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Between 1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos, a hitchhiking prostitute,
shot, killed, and robbed seven men in remote Florida locations.
Arrested in 1991, Wuornos insisted she had acted in self-defense,
but the jury had little sympathy. Condemned to death on six
separate counts, she was executed by lethal injection in 2002.
An abused runaway who turned to prostitution to survive, Wuornos
has become iconic of vengeful women who lash out at the nearest
target. She has also become a touchstone for women's, prostitutes',
and prisoners' rights advocates. Her story has inspired myriad
books and articles, as well as the 2003 movie Monster, for which
Charlize Theron won an Academy Award. But until now, Wuornos's
uncensored voice has never been heard.
Dear Dawn is Wuornos's autobiography culled from her ten-year death
row correspondence with beloved childhood friend Dawn Botkins.
Authorized for publication by Wuornos and edited under the guidance
of Botkins, the letters not only offer Wuornos's riveting
reflections on the murders, legal battles, and media coverage, but
go further, revealing her fears and obsessions, her rich humor and
empathy, and her gradual disintegration as her execution
approached. A candid life story told to a trusted friend, Dear Dawn
is a compelling narrative, unwaveringly true to its source.
Aileen Wuornos was executed in Florida, on the 9th of October, 2002
at the age of 46. She was the 10th woman to be sentenced to death
in the USA since the death penalty resumed in 1976. Convicted for
the murder of six men, in a two month period, Aileen claimed she
acted in self defence however the investigation into these claims
was poor and she later retracted her statement announcing to the
Supreme Court, "I'm one who seriously hates human life and would
kill again." All-too-often female prostitutes have been the victims
of male serial killers - the killings of Aileen 'Lee' Wuornos were
the inverse of this. She was a child prostitute, fleeing an abusive
childhood at the hands of her grandparents, which led straight into
a disastrous adulthood of difficult affairs with both men and
women. Her metamorphosis from victim to attacker had brutal
consequences: a stream of dead men. Following a renewed interest in
this woman after the film "Monster", this is her story in her own
words.
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