Notorious Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos: A Haunting Legacy of Crime and Controversy
Channel: True Crime: Real Stories About Real People
Date: 2023-05-29

Aileen “Lee” Carol Wuornos was born February 29, 1956, in Rochester, Michigan. Her father was convicted of child molestation after her birth and a few years later killed himself in prison. Wuornos’ mother abandoned her and her brother when they were young, leaving them with her parents, Wuornos’ grandparents, and their children. Childhood friends said that Wuornos’ grandfather beat her and her grandmother was an alcoholic. At 11, Wuornos began trading sexual favors for money, beer, and cigarettes. She had her only child at 14; neighbors claimed the father was an older adult friend of Wuornos’ grandfather. The child was given up for adoption. Soon after, she began spending more time away from home, either living in the woods or hitchhiking around the country, often under assumed names. She was 14 when her family kicked her out of her house.

By the early 1980s, after her brother’s death from cancer, Wuornos moved to Florida to work as a prostitute. She frequently was in trouble with the law, for being a prostitute and for other crimes. By 1991 her record included (among other felonies and misdemeanors) arrests for illegal possession of a firearm, forgery, assault, and robbery. Her associates and law enforcement personnel often described her as erratic and easily angered. Her arrest records frequently noted “Attitude POOR.”

In 1986 Wuornos met Tyria Moore at a bar in Daytona Beach, Florida, and they began an intense romantic relationship that ended just before Wuornos’ final arrest in 1991. Wuornos’ relationship with Moore was her second relationship with a woman. As a prostitute, her clients were mainly middle-aged, low-to-middle-class white men.

Together, Wuornos and Tyria Moore sold stolen items at Florida pawnshops. During the murder investigations, Volusia County police discovered items belonging to Richard Mallory at a local pawnshop, with a receipt showing Wuornos’ thumbprint.  

Police then traced other stolen items from Mallory to Wuornos. A camera from Mallory's automobile was found inside a rented warehouse unit, which was opened with a key taken from Wuornos. Wuornos had rented the unit under an alias. Police traced other items from Mallory's car to people or pawnshops Wuornos had contacted.

By 1990 Tyria Moore had become suspicious – if not fully aware – of Wuornos’ activities.  Moore moved in with her family in Pennsylvania. When Wuornos was arrested on an outstanding warrant at a biker bar in Harbor Oaks, Florida, police tracked Moore down and used her to elicit a confession from Wuornos.