Aileen Wuornos, a notorious figure in criminal history, was once a sex worker in Daytona Beach, Florida. She gained infamy as the “queen of serial killers” after admitting to the murder of several men, a confession she made to shield a loved one.
During a chilling spree between 1989 and 1990, Wuornos, originally from Michigan, took the lives of seven men along Florida highways. Her actions were particularly notable since female serial killers are rare. Convicted and sentenced to death, Wuornos was executed in 2002. Yet, her notoriety began long before her final days.
“It seems she was never truly heard by the adults around her,” remarked Emily Turner, the director of Netflix’s documentary “Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers,” in a conversation with Fox News Digital.
“For the first time, people were interviewing her, listening, and taking her seriously, but only after she committed these heinous crimes,” Turner commented. “It’s a somber commentary on the society we inhabit.”
The documentary offers a fresh perspective on Wuornos’s case, featuring a newly discovered interview conducted while she was on Florida’s death row. It also includes audio recordings from individuals who were acquainted with her.
At the beginning of the film, a giddy Wuornos whispers to filmmaker Jasmine Hirst, who corresponded with her for 10 years: “You guys are gonna make millions off this.”
After her 1991 arrest, the case drew enormous media attention. Wuornos gave multiple interviews and made bold public statements, though at times she expressed frustration that people were exploiting her story.
“Jackie Giroux was the first person who secured her life rights,” Turner said. “She says the news media made her famous — they made her the ‘queen of the serial killers.’ … It was a fascinating time in history when there was a real hunger for true-crime stories — and at that very point, she was out killing those men.”
“Aileen was really aware of that,” Turner said. “You can see that in the interview she gives in the film — she’s looking at the lights, and to a certain extent, she’s enamored by the interest. For me, that’s one of the many tragic parts of this story. For the first time, she gained notoriety — she was somebody, and she knew it.”
THE MAKING OF A MONSTER: AILEEN WUORNOS
Giroux is also heard in the film saying Wuornos “wanted to be famous.”
But before fame came love — and betrayal. In 1991, Wuornos, then 34, was arrested after a multi-state investigation. Her girlfriend, Tyria Moore, agreed to cooperate with investigators in exchange for immunity. In a recorded phone call, a frightened Moore told Wuornos she was worried police were “after me.”
“I’m not gonna let you go to jail,” Wuornos is heard saying before choking back tears. “Ty, I love you. If I have to confess everything just to keep you from getting in trouble, I will.”
What Wuornos didn’t know was that police were by Moore’s side, guiding her to elicit a confession that would ultimately seal Wuornos’ fate.
That confession led to Wuornos’ convictions for six murders. She was not charged with the presumed 1990 murder of Peter Siems because a body was never found, according to the Florida Sheriffs Association.
Wuornos met Moore in 1986, sparking a passionate four-year relationship.
“I loved her so bad,” Wuornos is heard saying. “… And the only reason I carried that darn gun was I wanted to make sure that I got home alive in one piece — so I’d be another day breathing with her. But it didn’t turn out that way. It got all screwed up.”
Police soon linked Wuornos to a string of murders — Richard Mallory, David Spears, Charles Carskaddon, Troy Burress, Charles Humphreys and Walter Antonio — all middle-aged men found shot along remote highways.
Witnesses reported seeing two women in vehicles belonging to Wuornos’ victims. Investigators later found Wuornos’ fingerprints in stolen vehicles, on pawned belongings and at several crime scenes.
Moore denied any role in the murders and offered to help police clear her name.
“[I] miss her a lot,” Wuornos said in the film behind bars. “I always miss her. And I’ll always love her. And I’ll be thinking about her the day I’m executed.”
Wuornos lured men by posing as a hitchhiker or offering sex for money. She often told stories about being homeless and struggling to survive before persuading drivers to pull over in secluded areas. She shot her victims with a .22-caliber pistol, claiming self-defense after being assaulted or threatened, but she also robbed them of cash, jewelry and cars.
After her arrest, tabloids labeled her the “Hooker from Hell” and the “Damsel of Death.” Her interviews captivated reporters eager to understand what could drive a woman to kill.
“What surprised me is that she’s so many contradictory things at once,” Turner explained. “She’s charismatic, but she’s a killer. She’s a victim of sexual violence, but she’s also a perpetrator of horrific violence.”
“She’s deceitful and lies, but as we captured in the film — when she stands at trial and talks about how prostitutes aren’t believed and about the scale of sexual assault, she’s a really searing truth-teller in that respect.”
“She defies definition,” Turner added.
Turner emphasized that she wasn’t trying to make “an apology piece.” Like many, she wanted to understand what drove Wuornos to commit her crimes.
“What would people be shocked to learn? I think anyone with even a small understanding of her story knows she had an awful childhood,” Turner said.
“The things she tells Jasmine are shocking. She has a kind of humanity there — and for me, that’s the more disturbing truth. It’s easier to say she was just bad, but I think she was the product of a horrific childhood and repeated sexual assaults throughout her life. Then again, many people who endure such trauma don’t go on to commit such terrible acts.”
By the end, Wuornos wanted to die. She became paranoid, convinced forces were conspiring against her. When asked for her final words, she declared: “I’m sailing with the rock, and I’ll be back — like ‘Independence Day’ with Jesus … on the big mothership and all. I’ll be back.”
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Her death didn’t end public fascination. Actress Charlize Theron later won an Oscar for portraying Wuornos in the 2003 film “Monster.”
“When I first saw Jasmine’s interview, it took a while to understand what we were watching,” said Turner. “[Aileen] is so contradictory. She goes from [discussing] the childhood trauma she suffered, and then there’s a gleeful element where she’s talking about the victims. It’s really jarring that she’s talking about murdering people in this way.”
“I’m very clear that what she did was awful,” Turner said. “… [But] it felt like her story is almost this kind of Trojan horse — it has so much else to say about the world … how her portrayal in the media was so different. … I think her story has so many more lessons for all of us.”
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