Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Wuornos (February 29, 1956 – October 9, 2002) was an American female serial killer who killed seven men in the state of florida between 1989 and 1990, claiming they raped, physically abused or attempted to rape her while she was working as a prostitute. She was convicted and given the death penalty for six of the murders and executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002.
Childhood
Wuornos was born as Aileen Carol Pittman in Rochester, Michigan, on February 29, 1956. Her mother, Diane Pratt, was 15 years old when she married Aileen's father, Leo Dale Pittman on June 3, 1954. Aileen had an older brother named Keith, who was born in February 1955. Aileen's great-grandparents were born in Finland. Less than two years later and two months before Wuornos was born, Pratt filed for divorce and Wuornos never met her father, because he was in prison for the rape and attempted murder of an eight-year-old boy when she was born. Leo Pittman, a known child molester was in and out of prison and hung himself in prison in 1969. In January 1960, Pratt abandoned her children, leaving them with their maternal grandparents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos, who legally adopted Keith and Aileen on March 18, 1960.
From a young age, Wuornos engaged in sex with multiple partners, possibly including her own brother. Wuornos claimed that she was sexually assaulted as a child by her grandfather. In 1970, at age 14, she became pregnant , having been raped by an unknown man. Wuornos gave birth at a home for unwed mothers, and the child was placed for adoption. A few months after her baby was born, her grandmother died of liver failure; and Aileen and her brother became wards of the court. When she was 15, her grandfather threw her out of the house; and she began supporting herself as a prostitute and living in the woods near her old home.
Early criminal career
On May 27, 1974, 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 apprear (FTA).
In 1976, Wuornos hitchhiked her way to the state of Florida, where she met 69-year-old yacht club president Lewis Gratz Fell (June 28, 1907-January 6, 2000). They married that same year, and the announcement of their nuptials was printed in the society pages of the local newspaper. However, Wuornos continually involved herself in confrontations at their local bar and eventually went to jail for Assault. She also hit Fell with his own cane, leading him to get a Restraining order against her. She returned to Michigan; where, on July 14, 1976, Wuornos was arrested in Antrim County in Michigan and charged with Assault and Disturbing the peace for throwing a pool ball at a bartender's head. On July 17, her brother Keith died of cancer in his windpipe; and Wuornos received $10,000 from his life insurance. Wuornos and Fell divorced on July 21 after nine weeks of marriage.
On May 20, 1981, Wuornos was arrested in Edgewater, Florida, for the armed robbery of a convenience store. 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 forgerd checks at a bank in Keywest. 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 Grand Theft Auto, Resisting Arrest, and Obstruction by False Information for providing identification with 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, Velusia County, FloridaDeputy 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 a .22 pistol was discovered under the passenger seat she had occupied.
Around this time, Wuornos met Tyria Moore, a hotel maid, at a gay bar in Daytona. They moved in together, and Wuornos supported them with her prostitution earnings. On July 4, 1987, Daytona 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.
Writers pre-note
This is one of the best known cases throughout he world chilling mainly because we think of women as nurturing and motherly but this story if you have never read it will prove that women beings either of those things may not always be the case.