Her parents were a couple of teenagers themselves, with her father being a child molester who was sent to prison for sodomizing a 7 year old girl (Bankston, 1996), and her mother being a reckless teen that was totally incapable of the responsibilities of being a mother and who gave up Aileen and her brother, Keith to her parents. Many of her outbursts were described as unpredictable and frequently unprovoked. But many strongly believe that she was not born a killer, her actions were a result of her unimaginably abusive circumstances. To paint an accurate picture, let us go back to Aileens own birth. Big mother ship and all, I'll be back, I'll be . Her parents separated before her birth, and her father later spent time in mental hospitals for child molestation. Wuornos's record included doing time in prison for armed robbery. 5. NetflixsCatching Killersmakes it appear that Tyria is the only person who ever loved Wuornos. Aileen never got to meet her father, since he was incarcerated for sex crimes against children. Owing to the dearth of evidence, the police were forced to rely on their ability to extract a confession from Aileen. She was arrested during the mid-1970s for charges related to assault and disorderly conduct and eventually settled in Florida, where she met wealthy yachtsman Lewis Fell. His car was found by a deputy sheriff two days after he was killed. At one point, Aileen Wuornos almost managed to break her vicious cycle when, in the mid-1970s, she married a rich yachtsman named Lewis Fell. Aileen Wuornos facts. The film is about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a street prostitute who murdered seven of her male clients between 1989 and 1990 and was executed in Florida in 2002. They view Aileen as failed by the system and worthy of compassion due to her extremely tough childhood. Astrological Sign: Pisces, Death Year: 2002, Death date: October 9, 2002, Death State: Florida, Death City: Starke, Death Country: United States, Article Title: Aileen Wuornos Biography, Author: Biography.com Editors, Website Name: The Biography.com website, Url: https://www.biography.com/crime/aileen-wuornos, Publisher: A&E; Television Networks, Last Updated: July 27, 2020, Original Published Date: April 3, 2014. The two were married in 1976, but Fell annulled the union shortly thereafter, upon Wuornos being arrested in another altercation. She has since retreated from the limelight and is living life as a private citizen. She later said she was sexually abused by her grandfather and was raped by one of his friends when she was all of 14. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! Wuornos life continues to hold a fascination for the creative industry, with actress Lily Rabe portraying Wournos in the 2015 fall season of American Horror Story. The case of Aileen Wuornos is one that is indeed horrific. Wuornos sold the rights to her story almost immediately after her arrest which captivated the media. [14] For the role, Theron gained 30 pounds (14kg), shaved her eyebrows, and wore prosthetic teeth. Read More: Where is Aileen Wuornoss Ex-Girlfriend Now? Less than two years into the marriage and two months before Aileen was born, Diane filed for divorce. Imagine prosecuting someone with six degrees of first degree murder. Her father a schizophrenic. Tyria initially disapproved of Aileens profession. Aileen was convicted, sentenced to death for her crimes, and executed on October 9, 2002. So, anger had constantly built up in her. Yet Wuornos grandmother was alleged to be an alcoholic and her grandfather a terrifying, violent force. The character of Tom is a composite of Wuornos' various friends at the bar she frequented. His body was located in the woods near by. YouTubeA young Aileen Wuornos, years before committing her first murders. She gave birth at a home for unwed mothers, which was a common practice for those times. [12], Monster received generally positive reviews from critics; most gave overwhelmingly high praise to Theron's performance as a mentally unstable woman[13] Wuornos had antisocial personality disorder and borderline personality disorder. Diane called it quits on the parenting front, and thus, her parents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos adopted Aileen and her brother. During that time, Moore was fully cooperating with prosecutors in exchange for full immunity. Selby invites Aileen to spend the night with her. Her parents were teenagers when they married; her mother abandoned her and her brother to their maternal grandparents, who adopted the children. Tyria Moore, was convinced by the police to get Wuornos to, I am one that hates human life and would kill again. These are famous words by the convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos who was put to death by lethal injection on October 9, 2002. One of her grandfathers friends, a known pedophile, raped her and left her to figure out the pregnancy. Citing abusive and inhumane living conditions, Wuornos also claimed her body was being attacked by a sonic weapon of some kind. Having been involved in previous incidents with the law, she made a living as a sex worker on Florida's. Before she met Tyria, Wuornos was married to a man named Lewis Fell. Aileen Wuornos is one of the most famous female serial killers in history. It stars Charlize Theron (who also produced) as Wuornos, and Christina Ricci as her semi . Her court-appointed lawyer tried to argue she was irrational, but Wuornos wouldnt go along with the defense. She was also arrested for assault, passing bad checks, car theft, and theft of a firearm and ammunition. There is no shame in trying and not succeeding. 