(Aileen Wuornos. Picture credit:scalar.usc.edu)
In the fifth instalment of this series, I am focusing on the female serial killer (arguably known as America's First Female Serial Killer) the infamous Aileen Wournos. Even those who may not be avid true crime readers or watchers of serial killer documentaries know who Aileen is. Mostly thanks in part to the incredible (if not 'patchy') movie 'Monster' which brought to us the amazing transformation of Charlize Theron into her character, Aileen. You may wonder why I say that Monster is 'patchy', well some of the details in the movie were inaccurate and there was a lot of things that were kept out the story. For example, the courtroom scene where Aileen is found guilty, in the movie the dialogue is tame but in reality, Aileen shouted horrendous abuse at people, screaming ''I hope your wife and kids get ***** up the ***''. The director of Monster kept certain facts out of the movie because it would have taken away the 'sympathy' that Aileen was a tragic figure who had been done wrong and was lashing out. The truth was that Aileen had been through hell but she also took advantage, abused and murdered people for her own gain. There were people who tried to help Aileen and she either robbed or murdered them and I'm not just talking about the men that she met.
And don't get me started on Tyria Moore who used Aileen, knew fine well what she was doing but was happy to just sit back and take the money. Everyone has a different opinion on Aileen Wuornos, what's yours? I always find it interesting to hear other people's thoughts on such individuals. So, without further ado, let's get into this post....
(Don't forget to check out my previous posts in this series which focused on infamous serial killers:Jeffrey Dahmer,Richard Ramirez,John Wayne GacyandTed Bundy)
Also take a look at a previous post in which I included Aileen's story:5 of the World's Most Deadliest Female Killers
1) Aileen Wuornos who was born on the 29th of February 1956 in Rochester, Michigan (USA) was reportedly abandoned as a baby by her mother. Aileen never met her biological father who went on to take his own life in prison.
2) Aileen was executed by lethal injection on the 9th of October 2002. She was 46 years old.
3) Aileen became pregnant in her early teen years but the baby was given up for adoption, she never met her son.
4) Aileen was once married to an elderly wealthy man in his 70s. Depending on who you believe, the story goes that Aileen abused this man despite the security and financial stability he gave her. According to Aileen, it was the elderly man who abused her. Regular stories often pop up of friends and acquaintances who had previously tried to help Aileen in some way only for her to take advantage of them. Some believe that Aileen's attitude towards people was her way of surviving due to her tough childhood. She was always looking for who she could use next and how to get more more money.
5) A documentary and interview that I highly recommend to give you a real glimpse into the real Aileen Wuornos, is the fascinating (and chilling)Aileen: Life and death of a Serial Killerdirected and created by the legendary Nick Broomfield.
6)Monster: My True Story, the book that inspired the movie and was written by Christopher Berry Dee in collaboration with Aileen herself is available on Amazon.
7) Aileen's last words before her execution were: ''I'd just like to say I'm sailing with the rock I'll be back like Independence Day with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mother ship and all. I'll be back.'' (quite the odd statement and even more spooky is that I'm writing this post on June the 6th)
8) Aileen's brother Keith (who had also been abandoned as a child by their mother) passed away at the young age of 21 from throat cancer.
9) Tyria Moore was said to have been the love of Aileen's life so much so that many believe that Tyria (who was unemployed and living off of the money that Aileen was making from sex work as well as the robberies during the murders) had known all along what Aileen was doing. I'd written in my previous post about the pair moving from place to place and one of the cars that they used still had the victim's blood inside, Tyria had been in this car and was supposed to have been oblivious?, Tyria, who many believe was just as responsible for the murders (in terms of encouragement, pressure and manipulation) told the cops everything they wanted to know (her version anyway) in exchange for getting herself off the hook. She agreed to set Aileen up through secretly taped phone calls.
10) Many believe that Aileen should have been spared the death penalty due to her past trauma and the fact that she seemed to demonstrate schizophrenic behaviours. One minute she would be remorseful for her crimes and the next she would act cold claiming that she would do it all again if she could. Some people have said that Aileen should have been in a psychiatric hospital but is all this discussion and sympathy there because she's a woman? or is it because of her childhood? Would we say the same if Aileen had been born male? One wonders what the outcome of the trial would have been today.
Well, I hope that you found this post to be of some interest and new knowledge on Aileen Wuornos. I really highly recommend that you check out Nick Broomfield's documentary though, would love to hear your thoughts on that too.
RIP to the innocent victims of Aileen Wuornos.
You can watch the Nick Broomfield documentaryhereon Amazon Prime.
Further Reading & Sources:
-5 of The World's Most Deadliest Female Serial Killers | True Crime With Caledonian Kitty
-Aileen Wuornos: Life & Death of A Serial Killer | Documentary by Nick Broomfield
-Monster | Book by Aileen Wuornos & Christopher Berry Dee
-Aileen Wuornos | Article: Yahoo
-Aileen Wuornos | Article: The Independent
I hope you will join me in the next instalment of this series.
Take care x
