Aileen Carol Wuornos (; Pittman; February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American serial killer. Between 1989 and 1990, while engaging in street prostitution along highways in Florida, Wuornos shot, killed, and robbed seven of her male clients. She initially claimed that her victims had either raped or attempted to rape her, and that the homicides were committed in self-defense, but later abandoned this defense. Wuornos was sentenced to death for six of the murders and was executed in 2002 after spending more than ten years on Florida's death row.
Early life Aileen Carol Pittman was born on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. Her mother, Diane Wuornos, was 14 years old when she married Aileen's father, 18-year-old Leo Pittman, on June 3, 1954. On March 14, 1955, Diane gave birth to Aileen's older brother Keith. After less than two years of marriage, and two months before Aileen was born, Diane filed for divorce. She gave birth to Aileen at the age of 16.
In January 1960, when Wuornos was almost four years old, Diane abandoned her children, leaving them with their maternal grandparents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos, who legally adopted Keith and Aileen on March 18, 1960. Both grandparents had alcoholism. Wuornos never met her father. In 1967, Leo Pittman was sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old girl. Pittman, diagnosed with schizophrenia, died by suicide by hanging in prison on January 30, 1969.
Wuornos' childhood friend stated that she personally witnessed Wuornos' grandfather beating her with a belt for five minutes. Wuornos also said that her grandfather had sexually assaulted her and forced her to undress before beating her. By age 11, Wuornos began engaging in sexual activity at school in exchange for cigarettes, drugs, and food. She had also engaged in sexual activity with her brother. In 1970, at age 14, she became pregnant after being raped by a friend of her grandfather. Wuornos' friends have claimed that the rapist who impregnated her was a local pedophile in his 60s.
Wuornos gave birth to a boy at a home for unwed mothers on March 23, 1971, and her grandfather forced her to give up the child for adoption. A few months after her son was born, she dropped out of school around the same time that her grandmother died of liver failure. When Wuornos was aged 15, her grandfather threw her out of the house. Living in the woods near her old home, Wuornos supported herself through prostitution.
Early criminal activity On May 27, 1974, at age 18, Wuornos was arrested in Jefferson County, Colorado, for driving under the influence (DUI), disorderly conduct, and firing a .22-caliber pistol from a moving vehicle. She was later charged with failure to appear.
In 1976, Wuornos hitchhiked to Florida, where she met 69-year-old yacht club president Lewis Gratz Fell. They married quickly, and the announcement of their nuptials was printed in the local newspaper's society pages. Wuornos continually involved herself in confrontations at their local bar and went to jail briefly for assault. She also hit Fell with his own cane, leading him to gain a restraining order against her within weeks of the marriage. She returned to Michigan where, on July 14, 1976, she was arrested at Bernie's Club in Mancelona, Antrim County and charged with assault and disturbing the peace for throwing a cue ball at a bartender's head.
On July 17, her brother Keith died of esophageal cancer and Wuornos received $10,000 () from his life insurance. Wuornos and Fell annulled their marriage on July 21 after only nine weeks. In August 1976, Wuornos was given a $105 fine for drunk driving. She used the money inherited from her brother to pay the fine, and bought a car, which she wrecked shortly afterwards. She spent the rest of the money within 2 months.
In 1978, at age 22, she attempted suicide by shooting herself in the stomach. Between ages 14 and 22, she attempted suicide six times. On May 20, 1981, Wuornos was arrested in Edgewater, Florida, for the armed robbery of a convenience store, where she stole $35 and two packs of cigarettes. She was sentenced to prison on May 4, 1982, and released on June 30, 1983. On May 1, 1984, Wuornos was arrested for attempting to pass forged checks at a bank in Key West. On November 30, 1985, she was named as a suspect in the theft of a revolver and ammunition in Pasco County.
On January 4, 1986, Wuornos was arrested in Miami and charged with car theft, resisting arrest, and obstruction of justice for providing identification bearing her aunt's name. Miami police officers found a .38 caliber revolver and a box of ammunition in the stolen car. On June 2, 1986, Volusia County deputy sheriffs detained Wuornos for questioning after a male companion accused her of pulling a gun in his car and demanding $200. Wuornos was found to be carrying spare ammunition, and police discovered a .22-caliber pistol under the passenger seat she had occupied.
In 1986, 30-year-old Wuornos met 24-year-old Tyria Moore, a motel maid, at a Daytona Beach gay bar called Zodiac. They moved in together, and Wuornos supported them with her earnings as a prostitute. On July 4, 1987, Daytona Beach police detained Wuornos and Moore at a bar for questioning regarding an incident in which they were accused of assault and battery with a beer bottle.
On March 12, 1988, Wuornos accused a Daytona Beach bus driver of assault. She claimed that he pushed her off the bus following a confrontation. Moore was listed as a witness to the incident. Later, at her trial, Wuornos stated, "It was love beyond imaginable. Earthly words cannot describe how I felt about Tyria." Before her execution, Wuornos claimed to still be in love with Moore.