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. Ive been evaluated so many times. On a humid Florida evening in 1986, Tyria Moore fatefully met Aileen Wuornos, an electric blonde at the Zodiac Bar in Daytona. Aileen Wuornos is one of historys highest-profile female serial murderers. When Aileen Wuornos was 15 years old, she dropped out of school to have her grandfathers friends baby at a home for unwed mothers. Her grandfather, an alcoholic, would force her to strip before beating her, and at the age of 14 she was raped by a friend of her grandfather's. This childhood trauma was compounded when one of her old clients found her and broke her teeth in revenge. She subsequently was arrested numerous times on charges that included armed robbery, check forgery, and auto theft. In the documentary, Aileen Wuornos: Mind of a Monster, Tyria. She was a demented murdered with a demented childhood, her childhood made her and her crimes she committed later in life. Aileen decides to find legitimate work, but because of her lack of qualifications and criminal history, prospective employers reject her and are openly hostile. "[11] On Metacritic, the film has a score of 74 out of 100, based on 40 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Aileen Wuornos, who was captured at the end of a crime spree of robbery and murder in which she killed seven men was studied extensively before her execution in 2002. Despite the strains in their relationship, the couple remained together. However, Selby reads in the newspapers about the string of murders, and she begins to suspect that Aileen may have committed them. During her adolescence, Wuornos was also forced out of her home and lived in the woods. By 1992, she received six death sentences and was executed via lethal injection in 2002. I'm a decent person." In May 1990, Aileen Wuornos killed 43-year-old David Spears by shooting him six times and stripping his corpse naked. It is known that she gave birth to a child, and this article discusses exactly what is known about the serial killers offspring. In 1974 Wuornos was imprisoned for driving while intoxicated and for firing a gun from a moving vehicle. Tyria Moore, Aileen Wuornos former lover who ended up helping to get her caught. Her girlfriend, Tyria Moore, convinced her to confess her crimes to the police. She confronts Aileen, who justifies her actions by claiming she had only been protecting herself. Tyria initially disapproved of Aileens profession. As reported by Biography, Wuornos was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of six men. It would later be revealed that from late 1989 into the fall of 1990, Wuornos had murdered at least six men along Florida highways. Eventually, her elderly husband got a restraining order against her, forcing Wuornos to return to Michigan to file for an annulment after just nine weeks of marriage. Her statements to the court and to her own legal counsel became increasingly unhinged, with many references to jail staff and other inmates she believed were plotting against her. Her reported 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. One contributor on Quora writes: Of course in todays world anyone has a conceivable shot of finding out their parents. Reasons For Sentencing Wuornos to Death The State's expert psychologist, Dr. Bernard, testified that Aileen Wuornos suffered from both borderline personality disorder as well as antisocial personality disorder. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Like fellow drifter Charles Manson, Wuornos possesses a harrowing serial killer origin that somewhat explains why she committed such horrific crimes. The police succeeded in tracking down Aileen and Tyria, after following leads from pawn shops. 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. During his testimony, however, Barry acknowledged that he moved out of his parents' home when AileenWuornoswas 9 years old, and had no firsthand knowledge of the atmosphere in the home after that time. Left with few resources, Aileen became a sex worker as a means of survival. Was she insane or was she severely damaged from her past? But, who was really Aileen Wuornos? Despite a distinct lack of concrete evidence, they eventually arrested Aileen at a biker bar in Florida. She frequently left the home she shared with Fell to carouse in a local bar where she often got into fights. In his review for the film, Ebert praised her performance, stating "Christina Ricci finds the right note for Selby Wall so correct some critics have mistaken it for bad acting, when in fact it is sublime acting in its portrayal of a bad actor. Tyria, aghast and afraid that she would have no option but to give Aileen up to the police, asked her to keep the rest of the details to herself. Her victims were identified in order as: Wuornos told conflicting stories about her murders. After she assaulted Fell with a cane, he took out a restraining order against Wuornos and had their ill-fated union annulled after just nine weeks. On February 8, 2004, it premiered at the 54th Berlin International Film Festival, where it competed for the Golden Bear, while Theron won the Silver Bear for Best Actress. She and Aileen Wuornos often talked by phone, and Wuornos knew in general terms that her lover had turned as a witness for the state. Like the movie, big mother ship and all. [17][18], In 2005, a reference to Monster appeared in the series Arrested Development. The gears of death turn slowly in American capital cases. Aileen Wuornos, in full