Aileen Wuornos By: Lauren Carter

Introduction I thought that this would be an interesting case to study because I had already heard some information of Aileen Wuornos crime through the Hollywood movie of “Monster”. It was also such an interesting case to study because despite prior female serial killings, Wuornos is given the name of monster and reputation of the first major serial killing done by a female in America.

Summary of the Crime Between 1989 to 1990, Aileen Wuornos killed a total of 7 men in Central Florida, claiming it was out of self defense because in each case the man was attempting to rape her, while she was working as a prostitute. Six out of the seven bodies were found with multiple gun shot wounds. The remaining body was never found. Aileen Wuornos was sentenced to death for the six murders of which the bodies were recovered.

The Trial of Aileen Wuornos Aileen Wuornos was not sentenced to a regular murder trial but, instead a capital trial. A capital trials differs from a regular murder trial through a more severe sentence. In a capital trial, the defendant can be sentenced to death if they are convicted of 2 or more murders. The jury is also carefully selected to ensure that if the death trial is suitable, the jury will feel comfortable choosing it.

Trial of Wuornos Despite being accused of murdering 7 men, Wuornos only went to trial for the murder of Richard Mallory. The trial for the murder of Richard Mallory began on January 13th, 1992. RICHARD MALLORY

Trial for the Murder of Mallory Prosecution Arguments: The prosecution was led by John Tanner. In the trial for the murder of Richard Mallory, the prosecution’s best evidence was a videotape given to detectives of Wuornos admitting to shooting and killing the 7 men. Wuornos constantly changing story of the events at the murder also proved to be helpful in proving her as guilty.

Prosecution Arguments The prosecution was also able to use evidence from the other Wuornos murder cases in the trial of Mallory to prove her as guilty beyond reasonable doubt. “Williams Rule” is the allowance of relevant evidence of the defendant to be brought into the current case to prove their guilt through motives, intent, or knowledge. In Wuornos case, evidence from the other murders was brought in to prove her motives of killing men and claiming they had raped her.

Defense Presented Wuornos was represented at the trial by Tricia Jenkins. The defense urged Wuornos to plead guilty to her charges. The defense presented the following 2 main arguments in the fight for Wuornos innocence: The first argument claimed that Aileen Wuornos only killed Mallory out of self defense to keep him from raping her. This proved to be a weak and unsuccessful argument. The second argument used by the defense was that the confession video tape of Wuornos was not her voluntarily speaking.

Summary of Evidence The evidence used in the courtroom included the gun that Aileen Wuornos used to shoot and kill her victims which linked her to all of the murder crimes, a videotape of her confession to police, and evidence of her robberies from each victim. The gun proved to be a solid piece of evidence in the trial as the weapon used. The confession tape was the most convincing evidence to the jury.

Jury Decision and Sentence Despite Wuornos claim that the videotape confession was involuntary, the court did not see it that way. It took the jury less than 2 hours to find Aileen Wuornos guilty for the murder of Richard Mallory on January 27th, 1992. Following the jury’s decision of Wuornos guilt, Wuornos has an angry outburst in the courtroom.

Sentence On January 31st, 1992, Aileen Wuornos was sentenced to death with a jury vote of 12-0 . From the time of her death sentence for the murder of Richard Mallory, Wuornos received 5 additional death sentences giving her a total of 6.

Execution of Aileen Wuornos Aileen Wuornos was executed by a lethal injection on October 9th, 2002 in a Florida State prison. An interview the previous day, showed Wuornos to be filled with emotions, by making remarks like “I’m happy to die and if you didn’t kill me, I’d kill again.” Wuornos last statement was, “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”. Wuornos was the 2nd female ever executed in the state of Florida.

Socialization Theory The Socialization Theory could explain the actions of Wuornos through her upbringing, peer groups, and role models. Upbringing: Wuornos was raised without either parents after their failed teenage marriage. She then grew up with limited help from her grandparents. Wuornos traded sexual favours for drugs and alcohol at age 11. Wuornos was kicked out of her home at age 14. Role Models: Aileen Wuornos did not have positive influence from role models in her life. Her grandfather allegedly beat her, grandmother was an alcoholic, mother abandoned her, and her father was sent to jail.

Biological Trait Theory The Biological Trait theory argues that some human traits influence people resulting in criminal behaviour. Examples of human traits that may cause one to engage in criminal behaviour are intelligence, genetics, and personality. Intelligence : Aileen Wuornos IQ was 81. An average IQ is between 90 to 109. Personality: Wuornos personality was also shaped by many other negative factors in her life. At a young age, Wuornos and her brother consented to sexual acts with each other. Her father was sent to prison the year of her birth for child molestation, where he later committed suicide. Wuornos brother died of cancer and her alcoholic grandmother committed suicide.

The End