Series of murders Wuornos murdered seven men within 12 months. All the men were motorists between ages 40 and 65.
Richard Charles Mallory, age 51, electronics store owner in Clearwater (date of murder: November 30, 1989). Wuornos claimed that Mallory beat, raped, and sodomized her after he drove her to an abandoned area for sexual services. Mallory was Wuornos' first victim and she claimed to have killed him in self-defense. Later, it became known that Mallory had previously been convicted of attempted rape in Maryland. Wuornos made no mention of this until she stood trial, and Moore never claimed she mentioned it to her. Two days after the murder, a Volusia County deputy sheriff found Mallory's abandoned vehicle. On December 13, his body was found several miles away in a wooded area; he had been shot several times, and two bullets to the left lung were found to have been the cause of death. David Andrew Spears, age 47, construction worker in Winter Garden. He was declared missing as of May 19, 1990. On June 1, 1990, his naked body was found along US 19 in Citrus County. He had been shot six times with a .22 pistol. Charles Edmund Carskaddon, age 40, part-time rodeo worker (date of murder: May 31, 1990). On June 6, 1990, his naked body was found in Pasco County. He had been shot nine times with a .22 caliber weapon. The body had been wrapped in an electric blanket and was badly decomposed. Witnesses saw Wuornos in possession of Carskaddon's car, and Wuornos had pawned a gun identified as belonging to Carskaddon. Peter Abraham Siems, age 65, retired merchant seaman. In June 1990, Siems left Jupiter, Florida, for Arkansas. On July 4, 1990, his car was found in Orange Springs, Florida. Moore and Wuornos were seen abandoning the car, and Wuornos' handprint was found on the interior door handle. His body was never found. Troy Eugene Burress, age 50, sausage salesman from Ocala, Florida. On July 31, 1990, he was reported missing. On August 4, 1990, his body was found in a wooded area along State Road 19 in Marion County. He had been shot twice. Charles Richard "Dick" Humphreys, age 56, retired United States Air Force major, former state child abuse investigator, and former chief of police (date of murder: September 11, 1990). On September 12, 1990, his body was found in Marion County. He was fully clothed and had been shot seven times in the head and torso. His car was found in Suwannee County. Walter Gino Antonio, age 61, trucker, security guard, and reserve police officer. On November 19, 1990, Antonio's nearly naked body was found near a remote logging road in Dixie County. He had been shot four times. Five days later, his car was found in Brevard County.
Arrest and trial On July 4, 1990, Wuornos and Moore abandoned victim Peter Siems' car after they were involved in a crash. Rhonda Bailey, who witnessed the crash, provided police with a description of two women, which later led to a media campaign to locate them. Police also found some of the victims' belongings in pawnshops. Wuornos' fingerprint that was found on a receipt at one of the pawnshops matched the print that was left in Siems' car. Wuornos had a criminal record in Florida, and samples of her prints were in a database.
On January 9, 1991, Wuornos was arrested at The Last Resort biker bar in Volusia County. According to The New York Times, the arrest was made on the basis of an outstanding warrant for carrying a concealed weapon, although by this point, authorities already came to regard her as a suspect in the murders, based on witnesses' testimony, and fingerprints found on an item found in a pawn shop that had belonged to one of the murdered men. The warrant had been issued in the name of Lori Grody. Police located Moore the next day in Pittston, Pennsylvania. She agreed to elicit a confession from Wuornos in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Moore returned with the police to Florida, where she was put up in a motel. Under police guidance, she made numerous telephone calls to Wuornos, pleading for help in clearing her name. Three days later, on January 16, 1991, Wuornos confessed to the murders. She claimed the men had tried to rape her and she killed them in self-defense.
On January 14, 1992, Wuornos went to trial for the murder of Richard Charles Mallory. Although previous convictions are normally inadmissible in criminal trials, under Florida's Williams Rule, the prosecution was allowed to introduce evidence related to her other crimes to show a pattern of illegal activity. On January 27, 1992, Wuornos was convicted of Mallory's murder with help from Moore's testimony. At her sentencing, psychiatrists for the defense testified that Wuornos was mentally unstable and diagnosed her with borderline personality disorder and antisocial personality disorder. Four days later, she was sentenced to death.
Wuornos' defense made efforts during the trial to introduce evidence that Mallory was previously convicted for attempted rape in Maryland and served a sentence in a maximum-security correctional facility providing remediation to sexual offenders. Records obtained from the correctional institution showed that from 1958 to 1962, Mallory was committed for treatment and observation resulting from a criminal charge of assault with intent to rape. These records also reflect eight years of overall treatment from the facility. In 1961, "it was observed of Mr. Mallory that he possessed strong sociopathic trends". However, the judge refused to allow the records to be admitted in court as evidence, and denied Wuornos' request for a retrial.