Aileen Wuornos
American serial killer who murdered seven men in Florida.
Last updated
Wuornos was the second woman executed in Florida and the tenth woman executed nationwide after capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.[1]
Key facts and history
Her mother abandoned Aileen and her brother in 1960, and they were legally adopted by their maternal grandparents, who were alcoholics.[2] She dropped out of school after her grandmother died and was thrown out of the house at age 15.[3][4] In 1976, she married 69-year-old Lewis Gratz Fell, but the marriage was annulled after nine weeks.[5][6] On January 9, 1991, Wuornos was arrested at a biker bar on an outstanding warrant.[7]
She confessed to the murders on January 16, 1991, after Moore agreed to elicit a confession in exchange for immunity.[7][8] She later pleaded no contest or guilty to the murders of five other men and received six death sentences in total.[9][10] Leo Pittman, Wuornos' father, received a life sentence in 1967 for kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old girl; he died by suicide while incarcerated on January 30, 1969.[2]
What the cited sources add
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney account notes that Wuornos was known as the "Damsel of Death" for the seven slayings she is believed to have committed.[1] The same source states that during her 1992 trial, Wuornos testified that Mallory raped, beat and sodomized her and that she killed him in self-defense.[1] The Capital Punishment in Context source reports that after the trial, Wuornos was legally adopted by a new friend, Arlene Pralle, who had a dream telling her to "take care of" Wuornos.[11] That source also states that Pralle received money for giving interviews, including one with Nick Broomfield who paid her $10,000.[11]
The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney account records that Wuornos declined the traditional last meal and instead received a cup of coffee.[1]
References
- "Aileen Carol Wuornos", The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney. facts only, no text reused. clarkprosecutor.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Macleod 2003, p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410203250/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/wuornos/2.html chapter 2]; "State v. Pittman", Law.justia.com; Myers, "The Role of Psychopathy and Sexuality in a Female Serial Killer", Journal of Forensic Sciences, May 2005, p. 652–7; "Aileen Carol Wuornos", The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney; Howard, "River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims", Universal Publishers, 2004, p. 332; Howard, "River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims", Universal Publishers, 20 en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Howard, "River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims", Universal Publishers, 2004, p. 332; "Wuornos v. State", Law.justia.com, 1994; Macleod 2003, p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410203250/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/wuornos/2.html chapter 2]; Silvio, "Theoretical consideration of female sexual predator serial killers in the United States", Journal of Criminal Justice, May–June 2006, p. 251–259 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Howard, "River of Blood: Serial Killers and Their Victims", Universal Publishers, 2004, p. 332 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Russell 2002; Griffin, "The Phenomenon of Serial Murders and Women", McNair Dispatch: An Online Research Journal; Reynolds, "Dead Ends: The Pursuit, Conviction, and Execution of Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos", Open Road Integrated Media, June 21, 2016; Reynolds 2004, p. 116 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Notorious Crime Profiles Aileen Wuornos", Biography.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: DeGrushe, Allison, "What happened to Aileen Wuornos? All about the life (and death) of Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers", October 30, 2025; Ramsey, Nancy, "Portraits of a Social Outcast Turned Serial Killer; Finding a Tragic, Searching Figure Beyond a Murderer's Dark Side", The New York Times, December 30, 2003; Macleod 2003, p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410203250/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/wuornos/2.html chapter 2]; Kennedy, "On a Killing Day: The Bizarre Story of Convicted Murderer Aileen Lee Wournos en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Macleod 2003, p. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080410203250/http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/women/wuornos/2.html chapter 2] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: writer, "Dixie slaying not on media's radar", Gainesville Sun (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Aileen Wuornos" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Aileen Carol Wuornos", The Clark County Prosecuting Attorney (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Aileen Wuornos- The Post Trial Period", Capital Punishment in Context. facts only, no text reused. capitalpunishmentincontext.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Aileen Wuornos (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Notorious Criminals & Outlaws
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Aileen Wuornos (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced