Aileen Wuornos

Born February 29, 1956, to her 15 yr. old mother Diane, Aileen Carol (Pittman) Wuornos would go on to lead a troubled and trying existence. Abandoned by her mother to be raised by her grandparents, Wuornos and her older brother would be raised by a distant grandmother and an abusive alcoholic grandfather. Raised devoid of warmth and affection, Wuornos, who was subjected to sexual abuse at the hands of her grandfather and brother, would go on in her early years to use sex as a means to fit in with other youths and get money for beer and drugs (Blanco, J. I., n.d.)

After an alleged rape, which resulted in a pregnancy, Wuornos was sent to a home for unwed mothers and forced to give the child up for adoption. Once released, Wuornos would be banned from her grandparents’ home after the death of her grandmother as her grandfather reportedly advised her he could no longer deal with her (“Aileen Wuornos Biography”, n.d.). Alone and forced to live on the streets, Wuornos resorted to the only means of supporting herself she knew, prostitution and theft. With charges ranging from DUI, disorderly conduct, weapons charges to assault, theft and armed robbery, Wuornos would eventually end up in prison.

Wuornos described the homicides as self-defense; each victim was to have allegedly attempted to rape her, although she engaged them in the

Eventually convicted of the homicides of Richard Mallory, Dick Humphreys, Troy Burress, David Spears, Charles Carskaddon, and Walter Jeno Antonio; Wuornos received the death sentence for each. After less than two hours of deliberation, the jury found her guilty of all charges to include first-degree murder and armed robbery (The Case of Aileen Wuornos - The Facts, n.d.). “No charges were brought against her for the murder of Peter Siems, as his body was never found. In all, she received six death sentences” (Blanco,