pregnant at age 14 (claiming her brother as the father), she gave the baby up for adoption and left home to hitchhike across America working as a prostitute. She soon fell in love with a young waitress, Tyria Moore, and the couple stayed together for four years. Wuornos and Moore barely survived on Aileen's meager income from prostitution, a vocation that was all too frequently coupled with violence. She and Moore decided that she would have to rob her johns—and then shoot them—to make ends meet.
Killing Spree and Arrest
The corpse of Richard Mallory was found on December 13, 1989, in a wood near Daytona Beach; he had been shot three times. Six months later, another man was found shot six times with the same gun. Before the body could be identified, the third victim was found. By November 1989, four other men were found dead as the result of a shooting.
Police received four calls identifying the killers as Wuornos and Moore, and detectives arrested both women in January 1991. At Moore's request, Wuornos confessed to six of the killings, all allegedly performed in self-defense.
Trial and Public Impact
After a lengthy trial, Wuornos was found guilty and sentenced to death. While on death row, she feverishly read the bible, created drawings, helped others with their appeals and began writing about her life. But on October 9, 2002, her life was ended by lethal injection.
Aileen Wuornos is widely considered to be America's first female serial killer. Her story was turned into a Hollywood film titled Monster in 2004. Wuornos was played by Charlize Theron, who earned an Academy Award for best actress for the role.
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