Aileen Carol Wuornos, originally Aileen Pittman, (born February 29, 1956, Rochester, Michigan, U.S.died October 9, 2002, Starke, Florida), American serial killer who murdered at least seven people in 198990. The two men eventually lure Aileen out of the bar and she is promptly arrested by the police. Of course, she didnt just pick up the habit on her own. In her teens, she stayed in a home for unwed mothers, dropped out of school, and became a prostitute. Few biographical crime dramas have struck as much of a chord with their audience as Monster did. That womans name was Aileen Wuornos, a former sex worker who had killed seven men she picked up while working the highways of Florida in 1989 and 1990. Aileen Wuornos killed seven men in Florida in what she claimed was self-defense. Aileen Wuornos was found out and convicted with the death sentence; even if her sanity was questioned she was executed by lethal injection in 2002. Aileen Wuornos was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison on October 9, 2002. Sometimes, she claimed to have been the victim of rape or attempted rape with every single one of the men she killed. Childhood & Early Life. In this paper, I will argue how Aileen Wuornos became a killer based on her life and upbringing. As told by Biographyand nearly everyone else, Wuornos's story is the stuff of modern American tragedy. However, their relationship was put to the test, once again, when, one night, Aileen confessed to Tyria that she had, in self-defense, murdered a man named Richard Mallory who tried to rape her (Mallory was later found to be a convicted rapist). Unfortunately, this was just the beginning of Aileens troubles. She is the iconic character in the Netflix docu series, Catching Killers. What happened to Aileen Wuornos? I believe that Aileen Carol Wuornos killed for several reasons and that her traumatic childhood only influenced her urges. She was forced to put the child up for adoption quickly after his, According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Serial Murder is the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events (Morton, 2005); therefore, a person or persons whom kill two or more individuals in separate events are considered to be Serial Killers (Morton, 2005). For lack of other recourse, the couple ultimately began pawning off the stolen possessions of the men Aileen would kill. As reported by Orlando Sentinel, Wuornos' claims of abuse were refuted by her adopted brother during her sentencing hearing. His car was found by a deputy sheriff two days after he was killed. However, after more family hardships Wuornos began living on her own and began to engage in prostitution to acquire money to survive. Serial killer Aileen Wuornos was sexually abused and thrown out of her home as a teen. Spiritual advisory, social counseling, and programs for life transformation amongst other programs offered, as well as educational programs. That was the anchor that Aileen had been looking for.. The grandparents were alcoholics and abusive in nature. [8] The film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of 2003. Shed beg Aileen to go over the story with her again, step-by-step, in order to get their stories straight. She supported herself through prostitution. Meanwhile, her grandfather had been, according to her later account, beating and raping her for several years. Wuornos met Fell, who at 69 at the time, in 1976 after hitchhiking to Florida. As reported by Capital Punishment in Context, Wuornos never knew her father, as he committed suicide while serving time in prison for child molestation. Not only is she memorable for her crimes, but after she was committed. The other characters are entirely fictional. I will explain the abuse she endured, attachment theory, and her PTSD with killing/claiming self-defense. During her childhood, Wuornos was exposed to abandonment by her biological parents, seclusion and physical and emotional abuse from her grandparents. Their lovestory was featured briefly on "FL V. Wuornos." According to the reports, Aileen was alone at the bar, and Tyria broke the ice; she went home with Wournos that night. Aileen Wuornos was executed by lethal injection at the Florida State Prison on October 9, 2002. She might have gotten away with it had her ex-girlfriend, Tyria Moore, not convinced her to confess. Since the adoption was closed, there is no public information about the child. Ill be back.. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Theres a lot of people out there who have had tough lives, but they dont go on a killing spree,Steven Binegar, an investigator on the case, said. On January 27, 1992, a jury found Wuornos guilty of first-degree murder for the Mallory case and she received the death penalty. Born in Rochester, Michigan on February 29, 1956, Aileen grew up in a broken home with her mother abandoning her and her brother, Keith, at their grandparents house after her abusive father left her mother (A&E Biography). Wuornos father, Leo Pittman, was a sociopathic child murderer spent time in mental hospitals throughout her childhood and was ultimately killed in prison. People from Western Oklahoma, traveling on Interstate 40 called in to the police at about midnight, stating a possible road-rage incident. She was imprisoned and sentenced to death for the murder of six men. As reported by Biography, Wuornos was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of six men. Omissions? No one knows for sure who the father was but it is rumored to either be her grandfather, her brother, a boy in the neighborhood, or