Serial Killers: A Brief Biography Of Aileen Wuornos

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Serial Murder is “the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s), in separate events” (Morton, 2005); therefore, a person or persons whom kill two or more individuals in separate events are considered to be “Serial Killers” (Morton, 2005). Of those individuals whom have received the infamous title of “Serial Killer”, Aileen Wuornos, in my opinion, may be one of the most notorious killers. Born in Rochester, Michigan on February 29, 1956, Aileen grew up in a broken home with her mother abandoning her and her brother, Keith, at their grandparents’ house after her abusive father left her mother (Biography.com Editors, 2015). Aileen’s childhood was a very rough one where

While in Florida, Wuornos eventually turned back to prostitution, traveling aimlessly across Central Florida and as far west as Tampa, Florida (Biography.com Editors, 2015). Then, in 1989, Wuornos committed her first murder – 51 year-old, Richard Mallory – shooting and killing him with her .22 caliber pistol (Biography.com Editors, 2015); Aileen later went on to kill six more men within a one year period (Biography.com Editors, 2015). Aileen Wuornos was eventually apprehended and arrested in late 1991 (Biography.com Editors, 2015); Wuornos originally plead nolo contendere to the murders claiming she acted in self-defense, however, she later admitted guilt of committing the murders and was found guilty of murder in the first degree and was convicted to death – executed on October 9, 2002 by lethal injection at Starke Florida State Prison (Biography.com Editors, 2015). In the State of Florida, where Wuornos committed her heinous crimes, the penalty for individuals convicted of first-degree murder is as

An interesting fact is that after leaving his family, Leo Pittman, Aileen’s father, was later arrested after he sexually abused a teenage girl; he then committed suicide while serving time in prison (Biography.com Editors, 2015). According to data listed in the Hagan (2016) slides, with respect to genetics and crime, “the major premise of the [genetics and crime] theory is that criminal traits and predispositions are inherited” (Hagan. (2016). Introduction to Criminology (9th Edition). [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1219515/files?preview=58099701); Published in the same slides, various adoption studies investigated theories of criminal behavior and found that “the criminality of the biological father was a strong predictor of the child’s behavior [and] when the biological and adopted parents were criminals that increased the chances of the child becoming delinquent” (Hagan. (2016). Introduction to Criminology (9th Edition). [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://webcourses.ucf.edu/courses/1219515/files?preview=58099701). Noting that Aileen’s father was a known criminal and that her adopted parents (her grandparents) were also deviant, the conclusion can be drawn that Aileen was not only genetically