Jativia King May 10, 2024 PSY-310 1-2 Journal Topic Selection Serial murder is the topic I selected for this project. I chose this topic because I enjoy learning about serial killers and why they act the way they do-understanding why may help to understand what motivated them to kill. I find this topic interesting since serial killers are, most of the time, people who live ordinary lives. To be labeled as a serial killer means the killing of three or more people over some time. Aileen Wuornus was labeled the first female serial killer, which makes it interesting to learn about her. Aileen has a history of different crimes, such as assault, disorderly conduct, and prostitution. Wuornus married 24-year-old Tyria Moore, who joined in the crimes with Wuornus with a cycle of vandalism, violence, and harassment. The focus of this case is serial murder, with a total of seven men killed. It doesn't detail how Wuornus and Moore met these men; however, Moore made a deal to avoid prosecution in mid-December 1989. On January 27th, 1992, Wuornus was found guilty of one out of six murders, and she was given the death penalty. As time went on, Wuornus finally admitted to killing the other five men. After a decade on death row, Wuornus's attorney was fighting for an insanity plea that would've taken Wuornus off death row; however, the deal was denied, and Wuornus was executed by lethal injection on October 9th, 2002. There are multiple factors as to why Wuornus committed these crimes. One of the main factors could be how she views men. When she was a child, Wuornus was abused and neglected numerous times by people who were supposed to have taken care of her and kept her safe. Her father killed himself while serving time in prison for being a child molester, and her mother abandoned her and her brother Keith because she was feeling overwhelmed by her responsibilities of having two kids, which resulted in Wuornus and her brother having to move in with their grandparents. Living with their grandparents was worse, going from one toxic situation to another. Wuornus's grandmother was an alcoholic, and her grandfather was abusive. Wuornus claimed that her grandfather was sexually abusing her and her brother. Her motivation for committing these crimes could've been her fear of what happened to her when she was younger since she stated that she killed them in self-defense because they raped and assaulted her. All the men had caused trauma in her life, which had her looking at all men negatively.