a friend of her grandfathers who had raped her. As for that rape, when she was 14? Aileen Wuornos went on trial for the murder of Richard Mallory on January 16, 1992, and was convicted two weeks later. Eventually, their relationship blossomed to the extent that Aileen began to lovingly refer to Tyria as her wife. Alternate titles: Aileen Carol Wuornos, Aileen Pittman, Distinguished Professor of History, Baylor University. Wuornos, soon set out to find other work, but due to her criminal background and no former work experience. Wuornos moved in with him and immediately started getting into trouble with local law enforcement. The day after on October 3 in the morning, four people were shot within the span of two hours in Aspen Hill, and other nearby, Most sexual offenders are male, and nearly all known serial killers are also male. YouTubeTyria Moore, Aileen Wuornos former lover who ended up helping to get her caught. Tyria and Aileen met in a biker bar. Allegedly after being beaten and raped one night, she committed her first murder of Richard Mallory. The young Wuornos experienced horrifying tumult during her childhood: Her father killed himself while serving prison time for child molestation, while her mother abandoned Wuornos and her older brother Keith, leaving them to be raised by their grandparents. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The former couple met in a Florida biker bar in June 1986. She was also arrested for assault, passing bad checks, car theft, and theft of a firearm and ammunition. On August 31, 1983, Robert Calise was murdered near Lake Forest and he was found bounded and stabbed 17 times. She was also engaging in heavy drug abuse. Her mother abandoned Aileen and her brother who were then adopted by her . [6][7] Monster received positive reviews from critics and achieved box office success, grossing $64.2 million on an $1.5 million budget. She had experienced long-term abuse as a child, had been abandoned/having no emotional bond by her primary caregivers, and began hooking because she was desperate to survive. 7 Drifting . In June 1992, Wuornos plead guilty to the murder of Charles Carskaddon and was given yet another death sentence in November for the crime. The film received a large number of awards and nominations, in particular for Theron's role, including the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama, the SAG Award for Outstanding Lead Actress, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actress, the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, and also the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (Patty Jenkins). Was she a natural born killer or made into one? Men who picked her up thinking she was merely a prostitute. She shot him with her favorite 22 caliber pistol. Murder is the unlawful killing of a person with malice aforethought. When she was four, her and her brother were sent to live with their grandparents. A little-known fact about Wuornos is that she gave birth to a son at the age of 14 after a violent attack at the hands of a family friend. Score: 4.7/5 (6 votes) . However, she later pleaded guilty to five of the six murders. Since it was a closed adoption, not much is known about what happened to Aileen Wuornos child.Aug 18, 2017 Authorities now had what they needed to arrest Aileen Wuornos for murder. Less than a year after her father committed suicide, Wuornos grandmother died of liver failure. Edit Her father was a psychopath and child molester, and was incarcerated at the time of her birth; he eventually committed suicide. (Which is probably why Charlize Theron played her in a movie, come to think of it.). Aileen was abandoned by her mother shortly before her fourth . In January of 1991, after her fingerprints were . She was executed by lethal injection. He was also diagnosed with schizophrenia, and he eventually suicided in prison. The first person she killed was a man named Richard Mallory; he was found in a junkyard with five more mens bodies (College). The suspected serial killer was identified, and later arrested, after police found her fingerprints at the scene of one of the crimes. He committed suicide while in prison by hanging himself. Songs which appeared in the film, but not on the official soundtrack:[10], On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 81%, based on 191 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. First psychiatric help for her mental disorder(s) as well as drug and alcohol treatment. She was a prostitute on the highways and would pick up the men, shoot them several times, rob their possessions, take off in their cars, dump the cars, and return home to her girlfriend. Selby reveals some incriminating information over the telephone and Aileen realizes that the police are listening in. Acey Harper/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty ImagesAn investigator on the Aileen Wuormos case holds mugshots of Wuormos and her first victim, Richard Mallory. Aileen Wuornos (February 29, 1956-October 9, 2002) was born in Michigan and abandoned by her parents at an early age. YouTube Aileen Wuornos' girlfriend Tyria Moore cooperated with police to finally put her behind bars. Failing to comply would increase her life sentence to instant, Jeffery Kent Powell, forty-five, and Billie Jean West, sixty-three, were two of the main victims in Jeremy Doss Hardys shooting incident. Her taste for revenge, however, is far from satiated, compelling her to embark on a murder spree that leaves 6 more dead. His health struggles detailed, Martina McClures story: Her injury and