Female serial killer's final words: 'I'll be back'
By ANDREW BUNCOMBE in WASHINGTON
America's most notorious female serial killer of recent years was executed yesterday morning, vowing in her final moments that she would return.
As she lay strapped to a stretcher awaiting the lethal injection, Aileen Wuornos declared: "I'd 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 mothership and all. I'll be back."
Wuornos, 46, was convicted 10 years ago of killing six middle-aged men who she picked up while working as a prostitute along Interstate 75 in Florida. She was initially charged with the murder of Richard Mallory, the owner of an electronics store who she shot dead in 1989.
Wuornos pleaded not guilty, arguing in court that she had killed Mallory in self-defence. But after she was found guilty, she pleaded guilty to five further killings telling the state's Supreme Court: "I'm one who seriously hates human life and would kill again."
The life and crimes of Wuornos, the 10th woman to be executed in the United States since the resumption of the death penalty in 1976, inspired two films, a number of books and an opera, Wuornos, by composer Carla Lucero.
"On the one hand, it's a horrible story about a woman who was betrayed from infancy," said Lucero.
"But it's also one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever heard.
"Aileen loved another woman so much she sacrificed her own life.
"Of course, it's also totally dysfunctional, but most good love stories, in opera especially, are the most dysfunctional things you can imagine."
At her 1992 trial, the court was told that Wuornos, a lesbian, was repeatedly abused as a child.
Wuornos claimed she was an "exit-to-exit" highway prostitute who made US$1000 ($2090) a week having sex with 40 to 50 men.
At the time of the her arrest, she was living with her girlfriend, Tyria Moore, who testified against her.
Some of their income came from pawning goods stolen from the murdered men.
Having spent 10 years on death row, Wuornos fired her lawyers and dropped her right to appeals, actions that fuelled the debate over her sanity and competence.
Florida Governor Jeb Bush issued a halt of execution and ordered a mental examination.
He lifted the stay last week after three psychiatrists who interviewed her concluded that she understood why she was being executed.
The last member of the media to interview her, British documentary maker Nick Broomfield, said he spoke to her on Tuesday.
"My conclusion from the interview is, today we are executing someone who is mad.
"Here is someone who has totally lost her mind," he said yesterday.
Wuornos' execution was witnessed by Leta Prater whose brother, Troy Burress, was among the killer's victims.
"She had death on her face," she said afterwards.
"She looked rough, but she always looked rough. I, for one, am glad she's gone."
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r8bHnqmapJRjsLB6zbNmsKeiobFwssSmmKWdXaiys7XApWSkoZyhsrO%2FjJ%2Bgp5mcYsSwvsOsZKKknGKvpnnBmpqkZ2dsmZWeuW%2BLgY5%2Fa6WRpJKDeJGSY2igj4GgaA%3D%3D