Among serial killers there are few women, so each of them goes down in history and forever leaves a bloody trail. Many Americans still with a shudder recall the killer Eileen Wornos, whose nickname - “the angel of death” - very eloquently describes a woman. What made her not just to break the law, but to crack down on several men especially cruelly? The answer should be sought in her biography, with which we propose to get acquainted.
Parents
The full name of the material's heroine is Eileen Carol Pittman. She was born in 1956 in a small American town in Michigan. Mother, Diana, got married early and gave birth to the eldest son Keith at the age of 16. Eileen herself was born two years later. Eileen's father, Leo Dale Pittman, who was only 2 years older than his young wife, did not differ in decency and shortly before the birth of his daughter went to prison on charges of child molestation.
His mother filed for divorce, and Eileen never got to know his father: he was sent to prison for a long time on charges of sexual crimes against children. During the examination, Leo Pittman was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He committed suicide in 1969, when his daughter was 13 years old.
At the age of 4, Eileen Wornos is forever deprived of her mother: she, leaving the children to be raised by her own parents, leaves in an unknown direction and never appears in her daughter's life. The further fate of Diana is unknown.
Life in the house of grandparents
Diana's parents, Larry and Britta Wornos, took up the education of their grandchildren, and when the daughter disappeared completely, they made custody legal. However, the biography of the future serial killer Eileen Wornos shows: the elderly did not succeed in raising children as worthy people. Subsequently, the woman herself said that her grandfather was an alcoholic, humiliated her and subjected her to violence, but no reliable evidence was found to this fact. Eileen's friend, Don Botkins, who, after death, dispelled her ashes, characterized the girl as modest, quiet, self-contained and uncommunicative.
Eileen began to lead a sexual life early, at the age of 11 she already provided intimate services, taking a charge of drugs, cigarettes and even food. Often she had to leave home, therefore, in search of places for an overnight stay, she often found herself in cars of adult men. The girl had close relations even with her own brother.
First pregnancy
Eileen Wornos’s childhood is not easy and cloudless. At the age of 14, the girl became pregnant from a friend of her own grandfather, she did not have an abortion and gave birth to a son, who was later given to a foster family. The birth of a child completely changed her personality, the girl stopped attending school, and after the sudden death of her grandmother she was completely on the street - her grandfather pointed Eileen to the door.
Therefore, at 15, the girl had no choice but to engage in the provision of intimate services and live in the forest.
The first problems with the law
It is not surprising that Eileen was soon arrested. She was charged with several accusations at once:
- drunk driving;
- pistol shooting;
- failure to appear in court.
At that time, our heroine was only 18 years old. In 1976, she was arrested for disorderly conduct and a fight in a bar.
Marriage
Two years later, Eileen Wornos met her future husband, who was 49 years older than her. Soon, Lewis Graz Fell became the husband of Warnos, but could not affect her frantic disposition. The young wife ruthlessly beat her husband, constantly made scandals, after a while he filed for divorce and even got a restraining sentence against Eileen.
At the same time, Wornos loses his brother, who died due to cancer, and receives insurance, but all the money received has to be paid as a fine for driving while drunk.
Already in her youth, Eileen Wornos was dissatisfied with her life, which is proved by a suicide attempt at the age of 22 years.
Criminal proceedings
Eileen Wornos’s problems with the law continued. She was arrested several times for various crimes:
- 1981 - robbery with the use of weapons. The woman received a prison term, but in less than two years she was released.
- 1984 - banking fraud.
- 1985 - suspicion of theft of weapons.
- 1986 - arrest for car theft.
Despite such an impressive list of violations, the future serial killer Eileen Warnos was lucky: she was either released or given a very short time.
Relationship with Tyra Moore
In 1986, Wornos Eileen met a woman who played an important role in her fate. It was Tyra Moore, Eileen's only love. They began to travel around the country together, while Warnos took on the role of earner of money, continuing to engage in prostitution in order to provide her beloved with everything necessary. The relationship lasted 4 years, until the arrest of Eileen. Interestingly, Eileen had problems with the law before meeting Tyra, but it didn’t come to the murder.
Crime
Photos of Eileen Wornos show that this blonde looked pretty pretty, therefore, it is especially striking that in the period from 1989 to 1990 she killed seven men.
- Eileen's first victim was Richard Mallory (51), who met a young woman near the freeway for a very specific purpose. His semi-decomposed body was accidentally discovered in a landfill after almost a month. An autopsy revealed that the man was killed in two shots.
