300 Years & Counting 1H KILLS - On The Issues Magazine

pushed the death penalty, portrayingWuornos as a "predatory prostitute"whose "appetite for lust and control hadtaken a lethal turn;" who "had beenexercising control for years over men"and who "killed for power, for full andultimate control."When men are accused of crimeseven terrible crimes, their families invariablyback them. The Kennedywomen always stick by their man; MikeTyson's adoptive mother accompaniedhim to court daily. Even Bundy hadenormous emotional and secretarial/public-relations support from his motherLouise and his 32-year-old "fiancee,"Carol Lee Boone, whom he would marryand later impregnate, both of whomtestified for him. Scores of pretty youngwomen attended the trial and openlyflirted with him in court.Wuornos did have the support ofthe woman who first contacted herafter her arrest and who legallyadopted her in November, 1991. However,Wuornos' uncle/brother Barry,12 years her senior, with whom she'dbeen raised as siblings and whomshe hadn't seen for at least 20 years,testified for the prosecution. Heclaimed that Wuornos had neverbeen "abused" at home and thereforehad no "reason" to kill anyone. (I'dcall what happend to Lee Wuornos"abuse": According to Wuornos, shewas abandoned by her biologicalmother at six months, abused andneglected by her grandparental family,raped — presumably by astranger — and impregnated at 13,and surrendered the infant foradoption at 14 — whereupon shedropped out of school, left home, andlived as a teenage prostitute, alcoholic,panhandler and occasionalthief.)In Bundy's case, the jury took sevenhours to find him guilty and seven anda half hours to sentence him to death.Wuornos' jury of five men and seven iwomen needed only one hour and 31minutes to find Wuornos guilty, andone hour and 48 minutes to recommendthe death penalty; At 9 a.m. the nextday, Blount, who could override thejury's recommendation, ordered thatWuornos die in the electric chair. Shewas immediately taken to Death Row atthe Broward County Correctional Facilityfor Women.I am not saying that Wuornos did notkill anyone, nor am I saying she is saneON THE ISSUES SUMMER 1992A strategicuse of theinsanity pleamight havesaved herfrom thedeathsentence— merely that a strategic use of theinsanity plea might have saved her fromthe death sentence. It is still justifiable— even for a seriously traumatizedwoman — to kill in self-defense andWuornos' claim of self-defense against aviolent john is plausible. Her claim certainlymerited far more thought andconsideration than the deliberate neglectit received from those who heardand tried her case. Blount refused to letthe jury hear the special instructionsfashioned by the defense to reflect thesetwo considerations.Wuornos has been under attack all herlife, probably more than any soldier in areal war. For years people said: "Howcan a prostitute be raped?" Now, givenwhat we know about how often prostitutesare raped, beaten, robbed, arrestedand killed, often by real serial killers,people say: "Well, it's part of the jobdescription. If she doesn't like it, whydoesn't she get out?" Wuornos has turnedthis question around. "If men don't wantto be killed, they should stay away fromprostitutes — or at least stop degradingand assaulting them."•Note: As we go to press, Wuornos hasrequested no further trials and demandedimmediate execution.IN HER OWN WORDS:WUORNOS' STORYAt midnight on November 30th, 1989,51-year-old ex-convict RichardMallory picked up 34-year-old AileenCarol Wuornos in Tampa. He agreedto drive her to Daytona — nearly fivehours away. Based on Wuornos' coercedconfession and her testimonyon the stand, here is her rendition ofwhat happened that night:/ went to Tampa and made a littlemoney hustling. I was hitchhikinghome at night. This guy picked me upright outside of Tampa, underneaththe bridge. So he's smokin' pot andwe're goin' down the road and hesays, do you wonf a drink? So we'redrinkin' and we're gettin' prettydrunk. Then, around 5:00 in the morning,he says: okay, do you want tomake your money now? So we gointo the woods. He's huggin' andkissin' on me. He starts pushin' medown. And I said, wait a minute, youknow, get cool. You don't have to getrough, you know. Let's have fun...I said I would not [have sex withhim]. He said, yes, you are, bitch.You're going to do everything I tellyou. If you don't I'm going to kill youand [have sex with you] after you'redead, just like the other sluts. It doesn 'tmatter, your body will still be warm.He tied my wrists to the steering wheel,and screwed me in fhe ass. Afterwards,he got a Visine bottle filledwith rubbing alcohol out of the trunk.He said the Visine bottle was one ofmy surprises. He emptied it into myrectum. It really hurt bad because hetore me up a lot. He got dressed, gota radio, sat on the hood for whatseemed like an hour. I was reallypissed. I was yelling at him, and strugglingto get my hands free. Eventuallyhe untied me, put a stereo wire aroundmy neck and tried to rape me again...Then I thought, well, this dirty bastarddeserves to die because of whathe was tryin' to do to me. Westruggled. I reached for my gun. I shothim. I scrambled to cover the shootingbecause I didn't think the police wouldbelieve I killed him in self-defense...I have to say it. I killed them allbecause they got violent with me andI decided to defend myself... I'm sureif after the fightin' they found I had aweapon, they would've shot me. So Ijust shot them...J31