Lullacide

Aileen had a rough start. Her daddy went to prison. Her mama ran away. Her grandpa was mean as a rattlesnake. By the time Aileen was a teenager, she was living in the woods and learning that the world was not a kind place. 'Fine,' said Aileen. 'I'll be unkind right back.'

Wuornos had an extremely abusive childhood, abandoned by her mother and raised by violent grandparents.

Aileen lived on the highways of Florida, thumbing rides and doing what she could to get by. She met a nice woman named Tyria and for a little while, things were almost okay. 'Maybe this is what love feels like,' Aileen thought. She wanted to give Tyria nice things. She just needed money.

Wuornos was a sex worker who had a relationship with Tyria Moore.

The men who picked Aileen up on the highway thought they knew what they were getting. They did not. One by one, seven men who stopped for Aileen never started again. 'They attacked me first,' Aileen said every time. 'I was just defending myself.' Maybe the first time. Maybe.

Wuornos killed seven men along Florida highways in 1989-1990, claiming self-defense.

The police found Aileen's thumbprint in one of the dead men's cars. Then Tyria, sweet Tyria, made a phone call for the police. 'Just tell me what happened,' Tyria said into the phone, while the detectives listened. Aileen told her everything. Love makes you honest, even when honesty is the worst idea.

Tyria Moore cooperated with police and helped obtain Wuornos's confession.

Aileen went to the death chamber in Florida saying she'd been treated unfairly her whole life. And maybe she had been. But so had a lot of people, and most of them didn't solve the problem with a .22 pistol. The highway is a little safer now. But it was never really safe to begin with.

Wuornos was executed in 2002. Her case raised complex questions about abuse, survival, and justice.