"It Was Them or Me": Aileen Wuornos Pleads No Contest, 1992

Name: "It Was Them or Me": Aileen Wuornos Pleads No Contest, 1992
Uploaded: 2007-03-04
Duration: 2 min 50 s
Description: Telling a Florida judge she had made peace with her Lord, Aileen Wuornos pleaded no contest to three more murders; weeks later, sentenced to death, she told the court, "I'll be up in heaven while y'all rot in hell."

Telling a Florida judge she had made peace with her Lord, Aileen Wuornos pleaded no contest to three more murders; weeks later, sentenced to death, she told the court, "I'll be up in heaven while y'all rot in hell."

Subject: Aileen Wuornos
Recorded: March 31, 1992
Runtime: 2:50

Content warning: Refers to murders and to rape (as Wuornos's claim), and includes profanity.

The Interview

On March 31, 1992, two months after she was sentenced to death for the murder of Richard Mallory, Aileen Wuornos changed course. Having just hired a new private lawyer, Steve Glazer, she pleaded no contest to the murders of three more men. Addressing the court, she said she had made peace with her Lord and asked forgiveness, that she was sorry her "acts of self-defense" had ended up in court, and that she was prepared to die. On May 15, 1992, Judge Thomas Sawaya sentenced her to death for each of the three murders. She replied, "I'll be up in heaven while y'all rot in hell," and made a last outburst insisting that she had been raped.

Historical Context

Between late 1989 and late 1990 seven men were shot dead in central and northern Florida, most of them found near highways. Wuornos, who had worked for years as a highway sex worker, was arrested in January 1991 and confessed to the killings, saying the men had attacked or tried to rape her. In January 1992 a Volusia County jury convicted her of the murder of Richard Mallory, and she was sentenced to death on January 31, 1992. Five other murder cases were still pending.

Circumstances of the Interview

The film's narration explains that Wuornos, with the encouragement of Arlene Pralle, the born-again Christian who had adopted her, dismissed her public defender and hired Glazer. A local television report then describes the March 31 hearing: within seconds of being named her lawyer, Glazer told the court she wished to change her plea, and she pleaded no contest to killing Dick Humphreys and Troy Burress (Marion County cases) and David Spears (a Citrus County case). There was no plea agreement, so she still faced the death penalty. The clip then cuts to the sentencing, where Judge Sawaya passes three death sentences, asks Glazer about the appeal, and appoints the public defender's office.

What the Interview Covers

Wuornos's plea statement takes responsibility while keeping her claim that she acted in self-defense: "It was them or me." After the sentences she thanks the judge, then condemns the court, says she was raped, calls those present "a bunch of scum" and swears. The narration suggests she had hoped for mercy and forgiveness by pleading, "but that is not what happened".

What Makes the Recording Significant

The plea marked a turning point in her case: she abandoned a trial defense for three of the murders while still insisting that she had killed in self-defense. The hearings, and her outbursts, fed the long debate over whether she was a victim or a predator, and Broomfield's film is one of the best-known documentaries on her case.

Archival Importance

Wuornos received six death sentences in all and was executed on October 9, 2002. This excerpt preserves her own words at two of the hearings that produced them, as presented in Broomfield's film.

Important Caveats

The clip is an excerpt from a documentary, not raw court footage: it joins material from two hearings seven weeks apart and adds narration, and which hearing some lines come from is not certain. Her claims of rape and self-defense are her own; the courts did not accept them. A published account (Crime Library) places her insult to the prosecutor ("your wife and children get raped") at the March 31 hearing; in this edit a similar line is faintly heard during the sentencing passage. The transcript has not yet been checked by a human listener.

Unidentified Voice: Most of us will probably never worry about spending time in jail, but if you are ever involved in the criminal justice system, you will need a lawyer who can explain the system to you.

Narrator: In a completely unexpected legal move, Lee, with Arlene's help, decided to hire Steve to defend her on the next three murder charges and to fire her public defender, Trish Jenkins. Steve attracted enormous media attention when he entered a guilty or no contest plea to the next three murders. The born-again Arlene Pralle believed Lee should come clean and confess her sin.

Tv News Reporter: As Aileen Wuornos was led from Marion County Jail, she gave no indication that she would plead no contest to three murder charges, instead talking about dropping her public defenders and hiring private attorney Steve Glazer. But only seconds after being named her attorney, Glazer surprised everyone and told the court that Wuornos wanted to change her plea. With her adoptive mother watching on, the nation's first known serial killer pleaded no contest to killing Dick Humphreys and Troy Burress in Marion County, David Spears in Citrus County. Legally, the no contest plea is viewed as a guilty plea, and because there is no plea agreement, Wuornos still faces the death penalty in each case, an unusual legal prospect that Judge Thomas Sawaya was obviously aware of as he carefully questioned Wuornos about her decision.

Aileen Wuornos: I have made peace with my Lord and I have asked forgiveness. I am sorry that my acts of self-defense ended up in court like this, but I take full responsibility for my actions. It was them or me. I am sorry for all the pain that my actions have caused. I am prepared to die if you say it is necessary. [unclear: "But I am not."]

Narrator: By pleading guilty, it appeared that Lee Wuornos was in reality hoping for mercy and forgiveness, but that is not what happened.

Judge: I sentence you in case number 91-463 to death for the murder of Troy Burress. Case number 91-304, I sentence you to death for the murder of Charles Humphreys. Case number 91-112, Citrus County case number, I sentence you to death for the murder of David Spears.

Aileen Wuornos: Thank you. And [unclear: "you probably see" / "obviously"], I'll be up in heaven while y'all rot in hell.

Unidentified Voice: [unclear: "He will handle that. One of these days to handle that."]

Judge: Okay. There will be an automatic appeal. You have the right to an appeal. Mr. Glazer, is that going to be handled by you?

Aileen Wuornos: [unclear: "Your wife and kids get raped."]

Steve Glazer: I would ask that you appoint the public defender's office.

Judge: Okay. I'll appoint the public defender's office to handle the appeal.

Aileen Wuornos: There's one other thing that I want to say that I think needs to be said. I know I was raped. You ain't nothing but a bunch of scum. Therefore, these proceedings are now putting somebody who was raped [inaudible]. [unclear: "Yeah?"] Motherfucker! ---