Â鶹APP

10 Facts about Florida female serial killer Aileen Wuornos

Aileen Wuornos was born on February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan. She was one of the most prolific female serial killers in American history. Wuornos had a very traumatic childhood filled with unstableness, sexual abuse, and homelessness. All these traumas in her childhood might have prompted her to be a murderer later in life. Aileen shot dead and robbed seven men between 1989 and 1990. She claimed that all the murders she had committed were out of self-defense because the men had attempted to rape her or even raped her while she was working as a prostitute.

She eventually got arrested on 9 January 1991 and was sentenced to death for six of the murders. After spending over 10 years on Florida death row, Aileen was finally executed by lethal injection in 2002. Today in this article we are going to look at 10 astonishing facts about Aileen you might not be familiar with.

1. His father was diagnosed with schizophrenia

Leo Dale Pittman was not only unfit for being a parent but was also diagnosed with schizophrenia condition. Wuornos grew up without a father’s love since she did not even get a chance to meet or see his father. At the time when she was born, his father had been convicted of child molestation. Wuornos’s father later hanged himself in his cell on January 30, 1969, when Aileen was just a teenager.

2. Her parents were teenagers when they conceived her

A mug shot of Aileen Wuornos. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Wuornos’s mother was just 14 years old when she got married on June 3, 1954, to Aileen’s father who was 18 years old at the time. One year after their wedding they gave birth to her brother Keith Aileen. Her mother later filed for divorce after staying in her marriage for less than two years and two months. She gave birth to Aileen at the age of 16 and later abandoned her and her brother when they were young, leaving them with their maternal grandparents.

3. She became pregnant when she was 14 years old

She started being sexually abused at the age of 11 years old, by her grandfather. She was also accused of having a sexual relationship with her brother Keith. She was involved in sexual activities while in school in exchange for cigarettes and loose change. She also bought alcohol and drugs with the money that she got from selling her body.

Unfortunately, she became pregnant in 1970, at the age of 14 years, and was sent to a home for unwed mothers. In 1971 she gave birth to her son and immediately gave him up for adoption. Aileen later admitted that the father to his son was an old man living in the neighborhood who had raped her.

Check out this article on the 15 famous serial killer in Atlanta here

4. She experienced abuse at a very young age

A picture of a child being gagged. , , via Wikimedia Commons

When her parents abandoned her at her maternal grandparent’s home, they really subjected her to several cruel beatings. From a very young age, Aileen used to bend over a table and be beaten severely with a belt. Her grandfather had also sexually assaulted her and would force her to strip naked and lie facing down on the bed before lashing her out. In 1970 she was sexually abused by a family friend and she ended up getting pregnant at the age of 14.

5. She worked as a prostitute

After being exposed to sexual abuse at a very young age, Aileen became sexually mature at the age of 11. She used this to her advantage and she began selling her body while entering high school in exchange for food, money, cigarettes, and drugs. When her grandmother died of liver failure, Aileen was thrown out of the house by his grandfather and the only way she could survive in the woods near her home was through prostitution.    

 6. She was once married

Wedding rings. , , via Wikimedia Commons

After living a life of crime in the streets and getting arrested several times, Aileen thirsted for security and attention so she ended up getting married to 69-year-old Lewis Gratz who was a wealthy yacht club owner. She somehow convinced the wealthy man to marry her within weeks after they had met. When the two got married in 1976, their wedding was printed in the society pages of the local newspaper.

7. She physically abused his husband

Aileen childhood traumas could not be erased because she had married an old rich man. How she treated people could not change either, it was quickly projected in her marriage. Just after two weeks of them getting married, Wuornos began beating her husband with his cane when he refused to give her money. This forced her husband to obtain a restraining order when he couldn’t handle it anymore. Their marriage lasted for 9 weeks and it was nullified on July 21, 1976.

Read this article on the 10 Notorious Mexican serial killers here

8. She found the love of her life

A few years before she began her murder spree, Aileen met 24-year-old Tyria Moore, a lesbian at a Daytona Beach gay bar. They developed a romantic relationship and Aileen moved in with her though they never settled in one place. Wuornos continued with her work of prostitution to provide for them even though Tyria was against it.

When Aileen was arrested by the police, her girlfriend helped the police to make her confess. For Tyria to help make her confess she was exempted from penalty for the crimes. During Wuornos execution, she still claimed she was in love with Tyria and she was the love of her life.

9. She was a real psychopath

For one to be considered a psychopath he or she must score an average of 25 out of 40 on the Hare Psychopathy Checklist. In the United Kingdom, one is a true psychopath if he or she scores 25 and in the United States, one is a psychopath if she scores 30. Wuornos scored a 32/40 on the Hare Psychopathy checklist and this shows how she was truly a psychopath aside from her mental issues.

10. Aileen’s body was cremated

A picture of a crematorium. , , via Wikimedia Commons

Wuornos was found guilty of murdering six men within one year. She was given six death sentences for the crimes she committed. On October 9, 2002, she was executed at the Florida State Prison and she died at 9:47 AM. Wuornos showed no remorse for her crimes. Her last words before she died were, “I’d just like to say I’m sailing with the Rock and I’ll be back like Independence Day’ with Jesus, June 6, like the movie, big mother ship and all. I’ll be back. Aileen’s body was cremated and her ashes were laid out beneath a tree in her home in Michigan by Botkins.

Check out this article on the 35 sinister facts about Jeffrey Dahmer here