- Eileen Wornos shot David Spears, a builder (48 years old), six times, and then threw his naked body off the highway.
- The third victim of the woman was Charles Karskadon (40 years old), 9 shots were fired at him.
- In 1990, retired sailor Peter Sims (65 years old) was killed, while Warnos and Moore were simultaneously in his car. However, during the investigation, Eileen completely took the blame on herself and denied her partner's involvement in the crimes she committed. His body was never found.
- Driver Troy Baress (50 years old) was found with two gunshot wounds that caused his death. His body was accidentally discovered by a family who came to a picnic.
- Six shots were fired at Charles Humphreys (56), a retired major and former investigator.
- Finally, Eileen Wornos Walter Antonio (62 years old), who was shot 4 times, completes the “death list”.
All the men who became victims of the serial killer were much older than her, they traveled alone by car and agreed to give her a lift.
Arrest
Earlier we talked about the fact that Eileen Wornos’s life was connected with crime from a young age, so her fingerprints were in police bases. The woman was sought, first of all, in connection with the disappearance of Peter Sims, the fourth victim, in whose abandoned car her fingerprints were found. A detailed description has been drawn up.
Later, a pawnshop employee called the police, where Wornos handed over a suitcase with metalwork tools. The man was sure that he was dealing with a thief - she obviously did not value the pledged things and was ready to sell them for a very low cost. It turned out that the tools belonged to David Spears, the second victim of Warnos. After some time, the owner of another pawnshop turned to the police with a similar statement: a woman who fit the description laid the ring (which, as it turned out later, belonged to Walter Antonio, the last victim).
It took some time for the employees to find out: the criminal was in trouble with the law for a long time, but thanks to the fact that she used different names, she managed to evade responsibility. However, the real name of the killer was revealed, and Eileen Wornos was detained.
To gain recognition, the investigators used Eileen’s relationship with Tyra: intimidating the latter, they forced her to make calls to her roommate and beg her to make a confession in order to relieve her, Moore, of all responsibility. The tactic worked: the serial killer pleaded guilty in several episodes.
Killer position
At the trial, Eileen changed her testimony several times, motivating the murders in different ways. Initially, self-defense was called the cause. According to Wornos, all the murdered men had sexual intercourse with her or tried to do it, some used violence, others refused to pay for services.
Then the woman changed her testimony, saying that the main target was a robbery. After rejecting hair removal, Eileen said she was ready for death. According to her, she committed the killings, completely controlling herself, in cold blood, experiencing a burning hatred for the victims. "Monster" Eileen Warnos said that she hates life itself and, if she had a second chance, would again commit her crimes. The psychiatrists who examined the woman confirmed that she was absolutely sane and was aware that she had only one way out - death.
After the verdict was pronounced in one of the interviews, with the camera turned off, she said that the place had self-defense, but she was already tired of living in captivity and was dreaming of death.
Protection position
The investigation into the Eileen Wornos case was lengthy and lasted more than 10 years. During this time, the defense did its best to mitigate the sentence:
- During the Mallory trial, psychiatrists tried to prove that Eileen was suffering from personality disorders and mental instability.
- Attempts were made to prove that the victims themselves did not have an impeccable moral character. So, the same Mallory himself a few years ago appeared before the court for an attempted rape and was prone to sociopathic manifestations. However, this information was not taken into account.
As a result, the woman fully pleaded guilty, refused protection and received 6 death sentences. Ironically, she did not suffer punishment for the murder of Peter Sims, because his body was never found, but it was the abandoned car of the fourth victim that became the indirect reason for her detention.
Death
Eileen Wornos was executed in 2002 by lethal injection, replacing electrocution. A fact is known: a woman indifferently refused the last meal (according to state laws, everyone sentenced has the right to order food in the amount of not more than $ 40), asking only for coffee.
The body of the serial killer was cremated, the ashes scattered. Not everyone agreed with the death of the criminal, believing that she was mentally unhealthy, which is clearly visible in the behavior and gestures of the interview, and cannot be held responsible for what she did.
Eileen Wornos’s life and death cannot be called tragic: bad heredity, a difficult childhood, difficult relationships with parents, rape and an early experience of vagrancy formed her character, made her hate life and see all enemies. Disputes about who she was - a cold-blooded maniac who enjoys killing, or an unhappy woman with a broken fate who cannot fully bear responsibility for the atrocities committed, are still ongoing.