5 key details about Aileen Wuornos’s brutal crimes as Netflix drops Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers

Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers arrives on Netflix and revisits the case of Aileen Wuornos, the Florida offender convicted of killing seven men between 1989 and 1990. The film lands with new archival audio and a straight timeline, placing the crimes, the capture, and the courtroom outcome front and center.The documentary keeps the focus on facts. Viewers get police tapes, court footage, and phone calls that map how investigators linked scenes across central Florida and closed in on a suspect. The Netflix release is new, but the case details remain stark.Case background on Aileen: Queen of the Serial KillersBorn in 1956, Wuornos grew up amid instability and abuse, then drifted to Florida in her early adulthood. Life on the road and sex work put her on highways where she met the men who later turned up dead. Detectives tied scenes together through ballistics, pawn slips, and a crash involving a missing man’s car.Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers (Image via Netflix)The arrest came in January 1991 at a biker bar in Volusia County. Her girlfriend, Tyria Moore, cooperated with police and recorded calls that were later used in court. Wuornos was convicted in 1992 and executed in 2002. 5 key details in Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers1) The first killing and a disputed self-defense claimAileen: Queen of the Serial Killers outlines the death of Richard Mallory as the opening pivot. Wuornos said Mallory raped her, and she shot him to survive. Records later showed Mallory had a prior attempted-rape conviction, a detail that complicates the picture but does not erase what followed.2) A highway pattern that the film links across counties Victims were middle-aged motorists found near roads or in nearby woods. Scenes spanned several counties. Ballistics pointed to a .22, and stolen items surfaced in pawnshops. The car from missing retiree Peter Siems crashed with two women seen fleeing, a break that helped pull the threads together.A crash tied to Peter Siems’s car became a key lead in the case (Image via Unsplash)3) The role of Tyria Moore Moore left Florida, then spoke to investigators and made recorded calls under guidance. Those calls reportedly drew out remarks that prosecutors later used. The documentary plays portions of the audio and lets the tapes carry the weight, while noting Moore’s cooperation agreement.Also read: 5 key details about the Aileen Wuornos case as shown in Mind of a Monster season 14) Confessions, shifting accounts, and plea movesWuornos confessed after her arrest, then gave mixed explanations over time. She maintained self-defense in Mallory’s case but later pleaded no contest in other killings. The movie lays out the sequence plainly: a trial for one murder, pleas in several more, and a death sentence that followed.I killed those men, robbed them as cold as ice. And I’d do it again, too. There’s no chance in keeping me alive or anything, because I’d kill again. I have hate crawling through my system. - Wuornos (2001)Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in 2002.5) Media glare, gender bias, and courtroom rhetoric Coverage often led with her work as a sex worker and framed her as a spectacle. Prosecutors used firm moral language. The film shows how labels and headlines shaped public response, while still keeping the families of victims in view. Any debate over motive sits beside the unvarnished outcome: seven dead men and a capital case.Aileen: Queen of the Serial Killers is now streaming on Netflix. Also read: Aileen Wuornos' case on Mind of a Monster season 1 episode 2 - A detailed case overview