The victims of Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Wuornos: Damsel of DeathAileen Wuornos, dubbed the ‘queen of the serial killers’, murdered seven men across Florida between 1989 and 1990. She became one of the world’s most notorious serial killers after suffering years of severe abuse and sexual violence as a child.
She initially claimed that her male victims were clients who had either raped or attempted to rape her. However, she later retracted elements of her statement and was executed in 2002 after spending around a decade on death row.
Crime+Investigation profiles each of Wuornos' seven victims – who they were, how they died, and what the evidence revealed.
Richard Mallory
51-year-old Richard Mallory was Wuornos' first known victim. He owned an electronics store in Clearwater and seemed to be living a fairly ordinary life. He was last seen picking up a woman, later identified as Wuornos, along Interstate 75.
His body was found on 13th December 1989, several miles from his abandoned vehicle. A post-mortem revealed he had been shot several times, with two gunshot wounds piercing his left lung.
Wuornos claimed self-defence, stating that Mallory had beaten, raped and sodomised her. She was initially disbelieved, but it later emerged that Mallory had previously been convicted of attempted rape in Maryland.
David Spears
David Spears was a 47-year-old construction worker from Winter Garden who was reported missing on 19th May 1990. His bullet-riddled body was finally found on 1st June along US 19 in Citrus County.
He had been shot six times with a .22 calibre pistol. At the time, police hadn’t yet realised they were dealing with a serial killer. The weapon would later become a consistent feature of the killings.
Charles Carskaddon
40-year-old Charles Carskaddon was a part-time rodeo worker from Missouri, travelling through Florida at the time of his murder. His body was found on 6th June 1990, with similar injuries to Mallory and Spears. He had been shot nine times in the chest and stomach.
Wuornos seemed to have taken more care this time to cover her tracks, concealing Carskaddon’s body in an electric blanket. By the time his body was discovered, it was badly decomposed.
Witnesses later saw Wuornos driving Carskaddon's car and pawning one of his guns, helping investigators link her to the murder.
Peter Siems
Wuornos and her girlfriend at the time, 24-year-old Tyria Moore, are believed to have encountered 65-year-old retired merchant seaman Peter Siems before he disappeared in June 1990 while travelling from Florida to Arkansas. On 4th July, his abandoned car was found in Orange Springs. Witnesses told police they had seen two women leaving the vehicle, and Wuornos’ handprint was later found on the inside door handle.
Despite an extensive search, Siems’ body was never found. Wuornos later confessed to killing him, but without a body, she was never formally charged with his murder.
Moore, meanwhile, was never charged with any crime and has always denied involvement in the murders. She later cooperated with police in exchange for immunity, helping investigators build their case against Wuornos.
Troy Burress
Like her other victims, 50-year-old sausage salesman Troy Burress was shot twice with a .22 calibre pistol. He was reported missing on 31st July 1990. Investigators discovered his body several days later in a wooded area along State Road 19.
By now, a clear pattern in the killings had emerged. All of Wuornos’ victims were motorists between 40 and 65 who were travelling across Florida.
Charles Humphreys
The murder of 56-year-old Charles Humphreys drew immediate national media attention given his prominent public role. The former US Air Force major, child abuse investigator and Crystal River police chief was a well-respected member of his community.
His fully clothed body was found on 12th September 1990 in Marion County. He had been shot seven times in the head and torso.
Walter Antonio
Walter Gino Antonio was a 61-year-old truck driver, security guard and reserve police officer. His body was discovered beside a remote logging road in Dixie County on 19th November 1990. A post-mortem revealed he had been shot four times by a .22 calibre pistol.
He would be Wuornos' seventh and final victim before her arrest less than two months later. She was ultimately convicted of six murders but confessed to seven. She spent more than a decade on Florida's death row before being executed by lethal injection on 9th October 2002.
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