Aileen Wuornos Death Sentence Court Document

An extraordinary piece of true crime history, this original court document is page 3 of 5 from the official sentencing order issued in the case of The State of Florida vs. Aileen Carol Wuornos. Dated January 31, 1992, the document formally records the sentence handed down following Wuornos’ conviction for the murder of Richard Mallory, the first case that led to her death sentence.

Typed on official Volusia County Circuit Court stationery, the document orders that Wuornos be delivered to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections and “electrocuted until you are dead,” concluding with the judge’s solemn declaration, “May God have mercy on your soul.” This is the infamous line where the judge made a mistake and read it as “May God have mercy on your corpse.”

The piece is personally signed by Circuit Judge Uriel Blount, Jr., who presided over the sentencing proceedings. It also lists several of the aliases used by Wuornos, including Susan Lynn Blahovec, Lori Kristine Grody, and Cammie Marsh Greene.

Aileen Wuornos remains one of America’s most infamous female serial killers, convicted of murdering seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Documents directly connected to her prosecution and sentencing are exceptionally scarce, making this an important artifact from one of the most widely studied criminal cases of the twentieth century.

COA included