Aileen Wuornos was an abused child in her early years of life. When she was older, she began making a living as a sex worker. She would later be found guilty of killing six men and executed by lethal injection.

Wuornos grew up in Rochester, Mich., where she was sexually assaulted as a child. The young Wuornos experienced terrifying events as a child.

Her father was sent to prison for child molestation and committed suicide while serving time. Her mother would later abandon Wuornos and her brother, leaving them in the custody of their grandparents.

Wuornos’ grandma was an alcoholic and her grandfather was sexually abusive. Wuornos would later have sexual relations with her brother, becoming pregnant in her early teens.

Throughout puberty, Wuornos would be thrown out of her home and forced to live in the woods. Wuornos frequently moved around the country, hitchhiking and engaging in sex work to survive.

Wuornos was around 20 when she was arrested for assault and disorderly conduct. After her arrest, Wuornos settled down in Florida.

Wuornos’ murdered and robbed six of her clients on the Florida highway. One of her victims was Richard Mallory. Wuornos claims that Mallory sexually assaulted her and raped her, stating she killed him out of self-defense.

“She killed about 20 men truck drivers,” senior Rose McDonald said. “They were her clients; however, they were rapists.”

Though not revealed in court, Mallory had finished a prison sentence for sexual assault. She stated that her other murders were out of self-defense as well. However, she would later retract these statements and admit to her crimes.

“That’s what happens when you have such a …… (messed up) upbringing,” senior Austin Nasello said. “Sexual trauma was all she knew.”

Wournos received a death sentence for each plea. She would also admit to the killing a man whose body was never found. After staying on death row for over a decade, Wuornos was executed for her crimes by lethal injection.

“If she had gotten life in prison, she should’ve been put in solitary confinement,” senior Jake Brey said. “She was a dangerous person and could have caused much more trouble.“
“She deserved the death penalty,” McDonald said. “Even though they were bad people, she still committed a lot of murders and she would have committed more.”

Wournos’ last words were, “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.” Her last meal was a cup of black coffee.