How serial killer Aileen Wuornos's love for her partner Tyria Moore led to her capture and eventual punishment
Between the years 1989 and 1991, serial killer Aileen Wuornos went on a rampage, taking the lives of seven men in central Florida.
Wuornos became one of America's most infamous female serial killers as a result of her heinous crimes. Investigation Discovery's latest documentary 'Aileen Wuornos: Mind of a Monster' looks into the murders of Wuornos and what led her to get caught for her crimes. It was her unconditional love for her partner, Tyria Moore, that led to her eventual punishment.
Wuornos, a former prostitute, murdered seven men: Richard Mallory, David Spears, Charles Carskaddom, Pieter Siems, Troy Burress, Charles Humphreys and Walter Jeno Antonio. She would rob her victims before shooting them and stealing their vehicles. By the seventh murder, the possibility of a serial killer had risen with authorities.
After the disappearance of Peter Siems, 65, who had been driving from Florida to Arkansas, witnesses claimed to have seen two women matching Wuornos and Moore's descriptions driving his vehicle. The two women quickly fled from the scene as police investigated the car.
By December 1990, authorities had begun to compile a list of properties stolen from the victims. After looking into pawn shops, the cops were able to narrow down and find some of the items. As is customary, the person selling an item to a pawn shop is required to show photographic ID and provide a fingerprint.
The ID provided by Wuornos was fake and belonged to another woman Cammie Greene who was questioned by the police and released. The fingerprint, however, was lifted and manually matched to Aileen Wuornos via physical files after it failed to show up on the system. As public fear rose, so did the cops' desperation to nab whoever was responsible.
Without having enough physical evidence to charge Wuornos, the authorities knew they needed to get a confession from her. An experienced undercover officer Mike Joyner was sent and he did his best to get something of use out of her. Not finding much luck and keeping Joyner's safety in mind, Wuornos was arrested regardless.
Earlier, Wuornos had convinced Moore to ask her parents to book her a bus ticket home to Pennsylvania. Wuornos was wanted by the police then and she was worried for her partner. She thought she would keep Moore out of the growing tension. Cops used this and reached Moore.
It did not take Tyria Moore long to flip on her lover, especially given her growing paranoia about being linked with Wuornos for the crimes. Moore began to work very closely with law enforcement who had tapped Wuornos' calls from jail. Moore attempted several times to provoke and prompt a confession out of Wuornos, thereby clearing her own name. She would plead with Wuornos to confess and would try and get her to go over the story again and again. After around four days, Wuornos confessed to several of the murders and insisted that the murders Moore did not know of were because of attempted rapes. Wuornos was well aware that her trusted lover had become a witness for the state but it did not change her love for her partner.
In 2002, Wuornos was put to death.