Aileen Wuornos Case Analysis

In discussion of the case of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, the attachment and life course theories can be applied. Ms. Wuornos was neglected and abused by her guardians multiple times, which led her to a life of criminal activity. She began with small-scale crimes at an early age and eventually escalated to murder. This paper explores how the attachment theory played a major part in the life (and death) of a serial killer and how many lives could have been saved had Aileen’s circumstances been different. This paper also explains how Aileen Wuornos was a career criminal and how that plays a role in her escalation of crimes.

Violent crimes happen every day in America, yet the full scope of why and how they happen are not understood by many outside of law enforcement. But within the ranks of law enforcement and the criminal justice system itself, violent crimes are examined and analyzed at length to determine both how and why the incident occurred, as well as what can be done in the future to prevent a similar event from reoccurring. Investigators use multiple methods and seek various explanations as to why a violent crime occurs. This literature will look at some of those things that investigators try to sort out in the aftermath of a violent crime, such as the killer’s modus operandi and signatures, his psychology, relation to his victims, and how the effect of gender, race, or culture might impact his violent behavior.

Aileen Wuornos was born on February 29, 1956 in Rochester, Michigan, growing up in the nearby Troy area to the south. Her parents got married at a very young age and less than two years after they got divorced. During childhood Wuornos experienced horrifying events in her life. She never met her father, who committed suicide while serving prison time for sex crimes against children. When Wournos was almost four years old she and her brother were abandoned by their mother, who left them with their maternal grandparents. Yet Wuornos’s grandmother was alleged to be an alcoholic and her grandfather a terrifying, violent

In this article, “Who Killed the Jeff Davis 8”, Ethan Brown, the author, attempted to solve the murder case and prove the police authorities to being wrong and being responsible for the murders of the town. The main problem of this article is determining who is responsible for the murders of those eight women everyone’s contradicting stories. In an attempt to figure out what really happened Brown includes factual evidence from interviews and shocking statistics to inform the reader of what’s going on in the article. By providing such information, Brown indulges the audience into the full experience of solving the murder case.

In 1976, Wuornos hitchhiked to Florida, where she met 69-year-old yacht club president Lewis Gratz Fell. They married that same year, and the announcement of their nuptials was printed in the local newspaper's society pages. However, Wuornos continually involved herself in confrontations at their local bar and eventually went to jail for assault. She also hit Fell with his own cane, leading him to get a restraining order against her. She returned to Michigan[9][10] where, on July 14, 1976, she was arrested in Antrim County, Michigan, and charged with assault and disturbing the peace for throwing a cue ball at a bartender's head.[11] On July 17, her brother Keith died of esophageal cancer and Wuornos received $10,000 from his life insurance. Wuornos and Fell annulled their marriage on July 21 after only nine weeks.[12] In August 1976, Wuornos was given a $105 fine for drunk driving. She used her inheritance money that she had received from her late brother Keith the previous month to pay the fine and spent the rest of her inheritance money within two months by using it to buy luxuries including a new car, which she wrecked shortly afterwards.[13]

The insanity defense of Andrea Yates: The country was absolutely appalled when it heard that Yates, a mother of five children, had killed each of her children resulting in a horrific family slaughter. There were extremely polarized feelings about this case- sympathy (concluding

Base on the symptoms that Aileen Wuornos presented in the movie Monster, it is cogent with the DSM-5 diagnosis of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). According to the DSM-5, to be diagnosis with PTSD, one must directly experience traumatic event(s) and in the case of Aileen, she was rape multiple times by a family friend, and another time she was viginally penertated with a metal rod by one of her Johns. The second criteria is re-experiencing the traumatic event(s) through intrusive symptoms, such as, psychological distress due to environmental or internal triggers. For example, when another of her John's requested that she called him daddy which may have trigger memories of her own rape. Additionally, Aileen tries to avoid memories of the

Aileen Wuornos was born in Michigan on February 29, 1956. She grew up in a rough situation as a child. Her father served prison time for child molestation, her mother left her and her brother, and she was sexual abused by her grandfather. Once she was kicked out of her family’s home she entered a life of exchanging sex for money to make a living. She was known for working Florida’s highways for her business. A major influence on her life was Tyria Moore, who she met in Daytona and would carry out a romantic relationship with. In 1989, she killed the first male, Richard Mallory, that had picked her up on the highway. Throughout the years, Aileen Wuornos was caught and convicted for killing six men in Florida. In 2002, her mental state was questions,

In 1995, one of the most confusing criminal cases to hit America happened. This double murder happened in Los Angeles, California. Nicole Brown Simpson is the ex-wife of the famous football star Orenthal James “O.J.” Simpson. Ronald Goldman, one of Nicole’s good friends, was found also dead in the Simpson’s condominium on Bundy Drive.

In the never-ending search for an answer to the question of “why,” it is important to understand that there is never one sole catalyst to events, behaviors or actions. Analyzing the murder cases of Aileen Wuornos, it is important to understand her psychological and biological predispositions that may have made her more susceptible to provocation. These aspects can be further scrutinized by focusing on the trait theory of criminology.

Her mother put her in an academy that she hated. She persisted with school, even though she didn’t like it, she graduated and went to college. Later, her daughter died of adult leukemia. This led Anne and her husband, Stan Rice, to become alcoholics. She also developed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, thinking that everything she touched became contaminated. Because of that, she started holding herself responsible for her child’s death (“Anne Rice Famous Authors,”2017). She then had another child in 1978, Christopher Rice, which led to her and her husband to quit drinking. Later, her husband died from brain cancer when Christopher was 22 (“Anne Rice Famous Authors,”2017).

Wuornos’ choices to engage in prostitution and other criminal acts, at an early age, I believe were set in motion and expected due to the abuse and other factors she suffered. Further, since some of the acts were reinforced by repetitive incidents, the low self-esteem, prostitution, drinking, and fighting were results of this treatment. Left unchecked, as they were, these emotions and thoughts may have been driving factors that kept her on the path of criminal behavior into adulthood.

George Sodini was a 48-year-old man who killed 3 women in a Pittsburg Suburban gym and then killed himself on August 4, 2009. Using the social control theories, we can explain why Sodini decided to commit the heinous crime against women. The first theory to look at to explain Sodini’s crime is Walter C. Reckless's Containment Theory. This theory states that there are many internal and external controls (called containments) that stop an individual from committing crimes.

After the death of her grandmother Wuornos ran away from home to live her life on the streets and turned to the prostitution skills she had learned in adolescence to survive (Jensen, 2011). The rest of Wuornos’s life would be spent roaming the highways, living the life of a prostitute in poverty, abusing drugs and alcohol. It was in 1981, Innes (2006) reports that Wuornos met Tyria Moore and it would be this lesbian relationship lasting for four and a half years that would be the most significant romantic relationship for Wuornos. Throughout their relationship Wuornos continued to work as a prostitute. It was during this time that Wuornos fatally shot Richard Mallory (51), and then stole his money, possessions and car. Throughout her trial

In the Film it shows Aileen Wuornos girlfriend testifying against her in court. She describes how Aileen admitted to shooting and killing a man. In addition, she agrees with police to set up Aileen to confess. In court they listen to the record phone conversation where Aileen admits to Tyria that she committed the crimes. While listen to the recordings Aileen is visible upset because the person she loved and trusted betrayed her. After watching the film I decide to do some research on Aileen Wuornos life and case and I agree with Sharon that Aileen upbringing had a huge impact on her psychological state. Which, I believed caused her anger and violence.