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Aileen Wuornos became ‘queen of serial killers’ after media attention

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1 week ago

November 1, 2025

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Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute from Daytona Seashore, Florida, convicted of killing a number of males and dubbed the “queen of serial killers,” was prepared for her close-up after admitting to defending the girl she cherished.

Between 1989 and 1990, the Michigan-born drifter killed seven middle-aged males alongside Florida’s highways. Wuornos, a uncommon feminine serial killer, was convicted and sentenced to loss of life – a sentence that was carried out in 2002. However lengthy earlier than her execution, she was already within the highlight.

“I do not suppose she was ever actually listened to by the adults in her life,” Emily Turner, director of Netflix’s “Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers,” advised Fox Information Digital.

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Aileen Wuornos is seen right here giving testimony throughout her 1992 homicide trial in Daytona Seashore, Florida. She is the topic of a brand new true crime documentary on Netflix, “Aileen Wuornos: Queen of the Serial Killers.” (Peter Bauer-USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Pictures)

“The primary time in her life that she will get interviews with folks and is listened to and brought severely is when she commits these very severe murders,” Turner mentioned. “I believe it is a very unhappy reflection of the world we stay in.”

That includes an unearthed interview with Wuornos recorded on Florida’s loss of life row, the documentary reexamines her case and highlights audio recordings with those that knew her.

Early within the movie, a giddy Wuornos whispers to filmmaker Jasmine Hirst, who corresponded together with her for ten years: “You are going to make tens of millions off this.”

After her arrest in 1991, the case attracted monumental media consideration. Wuornos gave a number of interviews and made daring public statements, though at instances she expressed frustration that individuals have been exploiting her story.

“Jackie Giroux was the primary particular person to safe her life rights,” Turner mentioned. ‘She says the information media made her well-known – they made her the ‘queen of serial killers’. … It was a captivating time in historical past when there was an actual starvation for true crime tales – and at that second she was killing these males.

Right here, investigators are seen holding a mugshot of Aileen Wuornos and her first sufferer, Richard Mallory. (Acey Harper/Getty Pictures)

“Aileen was actually conscious of that,” Turner mentioned. “You’ll be able to see that within the interview she provides within the movie: she’s wanting on the lights and, to some extent, she’s charmed by the curiosity. To me, that is one of many many tragic elements of this story. For the primary time, she got here to prominence: she was somebody, and he or she knew it.”

CREATING A MONSTER: AILEEN WUORNOS

Giroux can be heard within the movie saying that Wuornos “wished to be well-known”.

However earlier than fame got here love – and betrayal. In 1991, Wuornos, then 34, was arrested after a multi-state investigation. Her pal, Tyria Moore, agreed to cooperate with investigators in change for immunity. In a recorded cellphone name, a frightened Moore advised Wuornos that she was afraid the police have been “after me.”

“I am not going to allow you to go to jail,” Wuornos is heard saying earlier than he suppresses tears. “Ty, I really like you. If I’ve to admit all the things simply to maintain you from getting in bother, I’ll.”

Tyria Moore, ex-lover of Aileen Wuornos, testifies throughout Wuornos’ 1992 homicide trial in Daytona Seashore, Florida. Wuornos found that Moore had cooperated with police and helped receive her confession throughout the trial. (Daytona Seashore Information-Journal-USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Pictures)

What Wuornos did not know was that the police have been on Moore’s aspect, guiding her to elicit a confession that may in the end seal Wuornos’ destiny.

That confession led to Wuornos’ conviction for six murders. She was not charged with the suspected homicide of Peter Siems in 1990 as a result of no physique was ever discovered. Association of Florida Sheriffs.

Aileen Wuornos was arrested in January 1991 after a multi-state investigation. (© Florida Occasions-Union/USA TODAY NETWORK)

Wuornos met Moore in 1986, which led to a passionate four-year relationship.

Aileen Wuornos was conscious one thing was mistaken when her pal Tyria Moore known as her. (David Tucker-USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Pictures)

“I cherished her a lot,” Wuornos is heard saying. “…And the one motive I had that rattling gun was as a result of I wished to verify I acquired dwelling in a single piece – so I might breathe together with her one other day. Nevertheless it did not work out that manner. All of it acquired ruined.”

Police quickly linked Wuornos to a collection of murders – Richard Mallory, David Spears, Charles Carskaddon, Troy Burress, Charles Humphreys and Walter Antonio – all middle-aged males discovered shot to loss of life alongside distant highways.

