Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Carol Wuornos was born Aileen Carol Pittman on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan, near Detroit. Her mother, Diane Wuornos, was 14 when she married Aileen’s father, 18-year-old Leo Pittman, in June 1954. Their son Keith was born in March 1955. Diane filed for divorce less than two years later, two months before Aileen’s birth, and was 16 when she gave birth. Aileen never met her father. In 1967, Leo Pittman received a life sentence for kidnapping and raping a seven-year-old girl. Diagnosed with schizophrenia, he hanged himself in prison in January 1969. When Aileen was nearly four, in January 1960, Diane abandoned her children, leaving them with their maternal grandparents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos, who legally adopted Keith and Aileen in March 1960. Both grandparents were alcoholics.

A childhood friend said she saw Aileen’s grandfather beat her with a belt for five minutes. Aileen claimed her grandfather sexually assaulted her and forced her to undress before beatings. By age 11, she traded sex at school for cigarettes, drugs, and food, and also had sexual activity with her brother. At 14, in 1970, she became pregnant after being raped by a friend of her grandfather. Friends said the rapist was an older local pedophile in his 60s. She gave birth to a boy at a home for unwed mothers on March 23, 1971, and her grandfather forced her to give the child up for adoption. She dropped out of school soon after, around the time her grandmother died of liver failure. At 15, her grandfather threw her out, and she lived in nearby woods, supporting herself through prostitution.

In May 1974, at 18, Wuornos was arrested in Jefferson County, Colorado, for DUI, disorderly conduct, and firing a .22-caliber pistol from a moving vehicle, later charged with failure to appear. In 1976, she hitchhiked to Florida and quickly married 69-year-old yacht club president Lewis Gratz Fell. Their wedding was announced in the local society pages. She got into bar fights and was jailed briefly for assault. She hit Fell with his own cane, and he got a restraining order within weeks. She returned to Michigan, where in July 1976 she was arrested for assault and disturbing the peace after throwing a cue ball at a bartender’s head. Her brother Keith died of esophageal cancer on July 17, and she received $10,000 from his life insurance. She and Fell annulled their marriage on July 21 after nine weeks. In August 1976, she was fined $105 for drunk driving, paid it with the inheritance, bought a car, wrecked it, and spent the rest within two months.

At 22, in 1978, she attempted suicide by shooting herself in the stomach. Between ages 14 and 22, she attempted suicide six times. In May 1981, she was arrested in Edgewater, Florida, for armed robbery of a convenience store, stealing $35 and two packs of cigarettes. Sentenced to prison in May 1982, she was released in June 1983. In May 1984, she was arrested for trying to pass forged checks at a Key West bank. In November 1985, she was a suspect in a revolver and ammunition theft in Pasco County. In January 1986, she was arrested in Miami for car theft, resisting arrest, and obstruction after using her aunt’s ID. Police found a .38 revolver and ammunition in the stolen car. In June 1986, Volusia County deputies detained her after a male companion said she pulled a gun in his car and demanded $200. She had spare ammunition, and a .22 pistol was found under her seat.

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 through prostitution. On July 4, 1987, police detained both at a bar for questioning about an assault and battery with a beer bottle. On March 12, 1988, Wuornos accused a bus driver of assault, claiming he pushed her off after a confrontation; Moore was listed as a witness. At trial, Wuornos said, “It was love beyond imaginable. Earthly words cannot describe how I felt about Tyria.” Before her execution, she said she still loved Moore.

Over 12 months, Wuornos killed seven men, all motorists aged 40 to 65. The first was Richard Charles Mallory, 51, an electronics store owner.