NEED TO KNOW
- Aileen Wuornos was a serial killer who confessed in 1991 to killing seven men while working as a prostitute
- As a teenager, she welcomed a child, whom she gave up for adoption
- She was married briefly to Lewis Gratz Fell in 1976
Aileen Wuornos was born into a volatile Michigan family.
Her teenage parents, Diane Wuornos and Leo Pittman, separated around the time of her birth, Feb. 29, 1956, according to Britannica. When Aileen was almost 4 years old, Diane abandoned her and her older brother, Keith, after which the children were legally adopted by Diane’s parents, Lauri and Britta Wuornos. Aileen never knew her father, who died by suicide in prison in 1969, after receiving a life sentence for raping a 7-year-old girl, per a May 2005 review in the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
In her early teens, Aileen was sent to a home for unwed mothers after becoming pregnant and was not allowed to return home, according to the 2003 documentary Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer.
Aileen eventually made her way to Florida, where she met and married 69-year-old Lewis Gratz Fell in 1976. However, the pair’s union was short-lived, and her life took an even darker turn — details of which are documented in Netflix’s Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers, which premiered Oct. 30.
In 1991, Aileen admitted to killing seven men in Florida over the course of 1989 and 1990, claiming the attacks were in self-defense because the men had raped or tried to rape her while she was working as a prostitute. She was ultimately convicted of murdering six of the men and received six death sentences. After 10 years on death row, Wuornos was executed by lethal injection on Oct. 9, 2002.
Here’s everything to know about Aileen Wuornos’ early years, including the birth of her son and her early marriage to her husband.
Aileen Wuornos welcomed a son in 1971
Aileen Wuornos in 2001.
Peter Cosgrove/AP Photo
Around the age of 14, Aileen became pregnant, per Britannica. The identity of the father is unknown, but she claimed that a friend of her grandfather raped her, information that was seemingly confirmed by childhood friend Dawn Botkins in Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers.
Fearful of her grandparents’ response, Aileen kept the pregnancy a secret for six months, according to the Journal of Forensic Sciences. When they learned of the baby, she was sent to a home for unwed mothers, where she gave birth to a son, whom she gave up for adoption, in 1971.
Aileen married wealthy yachtsman Lewis Gratz Fell in May 1976
Aileen Wuornos in 2001.
Doug Engle/AP Photo
In 1976, Aileen’s brother, Keith, died from cancer, per the Journal of Forensic Sciences. That same year, Aileen, who was 20 years old and living in Florida, married wealthy yachtsman Lewis Gratz Fell, who was 69 years old, per Biography.com.
“I was trying to fall in love. It’s not cool being alone. It turns into a real drag,” she said in an archival interview shown in Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers.
Fell previously married a woman named Katherine Fell in 1928, per The New York Times. They welcomed a daughter before getting divorced in 1932.
Fell filed a restraining order against Aileen weeks after getting married
Aileen Wuornos.
Courtesy of Netflix
A few weeks after tying the knot, Fell filed a restraining order against Aileen, claiming she had “a violent and ungovernable temper” and had beaten him with his cane, per the Tampa Bay Times.
Aileen denied these allegations and claimed Fell attacked her.
Aileen and Fell’s marriage was annulled in July 1976
Aileen Wuornos.
Strand Releasing/ Courtesy of Everett Collection
Aileen and Fell’s union was brief. According to Biography.com, their marriage was officially annulled on July 19, 1976, after just nine weeks of marriage.
Fell died at the age of 92 on Jan. 6, 2000.
Aileen later dated Tyria Moore. During their relationship, Moore got suspicious of Aileen and eventually got her to confess to her crimes.
