“Damsel of Death”

But prosecutors saw something different: a cold, calculating murderer who lured men in, killed them, and stole their belongings.

By the time her case went to trial, she was accused of killing seven men in just one year. The press called her “America’s first female serial killer.”

Her name has become infamous ever since, her story retold in books, documentaries, and even Hollywood films.

She was Aileen Wuornos — the “Damsel of Death.

A media circus

“Wuornos is a killer who robs, not a robber who kills. She indeed appears to be very much a serial killer,” said chief investigator Steve Binegar in 1991.

Wuornos’ trial quickly became a media circus. She maintained that every killing was an act of self-defense against men who had tried to harm her. But the jury didn’t believe her. In January 1992, she was found guilty and sentenced to death.

Having been handed six death sentences upon being found guilty, Wuornos said in court: “I am as guilty as can be. I want the world to know I killed these men, as cold as ice. I’ve hated humans for a long time. I am a serial killer. I killed them in cold blood, real nasty.”