Aileen Wuornos was born in 1956 in Michigan, but her early life was filled with trauma. At four, her mother vanished, later admitting it was “the biggest mistake” she had ever made. Her father, imprisoned for assault, died by suicide. Living with grandparents brought no safety: “We, in our family, suffered a form of child abuse. My father was verbally abusive. My mother was verbally abusive, and we were always told we were no good,” her mother later reflected.

By 13, Aileen became pregnant after an assault and placed her baby for adoption. After her grandparents’ deaths, she and her brother became wards of the state. By 11, she was trading sexual acts for food, drugs, and cigarettes. She eventually dropped out, surviving on the streets through petty crime and prostitution. Arrests mounted throughout her teens and early twenties.

In her mid-20s, Aileen moved to Florida. By 1989, several men were found shot to death near Daytona Beach. She confessed to multiple killings, claiming self-defense: “I’m not a man-hater… I’ve been through so many traumatic experiences that either I’m walking in shock or I’m so used to being treated like dirt that I guess it’s become a way of life.” Prosecutors portrayed her as a calculated killer, dubbing her America’s first female serial killer—the “Damsel of Death.”

Her trial drew massive media attention. She admitted guilt in court: “I am as guilty as can be… I am a serial killer. I killed them in cold blood, real nasty.” The jury rejected her self-defense claims, and she received six death sentences.

On October 9, 2002, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection. Her final words were cryptic: “I would just like to say I’m sailing with the rock… I’ll be back, I’ll be back.” Her story raises enduring questions: Was she born a monster—or made into one?