17 Dark And Upsetting Facts About Aileen Wuornos, A Serial Killer Known As "The Damsel Of Death"

Aileen Wuornos, aka "The Damsel of Death," was a serial killer who murdered and robbed six men (and possibly a seventh) while doing sex work in Florida from 1989–1990.

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Here are some dark and interesting facts about her life:

Note: Disturbing content ahead including mentions of rape, murder, and suicide.

1.Aileen's mother, Diane Wuornos, was just 16 years old (and her father 19) in 1956 when she gave birth to Aileen in Rochester, Michigan.

2.Her parents had divorced not long before Aileen's birth, and she apparently never met her father.

3.Leo Pittman, Aileen's father, would go on to be convicted of serious crimes against a seven-year-old child including kidnapping and rape. He later died by suicide in prison.

4.Diane eventually "abandoned" Aileen at six months old (along with her brother Keith), and left them with a babysitter.

5.According to an L.A. Times article from 1991, Aileen "said her grandfather beat her and [that she] admitted to a brief sexual relationship with her brother."

6.Aileen got pregnant at age 13, gave birth to a son who was immediately given up for adoption, and then left school in 10th grade.

7.After hitchhiking around the country and working various jobs — waitressing, pool hustling, and doing sex work — Aileen eventually settled in Daytona Beach, Florida.

8.During this time, according to the L.A. Times, "Desperate for security, Wuornos says she married a man in his 70s, Lewis Fell. The marriage lasted a month. She said he beat her with his cane. Two years after that, crazed over breaking up with a boyfriend, she shot herself in the stomach."

9.Before being convicted of murder later in her life, Aileen was found guilty of a variety of different crimes including DUI, assault, disturbing the peace, car theft, and many others.

10.Aileen's real-life girlfriend was named Tyria Moore (who inspired the character Selby Wall, played by Christina Ricci in Monster). Although Moore initially believed Wuornos' claim that she had killed a client in self-defense, she eventually talked to the police when Aileen admitted to killing more and more clients. Moore's testimony would eventually help put Wuornos behind bars.

11.According to CNN, after being charged with the murders of several men, Wuornos initially claimed she acted in self-defense. However, Sgt. Bob Kelley of the Volusia County Sheriff's Department — who investigated the case — later said, "After she was convicted of the first murder of Richard Mallory, she then pled guilty to the others, and after a certain point in time she started to recant and say she wasn't a victim. She simply robbed and killed those men to gain their personal property and to gain money."

12.It was also reported that, "Over the years, Wuornos told police, she has had sex with 200,000 men, been raped nine times, and been beaten up and manhandled more times than she can remember."

13.At the age of 35, while in jail, Wuornos was legally adopted by a couple, Arlene and Robert Pralle.

14.According to the L.A. Times, "After twice attempting suicide, [Arlene] Pralle became a born-again Christian in 1981. While looking at Wuornos’ picture in a local newspaper, Pralle said, she peered deep into her eyes 'and God prompted me to do something.' She sent the accused a letter. 'I don’t care if you’re guilty or innocent,' she wrote, 'but I want to be your friend.'

15.Wuornos spent more than 10 years on Florida's death row and was executed on Oct. 9, 2002, at the age of 46.

16.Before her execution, Wuornos declined a last meal and instead just asked for a cup of coffee.

17.Finally, it was reported that her 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."