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“The information media has made her the ‘queen of serial killers,’” producer Jackie Giroux mentioned within the movie about Aileen Wuornos (pictured right here). “That was her fame. She wished to be well-known.” (Netflix© 2025)

Witnesses reported seeing two ladies in automobiles belonging to Wuornos’ victims. Investigators later discovered Wuornos’ fingerprints in stolen automobiles, on pawned property and at numerous crime scenes.

Moore denied any position within the murders and provided to assist police clear her identify.

“[I] miss her very a lot,” Wuornos mentioned within the movie behind bars. “I all the time miss her. And I’ll all the time love her. And I’ll consider her on the day I’m executed.”

Aileen Wuornos was persuaded to admit by her police pal Tyria Moore. (Peter Bauer-USA TODAY NETWORK by way of Imagn Pictures)

Wuornos lured males by posing as hitchhikers or by providing intercourse for cash. She typically advised tales of homelessness and struggling to outlive earlier than persuading drivers to cease in distant areas. She shot her victims with a .22-caliber handgun, claiming self-defense after they have been attacked or threatened, however she additionally robbed them of money, jewellery and vehicles.

Aileen Wuornos was known as the “Hooker from Hell”, “Jamsel of Demise” and “Queen of the Serial Killers”. (RGR Assortment/ALAMY)

After her arrest, tabloids labeled her the “Whore from Hell” and the “Younger Lady of Demise.” Her interviews captivated reporters keen to grasp what might drive a girl to homicide.

“What shocked me is that she is so many contradictory issues on the identical time,” Turner defined. “She is charismatic, however she is a assassin. She is a sufferer of sexual violence, however she can also be a perpetrator of horrific violence.”

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The Fairview motel the place assassin Aileen Wuornos and her lover Tyria Moore stayed. (Acey Harper/Getty Pictures)

“She is deceitful and lies, however as we captured within the movie, when she stands in entrance of a decide and talks about how prostitutes should not believed and the extent of sexual assault, she is a extremely fiery truth-teller in that regard.”

“She defies definition,” Turner added.

Turner emphasised that she wasn’t attempting to make an “apology piece.” Like many, she wished to grasp what drove Wuornos to commit her crimes.

Investigators for serial killer Aileen Wuornos are seen right here on the Rose Bay signal, the place she mentioned she threw away her gun. (Acey Harper/Getty Pictures)

“How shocked folks can be to listen to that? I believe anybody who even remotely understands her story is aware of that she had a horrible childhood,” Turner mentioned.

Aileen Wuornos is seen on this undated photograph from the Florida Division of Corrections. She was executed by deadly injection in Florida on October 9, 2002 for killing six males whereas she was a prostitute. (Florida DOC/Getty Pictures)

“The issues she tells Jasmine are stunning. She has some humanity, and to me that is essentially the most disturbing reality. It is simpler to say she was simply evil, however I believe she was the product of a horrific childhood and repeated sexual assaults all through her life. However then once more, many individuals that suffer such trauma do not commit such horrible acts.”

In the direction of the top, Wuornos wished to die. She grew to become paranoid, satisfied that forces have been conspiring towards her. When requested for her final phrases, she said, “I am crusing with the rock and I am coming again – like ‘Independence Day’ with Jesus… on the massive mom ship and all that. I am coming again.”

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Her loss of life didn’t finish the general public fascination. Actress Charlize Theron later gained an Oscar for her portrayal of Wuornos within the 2003 movie “Monster.”

Actress Charlize Theron gained an Oscar for her position as Wuornos within the 2003 movie ‘Monster’. (AJ Photographs / ALAMY)

“After I first noticed Jasmine’s interview, it took me some time to grasp what we have been taking a look at,” Turner mentioned. “[Aileen] is so contradictory. She goes like [discussing] the childhood trauma she suffered, after which there’s a cheerful factor by which she talks in regards to the victims. It is actually stunning that she’s speaking about killing folks like this.”

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“I’m very clear that what she did was horrible,” Turner mentioned. “… [But] it felt like her story was virtually like a Malicious program – it has a lot extra to say in regards to the world…how her portrayal within the media was so totally different. … I believe her story has so many extra classes for all of us.”

Netflix’s “Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers” is offered for streaming.

Stephanie Nolasco covers leisure at Foxnews.com.