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In 1992, a year after Aileen Wuornos was arrested for the murders of seven men in Florida, filmmaker Nick Broomfield released the documentary "Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer." A decade later, they were reunited when he was subpoenaed to appear at her final state appeal before execution. Broomfield subsequently spent the next year and a half revisiting her case, conducting multiple interviews with Wuornos and the people who knew her best. The disturbing America Undercover documentary AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER provides his fresh insights into her story when.
Broomfield's original documentary exposed the corruption and incompetence surrounding her case and trial, at which she was found guilty of seven murders and sent to death row. The new AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER examines her past, illuminating the inhumanity of Wuornos' upbringing in suburban Detroit and debates whether the persistent abuse she endured may have driven her over the edge, culminating in the killings that she originally claimed were self-defense.
Abandoned at birth, Wuornos was raised by an abusive grandfather. As friends and family members attest, she was beaten by relatives, molested by strangers, had an incestuous relationship with her brother, and was raped repeatedly. After getting pregnant at age 13, she was thrown out of the family home, and lived in the nearby woods for two years. From there she drifted into prostitution, an abusive marriage, robbery and murder.
Wuornos eventually "gave up" on men and found a lover in Tyria Moore, with whom she lived for three years. Police recorded her phone calls with Wuornos in jail, leading to her lover's confession.
In her original trial testimony, Wuornos graphically described the torture she endured at the hands of the first man she killed, claiming she acted in self-defense. Broomfield speculates that she then killed the other six "johns" in a state of insanity. But after serving 12 years on death row, Wuornos suddenly announced that she had killed the six men in cold blood, not in self-defense, as she had previously pled, and said she wanted to die immediately.
In a subsequent interview with Broomfield, Wuornos admits in an unguarded moment that she did kill in self-defense, but that she can no longer stand being on death row and wants to die now, believing her execution will prevent the authorities from "cashing in" on her. Wuornos repeatedly rails against the "corrupt" cops making movie deals on her; she claims that they knew she killed the first man, but allowed her to remain free, in effect "cleaning the streets" by killing the others and making her story more valuable to sell, because she's now a serial killer. She later claims prison guards are subverting her thoughts and pressuring her brain with radio waves.
A brief stay of execution is lifted after the state of Florida's three appointed psychologists spend 15 minutes evaluating Wuornos, and then declare her mentally fit for execution. Instead of a press conference, Wuornos requests a meeting alone with Broomfield to record her last thoughts, delivering a diatribe against the system that she feels failed her throughout her life.
Broomfield later speaks to reporters about the interview, saying, "I just formed the impression that here was somebody who has obviously lost her mind, has totally lost touch with reality. We are executing a person who is mad, and I don't really know what kind of message that gives. I find it very disturbing."
AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER provides insights into the mind of a deeply disturbed killer who was betrayed from birth by those closest to her and raises troubling questions about the issues surrounding the execution of the mentally incompetent.
On Oct. 9, 2002, Aileen Wuornos was executed by the state of Florida. Her story was dramatized in the critically-acclaimed 2003 feature film "Monster," for which Charlize Theron won an Oscar®.
AILEEN: LIFE AND DEATH OF A SERIAL KILLER was directed by Nick Broomfield and Joan Churchill; producer, Jo Human. For HBO: supervising producer, Nancy Abraham; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.
Academy Award® and Oscar® are registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
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