recovery, How did Simon Dunn die? Circa 1986, 30-year old Aileen first crossed paths with 24-year old Tyria on a night spent bar-hopping in Florida. While investigating facts about Aileen Wuornos Son and Aileen Wuornos Movie, I found out little known, but curios details like: Florida serial killer Aileen Wuornos' last words before being executed were: "I'll be back, like Independence Day with Jesus. Monster portrayed a serial killer, Aileen Wuornos, who was on a killing spree between late 1989 and 1990. After this look at Aileen Wuornos, one of historys most fearsome female serial killers, read about Leonarda Cianciulli, the serial killer who turned her victims into soap and teacakes, and the axe-murdering Lizzie Borden. Netflix's Catching Killers makes it appear that Tyria is the only person who ever loved Wuornos. The conspicuous lack of attention and communication from her caregivers along with the violent and toxic environment she endured forged a pattern for Aileens early-on criminal nature and violent behavior. Wuornos fingerprints were later recovered from the car and from several of Siems personal effects that had turned up in local pawn shops. Wuornos was arrested in a bar in Port Orange, Florida, while police tracked down Moore in Pennsylvania. Im one who seriously hates human life and would kill again., On June 6, 2002, Aileen Wuornos got her wish: she was put to death at 9:47 PM that day. Being raised by her alcoholic grandmother, and abusive grandfather, she was beaten and raped, and conceived at age thirteen after being assaulted by a stranger and subsequently giving birth. Wuornos went on trial for the murder of Richard Mallory in 1992 and was convicted within two weeks and sentenced to death, making her the 10th woman to receive the death penalty in the United States since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. Wuornos father, a convicted sex offender, was out of the picture before she was born and ended up hanging himself in his prison cell when she was 13 years old. Despite a distinct lack of concrete evidence, they eventually arrested Aileen at a biker bar in Florida. But many strongly believe that she was not born a killer, her actions were a result of her unimaginably abusive circumstances. Spending a decade on death row, Wuornos eventually opted to fire her appeals lawyers, who were working for a stay of execution. 4. A media frenzy ensued over the case, due in part to the lurid nature of the crimes. In 198990, posing as a hitchhiking prostitute, she killed seven middle-aged male motorists and left their bodies along the highways of Florida and southern Georgia; some speculate that she may have killed an eighth motorist in the same period. She soon meets a woman named Tyria Moore and with little approval of their relationship from Moores family, they set out on their own to survive. If a psychologist was challenged to invent a childhood that would predictably produce a serial killer, Wuornos life would have been it to the last detail. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Aileen is convicted of the murders and sentenced to death. However, what we do know are the circumstances and events that led to the pregnancy in the first place. On top of that, mental illnesses and abusiveness somewhat ran through her. She was then forced to live with her abusive grandfather. In mid-December 1989, the body of Richard Mallory was found in a junkyard, with five more mens bodies to be discovered over subsequent months. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Aileen-Wuornos, Capital Punishment in Context - The Case of Aileen Wuornos. Roughly nine miles where Powell ended after being shot, police discovered another vehicle on the shoulder of the exact same road. Many documentaries were made of her life, and the popular film Monster (2003). By the late 1980s she was a drifter. Though not revealed in court, Mallory had previously served a decade-long prison sentence for sexual assault. Here are ten facts about Tyria: 1. She was one of Americas first woman serial killers convicted and put on death row. After she put her son up for adoption, Aileen's grandfather threw her out of the house and she lived in nearby woods. Having previously been a ward of the state, Wuornos subsisted on a vagabond existence as an adult, hitchhiking and engaging in sex work to survive. Although, her story has been told before in a 2003 film titled Monsters. Orlando Sentinel reports Aileen and her brother were adopted by her maternal grandparents after their mother fled the state and moved to Texas. British documentarian Nick Broomfield created two works Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1993) and Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003), with the latter co-directed by Joan Churchill. Idaho Murders: What Led Police to Bryan Kohberger, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads, Name: Aileen Wuornos, Birth Year: 1956, Birth date: February 29, 1956, Birth State: Michigan, Birth City: Rochester, Birth Country: United States. Aileen was born in Rochester, Michigan, on February 29, 1956. Five days after Spears body was discovered, police found the remains of 40-year-old Charles Carskaddon, who had been shot nine times and tossed on the side of the road. She killed seven men between the years 1989-1990 on Floridas highways. She then gave up her son for adoption and got by on prostitution and petty theft. These takes on the story of Aileen Wuornos revealed a woman who proved capable of murder again and again, while also revealing just how tragic her own life was.