Who was Aileen Wuornos, who was the US serial killer’s girlfriend Tyria Moore, when was she executed and who played her in Monster?
Wuornos went on a year-long murder spree in Florida from 1989 to 1990 making her one of America's most notorious female serial killers
AILEEN Wuornos was a notorious female serial killer who shot dead seven men.
She was executed by the state of Florida with a lethal injection in 2002 — but who was she and how is her harrowing story being retold?
Who was Aileen Wuornos?
Aileen Wuornos, born Aileen Pittman, was born in Troy, Michigan in February 1956.
She was brought up in a dire setting — her mother Diane, 14 when she married her father Leo, filed for divorce just months before she was born. She later abandoned Aileen aged four.
Leo Wuornoswas a convicted paedophile who hanged himself in prison when Aileen was 13.
Aileen was raised by her maternal grandparents, and claimed her alcoholic grandfather sexually abused her as a child.
She was raped by a friend of her grandfather's when she was just 14 and fell pregnant.
Homeless Wuornos, who had been performing sex acts at school in exchange for money and cigarettes, began prostituting herself at just 15 after her grandmother died and she was kicked out by her abusive grandfather.
She would spend the next ten years in Florida involved in sex work and criminal activity including drink driving, assault, armed robbery, and car theft — before her crimes took an even darker turn.
What happened with Aileen Wuornos' killing spree?
In November 1989, Wuornosshot dead convicted rapist Richard Mallory, 51, in what she claimed was an act of self defense.
His body was found in woods several miles away from his abandoned car.
Construction worker David Spears, 43, was Wuornos' next victim. He was shot six times and his naked body was found by a Florida roadside on 1 June 1990.
Peter Siems, 65, was next in Wornos' hit list. The retired merchant seaman and devoted Christian was last seen alive in June 1990 when he left Florida for Arkansa.
But his car was discovered on 4 July in his car in Orange Springs, Florida. His body was never discovered.
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Troy Burress, 50, was a sausage salesman whose body was found with two fatal bullet wounds by the road in August 1990.
The most high profile victim, 56-year-old Charles "Dick" Humphreys, was a former Chief of Police and retired US Air Force Major and child abuse investigator.
His body was found in September 1990 with having been shot six times.
Finally, Walter Jeno Antonio, 62, was a trucker whose half-naked body was found on a remote path in November 1990.
Wuornos was arrested on an outstanding warrant in January 1991 and her girlfriend Tyria Moore agreed with police to help get a confession to the murders, which she did on 16 January.
She claimed all the men had tried to rape her and she was acting in self defense — but she was found guilty and executed on 9 October 2002.
Her last words were: "Yes, I would 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, I'll be back".
Who was Wuornos' girlfriend Tyria Moore?
Tyria Moore was Wuornos' girlfriend during her killing spree.
She met the hotel maid at a Daytona Beach gay bar and they lived together, with Wuornos' supporting her with money from sex work.
Up until her execution, Wuornos claimed to still be in love with Moore even though she helped police extract a confession from her.
Who played her in the film Monster?
Wuornos' chilling story was told in the 2003 film Monster.
It chronicled Wuornos' story from childhood until her first murder conviction
Charlize Theron played the killer in a role that earned her an Oscar for Best Actress.