Aileen Wuornos’ tragic childhood explained, from her absent parents to life on the streets

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story has introduced another infamous female killer into its retelling of American crime history. Episode four introduces Aileen Wuornos, played by Sarah Paulson.

Via Netflix

Wuornos was convicted of murdering six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990, and was suspected of killing a seventh man whose body was never found. The Netflix series uses Wuornos to draw a comparison between how female violence was viewed in the 19th century and how it is understood today.

But before she became known as the “Damsel of Death”, Wuornos had an extremely troubled childhood.

Aileen Wuornos’ parents were largely absent from her childhood

Wuornos was born to Diane Wuornos and Leo Pittman, who had separated before she was born. According to Britannica, Aileen never met her father. Pittman was later sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of raping a seven-year-old girl.

Her mother also left Aileen and her older brother, Keith, when Aileen was four. The siblings were subsequently raised by their maternal grandparents.

Via Netflix

However, there are other accounts of Wuornos’ childhood which claim she alleged that her grandfather sexually abused her. That claim is incorporated into Sarah Paulson’s portrayal of Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.

She became pregnant when she was just 13

Wuornos became pregnant at 13 after she alleged that a friend of her grandfather had r*ped her. A police report was never filed over the alleged r*pe, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

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Britannica reports that Wuornos was subsequently sent to a home for unwed mothers, where she gave birth. Her child was later placed for adoption.

Wuornos was living on the streets as a teenager

Her grandmother died in 1972, followed shortly afterwards by her grandfather. After their deaths, Aileen and Keith became wards of the state. Wuornos ran away when she was 15 and began living on the streets, where she turned to sex work.

Via Netflix

She later hitchhiked to Florida in 1976, when she was 19. There, she met 69-year-old Lewis Gratz Fell, who was the president of a yacht club. The pair married soon afterwards.

Her brother Keith died when she was 20

Aileen’s older brother Keith died from cancer when he was 21. By this point, Wuornos had already experienced the deaths of both of the grandparents who raised her.

Just over a decade later, she began the killing spree that would make her one of America’s most notorious female serial killers.

Wuornos was convicted of murdering six men between 1989 and 1990. The victims were motorists aged between 40 and 65, and their bodies were found at different locations around central Florida. She was also suspected of killing a seventh man, although his body was never found.

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Featured image via Netflix