Aileen Wuornos claimed police let her kill: chilling interview resurfaces before execution

In a resurfaced interview just before her execution, serial killer Aileen Wuornos alleged that police allowed her to continue murdering men—fueling a long-standing debate about mental illness, abuse, and criminal justice.

Aileen Wuornos, who killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990, claimed in a final interview that law enforcement let her continue her crimes. Her statements reignite questions about trauma, self-defense, and state responsibility.

Aileen Wuornos was convicted of murdering seven men while working as a sex worker in Florida. The killings occurred over a single year, and Wuornos claimed she acted in self-defense after facing threats or assaults from her clients.

Her case drew national attention not just because of the crimes, but because it challenged public views on female killers, self-defense, and how a history of abuse might factor into criminal behavior.

“The cops let me keep killing them”

In a 2002 interview featured in Nick Broomfield’s documentary Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer, Wuornos offered a disturbing explanation for her actions. Just days before her execution, she told Broomfield:
“Because the cops let me keep killing them, Nick, don’t you get it?”

She insisted that law enforcement had been monitoring her but chose not to stop her, allegedly because they saw her as a tool to rid the streets of other criminals.

“They thought, ‘let her clean the streets, then we’ll pull her in,’” Wuornos said. “That is why.”

Mental illness or survival instinct?

Wuornos’ mental state has long been part of the public conversation. Filmmaker Nick Broomfield later spoke with CNN, saying he believed her history of trauma—combined with untreated psychosis—played a significant role.

“She had a lot of awful encounters on the roads,” Broomfield said. “This anger developed inside her and finally exploded into violence. That was her way of surviving.”

He added that Wuornos may have believed she was always acting in self-defense, but couldn’t distinguish between danger and confrontation: “Someone who’s deeply psychotic can’t really tell the difference between something that is life threatening and something that is a minor disagreement.”

Wuornos was executed in Florida State Prison in October 2002 at age 46. Her case inspired books, films, and academic studies. It also sparked discussions about how society handles mental health, trauma, and violence—especially when women are involved.

The resurfaced interview doesn’t offer new evidence, but it does raise haunting questions: Could her crimes have been stopped earlier? And what does it say about a system where someone like Wuornos can fall through every crack?