Monster: The Aileen Wuornos Story

Aileen Wuornos never had much chance in this thing called life. She was born to an alcoholic mother and child molestor father who committed suicide while imprisoned. Aileen’s mother abandoned her when she was a child, leaving her with her grandparents.

Aileen later claimed that both grandparents physically abused her and her grandfather sexually abused her, as did numerous other family members.

By age 11, Aileen began trading sexual favors to boys at school for cigarettes and alcohol. At age 15, Aileen delivered a baby boy, rumored to be fathered by her grandfather. She placed the baby up for adoption and never had any more children.

After delivering her son, Aileen hitchhiked to Florida to start over. She met and married a 67-year-old man named Robert Gratz Fell, though the marriage was short-lived. Soon after marrying Aileen, Fell filed for divorce, citing that she was abusive and volatile toward him.

Aileen Begins a Life of Prostitution

Aileen carried on her tradition of trading sex for money and alcohol after the dissolution of her marriage. Numerous men raped and abused Aileen over the years, further wearing down the already mentally-ill woman.

In 1986, Aileen met the love of her life, Tyria Moore. Together they lived happily, albeit living a dangerous life earning money by thievery and Aileen selling her withering body.

Seven Men Shot in the Back

By 1989, Aileen was desperate for money, afraid Ty would walk out the door and leave her if she could not pay the bills and provide for her. Over the course of just over one year, Aileen killed seven “johns” who had picked her up for sex. All seven men had been shot in the back of the head numerous times and robbed of their belongings. Aileen claimed that each man raped or attempted to rape her.

Police suspected Aileen of the crimes but lacked enough evidence to charge her with murder. Picking Aileen up at the Last Resort Bar on outstanding warrants, police listened to a recorded phone conversation with Ty (which she agreed to help) while she was in jail admitting to the murders. Police charged her with the murder of the seven johns.

Media portrayed Aileen as a sick, depraved monster. In reality, she was mentally-ill and really knew no other way.

Aileen Sentenced to Death

The highly-publicized trial ended with Aileen getting sentenced to death.

Heartbroken that Tyria, the one person she thought finally loved her, turned her back on her, Aileen fell deeper into depression while in prison. She somehow passed mental competency tests despite her lawyer describing her as the “most disturbed individual” and requested that her execution be carried out as soon as possible.

Aileen Executed: Nick Bloomfield Speaks

On the day of her execution, Nick Bloomfield, who extensively covered the trial and interviewed Aileen numerous times, said

“My conclusion from the interview is today we are executing someone who is mad.”

Bloomfield says Aileen’s execution still haunts him.

“People painted Aileen as a monster,” he says, “which she was not. She was also not a serial killer. Aileen neither planned her crimes, stalked her victims, or took any pleasure from what she did.”

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