Aileen Wuornos

Was it right to execute Aileen Wuornos on October 9th 2002?

I know she killed seven men, but she was severely mentally ill at the time of her execution. Here in the UK she would have been put in a secure mental institution for the rest of her life.

Public Comments

1. It was the right thing to do, executing her, mental illness is not a good defense. I know for a fact you can go crazy without going around killing people.
2. The death penalty is always wrong. I just read the Wikipedia article about her. Obviously she was as crazy as a shithouse rat.
3. i know, i saw the interviews, she was mentally ill- at least it came off that way- and no i don't think it was right of them to have executed her considering her history. She had a very hard life and was raped, abused, neglected. Im not saying this is a pass for murder but those things coupled with severe mental illness I just don't think this case deserved murder. Just life in prison.
4. Is this about whether the death penalty is right, or whether Aileen Wuornos - specifically - should've been given this as punishment for her crimes? Interesting. I don't think I've heard before that she was mentally ill, at least not that she was classified. I know information which the film and her crime file/s give. I'm not going to talk about whether or not I agree with the death penalty, but I will say that I believe anyone who commits a crime and is mentally unwell should be put into a mental institution instead of being murdered or locked away to live with their psychological problems without help. What mental illness was she classified with? I know she had a very hard time in her life. And the first man she killed actually tried to physically and sexually abuse her, which may not justify murder, but does make it more...understandable? The film about her is called 'Monster'. I don't think she was a monster. And I think she could've been helped. She shouldn't have been killed for being a killer.
5. Here in the United States, to be criminally insane, you must not know right from wrong, or know that at the time of the crime...she was found to have known right from wrong... being mentally ill, and being criminally insane are two different things here.
6. She never really had a chance here. Yet a lot of females haven't and didn't do what she did. You live by the sword then dy by it. She was beyond help here. She said so herself. That" Aileen Wuernos will kill again if released."
7. Being mentally ill at the time of execution is not the same as being mentally ill at the time of murder. If she was unable to distinguish right from wrong at the time of the crime, then she has the chance of being declared not guilty by reason of insanity. She was not, however, seen as criminally insane. You also have to be found fit and mentally sound at the time of the trial to be tried fairly. She was sound throughout the entirety of it. Her being executed is not the question. The question would be if she should have even been sentenced to jail. would choose a different serial murderer to ask this question about. As well as if they should have been jailed or placed in a psychiatric facility.